Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Do you play "She Said She Said" with your band? If so, I am interested in the distortion effect pedal that you use. Which combination of guitar and effects pedal nails the lead?

Does anyone know how it was done originally?

Not sure about the distorion. On a side note, I think I remember that the guitar part on She Said, She Said (except for the distortion) sounds very similar to the guitar part on Rain. I have read that the intro/rhythm guitar on Rain was played in the key of A, then the tape was slowed down to make the guitar be in the key of G.

Was She Said She Said also recorded in A and slowed down to A flat?

My vote would be fuzz, either a Maestro or one of those W.E.M. Pep boosters. It doesn't sound like it was added at the mixing board like the 'Revolution' fuzz sound. I've got a Dunlop fuzz pedal - not the original 'fuzz-face' but a reissue and I can dial that in pretty close.

My guess:

Probably a Casino. Probably a Vox. To my ears, the tone is more overdriven than fuzzy, but my compromise guess is that it's a loud Vox with a touch of the fuzz on it. I imagine they used a similar setup for Paperback Writer, only with the SG in that case.

For me, one of the things that make the Beatles' recordings so fascinating was their ability to create seemingly simple sounds that reveal new intricacies every time you listen to them. Like the sound of John's voice in I'm Only Sleeping. And I'll never forget the first time I heard the yawn in I'm Only Sleeping - after listening to it so for many years! Geniuses.

Ethan: I suspect that the Vox Treble Booster circuit is used here with some distortion.

It sounds like overdriven tube amp to me. But if its not you can bet its a very judicious use of a pedal. If it is a pedal they were masters of it without dout. Definitly not overdone and it remains consistant thru out the album. However it does'nt seem to be used by them afterwards. It really is and odd thing.

Wasn't it just the distortion circuity
of their hybrid Vox amps they used in 1966
(transistor preamp, tubes in the power amp)?
To me it's preamp transistor distortion.

There was a dicussion over on VT about a Beatles mystery pedal, the WEM pep rush.
The photo was taken around the time of the Paperback Writer sessions, when John had his Gretsch.

http://www.voxtalks.com/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.pl?Action=ShowPost&Board=VT18&Post=1096&Idle=0&Sort=0&Order=Descend&Page=8&Session=

Wolfgang: I think your point is certainly a good one. In addition, there is a sustain effect, at least to my ears, that requires some additional discussion in that I consider that it goes beyond distortion alone.

I always thought it was an SG on it, but really I never put much thought into it, I just assumed.
Man the tones these guys could come up with are crazy.

They might have run the lead guitar through the studio's Fairchild compressor, which would have increased the sustain. To me the pickups sounds more like P90s than humbuckers, but my ears are trickable so who knows.

Yeah, it's amazing that they can get such cool sounds out of so little. In fact, that's probably WHY they got such great sounds. Guitar to amp to Neumann to 2" four track or whatever. Can't beat it.

The closest I can come to the She Said She Said tonality is with a Casino through a Vox AC-30 with a Vox Valve Tone Pedal, a Crispy Cream treble booster and a Ross compressor circuit. The sound is very close and illustrates to me that it is probably more involved than just a single distortion pedal.

Man thats a lota stuff for just one tone. I often find my best tones by accident. I have always admired the tones on that album and since I have a collection of Fender and Kustom amps. I always just figured it was something that just came natural out of a Vox. Still one of the amazing things about this tone is that its so good and they only used it on one album. Reasons any fab gear specialist?