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PART 9 "THE FAB SIXTIES A.K.A. THE GLORY YEARS PART 6" (lotīs of Beatles)
Let's cut to the chase this month and examine why a vast amount of kids started playing guitar in the first place. If you are 40 years old, chances are that you started to play our beloved instrument shortly after February 9, 1964. This was the date of the Beatles' debut performance on the "Ed Sullivan Show". America dropped to its knees that evening, and we would never be the same ever again!Our first encounter with "The English Invasion" left kids and parents alike stunned at what they saw and heard! As you may recall, this was a real heavy sociological and musical event that effected everybody and everything. The music really slayed us, but I really believe that our parents were in absolute horror at what they saw...that was until they saw the "Rolling Stones" a short time later. We were really in big trouble by that time!
In the meantime, we were exposed to a brand "new" sound that was so immensely different from anything we had heard previously. Along with this "new" sound were some real changes in amp and string styles. Just as the Hammond B-3 organ was considered the "norm" in their own sonic catagory, listening to a Thomas organ like the ones used on Lawrence Welk's T.V. show, sounded downright LOUSY. Our ears were conditioned to the rich tone and attack of the Hammond. Any other brand of organ sounded thin and comical by comparison.
In guitar amplifiers, we were used to the sound of tube amps, so when the new solid-state amps came out, they sounded just as alien to our ears as the Thomas organs! Ponder this one...if Rock`N'Roll started with transistor amps and Thomas organs, Hammonds and tube amplifiers would've sounded "weird" to us because our ears were trained to that type of sound and timbres. When the Beatles came on the scene, their Vox amps had a unique sound because of the speakers (15 watt Celestion "Bulldogs"), output tubes (EL-84s), not to mention their class "A" design.
Unlike our Thomas organ analogy, the Vox amps sounded incredibly good instead of horribly putrid. In frank terms, that Vox "sound" put the globe on its hungry ears almost in the wink of an eye! This was a huge sound sensation which is still felt today, as I certainly don't have to remind you what prices the original AC-30 amps are fetching nowadays. There is a lot more to the Beatles' patented sound than just the Vox amps...what about the string types and the guitars employed? These were, without a doubt, magical combinations in anyone's train of thought!
The strings that the Beatles used were much different than the pure nickel roundwound sets that superceeded these true "flatwound" strings of the early '60s. Flatwound strings are very special in their construction versus the other types of strings we've been discussing. Firstly, the steel core-wire is tightly wrapped with a very thin thread of a cloth-like material which "hugs" the core. This process makes the core feel stiffer than the other string types that skip this all together. For a real treat, try taking apart any old Fender-type flatwound string, and you'll find what a job this entails.
A flatwound string that measures .050 for a low "E", feels like it's twice as big when tuned to standard pitch as a roundwound string of the same gauge! In my investigations, I've come across a very interesting cross-section of string samples from this musical era. You folks who have sent me strings don't have to worry because I haven't taken yours apart...I just put a micrometer on them and analyzed them under high magnification. We also have noted some of the cosmetic details, such as what material was wrapped around the ball-end of the string, and measuring what size the actual "ball" is.
I promise I will return all the strings to their rightful owners shortly; we still need to do the "parade of string packages" photo essay. I'm pretty damn sure that the gauges of the sets used back then were around the .012 to .052 neighborhood, as the vintage Gretsch "G" string I received miked out to a .025 gauge. That's pretty close to the Fender flatwound sets I measured, which were .012 to a .050, from the same circa. The outer wrap of the wound strings are composed of a flat tape-like metal that is extremely smooth to the touch, and much "flatter" and less lively sounding as the roundwound style string.
They respond differently in a "feedback" type application, such as in the Beatles' opening riff to "I Feel Fine", as the note is much darker and "rounder" in tonal character than in the later tunes they recorded using the real roundwound strings. In fact, the flatwound strings they used were very integral to that "new" sound they created, when combined with a Gretsch Country Gentleman, for example. When "I Feel Fine was originally released on November 27, 1964, it was announced that the opening feedback to the song was an accident...yeah right! Those guys had no clue that it was probably caused by those good old El-84s going into saturation, but it sure sounded cool.
If it pissed off your parents, it was alright!! Gee, that brings back very fond memories, huh? There is a Beatles' "outake" tape making the rounds, that has about three or four "intros" of "I Feel Fine", featuring that same "accident"; if they could duplicate it in the studio at will, it was no mistake!
From my English sources, I found out that the Beatles used the "Pyramid" brand flatwound strings made in Germany. They must have discovered them during their stint in the "red light" district of Hamburg in the early 60s. I also found out that they had used some off-the-wall cheap brands like the "Cathedral" strings in the very beginning, since they were starving musicians at the time. I believe that George Harrison was using the Gretsch strings by the time of his first gig on the "Sullivan" show, because that is what came stock on the Country Gentleman guitars from the factory. These sets were actually inside a round plastic container with Chet Atkin's name on them. My samples have a tag on them that say "Made in West Germany". It's interesting to note that the "Chet Atkins" strings switched to a nickel roundwound style by around 1968 or so.
