Surf 9 years ago 246,288 views
Every guitarist who aspires to play surf music longs for that sound! The one created by a bright guitar played through a classic `60s era "tank." But can we still get that sound -- especially if we don't have a classic `60s tank? I believe the answer is "yes!" and this video was created to show show how it can be done.
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The "Creating That Classic Surf "Drip"" video is part of the surfing, sexy girls, beach category, which contains similar videos like this one.
I was playing this music when it was new and returned to it as my "roots" in the months before this video was created in 2014.
The video itself was a quickly and casually made one -- just put forth on the fly to share the things I was discovering about how to get "that sound" that I knew so well, but with modern and easily found gear. That so many have found it helpful thrills me -- as do other's comments about the tricks and tools they have learned to use to make the music we so love.
So, thanks again. And do, please, subscribe to my channel to see the other surf videos I have made and shared.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHNVzMRX7FIdpFV8c5TwGSg
I got a Fender Reverb unit last year, no "regerts"!!! lol!
"Pipeline" was truly unique, and wonderfully so IMO.
I always loved that the lead guitar -- so intrinsic to the song -- was ever slow slightly buried in the mix, balancing it with that other intrinsic quality: The texture of the whole. And indeed creating just that: a "whole."
I know of no other song that so effectively did that. Putting the emphasis on just that -- the song.
In doing so Pipeline left an indelible mark on the music of the era! :)
Oh! Along with the Fender (spring) Reverb, we also used a Dynacord Echocord tape loop machine for tape reverb & echo effect.
Just the same, Thumbs Up on your video!
We each have a favorite amp. Partly do to their actual capabilities matching our needs and tastes. Partly because when we work with one, no matter which, we learn to get the most from it and it thus then shines for us like no other.
You may notice in the video that I have a `70s Twin Reverb on a stand right next to the DV. Indeed I've been playing through such since the early `60s. So I do have a pretty good idea of classic Fender clean. ;-)
I've not heard a Fractal. I'll need to check those out! :)
10. comment for Creating That Classic Surf "Drip"
Guitar -- Tremolo - Slap back echo - reverb - amplifier.
There is another aspect, though.Players whose use and venue allow them to get and keep their tube amps in its "sweet spot" -- generally MUCH louder than even relatively loud home playing allows -- they will experience something still unique.
For certain rock sounds I love playing through a simple Champ-circuit (with tube rectifier) 5 watt, all-tube, amp. There is a certain "bloom" that no modeling amp I have yet used can yet quite deliver.
Most home players, though, never have experienced this. They, when condemning modeling amps, are basically repeating what they have repeatedly been told.
For most uses those "solid state" amps (as you call them) certainly do provide the goods. :)
Hell I found it was worth buying the amp just for the Fender Fuse software alone plug amp into computer instantly have basically your own recording studio with endless amount of effects editing right at finger tips
What a great time to play guitar and if someone doesn't play now is good time to give it a shot
When I play casually I often use a Fender G-DEC 30 and am amazed at how close such allows me to get with little hassle.
Thanks for sharing!
The personal pleasure making music can give is its greatest gift. Much more so I think that being "good" in the eyes and ears of others. Have fun. Enjoy! :)
There's nothing better than sharing stuff you love with an appreciative audience! :)
We live in such a commercially focused time that the answer always seems to be buying something else, something new. Again. And yet again. But often, as I think is so here, its a matter of listening and learning. And when we do there is an answer in gear easily accessible, and often already ours.
Rock on! :)
20. comment for Creating That Classic Surf "Drip"
Perhaps you did not watch the entire video for the full suggested set up. ???
The two differences that stood out was 1) the original three color sunburst finish was prettier than the current two-color burst, and 2), that the over-wound bridge PUP -- something common, and to many players today more desirable -- was a bit less perfect for `60s surf music. But overall quality and, especially, consistency from instrument to instrument was better on the current Squier models than on the older, pre cdc, Fenders.
Most surf players dealt with the overwound bridge PUP by simply reducing the volume to about 8 1/2. A couple bought Fender `65 PUPs (and raved about them). I, personally, simply got one of the neck PUPS that another such player had removed from his guitar and put it in the bridge position on my VM Jag.
