"Strat Quack" question

jhundt · October 9th, 2005, 11:24 AM

Some of you were discussing the Nashville Tele and it's ability to replicate a Strat Quack. I think this means the in-between positions that come with the 5-way switch on a Strat.

Some of you said you needed those sounds - I wonder can you tell me where you use that "quack" sound? do you use it for soloing, rhythm, both, or what?

The reason I ask is that I never liked that sound much. I know that guy from Dire Straits used it to death for a while, and Robert Cray too... Back in the 70's when they first came out with those 5-way switches I put one on my '68 Strat. I hate it! It's too fiddly, I'm always getting those in-between positions by mistake. Too bad I used the Strat switch in my Tele, maybe I have to invest in another old-fashioned switch.

I never could get the hang of it, but I'd like to hear what you guys use it for.... maybe I'll learn something.

tiktok · October 9th, 2005, 12:24 PM

It's great for a smoother sound, when you don't want the guitar to stick out in the mix (in a good way). Doing the quack setting with a 3-way switch is a bit of a PITA though--for a while Knopfler had a bit of gaffer tape across the switch to hold it from going to the bridge-only position.

Chris S. · October 9th, 2005, 01:29 PM

I use the bridge + middle "quack" position on my Ferden Sonnecaster for <u>funk</u> stuff all the time.

James Brown-type stuff, Steve Cropper, Mustang Sally, Walkin' the Dog... endless. :-) Ditto for my 3-pickup Relic, my G&L ASAT Z-3, my Comanche, etc. etc. Nothin' like it. :-)

The quack sound is also occasionally useful for chicken pickin' (although at that point, I guess it would technically be "duck pluckin'" huh? Hee.). ;-)

Even the middle + neck position gets used for a "dark quack" sometimes. And if you roll the tone all the way off and stomp on the faux-Leslie of your choice, it does a great Hammond-esque (ham and eggs?) ;-) keyboard vibrato sound.

There's a LOT more to "quack" than just Sultans of Swing. ;-) Although that was very cool, too. :-) All IMOQO* of course. :-) CS

*In My Own Quackin' Opinion

Telenator · October 9th, 2005, 04:11 PM

I only use 3 positions on my Strats.

Neck, neck/middle, and bridge/middle.

I fine positions 2 and 4 very useful if I'm playing clean with no OD pedal. I play the rythm in the 2 or 4 position and then flick it to the neck p'up for solos. I get that little added volume boast and a a little thicker sound for soloing. It works great.

I also find that the cleaner the sound I use, the more effective each switch position is.

Fuzzyhead · October 9th, 2005, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhundt

that guy from Dire Straits

Oh my... This remark is a sin!

Telenator · October 9th, 2005, 04:21 PM

Yeah, Marc Kopler or Koofler, Kanter, Kaddafi, Jacuzzi, something like that.

Joe-Bob · October 9th, 2005, 05:14 PM

I think it's a great rhythm sound.

TG · October 9th, 2005, 05:25 PM

Clapton uses the inbetween sounds alot too, doesn't he?

I used to have strats and I found those tones great at home, but onstage they never worked for me.
Different strokes.......

Telenator · October 9th, 2005, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TG

Clapton uses the inbetween sounds alot too, doesn't he? .....

I don't know. He uses so much gain these days it's hard to tell what p'up setting he's on.

tdowns · October 9th, 2005, 06:35 PM

Here is a Strat Quack experiment of mine I posted a while back. It has a slanted middle pickup to closer match the pole-to-pole spacing on a Strat.

http://www.tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?t=34766

Doug 54 · October 9th, 2005, 07:40 PM

Ironically "Sultans" isn't that much quack.

I play it on the middle pup.

I think MK gets it more with "Down By The Waterline" and "In The Gallery"

WickedGTR · October 9th, 2005, 08:09 PM

You can also get a lot of psudo-hollowbody sound from a quack- good for Scotty Moore type rockabilly....

It's a nice mellow sound that doesn't compete with vocals too....very scooped.....

'Wicked Game' is neck/middle quack, a lot of people assume it a Gretsch hollowbody...

