| Author |
Topic: What is your steel going through? |
Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
|
Posted 6 Dec 2006 2:19 pm |
|
A friend of mine who plays a keyless Mullen 12, and I were playing around with all the different tones, sounds and whatnot we could get out of our steels. We also read through Reece Anderson’s two topics of “Tone” and started playing around to see how many tone variants we could get out of both our steels. What we ended up with was that it was not so much the tones of our two guitars that were changing all that much, it was how many phases the sound vibrations off our strings were being passed through before they reached and left the amp’s speakers.
My friend has a Peavey 400 & 1000 along with half a dozen add on gizmos before the amp. In all, starting at the pickups, the guitar’s outlet cable, volume pedal, volume pedal outlet cables and down the line, he can and does at times put his Mullen through 28 different phases, sound changing or enhancing phases before the sound finally comes through the speakers. He also counted, the house sound mixing system.
Have any of you steelers ever sat down to and counted how many different variables or phases your steel playing passes through before it comes out the speakers?
|
|
|
|
Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
|
Posted 6 Dec 2006 2:39 pm
|
|
| I forgot to add the question: how much do you think each phase changes the sound of your steel? That includes the different brands and quality of your equipment. |
|
|
|
Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
|
Posted 6 Dec 2006 3:42 pm
|
|
If whatever you are using changes the sound (tone) of the guitar then you need to re-evaluate whatever you are going through.
I have a Hilton Volume pedal and use a POD XT for effects only that is between the guitar and the amp. However, there is no "coloring" or changing of the tone through these devices. If there were, I wouldn't be using them. |
|
|
|
Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
|
Posted 6 Dec 2006 5:03 pm
|
|
As I've said before, the steel guitar is only part of your instrument. The pickup, wires, volume pedal, amp and speaker are other parts. People add even more stuff in the signal path. These components are part of the instrument you play.
An amp doesn't just make your steel louder, it shapes the tone in profound ways. Your tone doesn't even start with sound - it starts with a metal string vibrating in a magnetic field. The actual sound that the string makes is incidental!
------------------
 Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6) My Blog
|
|
|
|
Michael Douchette
From:
Gallatin, TN (deceased)
|
Posted 6 Dec 2006 5:24 pm
|
|
My steel's not really going through anything, but I'm having a bit of a tough time with my kids right now. My daughter...
Oh... wait... this isn't that kind of forum, is it? 
I have a cord that goes from my steel to my volume pedal, which connects to my RV-3, which connects to my Fender amp. That's it.
------------------
Mikey D...
|
|
|
|
Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
|
Posted 6 Dec 2006 5:39 pm
|
|
quote:
Michael Douchette wrote:
I have a cord that goes from my steel to my volume pedal, which connects to my RV-3, which connects to my Fender amp. That's it.
Which means the sound vibrations off your strings are going through at least a half dozen components before it is heard beyond your speaker/s.
Would the sound be exactly the same with different (say brands or makes) PUs, cords, volume pedal, more cable, settings and speakers?
The question was, how much do all these feed through phases effect the final output sound of your steel guitar?[This message was edited by Les Anderson on 06 December 2006 at 05:40 PM.] |
|
|
|
Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
|
Posted 6 Dec 2006 5:55 pm
|
|
| Fewer than most, but I think it's a moot point anyway. IMHO, what matters is if you're happy with your sound, not the number of "phase changes", nor any other technical (electrical) characteristics. |
|
|
|
Michael Douchette
From:
Gallatin, TN (deceased)
|
Posted 6 Dec 2006 8:44 pm
|
|
Les, I truly believe that every individual aspect of the guitar, path, etc. affect the final sound output. Lloyd used to carry different cords to swap for different tonal characteristics. There's a guitar player I've heard of that can tell, accurately, if it's an Eveready or Duracell battery that one of the techs put in an effect!
There are so many things that contribute to the final sound you hear... string tension, body mass, weather conditions, etc. At some point, you just kinda have to say whoa. If you're diggin' what you're hearing... great!
------------------
Mikey D...
|
|
|
|
