Sonichris

Maui
I've found there are several things that come into play to get close to The Astronauts style chunking dripping sound. It's in the way you pick and mute the strings along with the right guitar more than anything.

Maui

Maui is the keeper of the Astronauts sound in the Aquasonics - if you like any of the Astronauts rhythm sound in our records, it's Maui playing it.

He hits the strings VERY, VERY hard when he does it, and mutes the strings to the point of almost no sound. With the Reverb cranked up, it sounds very good, but he gets worked doing it - usually only two songs in a row before his hand conks out playing that way.

As far as the Astronauts sound on their records, I think the studio echo had a lot to do with it. The RCA records studio was famous for the echo chamber they had -

Eddie Katcher plays with a little echo live, and it sounds really thick and full when he does drippy reverb.

Chris

Great for Maui......

And sure the Echo studio is important to get the Astronauts osund...

oh i love that there are a lot of people that we love Astronuts...

The sound...

Skateboarding - "Gnarly Surf"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xXTBH_KwE

Oh boy....Hummmm, now let me think. There are a lot of factors that go into trying to duplicate an Astronauts type splash. I think the guitar plays a big part. The Jazzmaster works best for me as it has a bigger sound than either the Jag or Strat that I have. I also use 12/52 Flats. That makes a huge difference. Currently JM-#1 has 11/50's and it sounds wimpy. I couldn't get my regular gauge so bought the 11's out of desperation....my bad. I'll be hunting up a set here in Savannah tomorrow when Annie's Music opens. She plays jazz guitar and should have them....I hope. I have also started lowering my pickups some and it seems to make the guitar a bit more "musical sounding." Learned that one from Boulder Bob.

Next is the reverb unit. Since all are different, I'll just estimate the settings I normally start with. Dwell about 1/2, Mix about 3 or so (its real sensitive) and the tone about 1/2. I actually try to minimize the reverb settings some to clean up the sound and get additional splash by hitting the strings harder. This is where the analog tube unit kills any digital pedal. You can get a lot more drip by advancing the mix knob but your sound gets lost five feet in front of the amp. As Chris noted I use a small delay to help fatten up the sound. I place the Guyatone mini pedal in the signal chain before the reverb. And again, try to minimize the influence of the echo which helps to get a focused guitar tone.

Next is the amp. You guys are right about the really big fat tone of the early blonde amps. They definately sound huge. Add to that the single 12 tone ring cabinets they were using and blend it in with the RCA studio sound, those fabulous microphones (Probably ribbons according to Mitch, our recording history guru), and you have a tough act to follow. However, you can do pretty well using a piggy back cab and raising it off the floor about a foot or so. JBL's will deliver the best splash but I still prefer the EV-15L speaker which is not quite as harsh and a whole lot tougher, and louder than the JBL's. Now if you can score a tone ring cabinet, you'll really be getting close as they too are sound huge, not really loud, but BIG. I got a tone ring 15 cab from Spanky last year and loaded with a Peavy Session 400 steel guitar amp speaker and it sounds pretty amazing. Been using that a lot lately and plan on recording our next CD tracks with it.

Wiith all this in place I just try to get a good clean muted tone with a medium pick and like Maui, wap the crap out of the strings, push the electronics hard up front and it gives a great, thick tone with a good splash! The best part is......after 40 years, I'm still working on it.......Ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

I think I stumbled onto the secret of the Astronauts' drip. To me there's a distinct percussive snap to the notes and I've never been able to to get close even with all the period correct gear - until now

What happened is I just came into possession of a Motion Sound Leslie simulator. This unit has an actual rotating horn but simulates the lower spinning speaker. So you have your high end run through through the buiit in amp and out the horn, and the low end preamped and modeled to send out to your normal amplifier. Of course after I got through putting my organ through it's paces I had to plug my Jaguar into it. I set it on stop so there's no vibrato, and plugged in my reverb tank set to full drip. Then I let go with a series of muted 1/8th notes and WOW that's the sound! They must have ran the signal through a horn. Think about it, the diaphragm on the horn would be very percussive, much more so than a speaker cone - don't you think?

If anyone has the ability to try this, give it a shot. I'm going to see if I can build something to make this a permanent part of my arsenal.

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

High end ribbon mics from the early 60's, The best tape recorders ever made, kick ass recording engineer, an EMT plate reverb. The list goes on and on. Never underestimate NEW Showman amps, speakers, reverb units, different strings than we use now, and obviously guys that could play.....................ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

i .. excuse my english again..., can said the sound of Astronauts is wonderfull couse is true surf..
really his songs are full of water and sport sensations..
Nife melodys..
Surf spirit without too much explendids musicians ( they was explendids of course ,,,no excess).
You can get this kind of surf only if you feel the spirit of the waves..and the real surf sport sensations is in your melodys and structures..
your soul
For me ...easy melodys with water inside

Skateboarding - "Gnarly Surf"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9xXTBH_KwE

Could i have a pint of what ever Alfredo is drinking please, thank you

websurfer
I sure would hate to think that there are others around the world like Alfredo who don't participate here because their English isn't up to snuff and think they would be made fun of. I get what he is saying and think it's very astute---poetic even.

Not blaming anyone---I know it's all meant in a good natured way. Just sayin...

websurfer: I hear you but my comment isn't anything to do with speaking english.