Info about Alan Holdsworth harness?
- Thread starter zionstrat
- Start date
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
Somebody built a clone of one on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vvt1NVqkZU
Yeah there's lots of bits and pieces out there, even a two-parter..
But it's pretty unclear as to what it does for the tone and exactly how it does it...
Of course in a way that's understandable.. and intentuator doesn't primarily provide its own tone.. it just lets you get tone out of the amps that you're using, but this is apparently is a different creature..
But it's pretty unclear as to what it does for the tone and exactly how it does it...
Of course in a way that's understandable.. and intentuator doesn't primarily provide its own tone.. it just lets you get tone out of the amps that you're using, but this is apparently is a different creature..
Agreed overall... As a young guy, I spent plenty of time chasing his tone with whatever I could get... And when he went with magicstomps, I bought two of them to try to get some of his dual path stuff.
I'm not really chasing his tone right this moment... But there are lots of aspects that I never found and I remain curious.
Perhaps most relevant were his dark tones... To the uninitiated, a lot of those sounds seem to be neck and neck plus bridge with a decent amount of tone rolled off.. and that will duplicate his sound below the 12th fret and on the lower strings..
But those same settings provide a rather anemic sound up high... Missing the sustain in the singing tones he was famous for.
So if you push the drive up and roll off more of the highs you can get his upper register rather easily, but now the low notes are much too heavy and growly...
He used a lot of EQ over the years and I often wondered if dual path eqs were the answer... But when I look at the harness and realize he used it for a lot of his career, I've wondered if it could be a significant contributor to the secret sauce.
Of course I've been at this long enough to know there's 50 different ways to get just about any sound, and in truth, I've got more than enough to work with.
Thanks again for input come I could talk about Holdsworth all year!
I'm not really chasing his tone right this moment... But there are lots of aspects that I never found and I remain curious.
Perhaps most relevant were his dark tones... To the uninitiated, a lot of those sounds seem to be neck and neck plus bridge with a decent amount of tone rolled off.. and that will duplicate his sound below the 12th fret and on the lower strings..
But those same settings provide a rather anemic sound up high... Missing the sustain in the singing tones he was famous for.
So if you push the drive up and roll off more of the highs you can get his upper register rather easily, but now the low notes are much too heavy and growly...
He used a lot of EQ over the years and I often wondered if dual path eqs were the answer... But when I look at the harness and realize he used it for a lot of his career, I've wondered if it could be a significant contributor to the secret sauce.
Of course I've been at this long enough to know there's 50 different ways to get just about any sound, and in truth, I've got more than enough to work with.
Thanks again for input come I could talk about Holdsworth all year!
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
He did a lot of session work before the UK. I remember finding "Velvet Darkness," which is supposedly an early Allan Holdsworth album, and being extremely let down. Later, I found out Rudy Van Gelder recorded and released a rehearsal session without AH's permission. That is why the disk does not have the polish of the other AH albums. There is some great playing on it, but I do not find myself reaching for it that often.
Guess I got bad info... Thanks for the heads up!
Yes, Buford is amazing.. over the years I flip between him and Peart as my drummer fix of the day... But Peart only had Rush... As you point out Buford played with everyone, so there's unlimited flavors available.
I think Allan always struggled in bands, since he was so out there, he didn't fit in. Often, he wouldn't play until the solo, not playing conventional rhythm parts at all. You really start to hear his compositional voice on IOU and Road Games.
I am listening to Road Games today and man, what a terrifying album this is. I remember trying to work my way through the opening chords of 'Three Sheets to the Wind' and how difficult it is.
I am listening to Road Games today and man, what a terrifying album this is. I remember trying to work my way through the opening chords of 'Three Sheets to the Wind' and how difficult it is.
Yeah I love attempting but have never been comfortable mastering Holdsworth.
With soloing, it's that multi octave up and down the neck thing.. but having read up on his theory, I at least understand it.
What kills me on albums like IOU and road games is voice leading and harmonization.. in a way he's almost classical but again it's his way of thinking about classical..
It reminds me when I first learned Bebop harmonization.. that flat six adds in chords in between everything..
Obviously, Holdsworth wasn't using flat six harmonization, that would have been too simple
Okay now I need to go put on road games
With soloing, it's that multi octave up and down the neck thing.. but having read up on his theory, I at least understand it.
What kills me on albums like IOU and road games is voice leading and harmonization.. in a way he's almost classical but again it's his way of thinking about classical..
It reminds me when I first learned Bebop harmonization.. that flat six adds in chords in between everything..
Obviously, Holdsworth wasn't using flat six harmonization, that would have been too simple
Okay now I need to go put on road games
Speaking of all these great musicians, I followed up road games with UK. UK.. Holdsworth Bruford Joabson and Wetton... Unbelievable from pretty much every angle.
It would be fun to start another thread that averaged ability...
In this case, Holdworth Buford and Joabson would have to be 10s... Wetton would be an extremely solid eight... Yielding an average of 9.5
Of course it's really subjective and maybe objectifying as well, but it would be a bit like a fantasy football league
It would be fun to start another thread that averaged ability...
In this case, Holdworth Buford and Joabson would have to be 10s... Wetton would be an extremely solid eight... Yielding an average of 9.5
Of course it's really subjective and maybe objectifying as well, but it would be a bit like a fantasy football league
