Who do you rate for tone on a strat? (preferably living)

[weelie]

Originally Posted by mudshark

JJ Cale

Well that's a new one there! He has played a strat, but I'd consider him for the best tone out of a $50 harmony category more than in this thread. He plays a 70s strat on the '79 session DVD, and is pictured with one on the £8 album cover (one of his worse albums for tone that one).

Earlier he's also played ES335, LP. Later at least L5CES and Danelectro. And acoustics.

--
I agree with the mention of Ike Turner! True strat tone on the old tracks.

[Dennis_UK]

Wonderful noise!

[Plastics71]

...just for the way he plays off a harmonic and how he is part of the "Quality not Quantity" school of filling in a song. It was Robbie who EC was trying to emulate on "Bell Bottom Blues."

[KC]

Just looked through this topic again, now that it's risen from the dead, and noticed that nobody had mentioned Magic Sam, which is a crime. Beautiful, clean, soulful player and a great singer -- but he was also the guy who really could get the middle pickup on a strat to sound great, which nobody else seems to. "West Side Soul" is the place to start if you're new to him -- and yeah, I know that's an Epiphone on the cover but he's playing a strat, through an Ampeg, with the tremelo on.

Great player, died way too young.

['ol hank pank]

Jeff Beck,
Blackmore
Mike Blocker (Newburyport, MA)

[tdp46]

but since he is not around, try Jed Thomas (UK based) as a great substitute. Same licks, tone, vibe and strat!. All round a great show.

[Bonneville Bruce]

Had the enormous pleasure to see Daryl Bramhall III open for Eric Clapton Aug. 2, 2001. Daryl has monstorous tone on his upsidedown lefthanded Strat playing. Of course, Eric has the tone dripping from his fingers hooked straight to his heart. I've seen him with Derek and the Dominos, Blind Faith, Delaney Bonnie and Friends, and solo and he is the man when it comes to Strat tone and blues-based playing.

I saw C, S & N this spring and Mr. Stills pulled marvelous tone from his Sunburst Strat. He played the Strat 90% of the show, as well as the White Falcon and several big fat Gibson acoustics. Stephan is a tone master on any instrument in his hands.

Dick Dale is the father of Strat tone and huge ringing guitar lead playing. Think about it, who else was doing those big bad rock 'n' roll guitar solos turned up to twelve when Dick broke on the scene? Nobody. Certainly there were many blues players doing this night after night in the juke joints across the country, but very few had entered the mainstream due to the tragedy of racial discrimination.

Coco Montoya visited my neighborhood and played at the St. Chapell Winery in Sunnyslope, Idaho four summers ago and his tone made the grape vines and fruit trees grow a foot taller during his show amongst the orchards. Really. Coco is a great bluesman.

I saw the Jimi Hendrix Experience do most of "Are you Experienced" and "Axis: Bold As Love" in a concert in 1968. Jimi's tone was orchestral. It was anything that crossed his mind and fingers. His tone and expression on the Strat was the closest thing I've seen and heard to a direct line from one's soul to pure music.

Robbie Robertson crafted his tone to be the song, which is what we all should be attemting to do.

Jerry Garcia played his earliest and best music on a Strat. He was always searching for great tones from every means available, and he achieved it night after night.

Bonnie Raitt can evoke the great blues players and the great soul of a blues woman with the pure tones of her slide work on the Strat. Her shows are clinics on great Strat tone.

Lucinda Williams' recent touring band includes a great Strat tonemeister, I think is Darrel Lawson. Forgive me if this is not the guy I saw with her in Boise in 2002. This muscian was pulling a wide range of country and rock tones from his Surf Green Strat.

Dave Mason with Traffic and solo has set the Strat tone bar high. His ringing tones drove the highly underrated Traffic to stupendous highs in the studio and in concert. IMHO this was one of the most sophisticated performing bands of their time, miles ahead in muscianship from their more famous peers. They played rock like seasoned jazz vets with a rock jones and a funk-driven rhythm section.

and, certainly these oft-mentioned Strat-tone gods:
Jeff Beck
Mark Knophler
Buddy Guy
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Jimmy Vaughn
Joe Walsh
Peter Townshend (recently a Strat convert).