Roli · October 10th, 2005, 01:12 AM

You nailed a Shadows kinda sound in Wicked Game. I dig it!

Interesting that with thicker strings the quack effect seems to get reduced. (The twang too!)

jhundt · October 10th, 2005, 02:14 AM

yeah, I was joking. Actually he's one of my favorite guitar players, but I remember the first time I heard Dire Straits - everybody was raving about Sultans of Swing and I was thinking "what a nasty-sounding guitar". And over the years I have totally burned out on that song, it's so overplayed (in my opinion).

Fuzzyhead · October 10th, 2005, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhundt

yeah, I was joking. Actually he's one of my favorite guitar players

You may be forgiven! ;)
Actually, my favourite MK song is What It Is although that's a Les Paul... Wonderful song.

BB · October 10th, 2005, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhundt

The reason I ask is that I never liked that sound much.

I believe you have pretty much answered your question right there! If you don't like that tone, you don't like it....simple as that. Nothing wrong with that at all. We all have certain tones we like to hear and those we don't.

One of the reasons I stopped playing my strat and picked up a tele again was that very fact. That "notch" tone was so prevalent. It seemed everywhere I went or anything I heard had that glassy, funky, hollow tone. Also, it seemed everyone was playing a strat.

After a four year rest, I've been picking up the ol strat a bit more these days.....and enjoying it! One thing that has opened up some new quack tones is the deaf-eddie chromocaster. Versitile, subtle shadings and some very addicting tones.

Last night, I ran it into my V-Amp ll. I used a clean, blackface setting and added some reverb and delay. Found a great notch setting using all three pickups. Rolled the tone control down a bit, ( I use a .022 on my strat ) and set the guitars volume to around 8. Man....I got lost for an hour or so in wonderful, glorious, lush tones. Similar in scope to our own James Wilsey's ("Wicked Guitar") beautiful tone on Chris Isaacs Wicked Game.

I also like the notch settings for some Ronnie Earl type blues stuff. If you have yet to hear "The Duke MeetsThe Earl" with Ronnie and Duke Robillard, check it out. Of course, he uses every pickup setting on his strat, (and they all sound very, very good) but the notch position tones he gets are pure gold. At least IMHO!

Tom S · October 10th, 2005, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TG

Clapton uses the inbetween sounds alot too, doesn't he?

Is that that guy from Cream?

tomkatf · October 10th, 2005, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom S

Quote:

Originally Posted by TG

Clapton uses the inbetween sounds alot too, doesn't he?

Is that that guy from Cream?

...from the Jimmy Hedricks Experienced...

Best,
Tom

"Click bang, whatta hang..."

jhundt · October 10th, 2005, 02:32 PM

you said "Last night, I ran it into my V-Amp ll. I used a clean, blackface setting and added some reverb and delay. Found a great notch setting using all three pickups."

But how can you use the in-between-two-pickups setting with all three pickups?

I bought this old Strat in 1970, with a three-way switch. We knew then that you could position the switch between two pickups and get a different sound. That guy from the Experience used to do it some...

I always thought that when they introduced the dreaded 5-way, the term "notch position" referred to the new notch that had been carved into the switch blade to allow for intermediate settings. Now I'm really confused...

Just to clarify to all my Strat-playing TDPRI brothers: I love it if you all use the in-between positions. I have used them too. Sometimes they sound pretty good. What I don't like is those five way switches, where I think I'm going to that beautiful middle pickup, and then by mistake I've got that weird duck-sound.

BB · October 20th, 2005, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhundt

you said "Last night, I ran it into my V-Amp ll. I used a clean, blackface setting and added some reverb and delay. Found a great notch setting using all three pickups."

But how can you use the in-between-two-pickups setting with all three pickups?

The Deaf-Eddie "Chromocaster" I have wired in allows for 16 different tones. A few of those tones are with all three pickups engaged. If you have not heard that tone, it's like "SUPER QUACK".

