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Hi I'm a punk guitarist (non-stereotypical though, long way from Good
Charlotte) looking to start incorporating some surf stuff into my
sound. I'm picking up the riffs and having great fun with some of the
solos.
What I'm after is some advice on that classic surf sound, I've got a
Strat going through an Orange AD30 head and a home-made cab with 2
12" Celestions. I'm not big on effects and would rather just pick up
a reverb pedal rather that some sort of multi-effects thing (and I
hate digital stuff).
Also could anyone give me the names of some of those classic surf
chords that sound cracking with the whammy going. Even though I can
pick up a solo in minutes I've always had a duff ear for chords.
The stuff I've been listening to is The Astronauts, Ventures, Los
Straightjackets, Avantis, Laika & The Cosmonauts, Man...Or Astro-
man?, The Weisstronauts, Chantays, The Penetrators and Shadowy Men on
a Shadowy Planet. Any other suggestions for some good stuff?
Thanks for any help!
CG
JC wrote:
> What I'm after is some advice on that classic
> surf sound, I've got a
> Strat going through an Orange AD30 head
> and a home-made cab with 2
> 12" Celestions. I'm not big on effects
> and would rather just pick up
> a reverb pedal rather that some
> sort of multi-effects thing (and I
> hate digital stuff).
My advice - hit ebay and hunt yourself up a spring reverb unit. Pedals
just can't match the sound of these good old analog boxes. Real springs
make all the difference.
I myself am using a Premier 90 reverb tank, manufactured sometime around
1963. Paid about $200 for it on ebay. Sounds great, and it's given me no
trouble at all. Can't reccomend these units highly enough, and they pop
up on ebay all the time.
You should also think about using a guitar with single-coil pickups,
rather than humbuckers. Something as cheap as a squier strat can be
quite effective for surf, especially if you swap the middle and neck
pickups around. (this allows you to play through both the bridge and
neck pickups at the same time, providing that "tuned mellow" sound)
cheers...
-c*
Make sure that Orange Amp has a Clean channel, since a Low or High gain
channel don't work with a spring tank.
The sound will be distorted thru the amp. In order to get the best from
your reverb tank, you need a clean channel.
You can get some sort of surf sound with celstions, although it will not
sound "sparkley" clean.
Jerry S.
-----Original Message-----
From: cobalt [mailto:]
Sent: zaterdag 4 oktober 2003 0:28
To:
Subject: Re: [SurfGuitar101] Looking for advice.
JC wrote:
> What I'm after is some advice on that classic
> surf sound, I've got a
> Strat going through an Orange AD30 head
> and a home-made cab with 2
> 12" Celestions. I'm not big on effects
> and would rather just pick up
> a reverb pedal rather that some
> sort of multi-effects thing (and I
> hate digital stuff).
My advice - hit ebay and hunt yourself up a spring reverb unit. Pedals
just can't match the sound of these good old analog boxes. Real springs
make all the difference.
I myself am using a Premier 90 reverb tank, manufactured sometime around
1963. Paid about $200 for it on ebay. Sounds great, and it's given me no
trouble at all. Can't reccomend these units highly enough, and they pop
up on ebay all the time.
You should also think about using a guitar with single-coil pickups,
rather than humbuckers. Something as cheap as a squier strat can be
quite effective for surf, especially if you swap the middle and neck
pickups around. (this allows you to play through both the bridge and
neck pickups at the same time, providing that "tuned mellow" sound)
cheers...
-c*
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I was thinking of building a new cab soon anyway because this old one
is starting to vibrate badly. What speakers would work well?
--- In , "Jerry" <jerry.soetewey@b...>
wrote:
> Make sure that Orange Amp has a Clean channel, since a Low or High
gain
> channel don't work with a spring tank.
> The sound will be distorted thru the amp. In order to get the best
from
> your reverb tank, you need a clean channel.
>
> You can get some sort of surf sound with celstions, although it
will not
> sound "sparkley" clean.
>
> Jerry S.
