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In Praise of Violent Guitar Tones


thirdtwin

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Posted

I'm thinking Greg Ginn on Black Flag's Damaged EP, Jon Spencer on {censored} Galore's Right Now LP, Bryan Gregory on The Cramps' Songs The Lord Taught Us LP, and so on.

 

In many ways, these guitarists go against so much that is talked about regarding all things 'tone', and yet rarely has a six-stringed instrument plugged into a battered combo/stack sounded quite so, well, toneful, I suppose, as it does in the hands of these sonic sadists?

 

Any other great 'anti-tone' merchants worth considering?

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Vernon Reid's tone is pretty oogly. Also, Steve Albini's stuff with Big Black is really harsh/nasty sounding. Reverend A. Johnson's lap steel tone on "God Don't Like It" is raw.

 

Neil Young, too.

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Yeah, I'd totally agree with Albini. Not so much for Shellac, but definitely Big Black and Rapeman. Very good call.

 

Blixa Bargeld from Einsturzende Neubauten also deserves an honorary mention.

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I've always wanted to like the MC5 more than I actually do. Granted though, the guitars on Starship can get pretty out-there at times.

 

I don't know the name of the guitarist involved, but the tone on Count Five's Psychotic Reaction is just down-right sinister.

 

I really wish someone would start up a magazine, along the lines of Guitarist, but which focuses on these kind of players rather than yet another bloody David Gilmour article.

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Yeah, no question about Asheton. Lyle Presler from Minor Threat also created some outrageously spiteful tones. Check out Screaming at a Wall from the Discography compilation. Sheer violence.

 

[edit] Damn - I can't download that sample cos I'm using someone else's comp at the moment.

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Damn - I can't download that sample cos I'm using someone else's comp at the moment.

 

 

You can listen to it from the website without downloading it, actually.

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Posted
Blixa Bargeld from Einsturzende Neubauten also deserves an honorary mention.



never thought I would see them mentioned here. :cool:

Greg Ginn is fantastic!
My favorite terror guitarrist comes from Japan. His name is Makoto Kawabata (or Kawabata Makoto) and his band is called Acid Mothers Temple.

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He swings his guitar for the sounds, not for destruction. :thu:

The guy from Helmet, also. His tone is pure brick to the face.

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Posted

Norman Westerburg from the Swans always had a really cool tone. Raw, scraping, bent telecaster tone, through a marshall stack. The first few albums were quite violent/ cathartic...

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Posted

If Tom Morello played punk, he'd probably be Ichiro Agata of Melt-Banana. Agata has a very jagged tone, and their usually-DIY production values don't help matters much. He has a lot of effects on hand, but half the time he sounds like he's plugged straight in, without regard to where the knobs are set.

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Posted

I once saw Daniel Lanois live, and was amazed by the fact that he could play very sweet, beautiful songs, with the ugliest dirty guitar tone he could get. This guy is a genius producer, who happen to appreciate the vertues of ugly tones. :thu:

No mentions of Jack White anyone? This guy sells millions of albums with a dirty out-of-tune-from-a-cheap-guitar tone. Quite an achievement.

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Posted
I once saw Daniel Lanois live, and was amazed by the fact that he could play very sweet, beautiful songs, with the ugliest dirty guitar tone he could get. This guy is a genius producer, who happen to appreciate the vertues of ugly tones.
:thu:

No mentions of Jack White anyone?
This guy sells millions of albums with a dirty out-of-tune-from-a-cheap-guitar tone. Quite an achievement.



That was my first thought for rude violent tone.
I'd also like to throw Link Wray into the ring.

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Posted

Cheetah Chrome & Jimmy Zero: Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer
[YOUTUBE]r8dC9M6OCkE[/YOUTUBE]

James Williamson : Stooges - Search & Destroy
[YOUTUBE]TKYALsp-sIg&feature[/YOUTUBE]

Johnny Ramone, Brian James, Steve Jones, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Mick Ronson, Ed Kuepper, Johnny Thunders, Marco Pirroni, Richie Stotts, Guy Days, are all pretty edgy.

  • 2 weeks later...
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Posted

He swings his guitar for the sounds, not for destruction.
:thu:

The guy from Helmet, also. His tone is pure brick to the face.



I'm reviving this thread because nasty, gritty, ugly guitar tone is {censored}ing great.

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Posted
:cool:

the tones coming out of Velvet Underground's Voxs on White Light/White Heat are beyond nasty.

That first solo played by Fred Frith on Living in The Heart of The Beast, by Henry Cow, sounds like a guitar covered in napalm.

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