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PART 14 "GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST" (Jazz, Beatles...)
Wow, what a couple of months it's been! Time has seemed to be traveling at "Warp 11". Please see the first installment of our N.A.M.M. Show coverage elsewhere in this issue. That was a real gas to do, and my thanks to Peter Crowell for assisting in this endeavor. I think you'll enjoy the surprises we have in store for our VG readers. We came up with a lot of great new products, which we'll be covering in upcoming issues.Also, I hope that Stephen White's contributions have been helpful in solving your frustrations in the "keeping in tune" department. Thank you, Stephen, for your insights into this complex subject. By now, I'm sure you're more aware of what your axe is really capable of doing (or not doing), as the case may be. I'll tell you one thing, since I've known Stephen, I haven't had to do many adjustments to any of my guitars like I used to. Actually, even though they're all set up a little differently from each other, I can pick any of them up at any time and feel completely comfortable with them within a few seconds.
My Paul Reed Smith is set up with 9-42 gauge strings (the lightest set I use on any of my guitar collection). For example, I can switch to my Martin acoustic that uses 13-56, or my "Wes Montgomery" L-5, that really likes a strange combination of gauges which read .014, .018, .026, .036, .046, .056, from the PRS and not be freaking out by the drastic change in string gauges! Stephen has set up each of my instruments to bring out all it's own individual high points according to the "touch" I've developed with the variations of the neck contour and width, not to mention the fret height variables on each guitar. Now, I feel "at home" all the time.
Since the guitar's setup is real critical, I play each axe with a slightly (and sometimes not so slight) different style. This has really opened up my creative outlets, and I can just enjoy playing without thinking about it too much.
Coming up in the near future, Stephen's next column will be titled "That Ol' Demon Wang-Bar". If you were like most everybody else this past Christmas season, you ended getting the Beatle's "Live at the BBC" tape or C.D. under the tree. I certainly did, and it's a real treat for the ears, as you probably agree. I heard ALL kinds of cool tones on it...tones that were not found on the studio recordings.
Again, this raises all kinds of questions regarding the equipment used during those broadcasts. We can presume the microphones were the all-tube type Neumann and AKG's. We can't rule out the R.C.A. old-style mikes, either. The pictures on the inside of the booklet clearly show those big, bevelled-tip style microphones (the Neumanns). Try finding tubes for these microphones today, GOOD LUCK!! They will cost you an arm and a leg, to say the least. But, if you're lucky enough to own one of these old tube Neumanns, like the U-47, U-67 or M-49, there is nothing out there that sounds even close to them.
They are the most non-finicky microphones as far as placement is concerned. You can basically put them anywhere, and they'll have a good sound. It's just a matter of HOW GOOD you want them to sound... I've never played with any of them (as far as placement), for more than five minutes to get an unbelievable tone!
As you might remember, we spoke about how critical your pick is to your "own" sound a couple of issues back. A lot of you VG readers called in to ask about my pick stash and how you could get some. It's real simple... just ask your local music dealer to order you a gross (144) of "D'Andrea" #347 Heavy Gauge in white nitrocellulose, and away you go.
Speaking of picks, I remember Paul McCartney using what is commonly known as a "ukulele pick" made of white felt, when he wasn't using his fingers. Talk about a signature tone! You might know that George Harrison also used a Gretsch "Roc-Jet" (with the De-Armond pickups) in the early days of the pre-Beatles.
Jim Phillips, owner of "Jimmy's Guitars" in Hollywood, used to be in a band called "The Leopards" in 1981. They used all English Vox equipment, which they scored at real reasonable prices at the time. Since I lived with Jim during my stint at Groove Tubes, I used to come home to all kinds of piggyback AC-30's and AC-50's. Boy, those were some crazy times.
With the Beatles' use of flat-wound strings, I thought it might be interesting to relate this to their use in the jazz music genre. You might think that this was the "classic" jazz tone, but think back to the early days of amplified guitar ala Charlie Christian during the late 1930s. In those times, these guys were at the mercy of several things.
Number one, their amplifiers didn't have the world's greatest tone controls... they were VERY mid-rangy due to the fact that these amps did not have a treble control.
Two, they suffered from having speakers with really poor tonal response. If you listen to any of this music (any of the Benny Goodman stuff on the 78 r.p.m. records), you'll immediately notice that Charlie's tone wasn't that clean, it had some "hair" on it.
In addition to the the problems above, think about the pickups available during that era! These were huge single-coil pickups (like the "Charlie Christian" model), that were tremendously bright to begin with, so, take that and combine it with an amp that's somewhat dark sounding and you'll get the picture!
