Buck Owens / Don Rich Tele music...

[Brian.Tele]

Anybody know of any books or dvds that some of Don Rich's Tele work tabbed out?

I know theres a few threads on TDPRI with some tabs but I'm wondering if anyone knows of book or dvd....

 

[Lerb21]

Anybody know of any books or dvds that some of Don Rich's Tele work tabbed out?

I know theres a few threads on TDPRI with some tabs but I'm wondering if anyone knows of book or dvd....

There are no DVD's that I'm aware... heck, or even books.

Maybe someday Terry Downs and I will make a Don Rich video (in my dreams, lol).

Have you checked out the big Don Rich Thread in the tab forum?

We must have something like 2 or 3 dozen songs up there.

 

[Brian.Tele]

Hey Lerb, I actually just subscribed to the thread!

Quick question for you...on that Buck Owens and His Bucakroos studio album...

What tuning was Don using for Act Naturally ?

Did he just tune the whole guitar down in standard tuning or were there other different tunings going on for that studio stuff?

 

[Lerb21]

Hey Lerb, I actually just subscribed to the thread!

Quick question for you...on that Buck Owens and His Bucakroos studio album...

What tuning was Don using for Act Naturally ?

Did he just tune the whole guitar down in standard tuning or were there other different tunings going on for that studio stuff?

Don tuned down D-D.

So the tuning, from top to bottom would be:

D G C F Bb A D

They would often do some goofy tuning, D to D, Eb to Eb, etc.

The one thing is that they were always in standard intervals, so no learning curve.

 

[Eric Ellis]

Probably one of the best things you can do since there are no books available is to buy the Buck Owens Ranch Show dvd's and just watch Don play. I think they are well worth the price. I hope Buck's heirs will decide to release more of them in the future.
Eric Ellis

 

[Lerb21]

Probably one of the best things you can do since there are no books available is to buy the Buck Owens Ranch Show dvd's and just watch Don play. I think they are well worth the price. I hope Buck's heirs will decide to release more of them in the future.
Eric Ellis

I agree 100% with Eric. One of the best purchases you can make if you're trying to learn to pick like Don Rich.

Buck will often have Tommy Collins as a guest and the Buckaroos act as the house band.

I'm pretty sure Don is improvising the solos, seeing as they are played different than what the played on Buck's Tommy Collins cover album.

It's just great to see Don in his element, improvising within his style.

Very good purchase.

 

[Brian.Tele]

Any idea on whether Don increased the string gauge to compensate for the lower tunings?

 

[Lerb21]

Any idea on whether Don increased the string gauge to compensate for the lower tunings?

Well, back in the early 60's when the guys were starting out they used big ol' strings, something like .012-.052. Big strings, tough to bend.

Buck had the guys tuned down a half step in order to get a meaner sound. According to Tom Brumley, it didn't have too much to do with the strings, but as a side effect it helped playing the guitars.

I know that Don would normally use the equivalent of Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkies by the time Hee Haw came around. .009-.046. I've always thought he used slightly bigger strings, because they were playing in standard tuning by that point as the house band in Hee Haw. This is according to Jerry Brightman.

TDPRI member Mark Davis saw Don's string diameter card in Pete Jones Music in Bakersfield (I think it was). It was listed as .010-.052.

Another time, during an interview for a guitar player magazine, Don gave his string diameters as .009-.052.

One thing is for sure, light top, heavy bottom. You can bend the upper strings a bit easier and the bottom strings yield more twang.

 

[Lerb21]

Here's the quotes:

Those sizes were written on a guitar techs card he kept in a Rolodex at Pete Jones Music in Bakersfield. Don might have used thinner strings when they came out in the late 60's but just as you stated he wasnt using that light of a string in 63.

When I worked on Merles 51 Nocaster he ised on the 1978 ACL show he had a pack of Ernie Ball 52-10's in the case and thats what he wanted.

I remember playing Don's sparkle Tele in Bucks studio while recording with the Buckeroo's. It was leaning against the drum booth. I picked it up and played it. The strings were heavy. I didn't use it because of that. I would have to agree with Mark. I took the strings off a yellow Tele of Don's. I saved them. They were heavy. And lost them unfortunately. Things happen when you get a divorce. I always thought the taper of his string bends were due to his heavy string gauge. I love Tele's!