>
Hi JC...see below:
> What I'm after is some advice on that classic surf sound, I've got a
> Strat going through an Orange AD30 head and a home-made cab with 2
> 12" Celestions. I'm not big on effects and would rather just pick up
> a reverb pedal rather that some sort of multi-effects thing (and I
> hate digital stuff).
Reverb unit!!
>
> Also could anyone give me the names of some of those classic surf
> chords that sound cracking with the whammy going. Even though I can
> pick up a solo in minutes I've always had a duff ear for chords.
Uh, lets see...Em, Am, Dm, you get the picture... :)
>
> The stuff I've been listening to is The Astronauts, Ventures, Los
> Straightjackets, Avantis, Laika & The Cosmonauts, Man...Or Astro-
> man?, The Weisstronauts, Chantays, The Penetrators and Shadowy Men on
> a Shadowy Planet. Any other suggestions for some good stuff?
Old school: Dick Dale (duh!), The Lively Ones, The (Original) Surfaris,
Eddie & The Showmen
New school: Jon & The Nightriders, Slacktone, The Volcanos, The
Treblemakers, The Fathoms, The Halibuts, The Woodies, The Nebulas, The Space
Cossacks....
I'm leaving a bunch out...all the above are favorites of mine.
BN
Man, just a word on incorporating the surf sound with
punk guitar...it's difficult to do; go from punk to
clean-surf real quick. One of my favorite bands, The
Turbo AC's, are pretty heavy on the surf stuff, but
the guy's sound is pretty harsh live. His RI Fender
reverb tank going through that marshall stack just
about split my head open with its shrillness. I
suppose if you keep your effects at a minimum and run
everything through the clean channel you can switch
with no prob, but trying to just throw reverb in with
your distortion or OD is going to sound like not what
you want. (Or maybe it will, I could be reading you
wrong.)
If you'd really rather have a pedal than a spring
unit, the Electro Harmonix Holy Grail pedals are
probably the best. I had one and liked it, but
replaced it with a spring unit later...which I later
got rid of and wish I still had, but oh well.
People are always talking about the Weber speakers on
here, and Jenson's too. I don't have much experience
with guitar speakers though.
Richard
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I dunno if this is useful, but I get a nice meaty Man or
Astroman-ish unclean surf sound with my DeArmond Starfire (hot DeArmond
single coils) into a Rat (with distortion applied to taste) and then into
my Fender outboard tank and then the amp.
Hi,
That should work very nice, MAOM used a "Rat" or simelar in their set up
I think the used Twin reverbs and inbuilt reverb?. But should be very
nice.
There is a site devoted to the set up of some surf (inspired) guitar
players which has a line up of their gear used. One of them is from
MOAM. I guess Brain or someone else on this list can provide a link.
Jerry S.
-----Original Message-----
From: James Barnett [mailto:]
Sent: zondag 5 oktober 2003 21:50
To:
Subject: RE: [SurfGuitar101] Looking for advice.
I dunno if this is useful, but I get a nice meaty Man or
Astroman-ish unclean surf sound with my DeArmond Starfire (hot DeArmond
single coils) into a Rat (with distortion applied to taste) and then
into
my Fender outboard tank and then the amp.
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CG:
Good Charolette is punk? yipes!
Dude, try some minor chords Em, Am, Cm, Bm...also you may
wat to try some 12th fret position chords...you know,
"regular" open chords played at the 12th fret zone.
good luck,
DP
--- JC <> wrote:
> Hi I'm a punk guitarist (non-stereotypical though, long
> way from Good
> Charlotte) looking to start incorporating some surf stuff
> into my
> sound. I'm picking up the riffs and having great fun with
> some of the
> solos.
>
> What I'm after is some advice on that classic surf sound,
> I've got a
> Strat going through an Orange AD30 head and a home-made
> cab with 2
> 12" Celestions. I'm not big on effects and would rather
> just pick up
> a reverb pedal rather that some sort of multi-effects
> thing (and I
> hate digital stuff).
>
> Also could anyone give me the names of some of those
> classic surf
> chords that sound cracking with the whammy going. Even
> though I can
> pick up a solo in minutes I've always had a duff ear for
> chords.
