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Post by fenderplucker on Jun 11, 2019 4:06:41 GMT
Hi Allan,
Great video and I will correct the TVS site accordingly. It raises the question of when did Hank get the ex Tony Hicks sunburst Strat?
Regards, Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Jun 10, 2019 1:28:29 GMT
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Post by fenderplucker on May 26, 2019 9:08:42 GMT
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Post by fenderplucker on Nov 6, 2018 13:06:46 GMT
Hi Ian,
It is a top boost and that is the channel that Hank always uses.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Nov 6, 2018 1:54:25 GMT
Correct, with ceramic Celestions.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Nov 2, 2018 1:19:25 GMT
Hi Rob,
I only played the two guitars, I didn't take any electrical measurements.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Nov 1, 2018 13:26:52 GMT
I compared it directly with 34346 during the Perth rehearsals for the Australian leg of the Reunited world tour and they are very similar. Probably within the normal range of variation of those early Strats.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Sept 25, 2018 10:10:20 GMT
Hi Mick,
I'm afraid that I have no experience with wireless systems, but it would be good to have one (with any pickups) with a switchable loading capacitance to get the right sound on the attack.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Sept 25, 2018 4:26:11 GMT
An Update on the impersonator pickups.
I have done some further testing and found that with a low capacitance guitar cable, the difference between the Impersonator 56 and CS54 pickups, particularly on the lower wound strings, vanishes completely.
This is because the Impersonators have a higher inductance than the Fenders and a normal cable pushes the pickup resonance to lower frequencies losing the "bite" in the top end.
With input from Phil Coggan, I have also directly compared them to vintage 62 and 63 Strats and the differences, again with a low capacitance cable, are very small, if any.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Sept 9, 2018 9:38:04 GMT
Hi Everyone, Whilst corresponding with Phil Coggan recently about picking positions and so on, he mentioned that in the 1960 mimed video of Apache, Hank played (mimed) the middle damped section of the melody up around the 7th fret, whereas I had played it around the nut (just like the main melody) without a second thought. I then checked the live performance videos on You Tube and sure enough that is where he always plays it! Funny the obvious things you miss!! Comparing the demo version I posted above to the original there is indeed a tonal difference in this section so I did it again playing it where Hank does up around the 7th fret and I think that section now sounds much closer to the original. I didn't labour too much over exactly matching Hank's picking since the main aim of the exercise is to demo the tone of the Impersonator 56 pickups. Apache take 2: app.box.com/s/2xocpdnd9qw9c6bbirdxpnls1gn06fpiPaul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Sept 4, 2018 7:36:51 GMT
Hi Adrian,
I haven't tried the Impersonator fat 50's so I'm afraid I can't help. From the info and demos on the site they would seem to be a good choice if you want to go for a more "pushed" sound with a bit of distortion etc.
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Sept 1, 2018 9:27:14 GMT
Hi Matthew,
You are correct, Gary was using a Roland Cube 60, a fabulous sounding transistor amplifier.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Aug 30, 2018 10:31:44 GMT
First a disclaimer: I have no business connection to Kinman and got involved in the testing of the Kinman Impersonator pickups only through helping Hank to get a more vintage sound for the Reunited world tour and following CD. There have been some queries about these pickups on the chat sites and so I thought that the following might be helpful.
Prior to the tour, Chris Kinman sent over some early prototypes that were on the right track but not yet developed enough for Hank’s use. So we evaluated Fender Custom Shop 54 and 57/62 pickups and a couple of other ones that shall remain nameless and Hank finally settled on the CS54’s for the tour and CD. Later on he wanted to return a bit more to his modern sound, and he had me refit the FV-HMS Kinmans for a few tracks on the Without a Word CD. What he really needed was a pickup that could encompass the sound of both. During this time Chris had finished developing the Impersonator 54 and A56 pickups and sent some for Hank to evaluate. I put them into two of his Strats and we did a comparison with the FV-HMS, CS54 and the Seymour Duncan/DiMarzio sets fitted to some of the Fender Custom Shop Signature range. To cut a long story short, Hank decided upon the Impersonator 54’s, these being useful for both his current and vintage tunes and they are now fitted to his 3 Strats used for performance and recording.
However, I was interested in doing a more detailed comparison of the Impersonator 54 and A56’s with the CS54 pickups that I had been using for some time in my Strat. So we swapped them around and recorded a number of tunes with each pickup, featuring the neck (Peace Pipe), middle (Sleepwalk, Blue Star) and bridge (Apache, Kon Tiki) pickups in each case. We compared both the sound as-recorded and also equalised a bit where necessary to reproduce Hank’s original tone. I am slowly putting together a presentation comparing the sounds and should be able to post this soon.
What we found was the Impersonator A56’s are very close to the CS54’s, maybe just a dB down at 2.5 kHz. Here I need to add that the CS54’s can sound a bit thin and brittle if not set up quite close to the strings (nudging into “Stratitus” territory) and this was the setting used. It is also the setting that we use to get quite close to Hank’s vintage tone, as I hope is evident on the numerous tunes on the TVS Juke Box, most of which were done with my guitar. Even so, the A56’s had a slightly more solid mid-range that I think got even closer to Hank’s original tone. In comparison, the Impersonator 54’s had slightly less top (just a few dB less at 2.5kHz) but a very similar everywhere else. In fact, with a small amount of equalisation they could all be made to sound almost identical. Also, with a bit of top cut they sound very similar to the FV-HMS, giving Hank the best of both worlds!