I have not had the opportunity to do a direct a/b comparison but I am more than pleased. It is now pure surf Jaguar! :)
I am not among those who prefers and demands brevity. Nor, I suppose, even real efficiency. No, more the spirit of living that speaks to ''those lazy, hazy, days of Summer.' Or, if you'll pardon my French, "joie de vivre." (Joy in life)
May each of us find joy in ours. :)
https://youtu.be/IOV96BCAvZc
30. comment for Creating That Classic Surf "Drip"
Many of my videos are made using a Fender G-DEC which uses the same technology. And loudness limitations aside it, with carefully chosen settings, will do almost the powerful and more complex gear does.
Rock on! This is such a fun time to be a guitar player! :)
And yes, there is the kit approach which as satisfied many.
Fun stuff! :)
50. comment for Creating That Classic Surf "Drip"
This was my first video. I basically turned on the iPhone camera and simply started talking.
Yeah, I knew WHAT I wanted to share -- and I suppose that enthusiasm for the material comes through -- but I wish, now that it has sort'a established itself "out there" that I'd prepared my presentation a bit. The word slips and redundancies are a bit embarrassing.
Oh well, 'tis life. And words like your are much appreciated! :)
Nice vid.
I got so lucky to even have it... I was turning 15.. dad got it for my birthday. It had been custom orders from Len’s Guitar city in Bloomington MN by a guy in the Castaways ( Liar Liar) and he could not afford to keep it. It went back to the store on consignment, then finally he took it home, and as the price got lower as other financial pressures loomed, my dad bought it for only $200. 4 months old, originally about $800... it was the deal of a lifetime. Blonde clear finish, custom ordered Haggstum bridge, custom Bigsby delete- with harp tail, so its like a IV but with the master volume of the V. The guy that did the Guild book says he wants to put it in his next edition , as its an odd factory one off.. with a known pedigree since new. Hard to imagine, its been over 50 years now... As I get older and face passing on, I have to start thinking about how to move it forward to someone who will cherish it as much as I have..
That's what I played during the later period of The Abstracts (and had used on the 45 release of "Always Always." ) See it here: https://youtu.be/MAkvgzM7O10 alternated with a P90-equipped ES 125.|
Its great that you held on to yours!!!! Wise, wise lady!
#MAGA and only play "Surf"!
I was also pleasantly surprised by how good that Line6 sounds in clean tones. Last time I heard a Line6 live ( Steve Howe) I really, really disliked his tone. Again my ears maybe at fault, but I think its also because he has such an aggressive and peculiar way of playing the strings, that I think the warmness of tube amps compensate that harshness, whereas the riff you're playing isn't at all disfavored by it. Thanks for the video.
Surfing, to me, sounds more like some of Joe Satriani's earlier stuff. And yes, I realize the point of the video was to replicate a particular sound of a half century ago. I've just always thought the "surf" sound was ridiculous to be called that.
Musical styles, and, yes, even more the names of such, are personal, societal, subjective, and lots of other things beside.
Take "Shoe gazing"!
Historically the sound was already coming to be well before it got the "surf" moniker. But "surf" worked for many of us so it generally stuck. Its care-free innocence mixed with sunny excitement. For those away from 'the coast' imaginations were lit up by it. The "scene" as such imagined it.
Those were largely wonderful times. And maybe more so in hindsight. (Such is usually the case) But I was there. On the East Coast. Yes, surfing. And to me and my friends listening to and playing this music -- this sound -- was all just so right.
:)
3:00 No effects
8:17 Slap echo + reverb + tremolo
100. comment for Creating That Classic Surf "Drip"
That's something that the monaural iPhone mic doesn't pickup -but in the room I am aware of it. High ceilings and all that.Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for getting the surf verb sound though :) super helpful.
Me with The Abstracts. Live, November 1964. :D
http://picosong.com/rZBx/
Get you gee-tars boys and girls! "Surf's up!" :) :) :)
Its fun and fascinating to figure these things out, isn't it? I know I learn so much in the process.
