pic of Paul Franklin studio setup

[David L. Donald]

Glad you had fun in a great room.
I will be doing one of my rooms in rock also.
An nice crisp, but diffuse sound. D. Don

[Bo Legg]

Great picture and great topic.
The cartage fee thing is really informative.
Really puts me in perspetive.

The only cartage I get is they hand me one of these and tell me to go around back.

[Larry Bressington]

I'll bet paul has a rig at every studio!

[Don Drummer]

Hey D.Don. Someone told me the "Stone Room" idea originated from Led Z's drummer. I never got the straight story why the trking room had one. Thought it might be for choral vocals. I didn't play in the room itself. They isolated my amps in there. The main room, very well appointed, with great wood siding and lots of room, is where the drummer, bass player and I set up. They also had three other sizable iso rooms for keys, fiddle and guitar. The stone room was the most "90 degree" space at this recording facility. Don D.

[David L. Donald]

The most famous, if not first, stone room was at the Town House in London.
It can be heard most impresively on Phil Colin's
'In The Air Tonight'. When those toms kick in with
that HUGE drums sound, it started a trend for those rooms.

Sadly the Town House room was torn out to make another studio.
A gross mistake in my opinion.

I am building a smaller version, like a saltbox house on it's side, only two 90 dgree walls.
One will be damped the other left reactive.

[David Hartley]

There's an important bit of kit on top of that rack case in that second picture.........



David Hartley

[Francesco Porcu]

Hi guys, after a long search I found the two cabinets you see in the picture, but only Paul knows exactly among these speakers that peavey installed in those booths at the time, whoever owns them of guitarists inside those booths had these speakers, it would be interesting to understand which model Paul used on tour with the DS, that sound is particularly unique in the world, obviously there are his golden hands first, then comes everything else. Greetings Francesco

[Francesco Porcu]

There's an important bit of kit on top of that rack case in that second picture.........



David Hartley

Hi David that top piece in the rack you see is a parametric EQ from Sony

[Tim Harr]

That Boogie/MOSValve rig is very old. Today, Paul is using the Little Walter rig in the studio.

[Ron Funk]

Go to @ 10:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyT_u4LJa5M

[Francesco Porcu]

That Boogie/MOSValve rig is very old. Today, Paul is using the Little Walter rig in the studio.

Hi Tim yes it is true today he uses Little Walter as a tube head, but Paul's sound from the 90s and early 2000s is the top of his sound for me, and I think many fell in love with that sound there. I play in a big Dire Straits tribute band and they play the DS big tour of 1992 and I do the parts that Paul did, so I'm looking for that 90's sound you get with original equipment from those years, I have tried an Eminence PF350 but I didn't like a dark and closed sound, while the Peavey 1201-8 the model with the black dust ball for me that speaker is unsurpassed and he used it in the 90s with two Peawey 1x12 cabinets there are photos while he plays live and you notice it. Now it would be interesting if Paul said what speakers were in those two Peavey caps 212 MCs that he used on tour with the DS. Francesco
PS: This you hear for me is the best sound Paul ever had from the 90s to the early 2000s....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwZRpLgUjoc

[Ben Thomas]

That Boogie/MOSValve rig is very old. Today, Paul is using the Little Walter rig in the studio.

Hi Tim yes it is true today he uses Little Walter as a tube head, but Paul's sound from the 90s and early 2000s is the top of his sound for me, and I think many fell in love with that sound there. I play in a big Dire Straits tribute band and they play the DS big tour of 1992 and I do the parts that Paul did, so I'm looking for that 90's sound you get with original equipment from those years, I have tried an Eminence PF350 but I didn't like a dark and closed sound, while the Peavey 1201-8 the model with the black dust ball for me that speaker is unsurpassed and he used it in the 90s with two Peawey 1x12 cabinets there are photos while he plays live and you notice it. Now it would be interesting if Paul said what speakers were in those two Peavey caps 212 MCs that he used on tour with the DS. Francesco
PS: This you hear for me is the best sound Paul ever had from the 90s to the early 2000s....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwZRpLgUjoc

Hi Francesco,
In my opinion the tone I hear on your playing on your channel, both live with your band and recording alone, is extremely close to the PF Dire Straits tone.

[Francesco Porcu]

That Boogie/MOSValve rig is very old. Today, Paul is using the Little Walter rig in the studio.

