blake da teleman
New member
what kind of good clean amps whould work good for getting that brian setzer/ reverend horton heat rockabilly sound??
rockabilly tone
- Thread starter blake da teleman
- Start date
Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: rockabilly tone
Obviously, old Fender Showmans (Showmen?) is what Setzer uses, but those are loud, maybe too loud if you're playing small rooms. I think Rev. Heat uses Supers of something dirtier than Setzer.
On a budget, something like a silverface Bassman head would be an inexspensive start, and could be "blackfaced" of otherwise modded to taste.
A big part of that sound is the slapback. There are plenty of cheap "vintage-sounding" digitals out there; I have a Rocktron Short Timer that sounds great at I bought very slightly used for $25.
Of course, if you have a ton of money to spend, there are lots of options. Any post-tweed-era Fender amp (or clone) is worth investigating, and there are dozens of vintage or vintage-sounding echos in tape, analog, and digital formats.
Obviously, old Fender Showmans (Showmen?) is what Setzer uses, but those are loud, maybe too loud if you're playing small rooms. I think Rev. Heat uses Supers of something dirtier than Setzer.
On a budget, something like a silverface Bassman head would be an inexspensive start, and could be "blackfaced" of otherwise modded to taste.
A big part of that sound is the slapback. There are plenty of cheap "vintage-sounding" digitals out there; I have a Rocktron Short Timer that sounds great at I bought very slightly used for $25.
Of course, if you have a ton of money to spend, there are lots of options. Any post-tweed-era Fender amp (or clone) is worth investigating, and there are dozens of vintage or vintage-sounding echos in tape, analog, and digital formats.
Last edited:
blake da teleman
New member
Re: rockabilly tone
im looking at about $1000 give or take
im looking at about $1000 give or take
Re: rockabilly tone
I'd kill to find a used Vibroking for a Grand!
But i knew a guy in a rockabilly band and he used 2 tweed covered Fender Deville amps in stereo..... i also saw a 50' and 60's tribute act at a classic car show last year and the guy had a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
WhoFan
Benjy_26 said:
I'd kill to find a used Vibroking for a Grand!
But i knew a guy in a rockabilly band and he used 2 tweed covered Fender Deville amps in stereo..... i also saw a 50' and 60's tribute act at a classic car show last year and the guy had a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
WhoFan
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: rockabilly tone
you have no idea how long i've been waiting for this question
rockabilly tone, more than any other tone that i've found, is a tiny bit of a lot of things. Slapback echo is a biggie, 99% of the time set for one quick slapback, then you got your spring reverb, sometimes a tiny bit of tremolo/vibrato, and in the case of the rev & setzer - a tiny bit of distortion
The rev & setzer DO use distortion, just not like some of the 'tards out there today. They use it WISELY, in that you can still hear EVERYTHING the guitar does, you get a meaner tone, more sustain, all the advantages of distortion, but it's not muddy in the very least.
rockabilly tones usually feature old fender, or gretsch amps, fender being the biggy. The most popular rockabilly player in my town uses a brown vibrolux with 2 original jensens & all NOS tubes. Treble is the biggy on all these amps, it should never be any lower than 8.
here is setzer's setup. It's all accurate & correct
1963 Bassman - 50 watts
- blonde Tolex with wheat grille cover
- 6G6-B unmodified circuit with solid-state rectifier (less sag than tube rectifiers)
- preamp tubes - NOS Chinese 12AX7
- output tubes - NOS Philips 6L6WGB or NOS Tung Sol 5881
- cabinet - 2 x 12" Celestion V30, 8 ohm, 60 watt speakers wired in parallel (4 ohm total cabinet load)
with 12 gauge wiring
Settings
- normal input
- volume 4 (up to 5 for heavier overdrive)
- treble 10
- bass 4
- presence 10
From TVtheWiredTurtle - "Brian is using either the Phillips NOS 6L6WGBs or Tung Sol NOS 5881s, the amp is almost 10 watts less efficient hence the earlier breakup of the power section coupled by the "gainier" Chinese tubes that carry a bigger voltage than most NOS tubes and many Soviet reissues. It's running cloer to 40 watts." and "The nature of the EQ in the normal channel is such that when the treble is dimed, the bass is slightly attenuated which cuts down on the speakers farting out in the lows - although the V30s don't dive up the ghost very easily."
LONG Guitar cable lead (no wireless)
Setzer uses long guitar leads for room on the stage, but it also has the effect of eliminating the super high frequencies that can get "ice-picky." From TV again " He uses such long instrument cables, the capacitance loading smooths out the high end harshness that would otherwise be killing the crowd when using mere mortal cables like we all use (10'-18')"
Putting it all together
The trick to the amp sound is to set it just to the point of breakup. With a Gretsch, that happens at 4 to 4.5. At that setting, you can back the volume of the guitar off to clean up the sound or dig in with the pick to get a more distorted sound. The heart of Setzer's sound is overdriven tubes. Pedals will not get you the same sound.
