Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was reading in another forum (FenderForum.com) that Hank has his Strats modded so that the bridge pickup is wired to the lower tone pot; ostensibly, to tame the ice pick highs.

Anyone hear the same and/or try the mod?

I have never heard that from anybody on the shadows community. It could possibly account for the difficulty in achieving "That sound" if it was the case. I often roll back the volume pot a little bit which also takes away a little bit of the biting treble. Actually, it seems a good idea! How frequently do we normally use the middle pups tone control anyway?

According to the poster in the other forum, the "sweet spot" for the tone knob is in the 6.5 to 7 range.

Just enough to mellow the sound a little...

Andrew, I've done that to two of my Strats, and it's a really useful mod. Except that I wired it up to the top tone control (the one for the neck pickup) and the lower tone control is stock.

My thinking is this: Since the neck and bridge pickups are never on at the same time, the the tone pot acts on whichever pickup - neck or bridge - is selected at the time.

This also allows independent tone controls when the selector switch is in the 2 or 4 positions too. So when it's in the 2 position, I've got separate tone controls acting on the bridge and middle pickups; and in the 4 position I've got separate tone controls acting on the middle and neck pickups. Makes for a really versatile guitar.

Hope this makes sense, and yes I do use all the tone knobs all the time. Love that middle pickup sound and do not want it to be wide open all the time (such as on the Jimmie Vaughan model Strat).

This sounds like a nice setup, Steve.

I do understand, however, that some of Hank's guitars may have been wired so that he had access to the bridge and neck pickups at the same time. I am not sure if that was the stratocaster, Burns or both.

Tracks such as Diamonds, Little Princess and Because They're Young are reputed to have been recorded using these settings.

The re-issue Burns Marvin guitar I have has the bridge/neck pickup capability. I assume the originals had the same feature...

Because They're Young Peter, you must be thinking of another track unless you have a real rarity.

There was a very interesting article a while back, must try and dig it out, in which some guy had virtually dissected Apache note and came to the conclusion that Marvin did not use a Fender on the track but a Gretsch, I believe was his conclusion, above my head but you guys would probably know what he was on about.

Magazine had got Bruce Welch's reaction to this which was and I quote

"I'm telling you he used a Fender I was there"

Roy: You are indeed correct. I should have said Diamonds and Adios Muchachos and I believe it has been said that The Breeze and I used three pickups at the same time.

I am going with Bruce Welch who was there and I suspect would have no trouble correcting the Gretsch myth if there was anything to it.

I didn't think the Shadows version of Breeze and I was anywhere near as good as The Fentones version, a group few over there will have heard of, then again Peter some have not heard of the Shadows!

Well, I do (maybe it's just a matter of which version you heard first), Anyhow, it's interesting that the discussion regarding the possible Gretsch on Apache would pop up. This discussion has been raging off and on in the Shadows communities for several years ever since the idea was launched by the late Italian Shadows expert Roberto Pistolesi (R.I.P.) who has written the book, "That Sound", which has shown a tremendous insight in the workings of the recording techniques of the Abbey Road studio (pheew, that was a long sentence....). I guess the idea emerged for two reasons, one - a Gretsch has been seen on footage allegedly from the recording sessions and two - the difficulties in reproducing the exact sound of Apache, while other recordings from about the same time are easier to mimic. However, besides the comments from Bruce Welch saying that it was a strat (which should be quite enough), my personal opinion (if I didn't have Bruce's statement, of course) is that the audible use of the trem arm (It really should be called the vibrato arm, you know´.......) displays all the characteristics of a strat, the Gretsch trem is nowhere as versatile, I know, I have one). The sound itself could easily have been made with a Gretsch or many other brands for that matter. The "special" sound of Apache could be due to a hundred other reasons, EQ settings on the amp, a faulty amp, the Meazzi echo's circuitry, you name it!

It was a strat, for sure.

It bit lengthy (having sunk a couple of pints this Friday evening and being on vacation as well...........)

No not at all Goran good to have your view. I assume by your comment "I Do" you mean that you feel The Shadows version of Breeze and I was as Good as Fentone's version, though I believe you have a point Fentones did it first.

By the way Goran take a peek at Clough Classics Battle Of The Versions, need your vote!


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Steve,

Your wiring makes much more sense. Perhaps that's the way Hank's are wired, too--if, indeed, what I read is true to begin with.