....As far as the "notch" position...to me it has always meant using the neck and middle or middle and bridge pickups together. At times it's also been referred to as "out of phase" "funky town", "Clucker Plucker" and simply, "Thelma Lou".

playin loud · October 20th, 2005, 09:24 PM

But I only enjoy it with the gain cranked. It takes some of the defenition out of it but the didtorted quack is great fun to play around with IMHO YMMV 8)

xStonr · October 20th, 2005, 10:03 PM

I changed the switch on my Strat to give me...
bridge, bridge/mid, bridge/neck, neck/mid, and neck.
I never seemed to use the mid only so I eliminated it.

KRZ4TELE · October 20th, 2005, 11:14 PM

I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink...by Merle somethin' or other...

tdowns · October 20th, 2005, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KRZ4TELE

I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink...by Merle somethin' or other...

Yes yes yes!! That would be brother Reggie Young.

October 9th, 2005, 11:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
jhundt Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Netherlands Age: 54 Posts: 3,012 9 Photos	"Strat Quack" question Some of you were discussing the Nashville Tele and it's ability to replicate a Strat Quack. I think this means the in-between positions that come with the 5-way switch on a Strat. Some of you said you needed those sounds - I wonder can you tell me where you use that "quack" sound? do you use it for soloing, rhythm, both, or what? The reason I ask is that I never liked that sound much. I know that guy from Dire Straits used it to death for a while, and Robert Cray too... Back in the 70's when they first came out with those 5-way switches I put one on my '68 Strat. I hate it! It's too fiddly, I'm always getting those in-between positions by mistake. Too bad I used the Strat switch in my Tele, maybe I have to invest in another old-fashioned switch. I never could get the hang of it, but I'd like to hear what you guys use it for.... maybe I'll learn something.

October 9th, 2005, 12:24 PM	#2 (permalink)
tiktok Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Seattle Posts: 3,953	It's great for a smoother sound, when you don't want the guitar to stick out in the mix (in a good way). Doing the quack setting with a 3-way switch is a bit of a PITA though--for a while Knopfler had a bit of gaffer tape across the switch to hold it from going to the bridge-only position. __________________ It takes two people to paint a perfect painting: one to paint it, and the other to shoot him when it's done. http://www.myspace.com/travishartnett http://www.myspace.com/sugarcanemutiny http://www.myspace.com/davidbavas

October 9th, 2005, 01:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
Chris S. Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Near TELE-Town (Wash. DC) Posts: 2,894 7 Photos	"AFF-lack!" I use the bridge + middle "quack" position on my Ferden Sonnecaster for <u>funk</u> stuff all the time. James Brown-type stuff, Steve Cropper, Mustang Sally, Walkin' the Dog... endless. :-) Ditto for my 3-pickup Relic, my G&L ASAT Z-3, my Comanche, etc. etc. Nothin' like it. :-) The quack sound is also occasionally useful for chicken pickin' (although at that point, I guess it would technically be "duck pluckin'" huh? Hee.). ;-) Even the middle + neck position gets used for a "dark quack" sometimes. And if you roll the tone all the way off and stomp on the faux-Leslie of your choice, it does a great Hammond-esque (ham and eggs?) ;-) keyboard vibrato sound. There's a LOT more to "quack" than just Sultans of Swing. ;-) Although that was very cool, too. :-) All IMOQO* of course. :-) CS In My Own Quackin' Opinion __________________ "I go online sometimes, but everyone's spelling is really bad. It's depressing."* – Tara, from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" "It was born at the junction of form and function." – Bill Kirchen, from "Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods"

October 9th, 2005, 04:11 PM	#4 (permalink)
Telenator Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 4,673	I only use 3 positions on my Strats. Neck, neck/middle, and bridge/middle. I fine positions 2 and 4 very useful if I'm playing clean with no OD pedal. I play the rythm in the 2 or 4 position and then flick it to the neck p'up for solos. I get that little added volume boast and a a little thicker sound for soloing. It works great. I also find that the cleaner the sound I use, the more effective each switch position is. __________________ Dogs have the right idea!

October 9th, 2005, 04:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
Telenator Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 4,673	Yeah, Marc Kopler or Koofler, Kanter, Kaddafi, Jacuzzi, something like that. __________________ Dogs have the right idea!

October 9th, 2005, 05:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
Joe-Bob Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Dallas, Texas Age: 46 Posts: 3,893	I think it's a great rhythm sound. __________________ Music is the language of God.