As to the head tilt, who knows? 'Tis what it is. And I am what/who I am. (As we all are.)
Few players know about these amps. Fewer yet have actually played through one. But the DuoVerb is not your "average" Line 6 amplifier. It was Line 6's attempt to go 'boutique' -- to spare no expense and thus break into the rarefied amplifier market.
In the market it failed. The DuoVerb was, simply put, way to pricey to sell while be called a "Line 6." But in every other way it was, and remains, an extraordinary success.
Quality of build. Sound. Design. Convenience. A true players amplifier. One whose capabilities far exceed what most -- even good and experienced -- guitarists will ever likely need.
I saw the DuoVerb when they were just released and reacted as I think did many guitarists. "I'd love to own one of those, but at that price? Nope. Never!"
But when, just a couple of years later, the company admitted the DuoVerb's failure in the marketplace and closed them out for a fraction of their original price I jumped. And when, a short time later, its matching speaker became available, I snagged one of those too. And I have never regretted it.
The DuoVerb had a lot of computer speed and power. Far more than other modeling amps of its day. (Today some less expensive amps likely have such, and some perhaps even more. But not then. Back then such was just too costly.)
With the DuoVerb Line 6 also addressed another thing that turned off many players-- especially ones who could afford such a costly amp. It was given a "normal" interface. No menus. No tiny LCD screens. Just comfortable and familiar knobs.
And as an added plus the DuoVerb's knobs did, and reacted, just as did those on the specific amp being modeled.
To all the above add its name claim to fame: DUO Verb. Yes, its two-amps-at-once capability. Each of the two with its own controls. Two amps that can remain separate, either stereo/side by side, over and under, or, if the user refers, may be blended into one unique sounding amp.
As with any modeling amp one needs to learn how to get the most out of a DuoVerb. And few players, it seemed, were willing to do that. But those that did were rewarded with a sound, a feel and a range of tones so great that even some sparkling classic Fenders may sit unused.
As mine often do.
As the old saw goes "don't knock it until you try it."
No, really, don't.
:)
I use different setups for each song -- and each loads with the song. What a cool thing for informal 'bed room' playing, eh?
Generally I use the Blackface model, the `63 reverb, some echo and tremolo as on my larger setup seen in the video.
Some songs have more of this or that. chosen by 'feel' on a given day.
Perfect? No. But more than good enough for casual playing. I do really like my G-DEC 30! :)
https://reverb.com/p/fender-reverb-unit-reissue-1?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvOzOBRDGARIsAICjxod204OQ5w_6LRY5nIvNOfqA9p-b_6fqTDDDCTaLmIOJ_ZFS4hEWCncaAs8VEALw_wcB&hfid=6625069
I choose mine myself -and always have! --and it is to live without rush.
Savored tastes. Dug into thoughts. Nothing 'just add water and stir' instant.
You?
I can tell you're an AUDIOPHILE , like me . I love learning about the "elements" of classic analog recordings , tube amps & effects , guitars etc .....
Keep the "SOUL" of modern post modern music alive !
Your comment is to me one of the marvels of the net. So much rare knowledge available now to the many! :)
A fellow in one of my earliest "surf" bands (I'm here talking maybe 1962!) played through a Magnatone and loved it.
Of course that was pre spring reverb.
Two thoughts... One, the video was specifically created as an aid to those who do not own such classic gear.
I DO. (The Silverface Twin -- a very clean one that has been retubed, etc. -- is to be seen in the video) But I get closer to the sound I hear in my head (Yes, I played pro in the `60s) with the DV and the pedals. Closer, mind you, to what was created in the studio back then.
As the ads put it "you mileage may vary." :)
Line 6.... horrible amps... fun toys, but in my book, they're missing something. They are great for folks who aren't willing to put in the time to figure stuff out.... a quick fix, without soul.
