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Why Did John Lennon Have Such Lousy Guitar Amp Tones?


jrockbridge

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Perhaps, this is a lesson....Song writing trumps tone.

 

 

I know a great songwriter who is also a great rhythm guitar player and these comments ring true for me. He is puzzled at the attention guitar players give to their tone. He also has three albums out and I have none, so unfortunately I have to conclude that gear/tone obsession is not a success multiplier.

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I really dont know. I think he's done more parts than the albums give him credit on.


I was surprised reading yesterday that allot fo the Ram album was done with other guitarists. I think many of those

session musicians were the beginnings of the Wings Band.


Heres the article on it in Mix Magazine I stumbled over yesterday. Its pretty good stuff from his engineers perspective.

http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_paul_mccartneys_uncle/index.html


Paul does credit himself playing guitar on that album too. it may be the case where the sessions guy nailed his style

or maybe Paul did guitar tracks on there too. In any case it was a big production.

Paul liked to do big productions with the best people. Who wouldnt if you were him.

Hah, I bought Uncle Albert when it first came out on 45 rpm :thu:

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I get what OP is saying, I think just overall production wasn't where it is today. George Harrison says he wishes he had found Strats 20 years earlier. To me, there is a marked tone improvement in the redone lead stuff, more what George wanted to sound like. I'm sure John would have been the same way

[video=youtube;UqHjXF1gUWU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqHjXF1gUWU

 

[video=youtube;R7twIF8PWic]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7twIF8PWic

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John Lennon's gritty rhythm guitar was perfect for The Beatles: it drove the songs forward and made a nice contrast to Paul's melodic bass-lines and songwriting polish and George's Carl Perkins' influenced jangle. Not a great tone but a perfect tone.

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From what I've read over the years John was technically naive. Phenomenal singer/songwriter but just banged away on a guitar. We all know brilliant musicians like that.

When the Beatles first started direct injecting bass into the mixing boards, Lennon asked if he could the same with his vocals -George Martin said "If we install a jackplate on your neck".

Not a gazillion tone choices in those days too if you know what i mean.

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It's almost as if John fell in love with the sound the very first budget amp he ever owned and continued to chase that tone for the rest of his life.

 

John's first "budget" amp was a '50's Fender Vibrolux. Not a bad idea to chase that tone.

 

2-1.jpg

 

The amp now belongs to John's cousin David(Julia's sister Harriet's son). The amp as it looks today.

 

IMG_5928-01.jpg

 

John painted it black when they went through their everything must be black stage.

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John's first "budget" amp was a '50's Fender Vibrolux. Not a bad idea to chase that tone.


2-1.jpg

The amp now belongs to John's cousin David(Julia's sister Harriet's son). The amp as it looks today.


IMG_5928-01.jpg

John painted it black when they went through their everything must be black stage.

 

AAAAHHH!!!! Shouldn't that amp be in a museum instead of some basement collecting MOLD?!?!

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AAAAHHH!!!! Shouldn't that amp be in a museum instead of some basement collecting MOLD?!?!

 

 

Currently on display at the RRHOF along with the Gretsch 6120 John gave David. It did sit in the closet at David's house from 1967 when it died on him until 2009 when he had it repaired. Before the RRHOF it was on display at The BEatles Museum in Liverpool.

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Curious how so many people keep talking about songwriting when the OP was about tone. I'm sure there's a songwriting forum somewhere else on HC. ;)

 

Tone in those days was something of an art, particularly as they started before it was acceptable to really crank an amp up, and no-one was making amps with gain and master volume controls. Also PAs were small at probably no more than a couple of hundred watts, so the nice warm overdrive tones we know and love weren't available unless you wanted to drown the vocals, and that wasn't going to happen.

 

TBH from the sound of things he just wanted a tone that fit OK with the band, and recording being what it was, it was 'good enough' especially early on. Other bands in the same era sounded worse too (the Kinks spring to mind immediately). I'm also reminded of a comment by Alvin Lee about 10 Years After going in to record and them not being allowed to turn their amps up in the studio, so it sounded thin and weak. Maybe the reason that 'rooftop' tone was so good is that he was able to give the amp its head up there in the open air?

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In the early days of the band they were running 10 and 15 watt amps in clubs. One of the reasons people believe Pete Best's drumming was so prominent was that it was so easy for him to play over the band even dimed.

 

Later the noise of the crowd forced them to dime even the AC-100s. I saw them in 64 with the big ACs in a 12,000 seat arena and you couldn't hear them. I can't imagine those AC's doing anything even at 10 at Shea Stadium.

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