So, what's all this compression about anyway?

Just Nick explains it, using his wonderful seafoam green Telecaster.

Explain The Effect: Tremolo 2

This is ground I've tread before, but I'm hitting it again at another angle.

Put a little tremolo on a clean sound and it begins to sound like it has the power of a distorted sound, without the difficulties of high gain. I set up my Frontman 25R with a moderate amount of reverb — knowing Duane Eddy, I probably should've poured it on — and two takes at "Rebel Rouser". First pass is tremolo off, second is tremolo on.
That's my SX STL50 into a Danelectro Cool Cat Tremolo to a Fender Frontman 25R, recorded on laptop, so you know we're talking audiophile. Still, while it is a simple effect, the resulting sound is much fuller than without, at least to my ears. The good thing about it is that you can play fast enough to hide the effect, then sustain a note and there it is. (Don't thank me, thank Danny Gatton's rhythm guitar video.)

For your edification, this is the lick I was playing.

I couldn't really hit the timing with the TinyLick interface, but all the notes are there.

I suppose I should be fair and show the master doing it....

Explain The Effect: Tremolo

Tremolo is one of my favorite effects. It is (a) tremulous effect produced by rapid repetition of a single tone. It's so cool that it's built into the best Fender amps, like the Vibrolux and the Twin Reverb. It is clear that Leo Fender didn't have great understanding of musical terms, calling tremolo vibrato and vice versa, but that's OK with me.

My tremolo is a Danelectro Cool Cat Tremolo. When I went looking for a trem, I tried a few more trems, including the EHX Stereo Pulsar, but I couldn't dial in what I considered to be a Fender tremolo on the the others, and that's what I really wanted.

You can get a generalized warble with 'em, which is where I normally go with it. You can kick the speed up to max and get a stuttering effect. All good things. But the thing I'm mostly trying to put together these days is kicking the speed back a little, hiding my fingerpicking in the quiet spots so you can't hear the attack. It can sound like an arpeggiated 70s synth a bit, although I don't know that I captured it here, with the acoustic sound of the guitar coming in too clear. I do know that I've captured the sound of my mic distorting. I was going over a couple of standard chord progressions, nothing clever, but I think I can put this into something.

Divining Water Pt III, or a Reasonable Guide to Playing With Effects

Henry Kaiser



vs.

Tom Morello

Explain The Effect, Vol 2

Al Anderson was guitarist for NRBQ. Nowadays, he's a songwriter and guitar twanger for hire in Nashville. He recorded Pay Before You Pump in 1996. It contains "Bang Bang Bang". The first fifteen seconds are below.

I love playing those first fifteen seconds to guitarists. I say "This is the worst tone you'll ever hear, and it's great!" They don't believe me, until they hear. Then they laugh.

"Bang Bang Bang", Intro (:15)

Isn't that truly great?

I've been told that rhythm tone is mostly chorus with the knobs turned too far, and there is something to that, but that isn't the whole story.

So, what am I missing?

Explain The Effect, Vol 1

Following is the first solo from French Frith Kaiser Thompson's "Killing Jar". I have it both forward and backward.

"Killing Jar", Kaiser solo, forward (1:09)
"Killing Jar", Kaiser solo, forward (1:09)

My take is that this is a reversed solo, that they ran tape backwards to record it. The steel guitar on "This Moment", Matthew Sweet's contribution to the Sweet Relief compilation, has about the same sound. It sounds so otherworldly. First question is this: How can I get something like this effect while playing live? What box should I shop for?

Second question is more detailed. About :50 on the solo, there's a flutter. That's about :20 reversed. It's more than just a BB King butterfly vibrato, although that's kind of what it sounds like. It's there in the reversed, so it's not just the backward-recording. So, what is it, and how can I get my hands to do it?