Hi Tim yes it is true today he uses Little Walter as a tube head, but Paul's sound from the 90s and early 2000s is the top of his sound for me, and I think many fell in love with that sound there. I play in a big Dire Straits tribute band and they play the DS big tour of 1992 and I do the parts that Paul did, so I'm looking for that 90's sound you get with original equipment from those years, I have tried an Eminence PF350 but I didn't like a dark and closed sound, while the Peavey 1201-8 the model with the black dust ball for me that speaker is unsurpassed and he used it in the 90s with two Peawey 1x12 cabinets there are photos while he plays live and you notice it. Now it would be interesting if Paul said what speakers were in those two Peavey caps 212 MCs that he used on tour with the DS. Francesco
PS: This you hear for me is the best sound Paul ever had from the 90s to the early 2000s....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwZRpLgUjoc

Hi Francesco,
In my opinion the tone I hear on your playing on your channel, both live with your band and recording alone, is extremely close to the PF Dire Straits tone.

Hi Ben, thank you for writing to me and above all for appreciating my tone, I've been working on it for a few years to get that tone you hear in my videos, but I guarantee you that live the rat is spatial.. This I owe it to the great Paul who has always helped everyone understand so many important details about his equipment and the fact that the sound comes from the hands, this is a sacred thing that Paul always says.Francesco

[Jeff Peterson]

I was fortunate enough to attain a ‘first call’ status at several studios in Houston circa late 70s thru the 80s. Was honored to work with some legendary(at least in Texas for sure) producers—the great(s) Bill Holford, Heughy Meaux, A.V. Middelstat, etc. I remember many full days, and nights going from studio to studio and I don’t ever remember thinking it was too much work. We all just did it. Mark Chesnut was a long session, half of us had to go on to Sugar Hill..we just helped each other load and got going. Super guy Andy Bradly(engineer) just carried on like we were’nt 40 minutes late. Ahh the old days! I would guess that if we could have had cartage then, we'd all have been on board for sure!

[Franklin]

To answer a few questions,

Those Peavey speakers were loaded with Black Widow speakers. Never used Celestion speakers although they sound great...
I am amused by how players try to define my 90's sound as being separate from my tone today... Today can get whatever tone I desire. During those direct to digital days, I could not say that. The only gear we could use was gear that was ultra quiet.

The difference they hear between the 90's and today stems from the recording process itself.

The 90's were recorded using Sony and Mitsubishi digital recorders...I hear them as very harsh, thin, and abrasive ways to capture music. The digital process was all about eliminating noise in the studio which (Thank God) ran its course once Protools entered the fray. Everyone finally learned "Noise and Leakage" were the musicians friend not musics enemy...

I seek out warmer tones that can cut through the mix...Analogue warmth is more pleasing than digital to my ears...I can get anything I want including that 90's sound from my present rig. I can not duplicate the process that recorded the 90's, nor can anyone here unless they are recorded through those digital recorders. If I toured with DS again I would use my Lil Walter as I did on the last MK solo project. The gear I use now offers up more possibilities.

Paul

[Brett Lanier]

The difference they hear between the 90's and today stems from the recording process itself.

Makes a lot of sense. I hear a big difference between tunes like "Don't Rock the Jukebox" and "River of Love". Less so between "River of Love" and the what's been recorded more recently with the Little Walter amps. (I'm assuming you were still using the Mesa/BK Butler rig for River of Love).

[Franklin]

Brett,
Thanks...

"Don't Rock The Jukebox" was recorded with the Mesa/Mosvalve combo Through a Mitsubishi digital

"River of Love" was recorded with my first venture into the Lil Walter 50 watt amp (Just two knobs One is a volume the other is a tone knob) through a Studer analogue tape. We were still capturing Straits sound.

The Lil Walter 89 I use now is a better sounding amp

Paul

[Francesco Porcu]

To answer a few questions,

Those Peavey speakers were loaded with Black Widow speakers. Never used Celestion speakers although they sound great...
I am amused by how players try to define my 90's sound as being separate from my tone today... Today can get whatever tone I desire. During those direct to digital days, I could not say that. The only gear we could use was gear that was ultra quiet.

The difference they hear between the 90's and today stems from the recording process itself.

The 90's were recorded using Sony and Mitsubishi digital recorders...I hear them as very harsh, thin, and abrasive ways to capture music. The digital process was all about eliminating noise in the studio which (Thank God) ran its course once Protools entered the fray. Everyone finally learned "Noise and Leakage" were the musicians friend not musics enemy...

I seek out warmer tones that can cut through the mix...Analogue warmth is more pleasing than digital to my ears...I can get anything I want including that 90's sound from my present rig. I can not duplicate the process that recorded the 90's, nor can anyone here unless they are recorded through those digital recorders. If I toured with DS again I would use my Lil Walter as I did on the last MK solo project. The gear I use now offers up more possibilities.

