Post by fenderplucker on May 31, 2022 3:02:30 GMT
I am probably not alone in having been slightly disappointed that, for many tunes, Hank’s sound in live performances such as the Final Tour and the Reunited tour did not replicate more closely those of the original recordings. Where was the percussive sound of the early tunes like Apache and FBI, where was the edginess of Frightened City and Man of Mystery, the warmth of Kon Tiki and Dance On, the bell-like sounds of Sleepwalk and Blue Star. Instead, by and large, we got a sort of generic Strat-Vox sound and mainly use of just the bridge pickup, albeit at least with the correct echo timings.
How is it that other iconic bands like Queen, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and many others manage to reproduce on stage more closely the sounds of the records that made them famous? I think that the answer lies in their attention to the detail of their rigs and playing styles. It is fascinating to Google the Rig Rundowns of artists like Joe Bonamassa, Richie Blackmore, Angus Young, The Edge, Slash, Brian May, Eric Johnson, Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, Peter Frampton and Carlos Santana, to name just a few. In many cases, whether heavy rock or clean, they generally use either the same, or vintage equivalents, of the gear that made them famous.
So here is my list of what I consider to be the ideal rig rundown for Hank.
First the guitars. The three Custom Strats that he used for these tours all had the same pickups and hence same overall sound. The different gauge strings had a slight impact on tone, but I suspect were mainly used for playability concerns. The only real tone variation came from occasional use of the Burns 6 and 12 strings. Instead, I would propose the following:
1. For early tunes up to Frightened City (May 1961): The original 34346, with an Oasis Strat as backup, both fitted with either 12’s or 13’s. Careful attention to string selection to get the percussive attack and restrained sustain, possibly even half round to get the effect of well-used strings.
2. For later tunes from mid 1961 to 1964: an early 1960’s Strat with a Rosewood board, and for backup a rosewood custom shop Strat fitted with CS54, 57/62, Kinman Magnum Opus 59 or Impersonator MV pickups, both fitted with 12’s. Maybe another custom shop Strat with the same pickups but fitted with 11’s, again for playability.
3. For the Burns period from 1964 to 1971: a 1964 or 1965 Marvin, with a Legend as backup. Also a 12-string and double 6, depending upon the set list.
4. For the more modern tunes, a couple of custom shop Strats fitted with Kinman AvN 59/62 (or Impersonator 54) and DiMarzio/Seymour Duncan pickups. Probably 11’s and/or 10’s.
5. A couple of acoustics, again depending upon the set list.
I have suggested modern instruments as backups to keep a lid on costs, but they would need to be selected for tone and playability. Guitar leads would be preferable, although a Shure radio link could be used if it employed the right capacitive loading and/or followed by some basic equalisation to maintain the tone.
Echo unit: It would be too risky to rely upon vintage drum or tape units for major concerts, and furthermore many would be required to cover the range of echoes used. So no surprises here: a programmable echo unit with true vintage tones and echoes like a TVS3 (here I am showing my obvious bias!). Also a second unit as backup in case a tube or something else should fail, since it would be used for just about all tunes. Midi control for both.
Amplifiers: The amplifiers used for these and most other Shadows concerts were just set and left unchanged throughout the concert, again limiting the tonal variety evident on the recordings of the various tunes. My choices are:
1. Early tunes (Apache to FBI): A 1960 vintage AC15 with EF86 and Goodmans Audiom 60 speaker.
2. Early 1961 tunes (Frightened City, Kon Tiki era): A 1960 TV front AC30/4 with a Goodmans Audiom 60 and a Celestion B024, separately miked up.
3. Early-mid 1961 tunes onwards (Peace Pipe, Wonderful Land etc.) A 1963/4 AC 30/6 top boost with Celestion T530 Blues and bass set at around ¼ and treble at ¾ , top cut to suit Inputs switched by midi controller either to Top Boost or Normal channels.
4. Another 1963/4 AC30/6 top boost but with bass and treble set near max and top cut to suit (Atlantis, South of the Border etc.).
All amps miked up just off axis to suit most tunes and signals fed to high quality mic preamps, thence to a midi switcher to select the appropriate amp/mic. Maybe amp 3 could have two mics: one near axis and a second further off-axis. No backup amplifiers since, at a pinch, others could be switched in should there be a failure in one.
Effects units, (either vintage or a programmable multi effect unit) depending upon the set list:
1. Volume/wah pedal (s) on stage (Argentina, Rodrigo, Janine, Lost City). Possibly both Morley and De Armond
2. Overdrive (Sasha, The Warlord)
3. Tremolo (Voice in the Wilderness)
4. Compression (Atlantis and many others to a varying degree)
5. Equalisation (to nail the recorded sounds)
6. Chorus/rotary (Janine)
7. Auto double tracking (Foot Tapper, Theme for Young Lovers)
8. Reverb
The effects units could be switched in either before or after the echo unit, though the ADT, compression, equalisation and reverb would likely follow the amplifier/mic midi switcher, and each selected by the midi switching unit. The compressor, equaliser and reverb would need to be particularly high quality (probably rack mount) units with the ability to have their parameters controlled by midi to suit each particular tune. Maybe even an original Altec RS124 just for Atlantis and the like.
The midi switching to suit the various tunes would be operated by a skilled audio technician who would also continuously monitor the final feeds to the main desk, on-stage or in-ear monitors and front of house sound to ensure authentic reproduction of the original sounds.