In Guitar Player in about the fall of 1973, Don was interviewed for their Pro's Reply column. He gave his string gauges as 9-11-16-32-42-52. According to Jerry Brightman's web site, he later switched to Hybrid Slinkies.
Eric Ellis

I thought I would chime in here after reading this thread. I think it's really cool that you guys are talking about Don. I'm sure it's making him smile, sure does me. In answer to some of these questions about guages, etc. I was in the band from 1972-1976, and I can assure you that Don used Ernie Ball strings bought at Pete Jones Music in Bakersfield as I was with him many times when we bought strings together from Pete. He may have just bought singles as I did, but they were 9,11,16,26w,36w,46w in nickel. Buck used 10-52's or heavier on his guitars and Don also picked those up when he went to Petes. Since Don picked them up, both gauges were on the same roledex card. I know because I had to play Bucks guitar on shows before I started traveling with my own tele and they were impossible for me to bend Also, during this time period and to my knowledge, Don never used flat wounds...sorry Kenny. Buck wanted as much twang as they could get and the brighter the better. After Don's death, I toured with his silver Tele, and the mic'd gauges were the same as above 9-46. Gene Moles painted three stock Tele's red, white, and blue for us. Buck's, Don's, and mine. I know Fender made a red, white, and blue production model that they marketed after I left, but they had a sparkle in the finish. As for his amp in the studio, he used a Fender, black face twin, I used another one. Don's had 2 -12's and mine had a 15" JBL because I used it mostly for steel. In concert, we did not travel with any amps, so it was up to the promoter to try and always get us Fenders. We didn't always get them so I'm sure there's pictures out there of us using various other brands. Don liked to overdrive the amp slightly in concert, but didn't use any effects. The red, white, and blue guitar he toured with, was stock just as it came from the factory. My guitar neck got broken and Gene had to replace it.

If you have any other questions, just visit my site and email me. I'd post it here, but spam boys grab them too easy off of the forums.

I hope I helped with the questions and as you guys, I also miss him.

Jerry Brightman
www.slidestation.com

 

[Brian.Tele]

Excellent! Thanks for all the great info Lerb, I appreciate it!

 

[Lerb21]

Excellent! Thanks for all the great info Lerb, I appreciate it!

No problem, it's nice to give back after all the stuff I've learned from here.

 

[Brian.Tele]

Lerb, I was working on Truck Drivin' Man and I got the intro riff and solos fine, but what do you do for the parts where Buck is singing and you can't hear Don's riffs to well in the background...?

 

[Lerb21]

Lerb, I was working on Truck Drivin' Man and I got the intro riff and solos fine, but what do you do for the parts where Buck is singing and you can't hear Don's riffs to well in the background...?

Let me listen to it again and I'll tell you... hold tight.

 

[Brian.Tele]

Ha, awesome

 

[Lerb21]

Brian, I've listened to the song about 10 times. Not easy but you know... Don ain't easy...

It sounds like Don is using a lot of pentatonic, even though it's in A, stay at the nut. He is using seventh chords a lot (D7, A7 a lot). Remember to stick within the pentatonic fingering. You don't need to the leave the first three frets.

Need me to go farther?

 

[Hammerhead]

So the tuning, from top to bottom would be:

D G C F Bb A D

Um, did he play a 7-string guitar?

(Not being cheeky, I've only just come to appreciate Don and Buck, through the excellent Dwight Yoaham tribute album)

 

[Lerb21]

Um, did he play a 7-string guitar?

(Not being cheeky, I've only just come to appreciate Don and Buck, through the excellent Dwight Yoaham tribute album)

Um, is that how you spell 'Yoakam'?

See I can be a jerk too!

Just standard tuning but down one half of a step.

 

[icandy]

I picked up a Buck Owens Grab bag when I was at the Crystal Palace in April and inside was a small book entitled "Buck Owens Guitar Method vol. 2" with a print date of 1970. It includes tab, notation, some lessons "from Buck" on music theory and how to play some of their hits. While the Buck stuff isn't hard to play, it is certainly an amazing piece of history for and only cost me a buck. Pun intended.