SG101 logo
SG101 Banner

Photo of the Day

Insect Dave & BTD
Insect Dave & BTD

IRC Status
  • Chatroom is empty
Current Polls
  • No polls at this time. Check out our past polls.
Current Contests
Donations

Help us meet our monthly goal:

31%

Donate Now

April Birthdays

SurfGuitar101 News & Articles

The Dave Wronski Sound (long)


Hi everyone, I was going through some of my saved files and came across this information from Dave Wronski concerning his gear. Seeing how the majority of us worship this guy, I thought you may find it interesting. This seems to be a response from someone asking him about his setup, probably a past/current SG101 member.
Enjoy...


Here's a few details:
As far as the sound goes,it's pretty elaborate in the studio.From left to
right in a fairly large room,a dead mint '60 tweed deluxe w/no reverb and
it's own tube echo-plex set to r/billy slap and kind of distorted,a tweed
4-input bassman w/virgin jensen p10q spkrs.this amp is usually run w/tesla
el34 tubes.but sometimes I use THD yellowjackets w/el84{Blast Bolero,Avalon
Slip,Slanky?can't recall exactly}Doing this lowers the volume while being
dirtier,and more closely matches the vol. of the other amps.next is a '64
Super Reverb w/virgin Jensen p10q spkrs.,El34 Tesla p/tubes.I disconnect the
first chan{adds 3 db gain},Disconnect vibrato{the 50k intensity pot cause
unwanted dist.in pre-amp}Also most of my 4-10 amps are biased very
"turned-on",approaching class A.They are also incapable of creating
cross-over distortion.Aren't you glad you asked for the gore?Next is a '63
Super Reverb that's probably almost a proto-type.The mid cont. is a lower
freq..It is stock except for KT66 tubes and vigin Jensen P10r spkrs.
Next is '62 Bassman,stock down to the orig. Tung-sol 5881 tubes.The cab. has
a JBLd-120,and a Jensen P12q.

These 4 amps are fed by a tube echo-plex and Fender rev.unit set for BIG.
The last amp,sitting far-right, is a '63 Vox AC30 w/it's own tube echo-plex&
fender rev.set med. This whole mess is mic'd w/2 Coles ribbons to 2 tracks.
By doing this the mix is determined at time of tracking,and I don't have to
try to re-build it at mix.{like I did for the first rec.}

The guitar on ITBS is a MIJ wht. Jag w/ proto cust.shop p/ups us
bridgetailpiece,buzz-stop.I counter-bored the holes in the t/p and put in
flat head screws that the strings would not rub against. Daytona Mona is my '58 strat;South Run is a new Jazzmaster,stock,except for an elevator plate under the bridge p/up to give it more huevos.Like a Tele b/p-up.
The first record was all '58 strat except for"Goldfinger"w/'57 strat.
Variations in the amp line- are:sometimes I use a Marshall tremelo 50 with
an AC30 ext. cab. instead of the tweed dlx.It has KT66 that I'm prob.going to
take out and try JJ 6l6 instead.

Also,I use tube echoplex's and fender tube reverbs during mix in some
uncoventional applications:example,clamped-down reverb tank kicked in w'
different eq to bring out a part{chorus of Into the Blue Sparkle} The guitar on ITBS also has a nut that has been moved .040" towards the bridge.This enables the guitar to sound more "in tune"for all the lower register chords/intervals that is much of the ITBS sound. I also used an extra long neck Jazzmaster tuned to "A";sometimes
"G",depending on the key of the song.The bridge p'u also has an elevator
plate under the bridge p/u for more huevos. This guitar is painted PINK{very ugly},but,sounds very cool!I use it discreetly{hopefully}in the intro of Coffin Closer;kinda buried under the dominant guitar.
Thanks for taking an interest,it means alot!

And also let me say getting a sound does'nt require this anal-retentive
approach described described above. The constraints of touring has made me learn to get the basic sound I need from a modified Super Reverb chassis {described above}w' a Mercury Magnetics output transformer for 2/4 ohms,the rev. changed to sound like a stand-alone rev.put into a cabinate made by Rodgers {'64 Vibroverb}with 2-12"so I can fly it as luggage. For echo,a Hughs and Ketner Replex-pretty cool tube echo simulator.

