74 era fuzztone?

[ScubaGeek]

OK, I know Jerry didn't use much in the way of effects prior to about 76, but on some of the shows during the summer 74 tour, you can hear him using some kind of fuzztone. I know it appears during one of the jams on 6/16/74, and again on 6/26/74, and I was listening to one show a few days ago where it appeared again. Was he already using the Distortion + or is it something else? Anyone know?

[tigerstrat]

OK, I know Jerry didn't use much in the way of effects prior to about 76, but on some of the shows during the summer 74 tour, you can hear him using some kind of fuzztone. I know it appears during one of the jams on 6/16/74, and again on 6/26/74, and I was listening to one show a few days ago where it appeared again. Was he already using the Distortion + or is it something else? Anyone know?

Also quite prominent in the solo to China Doll 6/20/74, whatever fuzz device it was, and it was a fuzz device

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Wow,

that China Doll fuzz is nuts. It's weird because it almost sounds like his attacks are clean, and then the fuzz swells in like a compressor slowly releasing, maybe a volume pedal swell. It's weird. And really, it sounds like he has his foot on a rocker pedal that sweeps between clean and fuzz, and is using it almost in a pedal-steel reflexive manner where the pick attack has the pedal back, and then the foot steps on it slowly. Does anyone know of a pedal that sweeps between clean and fuzz?? Given that it's giving off a fairly intense upper octave, it seems to be a true "fuzz" circuit at work, almost like an Octavia, but maybe not quite that intense of an octave. I'm suspecting (really just guessing) maybe this pedal here:

Brad

wahfuzzswell.jpg (36.46 KiB) Viewed 639 times

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Signal split - clean into one Fender channel, foot controlled fuzz into the other.


B

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

OK, I know I'm beating this China Doll fuzz thing to death, but I'm really trying to make sense out of the way the fuzz swells in, and you hear these distinctly clean pick attacks a few times. So what I'm thinking now is that maybe it's a Morley Fuzz Wah set just for fuzz, and he's swelling the Morley on slowly, and possibly also has a clean guitar channel going the whole time. That way if the Morley is back (silent), you simply hear him with a clean pick attack and as that note quickly dies since its clean he then swells in the Morley fuzz. It's very interesting sounding.

Did Jerry use a Morley pedal at all in '74?

Or really, it very well could have been the Colorsound Wah-Fuzz-Swell set for "fuzz swell". Check out near the end of the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moB0zUO2Yo0


B

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

OK,

Wiki says it was a Morley Fuzz/Wah.

B

[deadguise]

Maybe he was using an E-bow?

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/EBow-PlusEBow-Electronic-Bow-for-Guitar?sku=219005

[ScubaGeek]

Maybe he was using an E-bow?

Not in 1974, he wasn't. The original E-bow was introduced at, I think, the 1977 NAMM convention. In fact, I recall an article in Guitar Player back in 1988 about the E-bow, where they said that Jerry and Bob bought I think they said three of them at that NAMM convention.

Besides which, the E-bow wouldn't account for what we're talking about. The E-bow gives you infinite sustain, but it doesn't really change the actual tone of the instrument.

In the examples I'm talking about, Jerry's using some kind of distortion effect. It's not amp distortion, you can't get that kind of tone from a tube amp. This is definitely some type of effect, either a pedal, or maybe an onboard preamp. I believe I read Jerry had an Alembic Stratoblaster preamp installed on some of his guitars, but I'm not sure if that could generate this kind of distortion.

But if he was using a Morley Fuzz/Wah, that might be the effect I'm talking about. I've never used that pedal, so I don't know what the fuzz sounds like on it. And if he only used that particular during the spring/summer tour dates, that would explain why you don't hear the effect on the British, French and German dates in September or the Winterland shows in October.