Grateful Dead Music Forum

i'm not a big fan of bobs 90's distorted style, it clashes with the rest of the band so much. i'd say his distorted ton is worse then the midi key effect! did bob himself decide to have this tone or was it the sound people doing it for him like it was for vince?

Not sure about Bob's particular situation, but in most cases that would be determined by the guitarist's on-stage amplifier, which he would control himself. Usually the sound from the amp would then go to the board and through the house speakers. Then again, I wouldn't have expected the Vince situation to be the way it was (Gregg Allman for example uses his own on-stage amp like a guitar player would), although Vince's situation might be a little more understandable if he was using exclusively midi for his sound. Maybe someone else might have more insight.

I dont have too much knowledge but I really cant see someone telling Bobby what kind of sound he should have. In my opinion this was one of the things that Bob did to try to make up for Papa Bear's decline. Put himself out front more. I think a lot of the criticism that Bob gets for his late 90's tone is a little undeserved. I agree it aint the best but when the big man is turning himself down and zoning out, you gotta do something.

I know that both Bob Mathews and Dan Healy would screw with his vocals adding distortion, or turning it down

I can see that, that is more of a mix thing, but its a cardinal sin to mess with a gigging musicians amp.

CaptainTrips wrote:I dont have too much knowledge but I really cant see someone telling Bobby what kind of sound he should have. In my opinion this was one of the things that Bob did to try to make up for Papa Bear's decline. Put himself out front more. I think a lot of the criticism that Bob gets for his late 90's tone is a little undeserved. I agree it aint the best but when the big man is turning himself down and zoning out, you gotta do something.

that what I always speculated as well

Vocal mics usually go straight to the board, leaving that sound totally at the mercy of whoever is mixing. Guitar usually doesn't, and most boards aren't really equipped with distortion even as an outboard effect.

CaptainTrips wrote:I dont have too much knowledge but I really cant see someone telling Bobby what kind of sound he should have. In my opinion this was one of the things that Bob did to try to make up for Papa Bear's decline. Put himself out front more. I think a lot of the criticism that Bob gets for his late 90's tone is a little undeserved. I agree it aint the best but when the big man is turning himself down and zoning out, you gotta do something.

Couldn't agree more.

Some weird responses here...

Firstly, in the 90s amps were off-stage leaving the potential for anyone to do anything theoretically.

"Put himself out front more." Um, that's on-stage. How can Bobby cranking even a 100W tube amp to 10 change where he sits in an auditorium with tens of thousand of what pumping the full band mix everywere.

The mix be it vocals or instrumentd is always at the mercy of the soundguy.

If the amps were off-stage, only individuals backstage would have had access. The front of house sound guy should be at the board, not backstage. Yes, the sound man would control the mix from the board, but for guitar that would consist of volume level and additional eq. Not effects such as distortion. The only effects applied would be delay/reverb for vocals, and possibly midi for keyboards in this case. When Healey screwed with Weir's vocals, it was by adding too much reverb. The only way he could have added distortion from the board would be to increase the gain (which wouldn't sound like normal guitar distortion the way most of us think of it), or to have an outboard distortion unit which isn't likely. At any rate, the most he would have done is simply set the overall volume level from the signal coming from the amp. The amp itself would determine the tone.

I know Bob often got a rough deal in terms of the mix but he should have been the man in total control of his sound. Fair enough if he wants it a certain way thats upto him.

Can you imagine anyone else fucking around with Zappa's sound or Neil Young's.

You only have to look at some of the shorts Bob wore to get an idea about his tastes!

Bobs my fave, and i love his 90's sound. specially the little whammy thing he does. im a huge fan of 90's Dead.

strumminsix wrote:Some weird responses here...

Firstly, in the 90s amps were off-stage leaving the potential for anyone to do anything theoretically.

"Put himself out front more." Um, that's on-stage. How can Bobby cranking even a 100W tube amp to 10 change where he sits in an auditorium with tens of thousand of what pumping the full band mix everywere.

The mix be it vocals or instrumentd is always at the mercy of the soundguy.

The amps could be on Mars but I have a hard time believing that Bob is just gonna let anyone come up and fiddle with his amp.

And what I meant by Bobby putting himself out front was more in a style of playing rather than volume or stage positioning. I really dont know where you are coming from on that one.

But look at the Dead in the late 70's. Jerry was out front. He stepped up musically. When Jerry was slowing down, what I think happened is Bob felt (and in my opinion, rightfully so) that it was now his chance to step up and try to carry the big man and the new keyboardist.

Again just my opinion. Despite whatever sound qualms there might have been there are some mighty songs in those 90's shows. (Black Muddy River, So Many Roads, ect.)

Also, the tone of your guitar can be used to cut through the mix to some extent regardless of volume. That may have been what Weir was going for by using a more distorted sound. His tone on In the Dark is distorted in a lot of songs too, which would have been by his choice. He wouldn't have let that slip by. If anyone else touched his amp, it would have been a guitar tech that he trusted. Healy was the only one fired, and that was strictly for altering vocals that went straight to Healy's board.

Speaking of Healy...........anyone know exactly what went down and why he got canned????