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> Well, Eddie Bertrand plays with me on my new CD's so the scoop is
that
> he now plays with 010's. And he sounds the same (when he wants to)
as
> he ever did in the old days. Eddie and I have discussed this ad
> nauseum. Mostly, we're after new sonic territory which should be
> obvious to all who hear what we've done.
Les,
That's really cool your playing with Eddie. Could you tell us what
kind of gear he's using lately? Does he still use the Jaguar?
That's great that you are trying to navigate into some new sonic
territories. However, I've heard Eddie's newer version of "Mr.
Rebel" (the on that Phil Tiki posted for us all to hear) and I have
to say it pales in comparison to the original. I guess I'm a sucker
for that old surf tone. I think there are alot of places one can go
with that sound that haven't been explored yet. The Treblemakers are
a band that come to mind when I think of a newer band that sounds
sonically like the older bands.
I'm still going to have to disagree with you as far as how important
strings are to one's sound. I'd really like to hear Eddie playing
his old hits with the lighter strings, and I can only imagine what
James Burton would sound like trying to chicken pick on my Jaguar
strung with flatwound 13s(obviouly better than me). I do agree 90% of
our sound comes from our hands but strings play a pretty big part in
it. You sound like yourself on all the guitars you try because your
sound just might not be that "old surf sound." You said yourself yo
can't get the sound you want out of flatwound 13s.
Bill Aqua
www.freewebs.com/reluctantaquanauts
> "For example Dick Dale's "Night Rider" that just sounds right being
> double picked on heavy strings being forced through a reverb tank."
>
> You're right, Dick gets a very large tone on that tune. But that's
his
> sound. If I copied it, there would be little reason for the likes
of me
> in instro circles.
>
> " I've always thought that the guitarists who I enjoy that use
lighter
> strings have a weaker sound than those I listen to who use heavier
> strings."
>
> It depends on your specific taste. We gravitate toward defending
that
> which we admire. We perceive our perceptions. By taking Dick's
double
> picking and mixing it up with neo-classical riffing from Pagannini,
> Mozart, Bach and Yngwie, I've moved into my own turf (...err, surf)
> with what I'm doing. Blend that in with Ventures melodicism and a
dash
> of Jeff Beck and you've got what I'm doing. The shift and sacrifice
to
> accomodate all these things at once makes heavy strings for me a
> non-starter. For someone who likes the older trad style, heavy is
the
> way to go for nailing that sound. For my sound, quite the opposite.
>
> "I agree, alot of tone does come from your hands, but still I
cannot
> imagine some surf songs sounding the same on lighter strings."
>
> I sound the same no matter which guitar I use and generally,
regardless
> of type of string. This is because I have my own sound. As does
Dick
> who picked up MY guitar that night in Denver and sounded the same
on
> mine as he does on his.My setup was, arguably, less suitable for
his
> level of hand attack but that's because he needs that big string to
> acheive the sound HE'S after. (Of course, he broke a string
trying,
> but I forgave him for that! :-) I do prefer nickel wound because
they
> last and don't exaggerate finger noise. (Fender 150's to be exact.)
>
> Regards,
> Les
>
>
> On Monday, September 6, 2004, at 03:02 PM, supertwangreverb wrote:
>
> >
> >> Dear Supertwang,
> >> I swapped strings to get lighter sets as well. That became
> > especially
> >> important as the 60's moved along and blusier styles took hold.
> >>
> >> Like I said in another post, my palm muting skill (which I
learned
> > thru
> >> many years of messing about with pedal steel guitar) has served
me
> > well
> >> in achieving very fast double picking speeds on lighter strings.
> > This
> >> was necessary to do both surf technique and bending on the same
> > guitar.
> >> I also use knuckle blocking for keeping strings under control at
> > those
> >> speeds.
> >
> > That's pretty good that you can do that Les. I agree, alot of
tone
> > does come from your hands, but still I cannot imagine some surf
songs
> > sounding the same on lighter strings. For example Dick
Dale's "Night
> > Rider" that just sounds right being double picked on heavy strings
> > being forced through a reverb tank. Also alot of Eddie Bertrand
> > stuff. For example his solos on "Scratch" would sound different
with
> > lighter strings. As much as you can say that tone comes from ones
> > hands there is something to be said for using heavy strings and
> > hitting them hard, exspecially in the surf genre. I've always
> > thought that the guitarists who I enjoy that use lighter strings
have
> > a weaker sound than those I listen to who use heavier strings. I
> > love James Burton and his playing was ahead of its time, however,
his
> > tone wasn't really all that great. But that's just an opinion I
> > guess.
> >
> > Bill Aqua
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > .
> > Visit for archived
> > messages, bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
> >
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
