Horseshoe Pickup / Sierra mp3

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 29 Jul 2003 3:00 pm

I finally got my stuff out of storage ... so against my better judgement, I added a "Tune" to my website .... played on my Sierra with our Horseshoe Magnet Pickup (cryogenic version).

I have had alot of requests to hear a sample ... so y'all will have to settle for me until I can get this steel into the hands of someone who can play ...

Here is a direct link to the file ...

Sierra w/ Horseshoe Pickup mp3

Its a simple home recording of the 1936 song Indian Love Call... Just the Steel to a Hilton volume pedal to a 135 watt Fender Twin (simple BIAB rhythm track in the backround).

No reverb, effects, processing, etc....

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www.horseshoemagnets.com

Terry Farmer · Post by **Terry Farmer** » 29 Jul 2003 3:51 pm

Rick,
Your playing and the pickup sound good to me. I've got an order in for an 8-string horseshoe right now. After hearing that clip, I'm getting anxious! Keep up the good work.

Mike D · Post by **Mike D** » 29 Jul 2003 5:45 pm

Sweet!

Dennis Olearchik · Post by **Dennis Olearchik** » 29 Jul 2003 7:13 pm

Rick,

I really enjoyed your playing and the song.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 30 Jul 2003 8:00 am

Thank you ... y'all are way too kind

oj hicks · Post by **oj hicks** » 30 Jul 2003 8:29 am

Hey Rick!

Great job. You sure have an accurate touch on those slants. I have a friend here in Birmingham who, like me, loves JB. He saw him at the St. Louis show several years ago, and said... "Man...what he can do with that bar...just makes you wanta step on his hands!" Of course he was kidding as he is as big a JB fan as I am. And he is a fine pedal picker. But when I say... "Man, that piece on yer website makes me wanta step on yer hands!"...it is a compliment. Again...great job.

ojhicks

Jesse Pearson · Post by **Jesse Pearson** » 30 Jul 2003 9:05 am

Very nice Rick. The pickup sounds great as does your playing. I would love to hear that steel going thru your "film editing lunch box amp", kinda hair of the dog slight overdrive pushing it sound. Thanks...

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 30 Jul 2003 5:13 pm

"Man, that piece on yer website makes me wanta step on yer hands!"

Oakley, a 265 lb offensive guard beat you to it ... in a 1974 high school football game (we used those big metal tipped cleats in those days). My right thumb is fine and my index can hit a string but the rest is only good for mutin'

Jesse, I love the Magnasync Moviola but that rascal HUMS like a schizophrenic bumble bee on a summer day.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 31 Jul 2003 9:24 am

Very nice, Rick. My kids are digging it too. I agree with Jesse, too, that I'd like to hear those tubes glowing a little (just a tad--maybe you're saving that for the live album), although this recording gives a good opportunity to hear the wide tonal range of the pickup.

Page Wood · Post by **Page Wood** » 31 Jul 2003 10:41 am

Hey Rick- sweet!! Speaking of HUMS, I got a chance to do some recording- here's my report:
I have acoustics, antiques, and modern electrics- and like the live sounds in that order. In the studio, the opposite was true! Acoustics were a nightmare of pick and bar noise (gotta work on that), contact mics crackled and buzzed- the antiques that had such a great room sound before now hummed and fritzed.
Star of the show: JB Frypan w/ Rickyshoes!
When compared to a real Ric, the JB had sounded a little thin, but we fixed that with a little EQ in 2 seconds- and it was much more versatile in getting different sounds- the famous Ric "throaty-ness" was harder to get around.
Thank you Rick and Jason- your pickup not only sounds great, but it records CLEAN!
I would have you guys convert my Sierra,
but (as bOb has mentioned) the GeorgeL has its own sound- but anyone with a JB should consider a re-shoe.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 31 Jul 2003 2:50 pm

My kids are digging it too

My biggest fans are a 3 yr old and a 1 yr old ... but they think Barney (the purple dinosaur; not Isaacs) is wonderful too.

Page, I'm glad the JB worked out for you in the studio ... you were the first to get one and was very patient as the original "bugs" were being ironed out.

I know exactly what you mean about CLEAN recording ... Jasons bobbins are superior to the originals in many ways ... he is an ARTIST !!

