[Aaron1229]

Hi everyone, it feels good to be making my first post here. I'm a longtime lurker, finally decided to register so i can get some answers in my quest for Jerry tone
I think my fav tone of his might be 12/29/77 winterland. Just an epic night, with some of the sweetest sounds i've ever heard come from a guitar. His tone is sweet and chimey in places, aggressive, thick, and cutting in others. What's strange is that wolf sounds totally different that night, even compared to the preceding and following night in this run. Was it simply the effect of getting everything "just exactly perfect", i.e. luck? And he was still using single coils at this point right? Were they really just stock Fender pups? How did he possibly get that raging, thick, full tone he had on "the nine" out of single coils?!? Sorry for rambling--this show has captivated me for years, and I've never stopped trying to duplicate that sound... Thanks in advance for any advice/answers!

[schmidtz]

That is single coil Wolf with the effect loop installed. If I had to guess, I would say that the pickups would be some off the shelf 1977 Fender strat single coils. Jerry had a propensity to change his pickups frequently, so whatever they were, they were new.

The raging tone will come from cranking your McIntosh into your veritable wall of K120's.

[hippieguy1954]

The Fender custom shop '69's or the D Allen Voodoo 69's nail it.

[TI4-1009]

Sorry, as an occasional cello player I couldn't resist. From Wikipedia:

"A wolf tone, or simply a "wolf", is produced when a played note matches the natural resonating frequency of the body of a musical instrument, producing a sustaining sympathetic artificial overtone that amplifies and expands the frequencies of the original note, frequently accompanied by an oscillating beating (due to the uneven frequencies between the natural note and artificial overtone) which may be likened to the howling of the animal. A similar phenomenon is the beating produced by a wolf interval, which is usually the interval between E♭ and G♯ of the various non-circulating temperaments.

Wolf tones are usually only noticed on bowed instruments, most notably the violin family, since the tones produced are played for much longer periods, and thus are easier to hear. Frequently, the wolf is present on or in between the pitches E and F♯ on the cello, and around G♯ on the double bass. A brass wolf tone eliminator typically placed on the G string (second string from the left) of a cello, between the bridge and the tailpiece."

[seniorpesca]

Sorry, as an occasional cello player I couldn't resist. From Wikipedia:

"A wolf tone, or simply a "wolf", is produced when a played note matches the natural resonating frequency of the body of a musical instrument, producing a sustaining sympathetic artificial overtone that amplifies and expands the frequencies of the original note, frequently accompanied by an oscillating beating (due to the uneven frequencies between the natural note and artificial overtone) which may be likened to the howling of the animal. A similar phenomenon is the beating produced by a wolf interval, which is usually the interval between E♭ and G♯ of the various non-circulating temperaments.

Wolf tones are usually only noticed on bowed instruments, most notably the violin family, since the tones produced are played for much longer periods, and thus are easier to hear. Frequently, the wolf is present on or in between the pitches E and F♯ on the cello, and around G♯ on the double bass. A brass wolf tone eliminator typically placed on the G string (second string from the left) of a cello, between the bridge and the tailpiece."

cool!