Blue Star-My quest for "tone" continues

[macnik]

Here is my attempt once again to capture some of the elusive early tone produced by The Shadows and Abbey Road Studios.
I do hope you enjoy it.

As before I use a bare minimum of gear, my PodPro and Quad+. No etap2hw as yet or Meazzi, which would have made a made a massive contribution to getting the early sound.

Please enjoy it and approach it with an open mind and feel free to comment.




05 Blue Star.mp3

[trickytree]

One of my favourite Shadows tunes here played superbly, I think your sound is spot on! Thanks for sharing.


Ian

[loujones12]

Hi Mac. very good job. and yes very close to the Sound. however i feel there is a little too much Tremelo effect/echo. but for that its a very well done track. regards Lou

[somebodyelseuk]

Mac
I really liked it. The guitar probably sounds too good to sound like the original... it needs to be thinner.
The backing track... too clean, too 'hi fi', chorus on the rhythm guitar (acoustic would be better), bass too clear and clean, 'drums' too loud... IF you're going for the period feel/sound. You can't mix 'vintage' lead guitar with modern backing and expect it to sound 'authentic'. I don't get hung up on panning - that's down to how long you want your speakers to last.
Having said all of that, I really like this and in some ways, it's a shame people don't do more of their own thing instead of trying to be like the original.
Brilliantly played, great tone. Definitely something to be proud of.

Cheers, Julian

[davidn]

Blue Star is one of my favourites and you played it really well with a nice tone on the guitar.
The Bt and lead did not seem a part of each other somehow. I find it difficult to get all the levels right so that overall it sounds like a group and not a solo guitar with BT. I'm trying not to be too negative because overall you did a very good job.

Best regards

David

[macnik]

Good morning to all.

Ian....thank you for listening and response. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

Lou....thank you. I added some reverb to the solo guitar. I will remove it and just go with the Q+ and eftp. You're right, in retrospect it is somewhat overdone.

Julian....a lot to look at here, some of which I can control, some I can't. The backing track is what I'm stuck with as it's a commercial track, and I cannot adjust it in any way. All I can do is pan to centre on my recorder. I agree that the guitar could/should be thinner but when put on cd it somehow gets fuller javascript:add("%20???"). I have in fact got a second copy with a thinner lead part, but didn't post that one because I lost a lot of the nuances that were present on this one.

Thank you for such an in depth comment which is useful for further projects.

David....my thanks to you for your input. I understand and agree with your comment. Perhaps the solo guitar is too forward in the mix and as Julian suggests, remove the panning on the b/t to bring the instruments closer. This needs further work, so I'll persevere.

My thanks to all of you for taking the time to offer really constructive comments, and I'm pleased you feel that the sound on the guitar is getting close to the early '60s.

All the best

Ian

[somebodyelseuk]

Hi Ian.

It reads like I'm picking holes in your track - I didn't mean it like that. I personally think it sounds great, just not old.
Re: panning, some people pan things the same way as the originals - bass and drums all down one side, which is fine if you're playing on mono equipment. It's difficult to get a stereo image with so few instruments and not risk wrecking one speaker. I tend to use the reverb to create some width and double track my rhythm guitar(s) and then pan them out equally.
On the subject of reverb, if you feel it's too much, try reducing it's level rather than eliminating it... try it with and without.
The guitar tone is down to preference at the end of the day. I did some similar stuff with my Dad earlier in the year, with the intention of getting the original sound. Managed it easy enough, but grew to hate it, as he was getting a much better tone and it seemed a shame to waste it - that early '34346' sound is truly awful (I can get that from a £250 Indonesian Strat-a-like), it's like performing surgery on Marilyn Monroe in order to make her look like Ena Sharples!

Cheers, Julian

[macnik]

Hello Julian,

Thanks for your further reply. Please be assured that I have not taken any of your points as a downer, but accepted them as coming from one with experience giving me a helping hand. I am an amateur doing it for enjoyment and at the same time appreciative of all advice as constructive. I am very pleased that you feel the sound is a plus.

Regarding the rest of the track, as it's from a b/t on cd and I do not have the equipment to improve it. I have to take it as it comes. This is no excuse on my part as making it public I do not look for praise but accept views can vary between guitar players themselves, and even those with technical knowledge. Sorry I'm rambling on a bit here. You have shown me that I should be more discerning in my choice of b/t sourcing
and I will be so.

Your comment about the early sound of "34346" surprises me as I always thought Shadows fans thought it was brilliant! Is it the guitar's unrecorded sound you are referring to or the recordings. Can this be teenage euphoria....I feel the myth is about to be exposed...lol.

Once again your comments are constructive and I am noting them for future reference.

All the best
Ian