Mike, I was goofin' around today and made a sonogram of one of the sustained notes from the tune. Its "zeroed" in to the 2.5K range, were the vibrato pattern is clearest ...

Rate = 6 Hz
Extent = about 50 cents
Onset after 0.167 sec (about 1 cycle)

Not as fast or wide as Andy Iona's ... but I'm "workin' on it" ..

Thamks again for all the nice comments.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 1 Aug 2003 4:34 am

Nice recording, Rick! Sometimes we make strides in our playing that we don't even notice because we're so close to it. I hear a noticeable difference in intonation and expression from some of your earlier recordings. Immersion in the Cumquat catalog has done good things for your musicality. Keep up the good work!

Jackie Anderson · Post by **Jackie Anderson** » 1 Aug 2003 8:17 am

I have to add a kudo. I have been pretty busy at the office this week, and don't usually play music aloud, but since I was all alone, I played your "simple home recording" the other evening right after you posted it, and it was just balm to a harried soul! Maybe you didn't put a lot of instrumentation or effects into it, but you sure put a lot of something into it! Thanks.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 1 Aug 2003 12:50 pm

Denny Turner · Post by **Denny Turner** » 1 Aug 2003 4:59 pm

Well sh_t Rick; If that recording is a substitute waitin for "someone who can play", ...then I may as well go on out and slam the car door on my left hand (and my chicken while I'm at it) and just get it all over with !

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I join Jess and Mike in the amp saturation thang; I'd really like to hear some more of your playing ...with "about 10-15 saturated valve watts into a D-or-K140"* ...so we can hear your stuff hanging out and dripping on the floor!

Aloha,
DT~

*= (Information here for "younger" pickers who might not understand the reference to saturatated low wattage).[This message was edited by Denny Turner on 01 August 2003 at 06:09 PM.]

J D Sauser · Post by **J D Sauser** » 2 Aug 2003 12:47 am

Rick, Can you supply a 10-string and a 12 string model?

Thanks! ... J-D.

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 2 Aug 2003 8:03 am

I just finished a 12/14 string prototype set for PSG. It is actually 3 thin magnets "laminated" together ... with the bottom flanges having equivalent lengths ... and the top flanges "staggered" so that the "flux" is delivered to outer strings more efficiently.

Jason is real busy right now ... so I don't have a 12/14 string bobbin ... but I put an old Ricky 6 string bobbin in one side of the assembled unit and the output was very even to all strings (I have a test 1x8 pine board).

I have also experimented with a set of inserts ... to boost output to 10 stringers. These can be added to any existing set of mags (Ricky or mine). It worked GREAT.

As far as the "overdriven" sound ... I have a nice collection of small tube amps and when I do get an opportunity to "play out" (a rare thing) I always use a Fender Pro-Junior 10W all-tube tweed ... but they all have some buzz/hum when close mic-ed .... so I went for the Twin for this recording.

Speakin' of saturating an amp, I did put this Sierra w/ Cryo-Shoes through the ultimate test ... I set up the Twin on the ground and sat up on my 3nd floor balcony ... turned the Master Volume and Channel Volumes to 10 and ran a cable directly in (no vol pedal) ...

It "overdrove" the 135 watt Twin like you wouldn't believe ... Hendrix style ... but now there are about 500 DEAF Dairy and Black Angus cattle in my "hood"

Anyway, thanks again for all the great "reviews" ...

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www.horseshoemagnets.com

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 2 Aug 2003 12:02 pm

The 12/14 string "Shoe" ...

The "Inserts" ...

Sorry about the blurred photos ...

Denny Turner · Post by **Denny Turner** » 2 Aug 2003 10:05 pm

HO...... twern't any doubt that you were aware of the "10W" thang; I was just joining the fans that would like to hear it! ...HINT.

About them bovine; maybe some Jimi improved the quantity and quality of their mycenium?

Aloha,
DT~[This message was edited by Denny Turner on 02 August 2003 at 11:06 PM.]

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 3 Aug 2003 7:06 am

Tis the season ...

Jason Lollar · Post by **Jason Lollar** » 3 Aug 2003 10:26 am

Rick you have been practicing! Thats a whole different level from the first recordings I heard of yours.