| Author |
Topic: What Guitar / Amp did Jerry Byrd use on BYRD OF PARADISE |
J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
|
Posted 23 Jan 2011 8:22 pm |
|
I've just been listening thru all the JB recordings I have. I have come to the conclusion that, while maybe it will not match general consensus, I find his over all tone on the album "BYRD OF PARADISE" to be the most pleasing and fitting, maybe even most universally usable one... a tone which could still be used in TODAY's music, unlike the very "vintagy" tone he was so noted for in his early days and he apparently tried to come back to at the end.
So I wondered, what guitar / amp did he use on this record?
I have a funny feeling that it could have been on the black custom Fender S8(?).
... J-D.
_________________
__________________________________________________________
Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"
A Little Mental Health Warning:
Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.
I say it humorously, but I mean it. |
|
|
 |
Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
|
Posted 23 Jan 2011 9:12 pm
|
|
JD:
Not sure about "Byrd Of Paradise", but I think Jerry has stated he used the Fender custom on "Satin Strings Of Steel".
Going from memory, some of the original Monument recordings were later reissued on another Monument LP, but I haven't checked to see if the tracks on Byrd Of Paradise are the same as those on Satin Strings Of Steel. Probably not? |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
Posted 23 Jan 2011 9:58 pm
|
|
Byrd of Paradise was 1961. I think Jerry was playing his Rickenbacker JB Model in 1961. I'm guessing that he played through a Rickenbacker amp on Byrd of Paradise. He was an endorser of Rickenbacker at that time and he did seminars promoting the JB model. Most pickers were playing through Fender tweed amps in that era, but I think Jerry was a Rick man all the way. Rickenbacker published his instruction book in 1960, the one with the cool red cover. He also played his JB model on that clip of his live TV performance playing Estrellita. I think that was 1962. So I would assume that he used Rickenbacker amps in that era.
Satin Strings of Steel has the black Fender on the cover, But... that album was originally called Memories of Maria (1962) and it had a different cover. It was later reissued (1965 I believe) and renamed Satin Strings of Steel... with a new cover picture, the black Fender. I read that Jerry played both guitars on that record, the Fender and the Rick.
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
|
|
|
Kekoa Blanchet
From:
Kaua'i
|
Posted 23 Jan 2011 10:19 pm
|
|
Here's the cover artwork for the album. Can't really make out the guitar from the picture.
But this appears to be the same photo as the one on the album cover.
Of course, just because the guitar is on the album cover doesn't necessarily mean that it's the same instrument on the recording. And no hint on the amp. |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
|
|
|
Roger Kelly
From:
Bristol,Tennessee
|
Posted 24 Jan 2011 7:19 am
|
|
| Quote: |
True. One of the best examples of that is Buddy's 1963 album "Steel Guitar Jazz". Evidently the record company found a picture of a MultiKord and used it on the cover (and reversed the picture).  |
Doug,
They also used lower case characters for the G-I-J making the Title look somewhat odd to me.
I am assuming that Buddy was spelling his name "Buddie" at the time he cut that album, otherwise they spelled his name wrong too. |
|
|
|
J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
|
Posted 24 Jan 2011 9:21 am
|
|
Doug, I think you nailed it.
Jerry Byrd started appearing publicly with the black custom Fender around 1965 (the year I was born, incidentally  ).
Here is one example where he sounds just like any PEDAL steel E9th player... or maybe a little better, backing up Connie Smith with the Fender:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN5XDwsj0TI
EARLIER (sadly no date here) he appears with the RickenbacKer JB8. From what I seem to see, it is an EARLY model... there is NO "Fender-like" chrome plate around the pickup and where the string come out of the body. Also, his has the 1 1/4" Horseshoe magnet pu... while later ones had a regular pickup with a plated metal protection only going across the strings (without the for HS pu typical split of the magnet plates).
Playing "Estrellita" (Doug mentioned it) and generating pretty much that sound heard on Byrd of Paradise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM7Vx2fm_Ig
Kekoa, the picture used on that cover dates from "way back when" and shows JB holding his PRE-war RickenbacHer Bakelite lap steel.
