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Topic: The Elusive Charlie Christian Tone |
Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
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Posted 18 Mar 2016 9:53 am |
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Why do people like it?
Because if you listen to Jazz and have listened to Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, or Wes Montgomery to name a few they live by that sound.
So using a Gibson eh150 with original CC pickups will give you that sound as that is what he used
HOWEVER I am trying to adjust my tone, drive, compression and volume plus a little reverb to see how close I can get. My current George L 12 string pickup offer quite a range on it so its worth a go to see just how close and warm but mid I can get it.
Listen to Barney Kessel especially and check the tone.
What are your thoughts?
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Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com
"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist" |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 18 Mar 2016 10:52 am
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First thing, I'd lose the picks. The crisp attack works against that sound, IMO. I'm nowhere near my guitar, but I think it wouldn't be out of reach.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Bud Angelotti
From:
Larryville, NJ, USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2016 12:43 pm
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And the amp, and the cable, and the old black diamond strings, and the method by which the recordings were created, and on & on.
It sure is alot of fun trying to emulate a particular sound. 
I had a period some time ago trying to emulate this guy >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tal_Farlow
I got in the ballpark and was seated way out in left field. Lotsa fun too!
Cheers!
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Just 'cause I look stupid, don't mean I'm not. |
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Jean-Sebastien Gauthier
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 22 Mar 2016 5:55 am
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| I think lot of this kind of tone come from small tube amp! I have a Gibson BR9 that give me that tone. For small bar I have a Stromberg-Carlson model 32 PA amp rebuild by Skip Simmons that give that tone at higher volume. I also can get close with a 1971 Fender Twin with just 2 power tube and one speaker but the response is not exactly the same. So to me the important is to use a tube amp and drive the tube to have compression when you do chord but clean single notes. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2016 8:05 am
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If you're after the original (actually Charlie) tone, there's as much to it as chasing, say, Buddy Emmons… among other things as mentioned driving a smaller tube amp hard, a lot of downstrokes in picking attack. I'm a Christian nut and after listening for years I'm convinced he was "hearing" a horn playing in his head shaping his attack and tone. It's a beautiful, fat, fluid thing.
One thing I've often mentioned to students is that Charlie's licks are fantastic for pedal and lap steel guitar. Swinging and hip and will fit over almost anything with dominant chords… i.e.; everything!
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2016 9:19 am
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what you hear on the recordings is probably not even close to what he sounded like if you were sitting there live. too much is lost/changed by the recording technology of that day.
so. you look at the sound of the CC pickup on more modern recordings and you know what the pickup sounded like. listen to hank garland jazz winds. listen to kessel, burrell, wes... and all the other players who used that pickup.
what you are amazed at is the clarity of it and the fact that especially in the low end the harder you hit the string it just gets louder and brighter without distorting.
then you have to factor this in. the half life of those cobalt magnets. an original CC pickup does not sound the same now as it sounded 70 or so years ago just from magnet degradation.
i always wanted that sound. i bought an original late 30s gibson ES150 and a 70s ES175 CC both with the bar pickup. i couldnt even use them on gigs they were so loud with 60cycle hum. the amounts of AC fields in the 30s was nothing compared to now. those guitars in the same room as a computer monitor...forget it. i sold them.
been there...done that...i just soon listen to the recordings than deal with them. |
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