I love hearing from guys in the know. First-hand knowledge I willing to bet. (Well, either that or a really well studied mind!) :)
In the late `60s when I was working with Tilton's Market we used an echoplex. On the guitars occasionally, but also for voice, or -- as here -- to add something to a soprano recorder ("wood flute") solo. So much fun!
https://youtu.be/v8lUzbmopH4
In the video one can see a mid `70s Twin Reverb next to the Line 6 DuoVerb. Elsewhere in the room is an early `60s Tremolux. I use all three amps but for surf find that the Line 6 gets me closest to sound and feel I like. -Learned to like in my pro days in the `60s.
This was my very first video. Since it was made I have further refined the sound -- and still count on the DuoVerb to get me the sound I am after.
I've learned not to judge by common assumption, but to follow my ears.
The DV was a unique amp. Too expensive for the market to bare and only available for a short time. But today there are several available modeling amps that at least equal it, and at much lower prices than the DuoVerb sold for. :)
makes me smile bruh :)
"Surf" and its precursors is music from a simpler, often "happier," time. And a great way to get back that feelings.
Enjoy! :)
https://youtu.be/gzuSIi3TEKA
Speaking frankly I'd prefer to see it placed as a 'sweetener -- in contrast --' against a less deeply contoured sound.
Sometimes less of a good thing is, well, better (to my ears).
:)
Glad that RE-verb apart you liked the video. :)
You have a good ear! :)
I had a certain sound in my head -- based on my own experience as a sixties musician (see: https://web.archive.org/web/20160306184429/http://60sgaragebands.com/abstracts.html) -- and years of listening to classic recordings of the period, and this video shows what I discovered in my search for that exact sound.
Add a guitar and some songs you love to any and all f the above and you're there! :)
Thanks.
OTOH, back in those days we players didn't have pedals. Effects were either "natural" -- created by creative microphone placement in a natural environment -- added in the studio, or were, as you suggest, what we might in this day of sonic purity, see as "artifacts" of the then available equipment..
The methods I suggested here are, in truth, less the result of study of what was done back then (although I naturally built on my experience both in performance and the recording studio during the mid-60s) than upon using my ears and experimenting with currently available amps and effects.
Many of the comments here suggest alternative approaches that players have found work for them. And in the end, of course, that is what matters. For while the "tools" are fascinating in their own right -- and playing with them can be a lot of fun -- what matters is just that: the sound. The music.
Also to be considered is the playing environment. Pushing a 2-12 Showman to maximum volume in a "ballroom" produces a rather different sound that playing even an identical amp at a volume we might judge very, very loud at home. And the same is true for plugging into even a classic silver or blackface Twin Reverb with its built in spring unit going full tilt.
The later to my ears sounds pretty nice. But not quite "it." Thus the experimenting that lead me to what is presented here.
Thank you for your comment! :)
You should use what works best for you. There is no one "right" answer that makes others "wrong." :)
I'll have to play with it.
Alas I am not sure how to use your advice. What I had hoped for was to use the channel 2 for my guitar and use channel one to amplify and control the reverb's output. That is what I understood others to be doing. But maybe I missed the point entirely!
I've tried to do a patch like that on my `76 Twin Reverb but without success. What I did is run a cable with a RCA jack into the reverb tank's output into quarter-inch (guitar type) jack in the normal channel.
My hope was that I could then use the normal channels volume and tone controls to do as you say -- have a "dwell" control plus three bands of tone controls (bass, mid, treble) for reverb signal. What I got was no reverb at all.
If you can point out my error I will be SO appreciative!
The FRV-1 duplicates the controls found on Fender's original outboard units, allowing for how much of the reverb signal is in the mix, the "tone" (treble roll off) and the "Dwell" - in essence how hard the springs are 'hit' (set vibrating).
The once control it lacks -- one available on Digitech's "Spring Tank" which allows for the amount of "boing" to be controlled. (Some feel the FRV-1 has too much of this!)
Also you didn't mention FLATWOUNDS
Hope to one day try one!
Thanks for sharing. :)
The reason I eventually went with a vintage Bandmaster was that it nailed the sound without any question or tweaking. I also own a Twin Reverb with a Bassman cab and 2xD130 but it's too much amp to haul to practice. Probably too loud too.