Treble is the name of the game. Full treble, full presence. The bass is rolled off mainly because of the sealed cabinet. Sealing the cabinet tightens up the bass response and too much bass will muddy up the sound. There's plenty of bass in the cabinet without adding more.
The only real modification to the cabinet is replacement of the speaker wires. Heavy gauge (12 gauge?) is used to bring more, unrestricted signal to the speakers. Really an important part of the sound. The speakers are Celestion V30s. That seems to be a widely popular choice for a rock sound. Nice breakup.
Live, Setzer always uses the Bassman, but in the studio, anything's game. Supros, blonde Showmans, Gretsch Cowboy amps, Princeton, etc... It's impossible to know what's what on his albums ampwise, but the basic sound is the same.
you have no idea how long i've been waiting for this question
rockabilly tone, more than any other tone that i've found, is a tiny bit of a lot of things. Slapback echo is a biggie, 99% of the time set for one quick slapback, then you got your spring reverb, sometimes a tiny bit of tremolo/vibrato, and in the case of the rev & setzer - a tiny bit of distortion
The rev & setzer DO use distortion, just not like some of the 'tards out there today. They use it WISELY, in that you can still hear EVERYTHING the guitar does, you get a meaner tone, more sustain, all the advantages of distortion, but it's not muddy in the very least.
rockabilly tones usually feature old fender, or gretsch amps, fender being the biggy. The most popular rockabilly player in my town uses a brown vibrolux with 2 original jensens & all NOS tubes. Treble is the biggy on all these amps, it should never be any lower than 8.
here is setzer's setup. It's all accurate & correct
1963 Bassman - 50 watts
- blonde Tolex with wheat grille cover
- 6G6-B unmodified circuit with solid-state rectifier (less sag than tube rectifiers)
- preamp tubes - NOS Chinese 12AX7
- output tubes - NOS Philips 6L6WGB or NOS Tung Sol 5881
- cabinet - 2 x 12" Celestion V30, 8 ohm, 60 watt speakers wired in parallel (4 ohm total cabinet load)
with 12 gauge wiring
Settings
- normal input
- volume 4 (up to 5 for heavier overdrive)
- treble 10
- bass 4
- presence 10
From TVtheWiredTurtle - "Brian is using either the Phillips NOS 6L6WGBs or Tung Sol NOS 5881s, the amp is almost 10 watts less efficient hence the earlier breakup of the power section coupled by the "gainier" Chinese tubes that carry a bigger voltage than most NOS tubes and many Soviet reissues. It's running cloer to 40 watts." and "The nature of the EQ in the normal channel is such that when the treble is dimed, the bass is slightly attenuated which cuts down on the speakers farting out in the lows - although the V30s don't dive up the ghost very easily."
LONG Guitar cable lead (no wireless)
Setzer uses long guitar leads for room on the stage, but it also has the effect of eliminating the super high frequencies that can get "ice-picky." From TV again " He uses such long instrument cables, the capacitance loading smooths out the high end harshness that would otherwise be killing the crowd when using mere mortal cables like we all use (10'-18')"
Putting it all together
The trick to the amp sound is to set it just to the point of breakup. With a Gretsch, that happens at 4 to 4.5. At that setting, you can back the volume of the guitar off to clean up the sound or dig in with the pick to get a more distorted sound. The heart of Setzer's sound is overdriven tubes. Pedals will not get you the same sound.
Treble is the name of the game. Full treble, full presence. The bass is rolled off mainly because of the sealed cabinet. Sealing the cabinet tightens up the bass response and too much bass will muddy up the sound. There's plenty of bass in the cabinet without adding more.
The only real modification to the cabinet is replacement of the speaker wires. Heavy gauge (12 gauge?) is used to bring more, unrestricted signal to the speakers. Really an important part of the sound. The speakers are Celestion V30s. That seems to be a widely popular choice for a rock sound. Nice breakup.
Live, Setzer always uses the Bassman, but in the studio, anything's game. Supros, blonde Showmans, Gretsch Cowboy amps, Princeton, etc... It's impossible to know what's what on his albums ampwise, but the basic sound is the same.
