Guitarology #8

What you pay for is what comes out of the speakers.

It’s approaching midnight in London. Across the railroad tracks from Wandsworth Prison sits a small semi-detached house, it’s massively over grown garden backing on to the tracks. The entire property is turned over to the business of making music except for the bathroom and kitchen. The latter used almost exclusively for the making of tea and storing beer. Mixing is in progress in the upstairs control room. The producer sits on two pieces of tapestry covered foam cushion resting on a like number of empty Marshall 4x12 cabinets which, along with two massive pillows, serves as sofa and guest bed. Opposite loom two 15 inch Tannoy Golds mounted on metal speaker stands. Between the stands and lashed to them by inch thick logging chain are several guitar cases containing a very nice collection of tasty vintage instruments. Above them is an engraved white on black plastic sign stating, "You can have these guitars when you can pry my cold dead fingers off of them." The metal framed windows, normally secured with locks usually associated with nuclear devices, are open allowing the night air and the sounds of the prison to waft through occasionally.

A large reel of 1 inch tape containing Wilco Johnson’s new single sits atop an 8 track tape machine thought to be only recently converted from gas. A machine which when running fast forward or reverse must be manually braked with delicate and practiced use of finger and thumb on the edge of the reel less the blood, sweat, and tears contained on the tape spill on the floor like Christmas ribbon gone mad.

The engineer and owner, James Morgan, has just soloed the effect on the vocal. A large echo plate is being used. Not a setting on a digital delay in a rack but a wardrobe size wooden box set in the entrance hall containing an actual large echo plate recovered at virtually no cost from a studio demolition.. As he punches out the plate and the mix entire comes back the producer suddenly exclaims, "Damn!". James, his intense concentration broken, spins around on his chair slightly panicked, "What !?! What happened?"

"No, it’s okay," replies the man with the money. "Nothing to do with you. In fact I was just annoyed at myself. Last year I spent five thousand pounds a day in The Manor recording Wilco’s last album. You’re giving me a much better sound here for ten pounds an hour! "

So boys and girls that is the first part of this month’s sermon. What you pay for in a studio is not the flashing lights, bells, whistles, or conveniently located upstairs tennis court, but what comes out of the speakers. What comes out of the speakers has much more to do with the person operating the equipment than the equipment itself.

It’s the same with guitars. A good guitar is one that you like and does the job required. Cost, brand name, someone else’s cool factor are irrelevant.

An example, my friend Pete Matheson, guitarist with Ray Davies for the past several years, came into the studio one day to overdub some solos. He walks into the control room carrying a lavender and lime green tartan PVC bag roughly in the shape of a guitar and the proverbial **** eatin’ grin. "Hey look what I’ve got!" exclaims The Pistol. "I passed this charity shop on the way down and this was in the window. I paid 10 quid for it." He then produces the most god awful looking excuse for an electric guitar you could imagine. This thing was sad and tragic. Sort of Rangoon Red with more knobs and buttons than a blender built by Edsel. Pickups manufactured in Singapore for quality control.

Well we immediately plugged it into Vamp, the resident no longer manufactured all tube 15 watt 30 year old British grunge machine, also recovered from the dark recesses of some second hand shop. Pete whips out the slide and hey chicka day, Tone To The Bone. Price for this combination of guitar and amp, roughly the same as dinner for four at Taco Bell. Very soon my new web site will be up and fully functional and you can hear the result on Sting Like A Bee’s "Louisiana". You be the judge.

By the way, "Louisiana" and "Classic American" which will also be heard at the new site were recorded at James Morgan’s studio. Eight track analog.........20 years ago. Although of course we’d do some things differently if we did it all again, like maybe let the cat out more often, the emphasis on care in production, making the best recording possible and having a good time, always holds true and ultimately gives the greatest satisfaction. These are not important recording or even my best, but they sure sound good. I had a great time making them and well, I’m kind of proud. Hell, I even got a discount for cash.

Courage © 2006 Steve Power

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