How would you describe this tone

Jon Light (deceased) · From: Saugerties, NY

Assuming that
a) I have the correct player identified
b) you, reading this, have or know the album

I am listening to Al Perkins on the Gram Parsons GP album. "Still Feeling Blue" is a good specimen of the tone in question.
What is the guitar/amp rig? How would you describe this tone. I consider it extremely "....." I can't figure out extremely what.
I like it although it isn't my personal choice.
I'm always trying to harvest other peoples' word descriptions of specific concrete sounds, hoping to hone and calibrate the miserable science of word descriptions of sounds into something less subjective.

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Jon, you have the player right, but I can't begin to tell you what the rig is, though I used to know what instrument he was playing then. Then again, I used to know a lot of things, then.

Sounds like Al Perkins, that's what I think of when I hear that sound.

[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 03 April 2005 at 04:16 PM.]

David Yannuzzi · From: Pomona , New York, USA

Winnie Winston's Book has his codependent.Maybe it mentions what guitar he was using back then.-Dave

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

Sounds very "woody" or "twangy" to me.

John Steele (deceased) · From: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada

Is Fenderish a word ?
-John

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

Depending on the year pre 1971 Al used a Fender 1000 8 string. He recorded "Last Of The Red Hot Burrittos" live using the Fender and it is some amazing playing. I fronted the Burrittos in 1971 and saw Al playing the 1000. Thats when I decided that I was going to play steel guitar someday. He switched to a ZB Custom D-11 around 1972 through a Risson 1-12" amplifier. I think he told me he used a Fender Twin with the 1000. He is one on the reasons that I play ZB Customs today. Most all of his 1970's recordings for anyone were done using the D-11 ZB Custom.

[This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 03 April 2005 at 10:18 PM.]

John Lockney · From: New Market, Maryland, USA

Is this a single-coil or humbbucker sound ?

mike nolan · From: Forest Hills, NY USA

Jon,

I went to Al's website. There is an area where you can ask questions.... so I asked. Al's reply was......

Hi Mike,

I used an 11/10 Dbl Neck ZB Custom pedal steel with a Risson Amplifier.
Some of the recordings were also done direct and with a Pig Nose amp
miked up, something I never thought they'd ever use!

Thanks for the question, all the best!

AP

Jon Light (deceased) · From: Saugerties, NY

Great responses all around and especially, thanks, Mike. Cool.
My primary focus--and I'm not sure how much is gear related and how much is about eq settings--is on the frquency/timbre profile. There's something going on in the mids that I can't put my finger on. I'm not obsessed or anything. But I'd like to better understand specific freq areas and their affect on the overall sound.

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

There's Al (Scroll down, on the right). http://rissonamplifiers.com/_wsn/page2.html

mike nolan · From: Forest Hills, NY USA

Jon,

I owned a ZB at one time and that is kind of what it sounded like... sort of clear and bright in the mids but the treble is a bit round and not brittle. Like a reverse smiley face EQ curve. You notice that in the few cuts where the steel is really trebly, that it is also kind of thin... I think that is EQ going on in the mix stage.

That ZB sound is one of the sounds that I like.... and my Sho~Bud will do it. My PPs have a similar mid but the highs are a bit more aggressive. My Williams is bright all the way across with lots of string separation. I have found that if the guitar is not naturally in the ballpark, no amount of EQ will do the job completely........

Repeat after me....
I must buy a ZB....I must buy a ZB....I must buy a ZB....etc.

Jon Light (deceased) · From: Saugerties, NY

I've been close a coupla times--I've never seen anything prettier than some of the ZBs I've seen and I do believe I like that sound. But I'm wary---physical comfort (ie ergonomics) is pretty important to me. I have a PP that I just can't get comfortable with. Nothing I do seems to get the levers & pedals where I want them to be. It is my strong impression that a ZB is not the sort of guitar you buy with the intent to mess around with it until it feels just right. (My Carter fits me like a glove due to having it made to my personal specs and then further customizing it over the last few years.)
So I have a feeling that ZB just isn't in my cards unless I can sit down at one and really test drive it.
Anyway, thanks for the word descriptions on this. Maybe I now have a better notion of what ZB is all about.

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