Last edited:
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: rockabilly tone
Effects
Roland 301 Chorus Echo
- direct sig. - ON
- input #3
- volume - 4
- level -35dB
- chorus off, intensity - 0
- echo - ON
- mode 1 (2 for Sleepwalk)
- volume - 3.5
- repeat rate - 2.5
- intensity - 2.5
- switch on ECHO (not single delay)
- reverb - 0
- bass tone - 5
- treble tone - 5
- output level -25dB
Dunlop TS-1 Tremolo
Vintage Fender Reverb unit (63-64)
It doesn't get much simpler. Setzer's ALWAYS using some delay. It's a quick slap-back, one repeat sound. He uses the tape because of the "grease" it adds. Analog will get that vintage, imperfect sound that digital just can't get. The Roland does add a bit to the overall guitar sound too, by adding just a hint of a top-end overdriven shimmer. The signal coming from the Roland hits the preamps hotter than a straight signal causing a quicker breakup.
In the studio, Setzer also uses an old EchoPlex unit. Great sound, but notoriously unreliable. They're know to break down on a regular basis and parts are hard to get, but their sound is almost unbeatable.
Lately, he's been spotted with the new Fulltone "Tube Tape Echo." Horribly expensive but has a good sound. Very reliable, but one drawback is the delay time isn't quite short enough.
Guitars
- 1959 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120
- Gretsch Hot Rods (prototypes, pre-Fender)
- 1957 Gretsch Duo-Jet (Johnny Kool pt 2, Drive Like Lightning, etc...)
- TV Jones Spectrasonic prototype (model for current Gretsch Spectrasonic)
- "Stripe" Black, pinstriped Hot Rod (with TV Jones Supertrons as of late 2004)
used extensivly on Nitro Burnin' Funny Daddy
Guitar Setup
- Sperzel replacement tuners (for weight and easy string changes)
- neck
- compound radius
- Dunlop 6105 fretwire (with triangle crown)
- Delrin nut (steep slope for minimal string contact)
- Schaller strap locks
- no pickguard (gets in the way)
- dice knobs
- ABR-1 bridge with Tone-O-Matic aluminum drilled saddles, pinned
- D'Addario XL110 - .010 to .046
- medium gauge plastic picks (pink, black or white)
All of Setzer's setups are done by TV Jones (see below). The nut and saddles deburred and lubed with graphite and oil at every string change. The nut is cut steeply to keep the amount of string contact to a minimum. This are all keys to keeping the Bigsbys in tune. Keep up this regimen you'll never have tuning stabliity problems. The Sperzels make string changes quick and are heavy enough to affect the sound of the guitar. They're simply fatastic.
The necks are replaned for a compound radius - flatter on the lower frets, rounder up high. This keeps the guitar from "fretting out" during bends.
Bridges are pinned to keep them from moving, but not permanently attached. The saddles are aluminum and are drilled front to back with a hole on either side. These add harmonic tone to the guitar that must be heard to be believed.
Pickups
- TV Jones Classics
Straight from TV Jones -
"I like to see 5/32" from the top of the cover to the bottom of both E strings for the bridge pickup, and 3/16" from the cover to the bottom of both E strings for the neck pickup. If the neck position is too boomy, I like to see 7/32" on the bass side. This is without fretting any strings. It is not a definite measurement, just a place to start"
Effects
Roland 301 Chorus Echo
- direct sig. - ON
- input #3
- volume - 4
- level -35dB
- chorus off, intensity - 0
- echo - ON
- mode 1 (2 for Sleepwalk)
- volume - 3.5
- repeat rate - 2.5
- intensity - 2.5
- switch on ECHO (not single delay)
- reverb - 0
- bass tone - 5
- treble tone - 5
- output level -25dB
Dunlop TS-1 Tremolo
Vintage Fender Reverb unit (63-64)
It doesn't get much simpler. Setzer's ALWAYS using some delay. It's a quick slap-back, one repeat sound. He uses the tape because of the "grease" it adds. Analog will get that vintage, imperfect sound that digital just can't get. The Roland does add a bit to the overall guitar sound too, by adding just a hint of a top-end overdriven shimmer. The signal coming from the Roland hits the preamps hotter than a straight signal causing a quicker breakup.
In the studio, Setzer also uses an old EchoPlex unit. Great sound, but notoriously unreliable. They're know to break down on a regular basis and parts are hard to get, but their sound is almost unbeatable.
Lately, he's been spotted with the new Fulltone "Tube Tape Echo." Horribly expensive but has a good sound. Very reliable, but one drawback is the delay time isn't quite short enough.
Guitars
- 1959 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120
- Gretsch Hot Rods (prototypes, pre-Fender)
- 1957 Gretsch Duo-Jet (Johnny Kool pt 2, Drive Like Lightning, etc...)
