Twangy alt country / alt rock rig

[Heyen86]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to this forum, but I've been playing my blackout tele for about a year and a half.

My question is for veteran tele players:

What's in your rig that makes it sound so classic, the Nashville country sound?

My rig includes a fender Deville 2x12, boss cs3 compressor, ibanez supertube, Clapton crossroads, boss digital delay, boss chorus, crybaby, and an mxr noise clamp.

Any suggestions? I'd like to have a rhythm rock tone and a classic twangy clang lead sound.

[WaylonFan76]

[Heyen86]

Originally Posted by WaylonFan76

Sorry, iPhone is touchy.

[Fockstrot]

As far as straight up twang, I'd say single coil pickups rather than those rockin humbuckers I assume you have.

[Heyen86]

Originally Posted by Fockstrot

As far as straight up twang, I'd say single coil pickups rather than those rockin humbuckers I assume you have.

Actually, it's an unmodified single coil mexican blackout tele. I'm wondering about pedals, EQs, delay settings, etc more so

[blargfromspace]

Sounds to me like you've got everything you need for a country guitar sound - a tele and an amp.

[Fockstrot]

Oh my mistake man. I've been reading a lot of things about blackTOPs.

[Heyen86]

Originally Posted by Fockstrot

Oh my mistake man. I've been reading a lot of things about blackTOPs.

No problem! I love it and it is indeed twangy. But I would like to have it sound more honky tonk than I have it configured.....

Songs like Fast as you by Dwight Yoakam or any brad paisley solo tone are a decent reference to what I'm looking for. And I know I don't have a b-bender lol so that's ok.

[cnote]

Back pickup, pick close to the bridge, little dirt, slapback delay (1 repeat fairly fast), bit o' compression and a whole pile of practice. Try runnin your amp on the brite side and roll the tone on the guitar back a bit.

[Heyen86]

Originally Posted by cnote

Back pickup, pick close to the bridge, little dirt, slapback delay (1 repeat fairly fast), bit o' compression and a whole pile of practice. Try runnin your amp on the brite side and roll the tone on the guitar back a bit.

Perfect advice, that's exactly what I'm talkin about. What tele do you use mostly?

[cnote]

Split between an Esquire with an SD Broadcaster pickup and a stock Squier CV 50 VB.

[Heyen86]

I assume that the Esquire is an older more vintage sound, and the Squier has more of a modern sound?

I'm not too familiar with this side of guitar, I started on a strat and then migrated to a schecter for awhile and now found my true calling playing an alternative twangy style on the Tele. Will never go back.

Have any ideas about how I might go about practicing the country style picking? Anyone you would recommend watching instruction videos of on youtube?

[WaylonFan76]

Twang = trad Tele + tube Fender amp. Period. Preferably a Twin. JM $ .02

[johnthatcher]

Originally Posted by WaylonFan76

Twang = trad Tele + tube Fender amp. Period. Preferably a Twin. JM $ .02

pretty much. good ol buck owens songs and merle were just that. nowadays its a tele, a fender amp and some compressor/delay pedals.


i got a twin reverb and a few teles(single coil) and for fun i sometimes use my mxr carbon copy and mxr dyna comp pedals.

[McGlamRock]

Originally Posted by Heyen86

Have any ideas about how I might go about practicing the country style picking? Anyone you would recommend watching instruction videos of on youtube?

----P----P-M----P---P-M--P----P-M

E-------------------------------------------
B---8p6----6----8p6---6---8p6----6--------
G--------7----------7----------7----------
D-------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------

----P----P-M---P----P-M---P-----P-M---P-----P-M

E-----------------------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------
G--3p0-----0-----------0---3p0-----0-----------0---
D--------------3p0----------------------3p0---------
A---------5----------5------------5-----------5------
E----------------------------------------------------

P = pick
M = middle finger

Someone else had posted these two exercises for developing your pick and fingers technique in a previous thread. I like these a lot and gave them to a student who is looking to expand his skills in the noble art of chick'n pick. A lot of the country sound comes from the right hand technique.

As far as pedals go I like graphic eq, compression sustainer, overdrive, and delay. The compression really helps if you play with your fingers and a pick.

[cosmiccowboy]

Originally Posted by WaylonFan76

Twang = trad Tele + tube Fender amp. Period. Preferably a Twin. JM $ .02

... my thoughts +$.02

[cnote]

One of the best things I think you can do outside of practice is listen. Listen to the players who speak to you and are the direction you want your playing to go. Check out interviews and see who they grew up listening to and follow those threads of players back in time. Pedal steel players are great to listen to. A lot of country guitar techniques are designed to emulate the pedal steel sound.

Also banjo rolls are really useful. Practice little right hand patterns like the one outlined above slowly with a metronome. Keep the rhythm and volume even and controlled. Pain in the butt for sure, but your accuracy will improve quickly and the speed will come on its own.

[BobbyZ]

My rig is a Tele, a cord and a buttload of amps.
But the rig you have is fine. It's a matter of playing alot, getting good and than find the right rig.

I skipped the first two parts.

[Scotty 2]

Originally Posted by Heyen86

Actually, it's an unmodified single coil mexican blackout tele. I'm wondering about pedals, EQs, delay settings, etc more so

Get rid of everything except the guitar,amp, and the CS-3.Then you got it

A good COUNTRY picker doesn't need a bunch of pedals.
And you can ask Nokie Edwards about that there thing

[AM866]

Originally Posted by WaylonFan76

Twang = trad Tele + tube Fender amp. Period. Preferably a Twin. JM $ .02

Originally Posted by cosmiccowboy

... my thoughts +$.02

But c'mon, of course you two are going to say that -- the avatars and everything

In fact, how do we even know you're not the same person?