I love this band and that's reason enough for me to post some songs of theirs.
And can't forget the classic one.
And can't forget the classic one.
The Presidents of the united States of America.
- Thread starter Blazer
- Start date
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jjkrause84
Poster Extraordinaire
Wow...flashback to the 90s!
cherokee jim
Banned
Look at that strat-3 tuners.
mindlobster
Tele-Afflicted
Great band, saw them live in London years ago, and still listen to them once in a while.
Chris Ballew the leadsinger and "Bassitarist" plays two string guitars strung with bass strings tuned in C-F through bass amps, so his role is basically the one of the bass player. That Red Melody Maker he plays in most of the clips later had its stock single coil pickups replaced by just a P-90 at the neck. He currently has an endorsement with Epiphone and uses two Stock SG's with the bridge pickup disconnected.
"Guitbassist" Dave Dederer played strats tuned in the same way but with an added root so they were tuned C-F-C, to further differentiate his sound from Ballew's, he used distortion pedals and tube amps.
When Dereder left the band he was replaced by Andrew McKaeg, who plays Gibson SG's and Les Paul Special models.
And I can't have a thread like this without THIS...
When Weird Al got in touch with Chris Ballew to make this parody Ballew insisted that Weird Al should add the line "And that's all I have to say about that" since the presidents were already ending the song with that lyric. Weird Al was all too glad to comply. Here's also the original video so you can see how far Weird Al went to get it right, down to the green violin bass, the gold Custom tuck and roll bass cab and the white Peavey tele.
The biggest difference: Chris Ballew can't do those high kicks that Weird Al pulls off.
pnutman3k
TDPRI Member
Good to see there is some appreciation for them. One of my favs:
hekawi
Doctor of Teleocity
i liked the cover of Ian Hunter's "Cleveland Rocks" that they did for the Drew Carey Show
mindlobster
Tele-Afflicted
This is my all time favourite tune of theirs - 'Tiny Explosions'. And they have a guest bass player on this live version.
Love these guys! My favorite tune of theirs is "Twig".
Agitator
Friend of Leo's
Great stuff, thanks for posting. I remember these guys but I've never heard a lot of these songs.
Ya I remember these guys from the 90's when MTV was watchable.
The dtummer kicks a$$.
The dtummer kicks a$$.
furtherpale
Former Member
They are in Brisbane soon... I'm going.. Half for a laugh, half cause I always kinda liked them
davedederer
TDPRI Member
Presidents guitars and stuff
Hey, this is Presidents guitarist Dave Dederer.
Fun to see stuff on the Presidents here on TDPRI. I and new Presidents guitarist Andrew McKeag are both your typical guitar geeks. I've spent lots of time dorking out here on these pages.
"Guitar" tuning for the Prez is C# G# C#. Like the bottom half of a dropped D tuning but down a half step, with strings in the 3rd, 4th and 5th string slots.
"Bass" tuning for the Prez is C# G#, same notes as the two lowest on the guitar, not an octave below. Chris also uses a heavier gauge on the low C# and puts the strings in the 3rd and 5th string slots for a more bass-like string spacing.
It's all about space for the vocals and about the power of 5ths, which leave ambiguity to allow the melody to move from major to minor or anywhere. And also allow the judicious use of 3rds and 7ths to really flavor the music in an impactful way.
Chris generally has played through a bass amp and doesn't use effects (although he used them when we were recording the first record) and thought more like a bassist.
I and Andrew have played through guitar amps and use effects and color the sound more.
The idea is that the two instruments together make a lovely, unified lower midrange cushion that the vocal melodies can float over in the upper mids.
I used a really crappy Harmony guitar through a TS-10 and Sovtek Big Muff into a blackface Twin Reverb to make the first record. I replaced the Harmony with a couple of Peavey tele copies and then starting in late 1995 I played the same MIM strat for nearly all of our touring. I broke the original body (blue) when I threw it across the stage about a year after I got that guitar; I replaced it with a StewMac body that I finished with a little tung oil. That is still my main guitar. Still has all the original wiring harness, knobs, etc., with battle scars. I had the guitar in Mike Lull's shop for a re-fret last year and he said someone came in and said, "THAT's what I want my guitar to look like? How can we relic one to look like THAT?" Er...take it around the world for a few years, sweat on it, smash it into your amp and your bandmate's guitar a few dozen times, toss it into the drum kit at the end of a show or two...
I did play other guitars over the years, mostly strats and teles. During the Presidents' last big touring cycle in our heyday I usually played with six strings, in a dropped D tuning down a half step (C# G# C# F# A# D#).
Hey, this is Presidents guitarist Dave Dederer.
Fun to see stuff on the Presidents here on TDPRI. I and new Presidents guitarist Andrew McKeag are both your typical guitar geeks. I've spent lots of time dorking out here on these pages.
"Guitar" tuning for the Prez is C# G# C#. Like the bottom half of a dropped D tuning but down a half step, with strings in the 3rd, 4th and 5th string slots.
"Bass" tuning for the Prez is C# G#, same notes as the two lowest on the guitar, not an octave below. Chris also uses a heavier gauge on the low C# and puts the strings in the 3rd and 5th string slots for a more bass-like string spacing.
It's all about space for the vocals and about the power of 5ths, which leave ambiguity to allow the melody to move from major to minor or anywhere. And also allow the judicious use of 3rds and 7ths to really flavor the music in an impactful way.
Chris generally has played through a bass amp and doesn't use effects (although he used them when we were recording the first record) and thought more like a bassist.
I and Andrew have played through guitar amps and use effects and color the sound more.
The idea is that the two instruments together make a lovely, unified lower midrange cushion that the vocal melodies can float over in the upper mids.
I used a really crappy Harmony guitar through a TS-10 and Sovtek Big Muff into a blackface Twin Reverb to make the first record. I replaced the Harmony with a couple of Peavey tele copies and then starting in late 1995 I played the same MIM strat for nearly all of our touring. I broke the original body (blue) when I threw it across the stage about a year after I got that guitar; I replaced it with a StewMac body that I finished with a little tung oil. That is still my main guitar. Still has all the original wiring harness, knobs, etc., with battle scars. I had the guitar in Mike Lull's shop for a re-fret last year and he said someone came in and said, "THAT's what I want my guitar to look like? How can we relic one to look like THAT?" Er...take it around the world for a few years, sweat on it, smash it into your amp and your bandmate's guitar a few dozen times, toss it into the drum kit at the end of a show or two...
I did play other guitars over the years, mostly strats and teles. During the Presidents' last big touring cycle in our heyday I usually played with six strings, in a dropped D tuning down a half step (C# G# C# F# A# D#).
Hey Dave, way cool to have an actual president respond.
I still have the issue of Guitar World where you and Chris talked about your Harmony and his green Beatles bass (Both seen in the video for "Lump") having been stolen, were they ever recovered?
I still have the issue of Guitar World where you and Chris talked about your Harmony and his green Beatles bass (Both seen in the video for "Lump") having been stolen, were they ever recovered?
davedederer
TDPRI Member
stolen guitars
Never got those guitars back. I'm sure whoever took them opened the cases, saw some crappy $40 guitars with 2 and 3 strings and threw them straight out of the window into a ditch.
I'm not attached to instruments but I would very much like to have that one back.
Never got those guitars back. I'm sure whoever took them opened the cases, saw some crappy $40 guitars with 2 and 3 strings and threw them straight out of the window into a ditch.
I'm not attached to instruments but I would very much like to have that one back.
wow its dave!...thanks for making cool music man!