But to cut to the meat of the issue, I don't see how any combination of analog or digital effects can add up
to the simple expediency of a real Reverb unit. It's laudable how you dissected the several component artifacts of a spring transducer and its accompanying preamp system, but a used tube unit can be had for not too much and a spot-on FET version has been available for about $60 shipped from Surfy Industries, now for several years. Users like myself swear by the Surfy Bear and look no further.
Many view the fabled dual 12 inch Fender Bandmaster as the ultimate "surf amp." And for live performances in a venue allowing for it to be let loose I can't but agree. But in a smaller setting the varying 'colors' of an amp like the (rather rare) Line 6 DuoVerb are to me a plus.
Several viewers have commented with surprise that in the video you can see a rather pristine mid-70s Twin Reverb sitting on a stand right next to the DV. What did I not use that?
The answer is the same: The available tonal color that can be tuned 'just so' for the practice room. In a live performance setting the TR might -- yes, might -- be the better answer. But not here, at least to my ears.
Obviously individual preferences play a large part in this. As is so with string type.
In the `60s I sometimes used flats, but apart from on my jazzbox (a current model D'Angelico EXL-1) I find that I prefer rounds.
BTW, of late most of my video are being made using an even smaller "modeling" type amplifier. One with built in effects. A Fender G-DEC 30. Is it the "ultimate" sound? No, but it is amazingly good and amazingly flexible.Certainly good enough for instructional purposes. (see, for example: https://youtu.be/GI5aSHRE8Tc)
Rock on! :)
Shared: https://www.facebook.com/StudyGuitar/posts/1258014737585390
You're right in pointing out that the recording process - valve mics, analogue preamps, analogue outboard, tape machines, the tape itself, mastering to vinyl etc all colour the sound hugely. Plus, the instruments and amps they used were different.
However, you prove you can get pretty close by using your ears and what's available to you.
I'm fiddling around with some baritone surf music at the moment, so enjoying emersing myself in the whole thing. Jack Nitschze, Duane Eddy etc. I'd been using spring verb and tremelo, but I'll try your slap echo and modeling suggestions.
Thanks again for the upload.
Btw, I hope to shortly be posting a full version of that song and, perhaps, an instructional video on playing it. :)
My thinking is thus: The slap back should have its own trail, but itself be clean.
That said I'd suggest trying each setup and trusting your own ears. If it sounds good it is good! :)
Glad you have found ones that work for you.
Now, where are those money rolls? ;-)
Google him and you'll get what I mean haha. Great vid though mate.
And yes, Tremolo gives some sparkle. re-VERB is fine.
"Back when" he never heard it said at all. It was simply something new -- first on stand alone units, then built it to amps. (My first was Fender's first such -- the 1964 "Vibroverb".) And the accent as that name was pronounced, as with Ampeg's "Reverbebrocket" was always on the 'verb' part. Perhaps that is how the pronunciation habit formed.
Alas, as with a person with a regional accent, I don't hear the mispronunciation myself. But it does seem to disturb others.
Frankly I am blown away by the quality of both Squier and Epiphone guitars. My personal "collection," like most players my age, consists of mostly older American-made Fenders and Gibsons. But these inexpensive Asian made guitars come very close in quality and sell for a fraction of what those older instruments cost.
The Jag is a beauty. As is, btw, Squier's Vintage Modified Jazzmaster.
I recommend either of them without any hesitation.
BTW there is a Squier guitar forum that many think is simply the best guitar forum on the web. It is called Squier-Talk. There is even a sub forum on it devoted to surf music! Great people. Very helpful and considerate. :)
Words communicate according to the meaning we put into them. In my day we called what you describe "boing" -- or in the case of our smacking the reverb, "crash." "Drip," to us, was something different. Something more subtle. What I am trying to demonstrate in the video.
:)
My first reverb amp was a then brand new Fender Vibroverb. We pronounced that Vi-bro-VERB. Accent on the last syllable. Same with the Ampeg Reverberocket. We pronounced that Re-VERB-erocket, not RE-verb-erocket.
Did we mispronounce those amp's names? And thus "reVERB."