Paul

Hi Paul, just now I read your intervention on our post where we talked about the two Peavey cabinets that you used as you always said in the old posts with the DS both in the studio and throughout the tour, you also said that they were cabinets intended to guitarists who wanted some Marshal, but you never wrote that inside yours they had loaded some 12 Black Widows. Guitarists have been using Celestion for a lifetime and not black widows so the belief was that there were celestions inside since on internet in every cab of those as you can see there are Celestions, don't worry nobody wants to steal any secrets from you, here you share passions and you help each other to get a nice sound, then each steelere will have its own tone, ( as Paul Franklin says the tone comes from our hands ) so you should be calm because there is only one Paul Franklin in the world, but many of us in the 90s listening to DS records and live shows fell in love with this The sound of the pedal steel guitar is such a fascinating instrument. You know better than many how many sacrifices it takes to learn to play that diabolical instrument, and when one comes to learn he also likes to have that sound he fell in love with or at least get close to him. The sound you have with The Nothing hill Billies is beautiful but different from what I hear on the DS tour, I like what I play there and I would like to have a good tone in my lives with my big DS tribute band, that's all but no one wants to steal anything from anyone but only to share this great passion always with the utmost respect for everyone. You have given many teachings, you have passed on to many musicians the passion for the pedal steel guitar, and you must be proud of this .. Best regards from Italy Francesco

[Roy Carroll]

The Paul Franklin tone I love the most is from his Christmas album. What gear are you using on this cut? I love this tone! Wish I had it. sounds like it is through a Fender of some kind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBa4lfKL1L4

[Franklin]

Roy,
The Christmas album is the same Mesa/Mosvalve rig...It was recorded digitally using Tascam DA88's. When I mixed it at home I accidentally mixed it out of phase...When it was mastered they flipped it back into phase which gave the CD an overall different tone. How music is recorded kind of matters to capturing players personal tone. Both Jay Dee and John Hughey liked their speakers out of phase...The engineers will typically flip them into phase but that creates a slight difference.

Francesco,
Using the word "steal" seems to be implying I am intentionally hiding info about my tone. I am not and never have...
Just want to make that fact very clear...

[Brett Lanier]

"River of Love" was recorded with my first venture into the Lil Walter 50 watt amp (Just two knobs One is a volume the other is a tone knob) through a Studer analogue tape. We were still capturing Straits sound.

The Lil Walter 89 I use now is a better sounding amp

It's a great sound. Not to get too off topic but I wonder if it's the longest steel solo on a number 1? (not counting Sleepwalk)

[Francesco Porcu]

Roy,
The Christmas album is the same Mesa/Mosvalve rig...It was recorded digitally using Tascam DA88's. When I mixed it at home I accidentally mixed it out of phase...When it was mastered they flipped it back into phase which gave the CD an overall different tone. How music is recorded kind of matters to capturing players personal tone. Both Jay Dee and John Hughey liked their speakers out of phase...The engineers will typically flip them into phase but that creates a slight difference.

Francesca,
Using the word "steal" seems to be implying I am intentionally hiding info about my tone. I am not and never have...
Just want to make that fact very clear...

Hello dear Paul, thank you for replying to my message, my name is Francesco and not Francesca, I don't speak English but I write in Italian and I translate with google translate, obviously when he translates my words into Italian it comes out a bit of a mess and I apologize if some words google translates very badly, I hope you can understand this, I have never written that you hide anything from anyone nor intentionally steal anything from anyone, I would never allow myself with anyone, I believe and I am sure that translation from Italian into English is very wrong, I'm just talking about calm and serene things and that we all try to help each other to find a pleasant tone for our ears. I hope now google doesn't mistranslate my message to you, indeed in my message I thanked you for your teachings which have been and will always be precious for me and for many steelers in the world. Best regards Francesco

[Franklin]

Hi Francesco,
Francesca was a typo of which I am very sorry for the mistake...Translating from one language into another can be problematic...

I assure you nothing I say is meant in anger or frustration...I only try to clarify misconceptions before they get out of hand.

About the 90's tone..I used the same gear throughout the 90's yet there are many different recorded tones..On the DS album "On Every Street" I never recorded with those Peavey cabinets..Instead I used 2 Pacific single closed back cabs with BWs for every track except "Heavy Fuel"... I recorded through Mark's Soldano amp with delays for that one song.

The tour live recording "On The Night" was where I recorded with those Peavey cabs...Also the engineer took direct lines so that he could re-amp my steel when the leakage or noise became a problem in certain songs so there is no telling what speakers and cabs were used for all the tracks

All the best
Paul Franklin

[Roy Carroll]

Thanks Paul for your explanations. We as steel players are always looking for a new tidbit to help us advance. I always appreciate your input. Thanks for what you do for the community.