>
> The stuff I've been listening to is The Astronauts,
> Ventures, Los
> Straightjackets, Avantis, Laika & The Cosmonauts,
> Man...Or Astro-
> man?, The Weisstronauts, Chantays, The Penetrators and
> Shadowy Men on
> a Shadowy Planet. Any other suggestions for some good
> stuff?
>
> Thanks for any help!
>
> CG
>
>
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>
>
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JC:
I agree with old cobalt: a spring reverb would help you
achieve that "bitchen' surf" sound...
good luck,
DP
--- cobalt <> wrote:
>
>
> JC wrote:
>
> > What I'm after is some advice on that classic
> > surf sound, I've got a
> > Strat going through an Orange AD30 head
> > and a home-made cab with 2
> > 12" Celestions. I'm not big on effects
> > and would rather just pick up
> > a reverb pedal rather that some
> > sort of multi-effects thing (and I
> > hate digital stuff).
>
> My advice - hit ebay and hunt yourself up a spring reverb
> unit. Pedals
> just can't match the sound of these good old analog
> boxes. Real springs
> make all the difference.
>
> I myself am using a Premier 90 reverb tank, manufactured
> sometime around
> 1963. Paid about $200 for it on ebay. Sounds great, and
> it's given me no
> trouble at all. Can't reccomend these units highly
> enough, and they pop
> up on ebay all the time.
>
> You should also think about using a guitar with
> single-coil pickups,
> rather than humbuckers. Something as cheap as a squier
> strat can be
> quite effective for surf, especially if you swap the
> middle and neck
> pickups around. (this allows you to play through both
> the bridge and
> neck pickups at the same time, providing that "tuned
> mellow" sound)
>
> cheers...
>
> -c*
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> .
> Visit for
> archived messages, bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
>
>
>
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Try Agent Orange...cool ripping punk surf tone. Also
Slacktone tears it up. Don't forget the old school
Pyramids...those guys are the ultimate surf garage band.
good luck,
dp
--- Brian Neal <> wrote:
> Hi JC...see below:
>
> > What I'm after is some advice on that classic surf
> sound, I've got a
> > Strat going through an Orange AD30 head and a home-made
> cab with 2
> > 12" Celestions. I'm not big on effects and would rather
> just pick up
> > a reverb pedal rather that some sort of multi-effects
> thing (and I
> > hate digital stuff).
>
> Reverb unit!!
>
> >
> > Also could anyone give me the names of some of those
> classic surf
> > chords that sound cracking with the whammy going. Even
> though I can
> > pick up a solo in minutes I've always had a duff ear
> for chords.
>
> Uh, lets see...Em, Am, Dm, you get the picture... :)
>
> >
> > The stuff I've been listening to is The Astronauts,
> Ventures, Los
> > Straightjackets, Avantis, Laika & The Cosmonauts,
> Man...Or Astro-
> > man?, The Weisstronauts, Chantays, The Penetrators and
> Shadowy Men on
> > a Shadowy Planet. Any other suggestions for some good
> stuff?
>
> Old school: Dick Dale (duh!), The Lively Ones, The
> (Original) Surfaris,
> Eddie & The Showmen
> New school: Jon & The Nightriders, Slacktone, The
> Volcanos, The
> Treblemakers, The Fathoms, The Halibuts, The Woodies, The
> Nebulas, The Space
> Cossacks....
>
> I'm leaving a bunch out...all the above are favorites of
> mine.
>
> BN
>
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> .
> Visit for
> archived messages, bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
>
>
>
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
> That should work very nice, MAOM used a "Rat" or simelar in their set up
> I think the used Twin reverbs and inbuilt reverb?. But should be very
> nice.
> There is a site devoted to the set up of some surf (inspired) guitar
> players which has a line up of their gear used. One of them is from
> MOAM. I guess Brain or someone else on this list can provide a link.
>
> Jerry S.
There is a site that has a database of players rigs:
They have Trace Reading's setup from the later MoAM? years. He used a Rat. I
believe Star Crunch used one too.
They also have an entry for Dick Dale.
BN