May indeed be "wrong," but then again I've heard so, so many ask for a Lowenbrau saying LOW-in-BROW when what they should have said is LOYV-in-Broy. And, wonder of wonders, yet they still got the beer.. ;-)
https://youtu.be/zZ3fjQa5Hls
I know that is not universal. Some gear is just cool unto itself. -Old `60s stuff for instance. But to me, in the end, its gotta be the music it helps you make. :)
Hope that's helpful! :)
And yes, Gretsch guitars rock!!!
I love hearing that -- having so many memories of playing those songs "poolside" in the sixties.
Have fun!!! :)
My Twin Reverb, of course, has a built in one. But it is behind the preamp, and that changes the response. Too it does not have the controls needed to separately set intensity and dwell -- and that, too, is key to the sound I was looking for.
Fender does make a "reissue" 1963 style unit that can be placed properly ahead of the preamp stage and that does have the adjustments mentioned, but it is very expensive. -Worth it if one can afford it. The goal of this video is to show how to get the sound without that expensive gear.
:)
Thanks, again!!, Don
For most of us $$$s need to be considered. But one right choice, even of expensive gear, can still be less costly that trying this and then trying that.
The Boss FRV1 works beautifully for me. Really has the old vibe that I favor - pretty amazing since it is totally a digital emulation.
But then again, that is true for my most often used amp: The DuoVerb in the video. There is no sound that I cannot, with time and effort, get out of her. :)
Also, thank you for the signal path. I need to do some rearranging on Jam Up and see if it makes a difference.
Would love to see some more lessons from you. Keep it all coming and stay young!
My present pedal set up is in this order: Tremolo, echo, reverb.
I also have, since making that video, added an equalizer pedal which I sometimes use, sometimes don't. It sits between the trem and the echo.
The equalizer's purpose is to better emulate the 2/12 closed back cabinet often mated with the Twin Showman amp. I find that a small boost at 100 hz, followed by a small dip and then a gradual rise toward 1000 helps get that pumping feel at the lower levels I generally now play in comparison to the live levels I did 'once upon a time.'
But so much is dependent on the guitar, amp and specific song that generalities have to be just that.
There are no rules here. (although some it seems find that rather discomfiting) I try to view it as a continuing journey of discovery! One, indeed, that I started many, many years ago. :)
http://www.break-a-way.de/bands/abtracts.html
Do you find it otherwise? (Or do you only use it at very low "bedroom" levels?)
Best way to play surf, agreed, get the correct amp.... no pedals needed. No correct amp? cant afford it? thats the point of the video.. you can get close with pedals... and there ARE other pedals that will work.
This was by far one of the dumbest demos I've seen to produce a simple guitar sounds from the early years of rock.
https://reverb.com/p/boss-frv-1-reverb-2012-brown
Like I said, many people today do not have a tube amp with a long spring reverb tank ... and don’t need it very often... This a work around to use common pedals for the few times it might be needed... Any serious surf player already owns a blackface or tweed vintage fender amp with long spring verb...that makes the slap echo and rich verb in one. Mine is a ‘68 Vibrolux Reverb... not for sale, ( had it 49 years now) but I see them and dual 12” Pro Reverbs going for about 3 thousand... So, many $thousands, or a few pedals, for the player that only needs surf once in a while?
What he is giving the lesson for is, I believe, a guy in a band that does a lot of music types, and may need to get close enough for a few tunes, without buying a whole separate amp and a Strat or Jag. Sure, if your going to specialize in Surf, you get the gear.... but for a working band out on a gig, and somebody asks for Wipeout, you can futz with pedals and make the deal happen.
Younger players particularly have their ears trained by what they hear now, live. Blackface amps, often with built in reverb (which follows the preamp), or simply the live sound of a tank into something like a classic Showman.
If that is the sound you want then yes, that is certainly the most direct way to get it. But if you want the sound of what we actually created in the studio back then and put on a record. And especially if you do not have that older (or older style) gear, then the above information may well help you get the sound you are looking for.
That is what the video is about. Nothing more, nothing less.
It's a practice amp, not a performance amp. However, aside from that, I have zero real complaints with Line 6 amps. If you're a good player you honestly shouldn't have to worry about your damn gear.
