The Steel Guitar Forum

I'd just like to add that I am very much a beginner on steel. I haven't been playing long (couple years), my knowledge of the instrument/technique/tone all stink.

That said, I play a Pro III Shobud through a JBL-loaded Twin, and I can get that "transparent" sound with ease. I strongly agree that it is a function of underwound pickup into tube amp.

Tube amps have a special way of reproducing (or perhaps producing) those real high chimey sparkly overtones. And in general, weak pickups are needed to get a bright, mid-scooped sound. Humbuckers or hot singles are usually too thick, middy, and dark to get that mooney/brumley/lloyd sparkle.

My 2 cents.

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Tyler Macy on 21 December 2003 at 12:30 PM.]</p></FONT>

Tyler - thanks to you and the others for breaking it down for me... I am also a newbie (started PSG in May 2002) and am just beginning to scratch the surface of all the great things the PSG can do...

I am a devotee of Fender tube amps (mine is a Deville 212), but I play a very contemporary-sounding Mullen SD10...though I'm told that the Mullen pickup is based on the older single-coil designs..?

My inability to stumble onto that glassy, transparent sound led me to believe it was somehting to do with the older, wood-necked instruments...I guess I was in the ballpark, eh?

Yes, but my Shobud is metal necked (and a newer one at that) but is still all Shobud in tone. The pickups are about 17Kohms. A twin with the bright switch "on" will make a big difference, ESPECIALLY with JBLs.

Another factor I've found that influences the tone is the distance between the changer and the picking hand. Sometimes I'll move my right hand away from the changer, up and into to the fret board, so I'm picking around frets 15-17. I don't know whether this is what Lloyd did on Hogan's dream, but it sounds kinda like that to me.

--Rob


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Sho-Bud Pro-I, '62 Fender Vibrolux

True. I believe the best tone you get is when you play exactly half way up your scale. So if you are playing on the 12th fret, pick on the 24th, or if you are picking on the 5th fret, pick over the 17th fret. If gives you a warm "bounce" that you don't get otherwise.

But on the other hand, I love the sound of my 1958 Fender 400 when I lightly palm mute, and pick right at the bridge. It gives that mean early Jimmy Day tone you hear on so many old shuffles.

Rob & Chris - yeah, that was one of my original thoughts - that you could exaggerate that tone/texture by modifying the right hand attack. I'll try those things...Thanks for the feedback!

It seems to me that a lot of the sound you're describing is the "scooped" frequency response of the JBL speaker. The aluminum dome gives those speakers a unique sound, which is a large part of what I notice about the tone of that Lloyd Green track.

I used JBL speakers for many years. It was easier to get that "transparent" sound than it was to get rid of it when I didn't want it!

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<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/Hotb0b.gif" width="96 height="96">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
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Nathan... The sound you described in words is what I have in my head as the ideal steel sound... I believe there are 4 parts to the equation, and they were all hit upon at one time or another in this thread... I will list them in order of importance as I see it [[for whatever THAT is worth!}

1...LIGHTLY wound pickups as used on most older steel guitars.. It would be tough to get that "transparency" out of todays 22K electromagnetic dynamos

2.. Tube amps.. including the preamp!

3 JBL speakers ..D 130.... They are the voice of vintage steel tone

4.. wood neck.. however I think this is the LEAST important part of the equation...

Take it with a grain of salt, but thats what I think .... bob

Yes. What you search for is that "scooped" Sho~Bud sound! It's easy to get with a tube amp, light-wound single coil pickups, and an amp capable of a big mid-range scoop. The only difference between that sound, and the old "Emmons" sound, is a little fatter bottom and top end, as well. Emmons guitars were flatter in response, probably due to the necks and smaller cabinets. They just don't possess the "body" (sound, not cabinet) of those big ol' Buds!

Modern stuff will get you close if you use a good equalizer, but the dynamics still aren't there if you use humbuckers, I don't care who makes 'em!

Yup,
I think you can come close with this and that but, when its all said and done...you gotta start with one of them old Buds, if you want that old Bud sound!( simple aint it)

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73 PRO II, 79/80 PRO III
Steelkings,Fender guitars,Preston covers,
and Taylor(Tut that is)
Reso's
"Of all the things Ive lost in life, I miss my mind the most"