| Visit Our Catalog at SteelGuitarShopper.com |

Post new topic Gary Carter
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Gary Carter
Tim Heidner

 

From:
Groves, TX
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2018 5:19 pm    
Reply with quote

He's pretty good. Nice sounding tone.

Last edited by Tim Heidner on 14 Oct 2018 4:55 pm; edited 4 times in total
View user's profile Send private message
Tim Heidner

 

From:
Groves, TX
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2018 5:35 pm    
Reply with quote

Arrow

Last edited by Tim Heidner on 5 Mar 2018 10:12 am; edited 3 times in total
View user's profile Send private message
Ross Fellrath

 

From:
Minnesota, USA
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2018 6:46 pm    
Reply with quote

His tone is kinda dark to me. Sounds like a humbucker. The sparkle comes from his super clean playing I think.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bobby Boggs

 

From:
Upstate SC.
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2018 8:04 pm    
Reply with quote

To each his own. But I like his tone on this cut. The pickup is most likely a BL-710.

Not trying to be a smart a$$. But if Gary gave you that exact pickup. In my opinion. You'd only be 5% of the way there.
View user's profile Send private message
Tim Heidner

 

From:
Groves, TX
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2018 8:06 pm    
Reply with quote

I had a 710 in my Mullen, it sure didn't make me sound like GC. Mr. Green

Last edited by Tim Heidner on 14 Oct 2018 4:58 pm; edited 3 times in total
View user's profile Send private message
Bobby Boggs

 

From:
Upstate SC.
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2018 8:29 pm    
Reply with quote

Quote:
How can his placing the bar on the strings and striking a chord sound that different from any one else?


That's called touch. We all have a different touch. No matter how good or bad we are. If it were that simple. We'd all sound, but not necessarily play like our very favorite player.

In my life time, I've seen many good players sit down to Buddy Emmons complete rig while he was taking a break. Not one sounded like Buddy. And I'm only talking about tone. Not playing ability.
View user's profile Send private message
Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 5:25 am    
Reply with quote

What Bobby said is gospel. Once you have decent equipment, the rest is just technique and touch. It's hard, sometimes, for people to understand. You can buy what the pros use, but you can't buy what they do.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 5:59 am    
Reply with quote

One way to look at it is getting a good sound out of a pedalsteel is like getting a good sound out of a violin. Anybody can buy the right stuff and hit a bar chord on an electric guitar and have it sound good. Pedalsteel does not work like that.

Check out Gary’s relative lack of vibrato, rhythmic precision and intonation. Without those aspects to his playing the notes would not ring the same. That sparkle you love in his sound would be gone.

Also is that one of those later Zum’s with the cabinet drop compensator ?
_________________
Bob
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Jim Pitman

 

From:
Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 6:14 am    
Reply with quote

I'm hearing an amp simulator plug in.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Doug Earnest


From:
Branson, MO USA
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 8:19 am    
Reply with quote

I don't know that it has anything to do with how his recordings sound, but do know that Gary is known to prefer the Lawrence XR16 pickup.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Marco Schouten


From:
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 11:22 am    
Reply with quote

Amp settings and the guitar are a factor, but I think that most of it comes from the right hand. Angle and thickness of the fingerpicks, force and speed of attack.
_________________
----------------------------------
JCH SD-10 with BL XR-16 pickup, Sho-Bud Volume Pedal, Evidence Audio Lyric HG cables, Quilter Steelaire combo
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Asa Brosius

 

Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 11:49 am    
Reply with quote

Great playing. The tone does remind me of direct amp sims a bit- watch around 4:30 to get a sense of the delay he's using.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Lee Baucum


From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 1:40 pm    
Reply with quote

So, what do you guys think - reverb or delay? Or is he using a combination of the two?
_________________
Lee, from South Texas - Down On The Rio Grande

There are only two options as I see it.
Either I'm right, or there is a sinister conspiracy to conceal the fact that I'm right.


Williams Keyless S-10, BMI S-10, Evans FET-500LV, Fender Steel King, 2 Roland Cube 80XL's,
Sarno FreeLoader, Goodrich Passive Volume Pedals, Vintage ACE Pack-A-Seat
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 3:13 pm    
Reply with quote

He has otherwordly chops... I dunno, its a great sound, and he always has a great sound, but to me its just a fine quality "modern" pedal steel tone that I have heard a lot of todays pro players use.. Clean, but full and well defined.. I can't get that type of tone, and never could, but I have heard local guys getting a similar type of sound.. Not playing at gary's level of course, but still getting that type of "studio quality" sound.. Some guys ace that sound regularly, others can't get close to it -like me.... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......
View user's profile Send private message
Tim Heidner

 

From:
Groves, TX
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 3:30 pm    
Reply with quote

I guess he's been doing it a while.

Last edited by Tim Heidner on 14 Oct 2018 4:47 pm; edited 2 times in total
View user's profile Send private message
Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 4:08 pm    
Reply with quote

Jim Pitman wrote:
I'm hearing an amp simulator plug in.