I have Gibson string samples from this period, and guess what? They are round-wound nickel and not flat-wound! Also, in 1940, there were a bunch of after-market pickups that Gibson and De-Armond offered to amplify your arch-top guitar. Some of these pickups from Gibson were called the "EP-22" or the "EP-17". De-Armond had a whole range of floating type units which were used on instruments such as Epiphones, Strombergs, and D'Angelico. This was before you saw the "Ted McCarty" P-90 pickups that appeared on Gibson instruments such as the early `50s L-7's that were attached to the guitar's pickguard. I had one of those, and it had a great sound with a more modern amp, especially if you were brave enough to use those big ol' "telephone cable" strings (let's say, heavier than a .013 for the high "E").
The De-Armond "Rhythm Chief" is a real good sounding unit. For a real terrifying experience, listen to Herb Ellis' playing on "The Oscar Peterson Trio: Live at Zardi's" recorded in 1955. Herb can be heard using hand vibrato and bends! What is really amazing, is that this particular record is 40 years old, and these guys were just TEARING it up. This album has no drummer, the bass player is Ray Brown, and they didn't need one with Oscar and Herb. A real swingin' album, this one!
Other jazz players from the early to middle `50s were guys like Barney Kessel, who plays a L-7 (last I saw), with a "Charlie Christian" pickup; does he use flat-wounds? No Chance!! I think that the flat-wounds were brought out when amplifiers were tonally improved.
This certainly was the case with Wes Montgomery...he used a flat set that went from .014 to a .058, while he played through a Standell amp with one fifteen-inch speaker. I think it was a JBL D-130F, but I might be mistaken, as he could've used the stock speaker that came with the amp. That's a hard call because he played with his thumb like Albert King did.
Old Gibson catalogs show Wes playing an L-5 model with those alnico P-90's, right before he custom-ordered his one humbucking signature model instrument. Since flat-wounds have much more tension than their round-wound counterparts, Herb probably wasn't using them on the "Zardi's" record, not with those bends!
Think about this as well; do you think T-Bone Walker used flats on his early Gibson ES-5? Nah!! Now, I believe Herb Ellis does use flat-wounds, but not in the "golden- years". All you have to do is ask Ken Fischer about his days at Ampeg, and he'll tell you that the jazz greats used round-wounds during that era. They all used to come down to the Ampeg factory to have their amps repaired or to pick up a new amp, so Ken saw them all play two feet in front of him!
While we're on the subject of flat-wounds, is it my imagination, or does everyone want them again due to some strange phenomenon? It seems as though there is a current trend going in that general direction. Could this be due to the Beatles' surge? Hmmmmmmmm.....
Just for the record, I have to admit to you VG readers that I am a total, complete jazz fanatic. This stuff is my true passion besides blues and fusion. As you might gather, I don't use flat-wounds either. I'm certainly not against them, but they are a "one sound" thing. You'll get stereotyped right away as being a protégé of Mr. Wes or Mr. Harrison!
When I was in high school around 1970, everybody was listening to Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple. Me, I was listening to Albert King until someone told me about a record called "1969" by Larry Coryell. Well, after listening to that, I got into jazz big-time! I was the only kid in my class that had a Gibson "Super 400 CES". I used to get teased, and laughed at, because the guitar was so monstrous in it's dimensions, but I was a rebel who didn't care what the other kids thought...I actually laughed at their close-mindedness.
I listened to everything that was considered "square" at the time. Let me say that it sure paid off later, and I'm a much better musician because of it. I didn't play one "rock" lick until I was 24 years old. As a result, I have a very weird style of playing because I did almost everything ass-backwards as compared to my contemporaries.
The point is, be YOURSELF, and listen to your own "inner bell" instead of being programmed by anyone but yourself. Great music is great music, regardless of genre, so soak it up and use the knowledge. I would like to thank the kind folks at Thoroughbred Music in Clearwater, Florida for assisting me in finding my dream guitar (a "Wes" L-5), it just happened to have my name on it, if you know what I mean. Man, what a Christmas present that was.
Somebody was really looking out for me that day, as I have been trying to find the ultimate jazz-box for about ten years since I sold my "400". Extra thanks to John Puhl, who went beyond the call in making sure that the instrument was really the one for me. "John, do you mind if we put some MANLY strings on this thing (sic)?" Also, thanks to Terry Ryan at Gibson's "Historic Collection" Division for all his help and enthusiasm. Terry will be interviewed for our NAMM show coverage in the near future, as Gibson is just doing a fabulous job with their new axes. Hey, I bought one... this new instrument makes mincemeat out of my old "Norlin-era" Super 400. It just WALKS all over anything I've ever put my hands on, old or new! Anyway, till next time, I have a lot of interviews to transcribe... Catch ya later!
Copyright 1995 by Dean L. Farley
Reprinted from "Vintage Guitar" April 1995 issue.