- TV Jones Spectrasonic prototype (model for current Gretsch Spectrasonic)
- "Stripe" Black, pinstriped Hot Rod (with TV Jones Supertrons as of late 2004)
used extensivly on Nitro Burnin' Funny Daddy
Guitar Setup
- Sperzel replacement tuners (for weight and easy string changes)
- neck
- compound radius
- Dunlop 6105 fretwire (with triangle crown)
- Delrin nut (steep slope for minimal string contact)
- Schaller strap locks
- no pickguard (gets in the way)
- dice knobs
- ABR-1 bridge with Tone-O-Matic aluminum drilled saddles, pinned
- D'Addario XL110 - .010 to .046
- medium gauge plastic picks (pink, black or white)
All of Setzer's setups are done by TV Jones (see below). The nut and saddles deburred and lubed with graphite and oil at every string change. The nut is cut steeply to keep the amount of string contact to a minimum. This are all keys to keeping the Bigsbys in tune. Keep up this regimen you'll never have tuning stabliity problems. The Sperzels make string changes quick and are heavy enough to affect the sound of the guitar. They're simply fatastic.
The necks are replaned for a compound radius - flatter on the lower frets, rounder up high. This keeps the guitar from "fretting out" during bends.
Bridges are pinned to keep them from moving, but not permanently attached. The saddles are aluminum and are drilled front to back with a hole on either side. These add harmonic tone to the guitar that must be heard to be believed.
Pickups
- TV Jones Classics
Straight from TV Jones -
"I like to see 5/32" from the top of the cover to the bottom of both E strings for the bridge pickup, and 3/16" from the cover to the bottom of both E strings for the neck pickup. If the neck position is too boomy, I like to see 7/32" on the bass side. This is without fretting any strings. It is not a definite measurement, just a place to start"
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: rockabilly tone
These pickups simply can't be overrated. He had one of Setzer's '59 Filtertrons analyzed and duplicated, but also made some key improvements - separate bridge/neck pickup hights, correct string spacing, double potting. Setzer describes it as "taking 50 years of gunk of the pickups."
Setting up these pickups is VERY tricky because they are so sensitive to adjustments. You'll know the sweet spot when you hit it.
75% of Setzer's playing is done with both pickups on. Set the individual volumes on full and use the master volume for changing the volume.
hope that helped
These pickups simply can't be overrated. He had one of Setzer's '59 Filtertrons analyzed and duplicated, but also made some key improvements - separate bridge/neck pickup hights, correct string spacing, double potting. Setzer describes it as "taking 50 years of gunk of the pickups."
Setting up these pickups is VERY tricky because they are so sensitive to adjustments. You'll know the sweet spot when you hit it.
75% of Setzer's playing is done with both pickups on. Set the individual volumes on full and use the master volume for changing the volume.
hope that helped
Benjy_26
25's Nemesis
Re: rockabilly tone
Why did I think that VK's were $1,000?
Mea culpa.
How's about this one? :burnout:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-custom-s...370468388QQcategoryZ38074QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Why did I think that VK's were $1,000?
Mea culpa.
How's about this one? :burnout:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-custom-s...370468388QQcategoryZ38074QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
B Bent
Vibroluxologist
Re: rockabilly tone
Drew you are a Setzer nerd!!! I love it!! The cool thing bout TV Jones is when you call his shop he answers and is very knowledgeable and willing to talk. Great Setzer info man! Rockabilly Rules!!
EDIT: You can squeeze good rockabilly tone out of a lot more than just Fender amps too. I can rock the house with my Boogie, just as one example. If you have a good clean channel and a TS 9 (which makes me think.... didn't I hear somwhere that Setzer uses a TS 9 for extra OD?) you can make it happen.
Drew you are a Setzer nerd!!! I love it!! The cool thing bout TV Jones is when you call his shop he answers and is very knowledgeable and willing to talk. Great Setzer info man! Rockabilly Rules!!
EDIT: You can squeeze good rockabilly tone out of a lot more than just Fender amps too. I can rock the house with my Boogie, just as one example. If you have a good clean channel and a TS 9 (which makes me think.... didn't I hear somwhere that Setzer uses a TS 9 for extra OD?) you can make it happen.
Last edited:
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: rockabilly tone
he's the most underrated guitarist out there, SOMEONE has to have this info.
i also think he has the best rockabilly tone of all time, and for awhile was hell bent on copying his setup, but, i guess i'm better suited to be a psychobilly guitarist than a rockabilly one, and that's fine, i love em both
he's the most underrated guitarist out there, SOMEONE has to have this info.
i also think he has the best rockabilly tone of all time, and for awhile was hell bent on copying his setup, but, i guess i'm better suited to be a psychobilly guitarist than a rockabilly one, and that's fine, i love em both
newking70
GrumpyWorfologist
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: rockabilly tone
thank you
thank you
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: rockabilly tone
bump, i typed way too much to see this die so quick
bump, i typed way too much to see this die so quick
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: rockabilly tone
i'll 2nd that, but it probably won't happen
no respect for the rockabillyologists
i'll 2nd that, but it probably won't happen
no respect for the rockabillyologists