Nope. I asked about Gary's equipment last year, and he said it was just his guitar and volume pedal straight into the amp. I love those (compression-free) dynamics in his playing, and it really make him stand out compared to what we usually hear today.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Jim Fogarty


From:
Phila, Pa, USA
Post  Posted 1 Mar 2018 4:52 pm    
Reply with quote

That might his signal chain, but I'm hearing pretty heavy compression on the track......probably added in mixdown.

Either way, sounds great and terrific playing. I appreciate it being posted!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Ken Boi


From:
Arizona, USA
Post  Posted 2 Mar 2018 7:12 am    
Reply with quote

Doesn't sound like any 'secret' answer was presented, Tim. I have the same question also. No doubt sounding like a great player requires the skills set to do so. No argument there. But it would be great to have that general PSG tone that you hear for starters.

I watch teaching videos such as presented by Aaron - Steel Picking videos and Mickey Adams. They are presenting with no background music. Just the PSG. They can just strum a single open chord with no bar involved and the tome is amazing to me. I question what's the most important part of the audio chain in getting that 'glassy, almost organ sounding' (for lack of any other language description words) tone? Is the PSG itself the main item? The pickups? The amp? Effects processing?
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 2 Mar 2018 10:03 am    
Reply with quote

Ken Boi wrote:
....... But it would be great to have that general PSG tone that you hear for starters.

They can just strum a single open chord with no bar involved and the tome is amazing to me. I question what's the most important part of the audio chain in getting that 'glassy, almost organ sounding' (for lack of any other language description words) tone? Is the PSG itself the main item? The pickups? The amp? Effects processing?


Ken,
Anybody that has put in the work to get a good tone on the steel can show you why your basic assumptions do not apply to the pedalsteel by playing your personal set up. If Gary played whatever rig you you use it would sound pretty close to his sound on the vid. Even strumming open strings has much more to it than meets the eye. Applying the wisdom of electric guitar tone to the pedalsteel doesn't really work and can be a very expensive waste of time.

If you want that 'glassy, almost organ sounding" tone the first thing to do is use fresh strings. After that it's 90% ears and hands.

After all that practicing and frustration in the beginning it is super fulfilling when you first get that sound you have been looking for coming out of your steel. There are no shortcuts. It is real accomplishment that you have to earn the hard way.
_________________
Bob
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
chuck lemasters

 

From:
Jacksonburg, WV
Post  Posted 2 Mar 2018 11:51 am    
Reply with quote

Ken

When playing, I don't often hear what I consider to be really good tone. But I have been pleasantly surprised at my sound on recordings, straight guitar-volume pedal-amp-mic recordings. I fought tone on one guitar through amp and pickup changes the entire time I owned it. The same guitar sounded great on recordings. I think it has a lot to do with the mic and hearing the recording back through studio monitors or another full range system.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Martin Abend


From:
Berlin, Germany
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2018 1:18 pm    
Reply with quote

What Bob said. And I wouldn't have believed it if it didn't happen to myself a while ago. Suddenly it clicked and all I though was - wow, where did that come from? It's really in the hands.
_________________
'78 Sho-Bud Pro III Custom
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Carl Heatley


From:
Morehead City,NC
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2018 1:43 pm    
Reply with quote

Is this the same Gary Carter?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOel5SWOrlw
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Tim Heidner

 

From:
Groves, TX
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2018 5:06 pm    
Reply with quote

That's Gary Carpenter, the video is titled wrong.

Last edited by Tim Heidner on 14 Oct 2018 4:50 pm; edited 2 times in total
View user's profile Send private message
Brint Hannay

 

From:
Maryland, USA
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2018 5:07 pm    
Reply with quote

Bob Hoffnar wrote:
Applying the wisdom of electric guitar tone to the pedalsteel doesn't really work and can be a very expensive waste of time.

What does this mean? The pedal steel IS an electric guitar. You pluck strings, the body of the instrument resonates (or doesn't), a magnetic pickup senses the strings' vibrations, the signal from the pickup is sent through a complex signal chain with multiple resistances, capacitances, and inductances and multiple points in the chain where these can be manipulated, and perhaps through additional effects such as reverb and delay, before being converted back to sound vibrations that reach the ear. Just like any other electric guitar.

What possible reason is there to dismiss the significance of all that and say "It's all in the hands"? I know, you, Bob, said 90%, not all. But why, even if that's accurate (who can truly assign a numerical percentage), what logic says that 10% of the total equation is unworthy of any attention?

If someone posts about equipment in relation to tone, they're wanting input about that 10% (or whatever). Preaching at them about practicing and paying attention to their physical technique, however valid, is, quite simply, off topic.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Tim Heidner

 

From:
Groves, TX
Post  Posted 3 Mar 2018 5:12 pm    
Reply with quote

I guess there aren't any shortcuts.

Last edited by Tim Heidner on 14 Oct 2018 4:51 pm; edited 2 times in total
View user's profile Send private message

All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  
Please review our Forum Rules and Policies
Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction, and steel guitar accessories
www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

The Steel Guitar Forum
148 S. Cloverdale Blvd.
Cloverdale, CA 95425 USA

Click Here to Send a Donation

Email SteelGuitarForum@gmail.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for Band-in-a-Box
by Jim Baron