HOWEVER (and there shall ALWAYS be a "however" apparently, JB is being shown in a RickenbacKer promo picture with his "new" JB8 guitar and RickenbacKer amp (which model?) wearing a very nice suit and some, erm... shall we say... somewhat extravagant shoes (for that time period, dressed like a 1920's Gansta).
Interestingly, he is shown in an other picture, wearing the same pants AND, most recognizably SHOES, with his "old" pre-war Ricky fooling around with Speedy West (and a 60's generation RickenbacKer amp, like the one on above promo picture in the back ground.
So yes... tough! The only thing he could NOT have used in 1961 is a guitar he only got later! The Fender is out in this case.
Satin Strings not being release on CD, I have no way, besides the one clip on YouTube to really guess how it affected his sound. But the tone on Byrd Of Paradise is VERY different than his previous and later tone.
... J-D.
_________________
__________________________________________________________
Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"
A Little Mental Health Warning:
Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.
I say it humorously, but I mean it. |
|
|
|
basilh
From:
United Kingdom
|
Posted 24 Jan 2011 3:09 pm Re: What Guitar / Amp did Jerry Byrd use on BYRD OF PARADIS
|
|
| J D Sauser wrote: |
So I wondered, what guitar / amp did he use on this record?
J-D. |
I believe the Guitar question has been answered, the amp I think is irrelevant as the engineer has used the studio Desk (Board) eq and effects to sweeten the sound, noticeable the limiting/compression, and the reverb is of a quality way beyond what an amp can deliver.
So the sound is down to engineering as well as the simply superb playing of Mr. Byrd.
There is a lot of Jerry's musicianship showing through in his overdubs. The memory of exactly how he played certain phrases and then repeating them in unison, harmony or even the double tracked harmonic passages..
Very Clever...
The track that epitomises the general trait of the album is THIS ONE |
|
|
|
Brandin
From:
Newport Beach CA. USA
|
Posted 24 Jan 2011 6:16 pm
|
|
JD, it looks like a Ric. amp in the Estrellita video. I own three of them, and can recognize the handle behind him. As our friend Basilh said in a recording the amp wouldn't make that much difference. They're not all that remarkable sounding amps.
I hope that helps?
GB |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
|
|
|
John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
|
Posted 26 Jan 2011 2:26 pm
|
|
"somewhat extravagant shoes (for that time period, dressed like a 1920's Gansta). "
J D, during that time period, those shoes were standard issue for businessmen. My Dad, my Uncles, all had them. At this time, I can't recall the name of the company that was famous for makin' them.
When I met Jerry in the Seventies, at the Outrigger, he was playing a beautiful Shobud with his Trio. |
|
|
|
James Kerr
From:
Scotland, UK
|
Posted 27 Jan 2011 4:09 pm
|
|
| John Billings wrote: |
"somewhat extravagant shoes (for that time period, dressed like a 1920's Gansta). "
J D, during that time period, those shoes were standard issue for businessmen. My Dad, my Uncles, all had them. At this time, I can't recall the name of the company that was famous for makin' them.
When I met Jerry in the Seventies, at the Outrigger, he was playing a beautiful Shobud with his Trio. |
I seem to remember that footwear being referred to as "Co-respondent shoes" have a think about that!!
More particularly, since the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, in a petition for divorce on the ground of adultery, a co-respondent is a person charged with misconduct with the petitioner's spouse.[2] Co-respondent shoes is an expression, meaning unusually patterned or coloured men's shoes that are easily remembered, for example, when left outside the hotel room in which the adultery may be taking place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-respondent
James. |
|
|
|
Mike Neer
From:
NJ
|
Posted 27 Jan 2011 4:18 pm
|
|
I have a pair of those shoes. I remember one of my bandmates calling them the "shoes of shame", because a lot of the guys in trad jazz bands around here wear them like a uniform.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
|
|
|
Steinar Gregertsen
From:
Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
|
Posted 27 Jan 2011 5:30 pm
|
|
I love mine, essential for getting a good tone:
_________________
"Play to express, not to impress"
Website - YouTube |
|
|
|
James Kerr
From:
Scotland, UK
|
Posted 27 Jan 2011 11:30 pm
|
|
| Steinar Gregertsen wrote: |
I love mine, essential for getting a good tone:
|
Just be careful where you leave them Steinar.
James. |
|
|
|