Bonneville Bruce

[glroberttaylor]

how about adrian belew doing "BIG ELECTRIC CAT"?

[Jay Jordan]

don't think any of these can touch eric johnson

plays big, fat pure nickle strings and usually isn't over processed.....

[Bswailes]

I think Eric has a good deal of compression going on.

In addition to his voiced and A/B'd [Marshall(s), 2 Deluxe Reverbs, (1 Blackface, 1 Silver)],
Eric also uses:
Box of custom-spec'd transformers
Chandler Tube Driver
Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
Dunlop Original CryBaby Wah Pedal
Electro-Harmonix Memory Man Deluxe Delay
TC Electronic TCF Chorus/Flanger
Maestro Tube Echoplex Tape Delay / Echo
MXR 1500 Digital Delay
Mackie Mixer into JBL monitors

—I would agree that he's less road-rack equipped than some, but he's enhanced; have no doubt about that. He does get wonderful sets of tones though, doesn't he?



Brett
Another EJ fan!

[sticko]

Good call on Doug Martsch, Maggot!

I'll have to weigh in with:
Eric Bell(OG Thin Lizzy)
Ira Kaplan(Yo La Tengo)
Alex Chilton(esp on Radio City)
and George and/or John for "Nowhere Man"

[Primo Don]

but an honorable mention should be John Mayer. I'm a young guy and I respect Gilmore, EJ, et.al, but I am a big John Mayer fan. Don't look to his new album for what I am talking about, check out his concert DVD. He's clearly SRV influenced in his tasty chops and his clean tone is beautiful and eterial.

Adam

Please go easy on me...

[wallenator]

That a Strat? Man, I would've sworn it was Tele. Unique for a Strat tone, for sure. The Jimmy Vaughan stuff real early on is one you'll not hear anywhere else, you can just hear his hands wrapping around that thing, and he gets every little squawk out of it!

Buddy Guy, for sure, you can hear everything, and it's all good.

I can't get away from what Gilmour does.

Blackmore on the neck, you don't hear too many people play that soft tone anymore.

And then all the rest...

[superreverb65]

I would have to say Eddie Angel of Los Straitjackets, and Hank Marvin. Also early Jimmie Vaughan Thunderbirds era.

SRV with any strat, and Clapton with lace sensors are strat tones i dislike.

[Bswailes]

SRV with any strat, and Clapton with lace sensors are strat tones i dislike.

I'm speechless re SRV tone statement, (I can still type though )! But at the same time I admit that it would be a pretty plain world if we all liked the same thing.

But could you tell me what you hear in SRV's tone? I'm curious...maybe I'll hear the same thing, maybe not. As for EC's (or Jeff Beck's) old Lace Sensors...you're in good company there!

[superreverb65]

Bswailes,

I'm just not a fan of SRV in general, he did alot of the samething over and over, although he was a great guitarist and I do own the albums. However I like Texas Blues and enjoy Jimmie Vaughan's guitar playing.

As for his tone I'm not sure what I dislike, I don't like tubescreamers, and although he never used "texas specials" I don't like the meaty steriod sound he seemed to get.

[Bswailes]

Originally Posted by superreverb65

Bswailes,

I'm just not a fan of SRV in general, he did a lot of the samething over and over, although he was a great guitarist and I do own the albums. However I like Texas Blues and enjoy Jimmie Vaughan's guitar playing.

OK, good points! What then, in place of 'Tubescreamer' + 'Texas Special' type of sound do you like?

As I recall, I heard Jimmie's playing while I was in Texas, and he had the 'Fantastic Thunderbirds.' He didn't seem to have any heavy-duty effects going on. I might be mistaken about all of this...it was a long time ago.

Brett

[genelovesjez]

Originally Posted by Bswailes

OK, good points! What then, in place of 'Tubescreamer' + 'Texas Special' type of sound do you like?

