Re: [Harp-L] fender bassman ltd again

[scott <checker758@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, TomEHarp@xxxx wrote:
> i have to say this,i've only had it a week and i just can't get that LW sound 
> like i do out of me 1953 danelectro,i thought i would i don't get it.i think 
> its going back to the store.

The issues of getting your own sound, etc., have already been addressed, many times, so I won't go there.  However I don't see anything wrong with emulating someone else's sound - everyone on this forum does it, whether they admit it or not.  I only have two comments: 
 
1. *Which* LW sound were you trying to get?  If you listen to his sessions chronologically, you'll hear that no two sessions sound alike.  His harp tone went from the relatively clean sound of, for instance, Juke, to the broken kazoo distortion of Rocker, and everything in between.  
 
2. Since there's no evidence that he ever used any kind of Bassman amp, there's logical reason to expect that the modern version one would help you get his sound.  If you want his sound (and I'm not talking about his phrasing, acoustic tone, etc., just the kind of bass/treble/distortion combination his equipment produced, which I assume is what this is about), then you pretty much have to use the same type of equipment he did.  Which is to say, 1950s Gibson, National, Masco, etc. amplification, and microphones of the same vintage.
 
OK, a third comment, to answer the inevitable question raised by the comment above.  I've probably researched this subject more than anyone, and the fact is, no one ever bothered to make note of which specific amp LW used his gigs or recording sessions.  It's unknown, and at this point, probably unknowable, unless a cache of photos from one of his sessions or gigs that has been buried for 50 years suddenly turns up.  But at this point, there are no known photos nor any definitive evidence of him using ANY specific make or model of amp at any specific time.  Virtually everyone who was in a position to know which amps he used 'back in the day' always said the same thing: he used whatever was available and was working at any given time.  Remember that when LW himself was asked point blank which amp he liked, and he was unable to name a brand, let alone a model.  So if someone is going for "the LW sound", literally any decent amp from that era should get you in the ballpark.  In other
 words, you want the sound of Juke?  Get something that was available in May 1952.  You like the sound of Key To The Highway?  Use a rig that was available in 1958, etc.  The rest is up to you.
 
Scott

		
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