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D. Boon Tone on "Double Nickels On The Dime"


Armchair Bronco

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The other day I bought the Minutemen's "Double Nickels On The Dime" CD. It's been ages since I listened to this album (my original copy was on vinyl).

 

This is a freakin' awesome CD! 43 songs, and only 10 or so are more than 2 minutes long. I think there are more memorable songs on this CD than on any other single CD in my massive collection.

 

Anyway, what is D. Boon doin' to get his signature tone? Sounds like a Telecaster through some kind of Fender amp with the treble turned *WAY* up.

 

(I'm gonna have to start a Minutemen Appreciation Thread real soon now...) :thu:

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Anyway, what is D. Boon doin' to get his signature tone? Sounds like a Telecaster through some kind of Fender amp with the treble turned *WAY* up.

 

QUOTE]

 

That's pretty much it. It's either a Fender Twin or a super, or something. I was just about to go download Double Nickels, but I don't have enough tracks this month on Emusic. :cry: I watched a documentary on these guys: We Jam Econo. It was pretty cool. I loved all the cuts they played from Double Nickels. I am downloading their first album for now. Thanks for the reminder.

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Thanks for hijacking the thread with all this "niceness", guys! :p

 

I just finished listening to Double Nickles. D. Boon rules. So does Watt & Hurley. These guys were such an awesome power trio. Very tight.

 

At least half the songs on this album really get cranking and then just end, leaving me wanting more. Much more! "Always leave 'em wanting more," they say.

 

The Minutemen were masters of writing 1 minute and 55 second-long punk-inspired hooks.

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Cool some other minutemen fans as well:thu:

 

One of my all time favorite bands, Double Nickels is a masterpiece.

 

Yeah, in the documentary (we jam econo) they mentioned that the trebly guitar tone was intensional to keep the guitar and bass sounds seperate. It was also mentioned how they really wanted to "jarr" the listener with the tone, and also the "clean trebly" stone kept them very distinct and unquie as compared to the othre punk bands of the time.

 

You guys nailed it, D-Boon's tone was a fender tele through a twin with the treble jacked. Apparently he used a tubescreamer for his leads around 'Double Nickels'. Although, in the earlier live footage from the documetary (paranoid time ers), he is playing a heavily stickered strat (or strat copy) with just a single coil bridge pup), into what seems to be some sort of piggyback fender rig (possibly a silverface bassman or bandmaster?)

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I listened to "Double Nickels on the Dime" last night in bed with headphones on, and I swear that on a lot of songs D. Boone's tone almost sounds like it has been doubled. There's a kind of unique shimmering effect to his guitar parts in lots of songs.

 

Can mere mortals really re-create this tone with nothing more than a 70's Tele and a Fender amp? Did D. Boone use any pedals? Or did he do any guitar doubling in the studio?

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Another great band that did what they did because they loved some great records, a lot. Deep BOC fans, deep Steppenwolf fans...that's the right wrong stuff if you ask me. Sorta the same reason Cobain was head and shoulders above his many peers and followers, few of whom would have known Man Who Sold The World (for ex.) from a hole in the ground.

 

It's all about the record collection in your head.

 

IMO.

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Another great band that did what they did because they loved some great records, a lot. Deep BOC fans, deep Steppenwolf fans...that's the right wrong stuff if you ask me. Sorta the same reason Cobain was head and shoulders above his many peers and followers, few of whom would have known Man Who Sold The World (for ex.) from a hole in the ground.


It's all about the record collection in your head.


IMO.

 

 

And let's not forget Creedence, who they covered twice on record ("Don't Look Now" from Double Nickels and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" from 3-Way Tie for Last). Of course, as a couple of working-class schmoes from a portside town in California, they had quite a bit in common with Fogerty and the boys from El Cerrito.

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Man, I still miss Dennis!:cry:

 

I was a friend of theirs(when I played in Angry Samoans) and was even married to Dennis' girlfriend Linda in the early 90s.(that one ended bad!)

But he used the above mentioned Tele Custom through a Fender Twin or a piggyback Bandmaster. He also had a cool Fender Japan Telecaster(black/white pickguard)that he used a lot. One of a kind, he was! Every Christmas, I burn a candle for Dennis.:)

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REnt or buy "We Jam Econo". In the film they show the setup and explain how Boon got that tone. I believe it was a Tele through a super with the treble all the way up and the bass at half mast.


It's a great documentary btw. I highly recomend it.

 

Thanks for the tip. I've been seeing references to Jam Econo for the last couple of days. Guess it's a sign! :thu:

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Man, I still miss Dennis!
:cry:

I was a friend of theirs(when I played in Angry Samoans) and was even married to Dennis' girlfriend Linda in the early 90s.(that one ended bad!)

But he used the above mentioned Tele Custom through a Fender Twin or a piggyback Bandmaster. He also had a cool Fender Japan Telecaster(black/white pickguard)that he used a lot. One of a kind, he was! Every Christmas, I burn a candle for Dennis.
:)

 

 

Hey, Steve. Dug the Samoans when I used to work the counter at my local record shoppe. A pleasant trip to have a member therefrom show up here!

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Man, I still miss Dennis!
:cry:

I was a friend of theirs(when I played in Angry Samoans) and was even married to Dennis' girlfriend Linda in the early 90s.(that one ended bad!)

But he used the above mentioned Tele Custom through a Fender Twin or a piggyback Bandmaster. He also had a cool Fender Japan Telecaster(black/white pickguard)that he used a lot. One of a kind, he was! Every Christmas, I burn a candle for Dennis.
:)

 

Hey Steve, that's pretty cool that you knew D. Boon!

 

Do you know any other tidbits about D. Boon's gear (pedals, amp settings, string gauge, pick preferences, picking style, or his overall playing and soloing philosophy)? It's really hard to find such info on the internet.

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