I gotta agree with SR65 on this one - not only has that sound become a huge cliché, it seems to be the definition of "tone" for so many derivative blues players. Boring and tired, if you ask me (and nobody did). SRV seemed to do pretty well with that sound, but I find it lacks dynamics when I try to play with it. What do I like instead? Pretty much anything else - I definitely prefer more traditional sounding Strat pickups, then add various analog effects to taste.

BTW, am I the only one to notice a trend on this thread? Even though some of the players mentioned are, in fact, living, very few can really be described as contemporary. Most of them have been around for 30 years or more (or at least they're genre/playing style has). So does that mean there's a big hole out there for Strat players?

[sticko]

May I butt in?

[Bswailes]

Originally Posted by genelovesjez

BTW, am I the only one to notice a trend on this thread?...Most of them have been around for 30 years or more (or at least they're genre/playing style has). So does that mean there's a big hole out there for Strat players?

Well, BB and Albert et al influenced Clapton, Page, Jeff Beck & Hendrix Then SRV, later.

All of 'em have become "icon-ized:" that's why almost everybody in the mid sixties sounded like Dick Dale, and today like SRV and so on...

I don't think there is a dearth of talent now on the Strat.

On the contrary, we are probably now living through a time that will be known as one of the most seminal in guitar history. We often don't see the forest for the trees...there is more talent out there now than ever. But the bar scene, (where I cut my teeth), has been slowed to a crawl by liability concerns. The MBA's and bean counters that run the recording industry today are not interested much in new talent. They like regurgitating the same old crap because it sells. So, where can one go to hear new talent today? (I know it's out there)!

BTW, I'm as tired of the same-old same-old as you. I just thought that in his time, SRV was new and refreshing; he was a very talented player/vocalist AND a showman. Now he's a profit center, and is even working for Fender to sell SRV Strats from the great beyond! (Jeff Beck and Healey and Jimmy Lange & Bonamassa are at least doing new things)...Hey, it's twelve bars and three chords for most blues.

[genelovesjez]

Okay, well, who's out there, then? Other than perhaps John Frusciante, few of the guitarists I like today seem to play Strats (which doesn't bother me, I'm just curious). Perhaps the Strat has become too closely associated with old-time blues players?

[sticko]

I forgot one.

Stephen Malkmus.
Former Pavement, now solo. He often plays a Strat, gets a good tone on it, plays some tasty stuff.

[superreverb65]

<<OK, good points! What then, in place of 'Tubescreamer' + 'Texas Special' type of sound do you like? >>

Nothing, thats just it. Genelovesjez puts it in better words than I can.

We don't need to substitute anything for a 'tubescreamer + 'texas specials'...for me the best blues sounds were those that were just guitars straight into an amp. Ala' Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Mike Bloomfield, Magic Sam, etc. Here we go off topic again....

Eddie Angel is alive and playing a Strat, not blues though, and that seems to be the trend for a good Strat player in this post. But he's definatly worth checking out.

Bill

www.the-knobs.com

[mr tom]

It sounds like that Epi to me on West Side Soul. He's playing a Strat for certain (to these ears anyway) on the incredible Live album, though, and a Strat and a Tele on the old Cobra sides.

Great tone all around. Let me plug the American Folk Festival of the Blues DVDs - one of the volumes has bonus clips of Sam playing Earl Hooker's Les Paul copy and tearing it up. Essential.

[11 Gauge]

of the Mermen. not blues, he'll never make it to icon status, but just plain good, contemporary Strat playing.

pegged as Surf, his stuff goes way beyond that. i hear a touch of Hendrix and Gilmour in his playing, but he's really got his own vibe going on. you can hear Dick Dale in there too, but much more melodic and restructured and very un-Surf-ish.

he made me want to play a Strat when SRV, EJ, Buddy Guy (all guys whose playing i actually like) made me want to stop...

i notice the void with contemporaries as well. Frusciante, while good, also borrows pretty heavily IMO.

EJs stuff is fun to listen to but i personally get no enjoyment from actually playing his stuff.

i know if i live to be 200 and don't hear positions 2 and 4 on the pickup selector switch ever again that it will be too soon... seems to me that too many Stratmongers have worn those sounds out IMO.