Is it odd that I play through a DuoVerb when playing surf? Perhaps. It is certainly atypical.
Some say we should trust conventional opinion. I prefer to put confidence in my ears and 50+ years of personal experience.
In ad speak "YMMV." :D
:)
Michael, there are many setups that allow for a good, workable, 'surf' sound. I, myself, sometimes use a mid-70s Twin Reverb, if only for the convenience of the built in reverb and trem. (Both quite good on that amp). But none to my ears quites gets the exact sound I am looking for as well as the setup I describe in the video.
As to its sound without palm muting, give this a listen. :)
https://youtu.be/DOg2v225BCI
In truth it is too real for some players -- those who have been weaned on later, more natural, reverbs such as those built into current Fender amps.
The biggest difference is in the "boing" -- that very mechanical sounding addition those old tanks add to the musical signal. Something you either love or hate. (I discussed this in my review of the pedal published by Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/review/R24VDUDQSPI0GT/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B002IJQKX2&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=11091801&store=musical-instruments)
Apart from the FRV-1 the only pedal I have seen that tries to reproduce this effect is the "Spring Tank" app available for Digitech's iStomp. It actually has a control marked "BOING"! And it is pretty effective, but not, IMO, equal to the FRV-1.
Have you tried using both the pedal and the amp's built-in reverb at the same time? I do that when playing the odd song that benefits for having a bit more reverb than my typical FRV-1 setting provides.
To me the one rule -- and, indeed, its the rule that helped me develop the method set forth in this video. It is that THERE ARE NO RULES.
Some find this approach troublesome. Not me. I do this for fun. For release. For the simple joy of the music.
My pronunciation goes back to the days when 'verb was something new -- the early `60s. We (that is my musical pals and I) never heard it said, we just said it as it seemed right to us. And that was with the emphasis on the "verb" part. As in amplifier names such as Fender's "Vibroverb" where the accent was on the last syllable, or Ampeg's"Reverberocket" where the accent was on that strong 2nd syllable.
And I've been pronouncing it that way for so long that I did not even hear myself doing so!
Language is a funny thing. Other people have "accents" and unusual speech patterns. We ourselves never do! :D
All fun aside, thanks for the vid! As a fan of the Surf Sound, this will help me in the future.
What works for you works for you. Play on! :)
Another cheap solution is Behringer Reverb Machine RV600 pedal.
The way he pronounces reverb is vomit inducing .
"% times" is used to measure the greatness or lameness of guitar tone, you should know that.
i didnt say anything about "drip" sounds or otherwise. if you think this dude has come up with the perfect formula for the best surf sound in history, hey thats cool. personally, i think his guitar sounds dry as helllll, with with a reverb effect layered over the top.
To some this is very important. Others look to the impact of the music.
As a lover of both classical and baroque music I try to remain open to both POVs, and judge the music on its own artistic merits.
My absolute favorite piece of music are JS Bach's Goldberg Variations. I learned to love them played on the traditional harpsichord. But as time went by I found (as have many others) that my favorite performances are Glenn Gould's, both his original recordings made in 1955 and the later, more contemplative interpretations, recorded in 1981.
Both were done using a modern piano.
If another lover of the music feels differently I feel no reason to tussle. For me love of the music is the thing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpsfhTxo5yw
You simply cannot get what experienced surf guitarists refer to as the "classic surf drip" with the setup you used to make this video. Impossible. The newer the equipment, the more you stray from the classic sound. I use a '63 Fender reverb tank coupled with a "72 Fender Twin Reverb with either my Strat or my JM when I play surf and I have that classic sound because I equipment they used back then. Yes, it's a personal preference, but I like to keep it original.
Your's is a commonly held viewpoint. In some cases held because personal experience (the subject is, in its very nature, somewhat subjective), and in other cases is a more in the range of an accepted belief. A passed-down "lore" is you'll allow.
Older players (such as myself) who played "surf" back when it was a current style sometimes see things as only, or at least "best," being done "the way we did it back then." I make an effort not to limit myself in that way.