Peace,out,
-dave wronski

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE.... in response to a question about Jaguars...

Hi Richard, I guess the white Jag dings easy. I think the Basswood is softer
than Alder, but the Polyester paint provides a little bit more protection. My
guitar looks pretty good considering where it's been. The worst wear caused by
my slamming the guitar on the stage a few times when I thought the Rock-Star-
Ending was going on a little too long one night in Europe with J&NRs.

I use a plate with a 3-way Tele-style blade switch in place of the three little
slide switches. I use a dice on the end of the trem bar. This enables me to hold
the pick, trem bar, and make changes with the switch without dropping any notes.


The pick guard is from WD. I want someone to make a pickguard with the correct
big bevel, but WD won't, so I gotta find someone who will. I use the grounding
plates as use in the original, and US reissues in all the cavitys. You can make
your own, no problem. Just be sure everything is grounded. I think I also
painted the cavities with grounding paint. Make sure that is well grounded,
also. I don't have a tone control hooked up because it really degraded the
sound. In my '63 all original Jag, I like the tone control. It probably has
something to do with the old style capacitor sounding better. I also use a 250K
pot in the white MIJ Jag instead of the 1MEG that is stock in all Jags. The 1MEG
vol pot has more treble when all the way up, and less when turned down. I like a
uniform response because I use the vol pot at every possible position, changing
the level constantly. I use cloth wire and a Switchcraft jack.
Hope this helped,
-dave




This story has 8 comments.


1.
avatar

Dave is a madman. Sure wish he would join us here .

Brian | 01-Jul-2006 13:04:46 | Flag
2.
avatar

Holy crap, shortly after I posted this, he signs up! Welcome SlacktoneDave! Smile

Brian | 01-Jul-2006 13:27:28 | Flag
3.
avatar

ask and you shall recieve

Jeff(bigtikidude)

bigtikidude | 01-Jul-2006 15:34:39 | Flag
4.
avatar

i want to play through his stuff, just to see how it sounds

mom_surfing | 01-Jul-2006 19:09:36 | Flag
5.
avatar

So He records with just the basics....

I wonder if Mr W. uses the reverb on the Hughes & Kettner Silver Machine or not ?

voodoodentists | 09-Jul-2006 17:29:03 | Flag
6.
avatar

No, I never used the reverb in the Replex. Sold it a while back. I use old {'62, '64, '65} Fender Reverb Units, and/or the reverb in the Slacktone Amp that is built up to be about 80% as good as the stand-alone units.

Got to have a tube Echoplex {or 2, or 3 in the studio}for it's superior echo, And tone. I have sometimes used a Memory Man, but I have to fix some problems inherent with that. Mine has a true-bypass wired switch that causes some problems. Seems the Memory Man flips the phase 180* when the echo is on, so if you have the Memory Man only on one amp in a two amp setup, you can't turn it off and on, because it throws one of the amps sound out of phase from the other.

Boy that recording set-up looks like overkill on paper. But, I think I type a little better now.

~dave

SlacktoneDave | 09-Jul-2006 21:55:58 | Flag
7.
avatar

Wow!
Thats just cool surf guitar info right there!!!
It shows in the recirdings Dave! Sounds FANTASTIC!!!!!
Thanks for posting SG101 Smile

Chopper | 04-Dec-2006 19:26:51 | Flag
8.
avatar

....wonder if Mr W. uses the reverb on the Hughes & Kettner Silver Machine or not ?

Not anymore because he sold it to me. It has a nice reverb but it is not even close to spring. He told me he ALWAYS uses a Keeley compressor for recording, but not live. Something no one has brought up about Wronski is the little box he attaches to his guitar strap. You can't buy one at Musician's Friend, he had it made for him and I never see him without it. I think it's a signal booster.

Stormtiger | 09-Jan-2007 19:42:56 | Flag

Comments are closed for this story. If you'd like to share your thoughts on this story with the site staff, you can contact us directly.