October 9th, 2005, 05:25 PM	#8 (permalink)
TG Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Beside a bog in the west of Ireland Age: 47 Posts: 4,504 7 Photos	Clapton uses the inbetween sounds alot too, doesn't he? I used to have strats and I found those tones great at home, but onstage they never worked for me. Different strokes.......

October 9th, 2005, 06:35 PM	#10 (permalink)
tdowns Friend of Leo's Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Wylie, TX US Posts: 2,675	Here is a Strat Quack experiment of mine I posted a while back. It has a slanted middle pickup to closer match the pole-to-pole spacing on a Strat. http://www.tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?t=34766 __________________ Best regards, Terry Downs http://terrydownsmusic.com Equine quadrupeds may be coaxed to the reference of specific gravity but may not be compelled to imbibe thereof.

October 9th, 2005, 07:40 PM	#11 (permalink)
Doug 54 Tele-Holic Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ohio, Dayton area Posts: 640	Ironically "Sultans" isn't that much quack. I play it on the middle pup. I think MK gets it more with "Down By The Waterline" and "In The Gallery" __________________ The Bobby Mcfarrin of guitar

October 9th, 2005, 08:09 PM	#12 (permalink)
WickedGTR Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Hillbilly Hollywood Posts: 2,127 4 Photos	You can also get a lot of psudo-hollowbody sound from a quack- good for Scotty Moore type rockabilly.... It's a nice mellow sound that doesn't compete with vocals too....very scooped..... 'Wicked Game' is neck/middle quack, a lot of people assume it a Gretsch hollowbody... __________________ http://www.myspace.com/jameswilsey

October 10th, 2005, 01:12 AM	#13 (permalink)
Roli Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: ¤ Hungary ¤ Age: 30 Posts: 1,573 5 Photos	You nailed a Shadows kinda sound in Wicked Game. I dig it! Interesting that with thicker strings the quack effect seems to get reduced. (The twang too!)

October 10th, 2005, 02:14 AM	#14 (permalink)
jhundt Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Netherlands Age: 54 Posts: 3,012 9 Photos	That guy in Dire Straits yeah, I was joking. Actually he's one of my favorite guitar players, but I remember the first time I heard Dire Straits - everybody was raving about Sultans of Swing and I was thinking "what a nasty-sounding guitar". And over the years I have totally burned out on that song, it's so overplayed (in my opinion).

October 10th, 2005, 02:32 PM	#19 (permalink)
jhundt Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Netherlands Age: 54 Posts: 3,012 9 Photos	BB - a question you said "Last night, I ran it into my V-Amp ll. I used a clean, blackface setting and added some reverb and delay. Found a great notch setting using all three pickups." But how can you use the in-between-two-pickups setting with all three pickups? I bought this old Strat in 1970, with a three-way switch. We knew then that you could position the switch between two pickups and get a different sound. That guy from the Experience used to do it some... I always thought that when they introduced the dreaded 5-way, the term "notch position" referred to the new notch that had been carved into the switch blade to allow for intermediate settings. Now I'm really confused... Just to clarify to all my Strat-playing TDPRI brothers: I love it if you all use the in-between positions. I have used them too. Sometimes they sound pretty good. What I don't like is those five way switches, where I think I'm going to that beautiful middle pickup, and then by mistake I've got that weird duck-sound.

October 20th, 2005, 09:24 PM	#21 (permalink)
playin loud Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Francisco/California/USA Age: 30 Posts: 108	Quack is fun... But I only enjoy it with the gain cranked. It takes some of the defenition out of it but the didtorted quack is great fun to play around with IMHO YMMV 8) __________________ Inspiration is one mishap away

October 20th, 2005, 10:03 PM	#22 (permalink)
xStonr Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Down in the Boondocks Posts: 1,344 4 Photos	I changed the switch on my Strat to give me... bridge, bridge/mid, bridge/neck, neck/mid, and neck. I never seemed to use the mid only so I eliminated it.

October 20th, 2005, 11:14 PM	#23 (permalink)
KRZ4TELE Tele-Meister Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 437	Song on Quack I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink...by Merle somethin' or other...