To remain open to other possibilities -and that includes the use of newer types of equipment, approaches and methods.This video is the result of such. And yes, how effective the methods are at creating the classic "drip" sound is, again, somewhat subjective. One can simply rule out the possibility of the above "working," or one could try it and find it unsatisfactory for one's own use.
For me it works. And others seem to think it does as well.
I'm presuming the slapback is there to simulate a little pre-delay (like the 'size' control on a reverb tank) in which case the very start of the attack should be pretty much dry.
Anyway I'm just starting at the surf stuff so it's really great to have this tutorial, thanks a lot!
If you try it I hope you'll report back! :) :) :)
In the year and a half since I created and posted the video I have tried numerous other amp and pedal setups. None have surpassed the one presented in the video to my own ears.
:)
I've heard that too, but it's been long sold. I'm going to try this combining method. I have a mooer reecho pedal that I use for more shadowsy stuff, so it will be interesting to see how I can incorporate it without cranking my reverb up all the way.
I enjoy your videos, and happy new year :)
Thank you for sharing that MCM. I, too, have heard nothing but good words spoken about the Surfybear FET system.
The Boss FRV-1 does just what you say. As did the systems it emulates.
I have found it very sensitive to where it is placed in the pedal chain, and also to the order of pedals before it in the chain.
In a sense that should come as no surprise. Back when when its progenitor was used the idea of a "peal chain" didn't exist. It WAS the entire chain. And used that way it, again, very closely models an original early `60s "tank." :)
As far as pedals go, The Hardwire RV-7 does a good job of getting saturated wet reverb sounds. I've never been able to get along with the Boss reverb pedal because once cranked up to high levels, it becomes metallic and unpleasant to listen to
Well, at our age, anyhow. :D
As I see it my recommendations are the inexpensive -- yes, that is a relative term -- way of getting the original surf sound. One that can be had without the outlay for expensive, and difficult to find, "classic" gear.
That said I think you are correct that most audiences -- especially those made up of younger listeners -- would not notice the difference. But some of us -- especially guys of my generation who knew, and in some cases played, that music back then -- do, ourselves, hear the difference. (Just look at the other comments below for examples!) And personally I these days (unlike what I did back in the `60s -- see 60sgaragebands.com/abstracts.html ) play primarily for my own enjoyment. And getting "that sound!" is, for me, enjoyment indeed. :)
Surfs up! :)
Have you considered playing without your wedding ring? I do because the wedding ring hinders my playing.
Sometimes what we have available to us -- entire worldwide communities who shares out various interests! -- just seems to good to be true! :)
I've since bought a Hardwire RV7, and I love it! Very springy without the harshness. I believe the palm muting
really brings a lot to the boinginess of the reverb. :)
BTW, when it starts to get out of hand I turn down the FRV-1 a bit and add some smoother, more "modern" sounding, built-in reverb.
As to order I keep the pedal creating the slap-back echo first in the chain, the the trem, and finally the FRV-1 -- this so the sound of the reverb reflects these changes in the original source signal.
The trem settings, too, are variable. For something like "Sleepwalk" it is set deeper than for a rocking surf song.
Speed is the most critical and should integrate into the beat of the music. Depth is kept moderate. (Typically set to about "3" but I expect that umber means little when going from one pedal to the next).
I find that it pays to find a setting for each guitar. Those with a lot of 'highs' in their native sound (Jags and Teles for instance) need a bit less of each setting to get their best sound, while a Jazzmaster or HB equipped guitar can use higher settings.
And here's another 'trick'... For a really intense reverb, but without increasing "boing" you can add some of the built-in, post preamp, reverb to the mix if your amp is so equipped. :)
Be aware that some people buy these and are disappointed. They say it "feeds back" and sounds too "boingy." And for the sound they are likely looking for -- that of a clean, modern, "improved" reverb -- I suppose they have a point. But if its `60s surf sound one is looking for it is just the thing. That is what those old tanks sounded like!
And apparently I am not alone in this opimion. A surf-crazed forum friend of mine has told me that the last two times he saw Dick Dale he was himself using an FRV-1 instead of a classic tank. :)