Ken Fischer has told me many times that the "Pyramid" strings had a better, brighter sound to them than any other brand of flatwound strings. We know that Paul McCartney used the bass sets that "Pyramid" made, on his Hofners and his Rickenbackers, too. When you listen to any Beatles album, you'll hear that fat smooth sound he got on every tune until 1968's "Helter Skelter" from the "White Album".
That song is definitely a roundwound set of strings on his bass! This is very prominent when you play the track before "Helter Skelter". This shows very clearly that they used different types of strings for varying sonic textures depending upon the song...they did this for the guitars as well; listen to the lead guitar break on "Taxman". This is a roundwound string as opposed to the flatwound type used earlier in their career. Yes, they were very clever when it came to recording.
Now, let's get into the amps they used. In the very early period, the guys used Vox AC-15 amps as the rule, and they were the first ones to use the "Top Boost" AC-30s with the mid-cut controls on the back panel instead of on the top of the amp. The AC-30 "Top Boost" was initially designed for the "Shadows", actually. As a matter of fact, the "Top Boost" circuitry was available as a separate unit, which you could hook into your standard AC-30 as early as 1961!
In 1963, Paul was using a Vox AC-50 head with a "Foundation" cabinet that contained an eighteen-inch speaker. By 1964, the AC-100s were introduced for more volume in the bigger venues. They used a quartet of EL-34s for the output section. In 1965, the new solid- state T-60 bass amp was being used in conjuction with a separate enclosure that housed a fifteen-inch Tannoy speaker for the lows, and a twelve-inch "Bulldog" for the high end. Paul used the T-60 setup for almost a year, but he went back to the AC-100 rig (known as the "Supreme" in Britain, the "Beatle" amp in the States).
The Beatles used the AC-100 amps for their appearances at Candlestick Park and Shea Stadium, and are not to be confused with the American-made "Super Beatle" amp manufactured by the Thomas Organ Company in Sepulveda, California. These amps were all solid-state design. As almost everyone knows, these U.S. Voxes sounded completly different then their British couterparts. The American "Cambridge Reverb" model was alright because they were tube amplifiers.
The majority of the U.S. Vox product was solid-state, and as a result, did not give us the sound we expected! That was a real bummer, to say the least. I remember one friend, who excitedly brought his pride and joy home, to discover that it didn't sound anything like the Beatles records he was jamming to! The retailers at the time wanted to hide in the deepest, darkest hole they could...I would not have wanted to be in their shoes, with all those complaints, that's for sure.
While we're on the subject of what the Beatles used for amps, it must be said that they used a bunch of different things in the studio. I recall seeing photos of Fender amps of various models, a Selmer amp at the "Sgt. Pepper" sessions, and as Ken Fischer remembers, Ampeg shipped them a bunch of B-15N amplifiers. Just as Hendrix had every "tool of the trade", so did the Beatles. Another note about the British Vox line; they had made a AC-30 Bass model which Paul used, but we think it was used for the studio as its 2-12 inch "Bulldog" speaker configuration couldn't take the low frequencies for higher volume situations.
John Lennon was supposedly a big Fender amp fan, and he used them quite a bit in the studio instead of the Vox amps he used on stage. Next month, we'll put together the amp and guitar combinations used for the recording of their various hit records (and as you know, there are scads of`em). This is going to be very cool, as we're going to dig into a lot of other eclectic studio tricks and technology that the Beatles employed under the guidance of George Martin's production genius. In the meantime, I would like to get in touch with Mr. Martin to find out what type of fuzz-tone was used on Paul's bass in the recording of their song "Think for Youself" from the "Rubber Soul" album released in 1965. That particular sound was really nifty for the time it was produced in, and I have always wanted to find out about what actually was used in obtaining it.
I have a feeling that the real facts about the Beatles will stick around for at least a few columns, and we really desire to give you the most accurate and complete picture we can in regards to this subject. The whole "British Invasion" era is quite fascinating as there are a lot of facets involved. What's really interesting, is the effect that it had on society, attitudes, and even fashion, but we all know about that aspect of this time period. In other words, it's a given. This month, my thanks go out to Ken Fischer, who went way beyond the call of duty to get all the technical facts correct and in the right sequence... Ken, you're the best in my book and thanks for the "story", (hint, hint)!! Anyway, until next month, it's back to the salt mine!
Copyright 1994 by Dean L. Farley
Reprinted from "Vintage Guitar" December 1994 issue.