SIGNALCHAIN
She Put the Whammy on Me, Pt. 2
I’d like to finish up the discussion we started of Big Brother & the Holding Co. Of these
last month by giving you a partial list of guitarists, I like to think that John Cipollina
famous guitarists who are currently or who obtained his ethereal sound from the use of
have previously been associated with instru- a stereo amplifier setup, complete with high
ments featuring the Maestro Vibrola. The list frequency horns and a Bigsby on his SG.
is quite impressive when you consider that
the majority of players never really touched
the thing to begin with! Let’s start with the
guys in the Four Seasons, Keith Richards
and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and
Johnny Winter, each of whom used the first
“reverse” Firebird models – the III, V and VII.
Even Eric Clapton was seen using the single
pickup Firebird I, which later showed up in
the hands of Stephen Stills.
For those not familiar with the Firebird’s
sound, it has a very bright tonal character;
the top of the line, three-pickup Firebird VII
sounds similar to a Strat but with much more
“burn.” This is particularly true when all three
pickups on the Firebird VII are engaged by
placing the toggle switch in the middle position, providing an out-of-phase tonality that
is in a class of its own. When listening to
mid-sixties Stones albums, the Firebirds
really stand out in the mix. In fact, if
you’re ever stuck in a recording situation and none of your regular favorites
are doing the trick, my money is on
using a good-sounding Firebird to
cut through. There must be a
reason why Tom Petty
and Mike Campbell
rely on these
instruments.
Both of
them often
play double
Firebirds,
albeit through
different brands of
amps to break things up
and spread out the sound. Firebirds
can also produce the best “woman tone”
of any Gibson model made – roll that tone
knob down and you will understand exactly
what I mean.
There were several other players of note
who used instruments equipped with the
Vibrola, which became a component of
their style. Two great examples are fusion
player extraordinaire, Allan Holdsworth,
who used aN SG Custom in his early days
with Soft Machine, and fellow Englishman,
blues maven Kim Simmonds of Savoy
Brown. Holdsworth mainly used the
Vibrola to bend into notes, whereas
Simmonds used it in a much less
subtle way – usually by yank-
ing on the bar after playing
his wild double stops
in-between
bluesy lines.
Hopefully this illus-
trates how you can
make anything your
very own, from any
type of instrument, even
those that have additional,
unneeded frills. For instance, if
you think that a Gretsch Country
Gentleman is simply an old-fashioned
country and rockabilly guitar, I have a
different point of view for you. One night, I
was sitting in an Irish pub in Boston, waiting
for my good friend’s band to begin their set.
He had brought his 1967 Country Gentleman
and a wonderful 1955 Telecaster to the gig. I
was sitting at the bar with my back turned to
the stage when I heard the familiar riff from
the Yardbird’s classic, “Heart Full of Soul.” It
had such an air of authenticity that I thought
for sure he was playing the Telecaster. When
I spun around, much to my surprise, I saw the
Country Gentleman in his hands and the tone
he was getting nailed this classic riff to a tee!
I was utterly stunned by this and came to the
realization that Gretsch guitars are indeed
capable of much more than the stereotypical
tone they create in most players’ minds. You
can get tones ranging from a wicked, old
Fender Esquire right on up to a warm, L-5ish
jazz box from one of these monsters.
Some players made it a
part of their sound by actu-
ally using it to bend notes,
while others achieved a great
sound from the increased mass
the unit offered the instrument
(a la Derek Trucks). Jimi Hendrix
didn’t use the Vibrola on either his
Flying V or his white Gibson SG Custom,
although we all know that he went beyond
crazy on the whammy bar while playing his
Fender Strats. It’s sort of ironic that Jimi
didn’t use the stock bar on the V or SG
– however, to be fair, the bar’s travel wasn’t
anywhere near that of any StratS. On the
other hand, I can fully understand why Neil
Young really loves his Bigsby – he can pull
(literally) amazing things out of one.
Lately, the Country Gentleman has become
quite a valuable recording tool due to its
beautiful – and not so beautiful – tones.
More often than not, it’s used for main
rhythm tracks which sit in the mix like a taste
of chocolate mousse.
See you next month for more fun with tone!
During the sixties, Gibson had quite a few
high-profile fans of the SG Standard, such
as Quicksilver Messenger Service’s John
Cipollina, Terry Kath of Chicago, Barry
Melton from Country Joe & the Fish, the
Doors’ Robbie Krieger and Sam Andrew
Dean Farley
is the chief designer of "Snake Oil Brand Strings"
( sobstrings.net) and has had a profound influence
on the trends in the strings of today.
