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On Thu, 21 Feb 2002, Damon wrote:
> I like the ventures' sound for a classic surf tone.
> On one of their old albums from my collection (can't
> remember which, all my vinyl is in boxes) they used
> tone-masters. The sound is great, but the reverb
> isn't there . . . surf music without reverb? My
> point being, the setting your describing might be too
> much reverb. It only takes a little to make your tone
> more surfy, but overall, surf is how you play more
> than what you use.
well, there's some debate about this, but most people have come to an
agreement that the Ventures were not a surf band. They played a few surf
songs, but you cannot call their sound surf anymore than you can call the
Shadows' sound surf. Even the Ventures used outboard reverb units when
they really tried to sound like surf music - just listen to Diamond Head
or WDR '64.
BTW, given that Fender Tonemaster amps only came out during the nineties,
the Ventures didn't use them on any of their old albums. Who knows what
they used in studio? In '65 though they used blonde Fender Showman amps
without reverb for live gigs. The last time i saw them live they used
blonde Tonemaster amps, with the exception of Don Wilson, who used an
Ampeg head with a huge built-in reverb that he would turn up on songs like
Pipeline.
So, gotta have reverb for true surf music....
Ivan