Finally, a comment on Hank’s playing style. As I demonstrated in the video www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXp9gMU0pLc Hank’s playing style has changed over the years from the raw energy of Apache and the early tunes to a more melodic, singing style. In order to faithfully reproduce that early sound he would need to revert to a style appropriate to the various tunes.
Obviously, now just a pipe dream but what are dreams for?
Paul.
How is it that other iconic bands like Queen, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and many others manage to reproduce on stage more closely the sounds of the records that made them famous? I think that the answer lies in their attention to the detail of their rigs and playing styles. It is fascinating to Google the Rig Rundowns of artists like Joe Bonamassa, Richie Blackmore, Angus Young, The Edge, Slash, Brian May, Eric Johnson, Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, Peter Frampton and Carlos Santana, to name just a few. In many cases, whether heavy rock or clean, they generally use either the same, or vintage equivalents, of the gear that made them famous.
So here is my list of what I consider to be the ideal rig rundown for Hank.
First the guitars. The three Custom Strats that he used for these tours all had the same pickups and hence same overall sound. The different gauge strings had a slight impact on tone, but I suspect were mainly used for playability concerns. The only real tone variation came from occasional use of the Burns 6 and 12 strings. Instead, I would propose the following:
1. For early tunes up to Frightened City (May 1961): The original 34346, with an Oasis Strat as backup, both fitted with either 12’s or 13’s. Careful attention to string selection to get the percussive attack and restrained sustain, possibly even half round to get the effect of well-used strings.
2. For later tunes from mid 1961 to 1964: an early 1960’s Strat with a Rosewood board, and for backup a rosewood custom shop Strat fitted with CS54, 57/62, Kinman Magnum Opus 59 or Impersonator MV pickups, both fitted with 12’s. Maybe another custom shop Strat with the same pickups but fitted with 11’s, again for playability.
3. For the Burns period from 1964 to 1971: a 1964 or 1965 Marvin, with a Legend as backup. Also a 12-string and double 6, depending upon the set list.
4. For the more modern tunes, a couple of custom shop Strats fitted with Kinman AvN 59/62 (or Impersonator 54) and DiMarzio/Seymour Duncan pickups. Probably 11’s and/or 10’s.
5. A couple of acoustics, again depending upon the set list.
I have suggested modern instruments as backups to keep a lid on costs, but they would need to be selected for tone and playability. Guitar leads would be preferable, although a Shure radio link could be used if it employed the right capacitive loading and/or followed by some basic equalisation to maintain the tone.
Echo unit: It would be too risky to rely upon vintage drum or tape units for major concerts, and furthermore many would be required to cover the range of echoes used. So no surprises here: a programmable echo unit with true vintage tones and echoes like a TVS3 (here I am showing my obvious bias!). Also a second unit as backup in case a tube or something else should fail, since it would be used for just about all tunes. Midi control for both.
Amplifiers: The amplifiers used for these and most other Shadows concerts were just set and left unchanged throughout the concert, again limiting the tonal variety evident on the recordings of the various tunes. My choices are:
1. Early tunes (Apache to FBI): A 1960 vintage AC15 with EF86 and Goodmans Audiom 60 speaker.
2. Early 1961 tunes (Frightened City, Kon Tiki era): A 1960 TV front AC30/4 with a Goodmans Audiom 60 and a Celestion B024, separately miked up.
3. Early-mid 1961 tunes onwards (Peace Pipe, Wonderful Land etc.) A 1963/4 AC 30/6 top boost with Celestion T530 Blues and bass set at around ¼ and treble at ¾ , top cut to suit Inputs switched by midi controller either to Top Boost or Normal channels.
4. Another 1963/4 AC30/6 top boost but with bass and treble set near max and top cut to suit (Atlantis, South of the Border etc.).
All amps miked up just off axis to suit most tunes and signals fed to high quality mic preamps, thence to a midi switcher to select the appropriate amp/mic. Maybe amp 3 could have two mics: one near axis and a second further off-axis. No backup amplifiers since, at a pinch, others could be switched in should there be a failure in one.
Effects units, (either vintage or a programmable multi effect unit) depending upon the set list:
1. Volume/wah pedal (s) on stage (Argentina, Rodrigo, Janine, Lost City). Possibly both Morley and De Armond
2. Overdrive (Sasha, The Warlord)
3. Tremolo (Voice in the Wilderness)
4. Compression (Atlantis and many others to a varying degree)
5. Equalisation (to nail the recorded sounds)
6. Chorus/rotary (Janine)
7. Auto double tracking (Foot Tapper, Theme for Young Lovers)
8. Reverb
The effects units could be switched in either before or after the echo unit, though the ADT, compression, equalisation and reverb would likely follow the amplifier/mic midi switcher, and each selected by the midi switching unit. The compressor, equaliser and reverb would need to be particularly high quality (probably rack mount) units with the ability to have their parameters controlled by midi to suit each particular tune. Maybe even an original Altec RS124 just for Atlantis and the like.
The midi switching to suit the various tunes would be operated by a skilled audio technician who would also continuously monitor the final feeds to the main desk, on-stage or in-ear monitors and front of house sound to ensure authentic reproduction of the original sounds.
Finally, a comment on Hank’s playing style. As I demonstrated in the video www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXp9gMU0pLc Hank’s playing style has changed over the years from the raw energy of Apache and the early tunes to a more melodic, singing style. In order to faithfully reproduce that early sound he would need to revert to a style appropriate to the various tunes.
Obviously, now just a pipe dream but what are dreams for?
Paul.
