How come Garcia's tone didn't suck in '92...

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

That June tone sounds weird, but kind of like a speaker or at least getting rid of that glassy high garbage so it sounds like a guitar. Almost acceptable. It has a warmer top end and a more guitar-type midrange emphasis.

The August tone is more like that horrible, glassy, crispy, total dogshit, worst-guitar-tone-ever sound that Jerry had in that period. I won't sugar coat it, that's NOT what electric guitar should sound like, and definitely not what Jerry's legendary tone was all about.

Very interesting transition and de-evolution in '93 as Jerry went from having over 20 years of the most glorious guitar tone the world ever knew, to suddenly having the worst guitar tone the world ever knew. I was sad after '92. Never was the same again. No more Healy and no more Jerry tone. One of my life's greatest tragedies when the great sound of the Grateful Dead died.

Brad

[jeffm725]

Then there's the guys that actually admire the post 8/93 tone reading this thread with incredulity....

Yeah, the guys who get the piezo put in the guitar, because that is what accounted for the "acoustic sound" Jerry had.


I gotta tell you though that back in the day, before the flood of gear info and the internet bringing everything together, I was among the camp that would have believed there was a piezo in there. Was never sure, but I could have been convinced by the right person.

Interesting to note that despite Gary Brawers assertions that none of Jer's guitars has the piezo, John K actually thinks there possibly was one in there and that we are all being pranked !

[jeffm725]

That June tone sounds weird, but kind of like a speaker or at least getting rid of that glassy high garbage so it sounds like a guitar. Almost acceptable. It has a warmer top end and a more guitar-type midrange emphasis.

The August tone is more like that horrible, glassy, crispy, total dogshit, worst-guitar-tone-ever sound that Jerry had in that period. I won't sugar coat it, that's NOT what electric guitar should sound like, and definitely not what Jerry's legendary tone was all about.

Very interesting transition and de-evolution in '93 as Jerry went from having over 20 years of the most glorious guitar tone the world ever knew, to suddenly having the worst guitar tone the world ever knew. I was sad after '92. Never was the same again. No more Healy and no more Jerry tone. One of my life's greatest tragedies when the great sound of the Grateful Dead died.

Brad

brad, Please tell us how you really feel about his post 92 tone! , I agree with you though, and it was sad, and I think there was more too it than just in-ears. I just dont think he cared to get it right at that point, and he historically cared more about his signal path that just about any guitarist out there. He really undestood how the stuff worked.

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

"They" say that Jerry really just stopped caring in those last years. He cared about JGB, but not the Dead. He was fried, and having a great tone with the Dead was no longer that big a deal to him.

And one thing that has been discussed from time to time, is the fact that without a speaker blasting the sound back into the guitar, the tone is different. A really loud amp rig generates a certain degree of acoustical feedback into the guitar, and that affects tone and sustain. The other big argument about in-ears is that it really separates the player from the audience and the other players. That isolation, it has been argued, kills the feedback loop from the audience and among the players on stage. That was part of the magic, the reciprocal reactivity of both players and audience. The in-ear isolation can really put a wall up between the two. A lost sense of the real energy level on stage and in the house.

Brad

[tcsned]

That June tone sounds weird, but kind of like a speaker or at least getting rid of that glassy high garbage so it sounds like a guitar. Almost acceptable. It has a warmer top end and a more guitar-type midrange emphasis.

The August tone is more like that horrible, glassy, crispy, total dogshit, worst-guitar-tone-ever sound that Jerry had in that period. I won't sugar coat it, that's NOT what electric guitar should sound like, and definitely not what Jerry's legendary tone was all about.

Very interesting transition and de-evolution in '93 as Jerry went from having over 20 years of the most glorious guitar tone the world ever knew, to suddenly having the worst guitar tone the world ever knew. I was sad after '92. Never was the same again. No more Healy and no more Jerry tone. One of my life's greatest tragedies when the great sound of the Grateful Dead died.

Brad

and sadly coincided with the demise of Jerry's playing and my desire to go to shows anymore

The Dead were always at the forefront of live music technology. I'm sure this seemed like the logical next step. Unfortunately, the available technology didn't cut it. A great idea in theory but, in practice, as you put it, was "dogshit."

[jeffm725]

And one thing that has been discussed from time to time, is the fact that without a speaker blasting the sound back into the guitar, the tone is different. A really loud amp rig generates a certain degree of acoustical feedback into the guitar, and that affects tone and sustain.

you got that right, for an example see: Anastasio, Trey. When I watch him closely it seems he is ultra-aware of a set sweet spot in his stage area where all the sound coming from his rig just interacts and folds back with the top of the 'doc. It is like a little 2 foot area that he walks to when locking in for a jam. It is about more than just getting his typical long feedback/sustained notes, it is an overall part of his sound.

[tcsned]

And one thing that has been discussed from time to time, is the fact that without a speaker blasting the sound back into the guitar, the tone is different. A really loud amp rig generates a certain degree of acoustical feedback into the guitar, and that affects tone and sustain.

you got that right, for an example see: Anastasio, Trey. When I watch him closely it seems he is ultra-aware of a set sweet spot in his stage area where all the sound coming from his rig just interacts and folds back with the top of the 'doc. It is like a little 2 foot area that he walks to when locking in for a jam. It is about more than just getting his typical long feedback/sustained notes, it is an overall part of his sound.

Carlos Santana has spoken about this factor a lot. We had done the ampless thing for a while but I switched back because, while it was easier to mix and such, it just didn't feel or sound right to me. We did not do the in-ear-monitor thing though. I do have a direct rig that I use as an emergency backup but I don't intend on going back that route for a main rig.

[RiverRat]

.

[tigerstrat]

As much as we scoff at that... It was the direction that Jerry was probably heading had he lived.

He was heading towards playing an (actual) acoustic guitar most of the time.

[RiverRat]

.

[DeadlyHeptet]

There is also what is called "psycho-acoustics" wherein at amplitude, one tone playing off another creates a third tone that isn't really being played, but we perceive that something is there. I believe that a lack of cabinets and so forth on stage would preclude that from happening. Another one of those kind of magical elements that may have been lost.

[RiverRat]

.

[hogan]

Yeah, the guys who get the piezo put in the guitar, because that is what accounted for the "acoustic sound" Jerry had.


I gotta tell you though that back in the day, before the flood of gear info and the internet bringing everything together, I was among the camp that would have believed there was a piezo in there. Was never sure, but I could have been convinced by the right person.

Interesting to note that despite Gary Brawers assertions that none of Jer's guitars has the piezo, John K actually thinks there possibly was one in there and that we are all being pranked !

I've said this before, I was told in no uncertain terms that Cripes bought a MikeChristian piezo bridge for a guitar that Cripes built for Jerry. I also have maintained from the minute I heard that, it could be a bullshit sales line. "tell what they want to hear, maybe they'll buy one of my gizmos" or a misinfomed statement. Also, it maybe all true but for a guitar that Garcia never took ownership of, or never played on stage.
I will say after the fall '93 tour the over the top crispyness began to be more subdued. If only slightly on subsequent tours.

[tcsned]

I always understood psychoacoustics to be the human perception of a sound or sounds.
i.e. we do not hear all frequencies at the same sensitivity.

I could be wrong though, it's been a few years since I studied this in school

[RiverRat]

.