Equipment of the Shadows.

[fenderplucker]

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for the opportunity to bring together our collective knowledge of all things to do with The Shadows.

One particular interest is the gear that The Shadows have used over their long existence . I thought that maybe we could develop threads to cover the guitars used by Hank, Bruce and Jet (and subsequent bass palyers) and also the amps they used and echo units they used at various times. It would also be interesting to include whatever evidence we could cite (eg "as seen on the Cliff Richard show in 196X" etc, or as detailed in some book or article or even as seen in live peformance by someone.

I would thus like to suggest that we develop various threads such as:
Guitars of the Shadows: Hank
Guitars of the Shadows: Bruce
Guitars of the Shadows: Bass
Drums of the Shadows (anyone??)
Amps used by the Shadows
Echo units used by the Shadows.

Everyone is then invited to add their bits of information and build up a valuable knowledge base for all Shadows fans.

The format of the threads should be OK to get the ball rolling, but as the knowledge builds maybe someone could put it in a more comprehensive format, such as a table or spreadsheet?

To get the ball rolling I will try to start a couple of these with my incomplete knowledge and hope that others will also pick up the challenge.

Regards,

Paul.

[alanmckillop]

I've made a start on guitars and amps, but as for bass and drums, I'd need to research these a little before I make a fool of myself.

[Len]

Hi Everyone

This question didn't really fit under any of the other categories so rather than start a new thread, I chose to put it here;

I picked up a small booklet called 'Guitar Gods' a couple of weeks ago. The section on 'Hank Marvin' said he used a "vocoder" on 'Rockin' With Curly Leads'. I am playing that album (vinyl converted to MP3) now as I speak. I don't really know what a vocoder apart from the fact that it is some sort of "vocalising" effect. Can any one enlighten me? Also, was it used by the Shadows at any other time?

Regards
Len

[Tone]

Hi Len

Funnily enough, I too picked up the Guitar Gods book a couple of weeks ago - reduced to £2.99! I noticed the reference to the use of a vocoder on Rockin' With Curly Leads but without listening to the album again I can't think what tracks it was used on although I'm sure others will know. In addition, Rob Bradford's sleeve notes to the Shadows at Abbey Road album refer to "the judicious use of a vocoder" on the previously unreleased instrumental version of No, No Nina (the vocal version appeared on the Specs Appeal album). I've just listened to it for the first time in ages and you can quite clearly hear a synthesized/electronic "voice"singing (if that's the right word) "No, no Nina."

There are plenty of references on Google to vocoders. Have a look at this one:

digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2006/03/29/vocoder-tutorial-and-tips.html

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Tony

[Charlie Hall]

As far as I understand, a vocoder combines two different voices together and takes the pitch of the note from one of them. It seems that it was made popular by Herbie Hancock who used a keyboard of some kind to pitch his voice. It makes the voice sound synthesised on his records. I think one of Cher's more recent recordings had one too.
Regards,
Charlie

[Len]

Hi Tony Hi Charlie

Tony: Coincidentally, I was listening to 'No, no Nina' earlier and heard what I thought may have been a vocoder. In fact, that is no doubt what made me think of it because I immediately checked to confirm whether it was on the 'Rockin' With Curly Leads' album even though I knew it almost certainly wasn't.

Charlie: I remember the Cher recording and wondered whether that was the vocoder sound. I've got two or three Herbie Hancock CDs and might have a listen to those to see whether he used it on the recordings. At least, I know the sound to listen for now.

Incidentally, I am also reminded also about the use of the mellotron which artists like the Moody Blues used on occasions. That sound was pretty fashionable once. I believe the mellotron consisted of a series of taped voices with a different tone for each key on a keyboard. The voices were produced in a similar fashion to keyboards. They were apparently notoriously unreliable which is not really surprising, considering the general unreliability of taped material anyway, let alone the fact that the sounds were produced for each tone. I doubt whether the Shadows would have used those. Charlie or someone else might know otherwise.

Regards
Len

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Len,
I don't think the Mellotron was used by The Shadows, but it was used by The Beatles, I think on Strawberry Fields Forever.
Regards,
Charlie

[shadfan4]

If the "Cher" tune is "believe" then the effect was created using "Autotune" with a fast retune speed.

since that record, a number of songs have utilised the effect rather than the prime reason for it Ie: to bring the odd note back into pitch.

Mike

[Len]

Thanks for that Mike. There's a big discussion at the moment in the music business and and amongst fan club members as to who uses autotune on their vocals and who doesn't. You've probably heard about that too. I never thought of the possibility that "autotune" could be used for that purpose but then a lot of musos use phasing, flanging, delays etc. for weird sounding warble effect and so forth. Regards, Len

[perky1202]

Does anyone know what radio transmitter Hank uses on the Final Tour video for his guitars. I am thinking about getting an AKG GB40/SR40 Radio System.

Regards
Kevin

[perky1202]

So apart from the obvious things that we see Hank use on stage, I.E. his KCP Marvin amp his famous fiesta red strats and a TVS3 echo what other equipment is Hank currently using at the moment? Does anyone know?

Regards
Kevin

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Kevin,
Hank won't be using the KCP amp as there are none available for him to use.
I don't know about the other items, except of course the guitars.
Regards,
Charlie