So Hank has gone with the Impersonator 54’s while I have settled on the A56’s on the basis that it is best to use equalisation to remove frequencies rather than try to add them. Either way I think that Chris has done an exceptional job reproducing the sound of single coils in a noiseless format.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Dec 6, 2017 9:22:53 GMT
Hi Matthew,
Yes, we have done the recording and Spiro is just editing a video at this moment, thanks for asking. Should be out in a week or so.
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Dec 5, 2017 2:57:01 GMT
Hi Everyone,
I recall that this was discussed some time ago on this site and my analysis of the echo patterns was as follows:
1. The centre channel (L+R) has a delay of 610 mSec and this triggers rapid repeats at about 117 mSec, which are repeated at 610 mSec intervals (decaying). 2. The L and R channels have similarly delays but at about 240 mSec, and these then trigger regular repeats at 157 and 168 mSec in the the L and R channels respectively, and these are repeated every 240 mSec decaying.
Just how these were achieved on the recording is not clear, it could have been by mixing or using multiple echo units. The mention of the EC-3 on the TVS website was only made in response to Hank's quote, though as mentioned above there are some uncertainties as it was released sometime in 1988 while The Snowman was recorded in late 1987 (could he been given an early example?). It could equally have been done with multiple RE-301's, though the long 610mSec delay is just out of range of a single 301 (unless it was running a bit slow)or it could have come from a 501/555 that were also available at that time.
Something that sounds similar can be achieved with a single programmable echo unit with echoes at 130, 245, 450, 610 and 710 mSec, with echo attenuations 8, 8, 6, 0 and 1 dB respectively and feedback from the 610 echo.
There are other examples of echoes produced by editing and/or multiple machines, notably Janine (1983) and Raining in My Heart (1996) that have different echoes in the L and R channels.
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Sept 9, 2017 13:53:52 GMT
Hi Oswald,
as I mentioned on the Perth site, Hank is playing a Gypsy Jazz concert on Oct 15th with Gary Taylor, but it starts at about 3.00 in the afternoon and goes to about 5.00. If you are around then it is at the Navy Club in Freemantle and I think you can just get a ticket at the door.
The Perth Shadows club have their regular meetings later, on the last Tuesday of the month, so unfortunately you will miss it.
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Sept 5, 2017 9:36:21 GMT
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Post by fenderplucker on Sept 4, 2017 2:15:59 GMT
Hi Oswald,
I have responded on the Perth site.
Regards,
paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Aug 7, 2017 0:09:57 GMT
Hi Roger,
links like: app.box.com/s/j07n89h4wccwa6h8y6eo9kdhx98fjfzy don't work, but Apache VX2 and Peace Pipe VX2 do work OK.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Aug 6, 2017 14:09:59 GMT
Hi Roger,
I still get the same message: This shared file or folder link has been removed or is unavailable to you.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Aug 6, 2017 1:58:21 GMT
Hi,
I cannot open any of the Box sound files. I just get the following message:
"This shared file or folder link has been removed or is unavailable to you". Does this mean that Australia has been excommunicated??
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on May 28, 2017 11:49:52 GMT
Hi Joe,
The AC30 in Hank's studio (from the mid 1970's) has a pair of grey ceramic Celestions. I very much doubt that cones were ever changed and one from a different manufacturer probably wouldn't fit anyway.
I have no idea what valves would have been in the original AC15's, most probably just whatever they had to hand at the time. His current amp has mainly JJ tubes in the preamp and Electroharmonix (I think) in the output. I don't know what were in the JMI's he used on the Reunited tour.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on May 25, 2017 11:50:53 GMT
Hi,
Hank was definitely NOT using flat-wounds. I don't think that he browses any of the Shadow forums and I am just a friend who keeps his amplifiers and echoes sorted and also helps with his pickups as needed.
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on May 25, 2017 6:03:30 GMT
I forgot to add that some tracks were completed with the CS54's and some with the Kinmans. Can you tell which is which?
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on May 24, 2017 12:40:55 GMT
Hi Joe,
They are his original FV-HMS set, comprising AVn-64 / AVn-63.
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on May 24, 2017 2:42:43 GMT
Hi Steve, Mike,
I was with Hank at the early stage of recording his latest CD and he said that he wanted a smoother sound, rather than the more vintage sound of the CS54's he used on the Reunited tour. So I swapped them out for the Kinmans he had been using previously.
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Feb 11, 2017 2:39:35 GMT
Hi Phil,
Great job, looks very neat and professional. Is the front panel really green or is it just a reflection of my envious face?
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Jan 25, 2017 6:35:05 GMT
Hi Rolf,
played with real feeling and an excellent sound. I can almost smell the cowboys!
Regards,
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Dec 16, 2016 13:51:12 GMT
And about 95% playing ability! Any details on the amp?
Paul.
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Post by fenderplucker on Dec 16, 2016 1:07:04 GMT
Hi Roger,
Great playing and sound on these two classics. How much of that excellent tone is due to the Joyo and how much the amp?
Regards,
Paul.
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