I started seeking the Jerry tone about 2 years ago. I guess I did what many do, hoping to get there with easy/inexpensive “fixes”. I’ll save that "tone quest" related story for another time, but with respect to this discussion, I did recently finally get right in the pocket of his 77/78ish tone.
My audible references, as it were, to get the tone have been based on the live shows that I’ve seen (96), and years of daily listening to hours of Dead on my long drive to and from work, a 3 hour round trip each day.
Back in the 70’s-90’s I did sit down with recordings and learn a large portion the songs on guitar (to be accurate, I merely learned the chord progressions and occasional common licks), but there have been a whole lot of days between then and now. So, recently I have sat down with a really nice and powerful stereo system and played along with various live shows, I imagine for the first time ever, in this context anyway.
Several things became immediately evident, and those things are the reason for my need/want to share in this post. Here are some of the related observations, in no particular order.
1. I didn’t realize just how critical “playing along” with recordings was, with regard to the final fine tuning of attaining Jerry’s tone. Before, I was so close, but when one can really match up with him, slight adjustments get made that REALLY dial it in. I was off base in my midrange settings and my gain structures, both of which, with slight tweaking, are now spot on.
2. I found myself..…well…conflicted. Although playing with the Dead was unimaginably gratifying on many levels, I felt…wrong…for stinking the sonic joint up. Sacred was, if not failing, somewhat sullied before profane (my playing). Honestly I’m still wrestling with this a bit. I feel like I should pull out the CD’s I’m playing along with and give them a hot shower…maybe let them curl up in the fetal position for a while, and then go to counseling. And I walk away feeling very small, like an ant next to an elephant must feel. The combination of sheepishness and power is confounding.
3. One thing Brad told me a couple of years ago really became both painfully and beautifully evident. Warm up time is huge. I couldn’t just sit down and be there. My tone was sort of there, but the nuances of attack and dynamics needed a good 20-30 minutes before things really gelled.
4. As nuts as this sounds, I sort of am lost with respect to my “role” when playing along. Part of me wants to play Jerry inspired solos over everything. Part of me wants to play off Bobby. Part of me falls into the absurd role of 3rd guitarist, where I’ll try to add (that’s a laugh) to the songs without stepping on Bob or Jer. Half of me plays along and learns how to do things right, the other half gets sucked into a performing/improvisational mindset. One thing for sure though, I am learning an awful lot very fast. After playing along for say 45 minutes or so, I feel like I just played a 3 hour gig. I’m super pumped up and mentally exhausted at the same time.
5. Playing along kind of allows one to see….alternate…views of the impeccable infrastructure of what The Dead are doing musically. Complex songs can get simple and simple songs can get complex. Sometimes seeing the beauty from a slightly different vantage point can deepen appreciation.
So that was all I had. Just wanted to get some of it out of my head, perhaps to free up processing space, which has new demands placed on it.
My audible references, as it were, to get the tone have been based on the live shows that I’ve seen (96), and years of daily listening to hours of Dead on my long drive to and from work, a 3 hour round trip each day.
Back in the 70’s-90’s I did sit down with recordings and learn a large portion the songs on guitar (to be accurate, I merely learned the chord progressions and occasional common licks), but there have been a whole lot of days between then and now. So, recently I have sat down with a really nice and powerful stereo system and played along with various live shows, I imagine for the first time ever, in this context anyway.
Several things became immediately evident, and those things are the reason for my need/want to share in this post. Here are some of the related observations, in no particular order.
1. I didn’t realize just how critical “playing along” with recordings was, with regard to the final fine tuning of attaining Jerry’s tone. Before, I was so close, but when one can really match up with him, slight adjustments get made that REALLY dial it in. I was off base in my midrange settings and my gain structures, both of which, with slight tweaking, are now spot on.
2. I found myself..…well…conflicted. Although playing with the Dead was unimaginably gratifying on many levels, I felt…wrong…for stinking the sonic joint up. Sacred was, if not failing, somewhat sullied before profane (my playing). Honestly I’m still wrestling with this a bit. I feel like I should pull out the CD’s I’m playing along with and give them a hot shower…maybe let them curl up in the fetal position for a while, and then go to counseling. And I walk away feeling very small, like an ant next to an elephant must feel. The combination of sheepishness and power is confounding.
3. One thing Brad told me a couple of years ago really became both painfully and beautifully evident. Warm up time is huge. I couldn’t just sit down and be there. My tone was sort of there, but the nuances of attack and dynamics needed a good 20-30 minutes before things really gelled.
4. As nuts as this sounds, I sort of am lost with respect to my “role” when playing along. Part of me wants to play Jerry inspired solos over everything. Part of me wants to play off Bobby. Part of me falls into the absurd role of 3rd guitarist, where I’ll try to add (that’s a laugh) to the songs without stepping on Bob or Jer. Half of me plays along and learns how to do things right, the other half gets sucked into a performing/improvisational mindset. One thing for sure though, I am learning an awful lot very fast. After playing along for say 45 minutes or so, I feel like I just played a 3 hour gig. I’m super pumped up and mentally exhausted at the same time.
5. Playing along kind of allows one to see….alternate…views of the impeccable infrastructure of what The Dead are doing musically. Complex songs can get simple and simple songs can get complex. Sometimes seeing the beauty from a slightly different vantage point can deepen appreciation.
So that was all I had. Just wanted to get some of it out of my head, perhaps to free up processing space, which has new demands placed on it.
