The Guitars of David Gilmour

When guitarists talk about classic or legendary tone one name almost always comes up; David Gilmour.  Gilmour’s expressive style and unique redefined and pushed the boundaries of rock and psychedelic guitar for generations to come.  Modern guitarists still lust after the smooth, organic sounds Gilmour has created throughout his career and his reputation as a guitarist is on par with such legends as Clapton, Page, Hendrix, and Townshend.  Despite the fact that Gilmour does not play the technical virtuoso, his timing and melodic sense have garnered him the reputation of a guitarist of legendary status.  Bob Ezrin (producer/collaborator for Dark Side of the Moon) stated, “…with Gilmour, equipment is secondary to touch.  You can give him a ukulele and he’ll make it sound like a Stradivarius.  He’s truly got the best set of hands with which I have ever worked.”   While playing technique is the largest factor of his legendary tone, he could not have done it without the tools to express himself.  This week we’re going to look at the guitars that helped Gilmour redefine the sound of rock and roll.

Telecasters

While Gilmour is mostly associated with the Stratocaster (the Black Strat in particular) he has used a few Telecasters throughout his career.  In fact, when he joined Pink Floyd in 1968 he showed up with an early 60’s blonde Tele with a rosewood neck that he continued to use until an airline lost the guitar on the band’s US tour that same year.  This guitar was given to him for his 21^st birthday by his parents when he was living in France and he is seen using it pre-Floyd in a photo from 1967 in the band Bullitt.

Another Tele that made its way into Gilmour’s hands was what appeared to be a late 50’s model that had a natural brown finish with a maple neck and fretboard.  This guitar was purchased as a replacement for the lost blonde Tele.  This guitar is seen on the back of the Ummagumma album cover and was seen later in Paris in 1970 and Lyon in 1971.  This is the only guitar that was not lost when the band’s gear got stolen in 1970.

In November 1974, Pink Floyd embarked on their British Winter Tour.  During this tour Gilmour was seen playing a 1959 Custom Telecaster on a new debut song “You Gotta Be Crazy” (later released as “Dogs” on Animals in 1977).  This Tele had an alder body finished in brown sunburst with binding, a white pickguard, and D-shaped neck with a rosewood fingerboard.  It had a Gibson PAF installed for the neck pickup.  This guitar was featured on Animals in the songs “Dogs” and “Sheep”.  It was also used on the following Animals tour in 1977 but the neck PAF was replaced with a Strat pickup.  There is some debate as to whether this guitar was the same one.

Sometime around 1975-76, David acquired a 1955 Esquire from Seymour Duncan.  It had maple D-shaped neck and an ash body finished in 3-tone sunburst.  This was a rare piece as Fender did not officially introduce the 3-tone sunburst finish on this model until 1959 and there were a very small amount produced in 1955 in this color.  Though the Esquire is a single pickup model, this one had a custom fitted neck pickup that was wound and installed by Seymour Duncan during his career at Fender.  Being one of the most valuable guitars in David’s collection it saw limited use but was seen in rehearsals in January 1977.  It debuted on David’s solo album in 1978 and again used for several tracks on The Wall (Young Lust, Run Like Hell).  Since then it has seen limited use but was featured on “Blue Light” on About Face and on a Paul McCartney album, Run Devil Run.

In a 1987-1990 Pink Floyd world tour, Gilmour was seen using a 1952 reissue Telecaster for “Run Like Hell”.  A second one of these was purchased in 1994 for live use on the track “Astronomy Domine” since it required special tuning.

On his tour in 2006, Gilmour was seen using a Custom Shop 50’s Tele with a maple neck.  This guitar was also used for “Astronomy Domine” at Abbey Road studios then given to David’s son Charlie for Christmas in 2006.

The Bill Lewis Guitar

In 1970 Bill Lewis built a custom guitar for David to help him reach the high notes in the song “Money”.  This guitar had 24 frets (a rare feature at the time) and was built from a single piece of Honduran mahogany with an ebony fretboard.  This guitar had many unique features such as two parallel steel bars running through the neck that allowed for a thinner neck with more stability.  It also had the fret spacing worked out by a computer and a compound radius that flattened out by the 24^th fret.  These two features, while more common now, were practically unheard of at the time and allowed for better pitch accuracy and easier bending, respectively.  One of the most prominent and acclaimed features were the pickups.  Designed and built by Bill’s brother, Jack Lewis these humbuckers were cast in resin with a vacuum system.  They had a very clean sound with lots of sustain.  Gilmour’s Lewis guitar had switches on each pickup for humbucking and single-coil operation.

Gibson Les Pauls

While never truly being a fan of the Les Paul, Gilmour still owned and used a couple of them.  In 1970 he began collecting guitars with two purchased from a pawn shop in Seattle.  One of these guitars was a Les Paul TV.  This guitar got some action during some of the remaining shows of that year’s US tour but that was all.

David has been known throughout the years to use a Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty” as well.  First shown in a picture of David in his studio in 1972, the Black Beauty didn’t see much action but was also spotted in a 1986 Guitar World photo hanging in David’s home.

The most commonly seen Les Paul in David’s hands is probably the 1955 Goldtop.  This guitar was used to record several tracks on The Wall including the solo on “Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)”.  David also used this guitar during The Wall tour in 1980-81 as well as throughout the 80’s and 90’s.  It can be heard on Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell.

David had another Goldtop, this one a 1956 model with a Bigsby.  This guitar was used on On and Island as well as on his 2006 tour.

Slide Guitars

When David acquired the Les Paul TV from the pawn shop, the other guitar in that purchase was a Fender 1000 pedal steel.  This was a two-neck model with 8 strings each, Fender humbucker pickups, a neck selector switch, and 10 pedals.  This guitar was used for the recording of “One of These Days” from Meddle and used extensively during The Dark Side of the Moon sessions.  It was also seen live in 1974, the first time David used a slide guitar in a live performance.

David also had a pair of Jedson lap steel guitars, one red and one blonde.  These were straight clones of the Fender Deluxe lap steel.  They were both used during Pink Floyd’s 1974-75 tour, tuned to open G.  The red Jedson was also used during the Animals tour in 1977 and the 1994 Division Bell tour.  Both were seen during the Momentary/Delicate tours in 1987-90.

Right before the 1994 tour, the blonde Jedson was replaced by a Fender Deluxe 6 loaded with two “wide-range high-fidelity” pickups.  This guitar was used performing “The Great Gig in the Sky” and was later seen on the Live 8 reunion performance in 2005.

Gilmour has been seen with several other slide guitars including an early 40’s Gibson EH-150 lap steel, and a Hermann Weissenborn Hawaiian style acoustic lap steel.

The Stratocasters

Ok I know, I know…what about the Strats?  Indeed, what about David Gilmour’s Strats?  He is best known for being a Strat player by choice and most photos and live footage of David show him playing a Fender Stratocaster.  While David used a lot of different guitars through the year, the Strat is probably most associated with his signature tone.

One of the most talked about instruments that David played was the Black Strat.  This guitar was purchased at Manny’s Guitar Store in 1970 during Pink Floyd’s North American tour.  Just a few weeks prior, David had purchased his first black Strat which was subsequently stolen with the rest of Floyd’s gear.  Since the remainder of the tour had to be canceled, David stopped back by Manny’s on the way home to pick up another one.  This guitar would become one of the most recognizable instruments in rock history.  Throughout the years, many modifications and changes were made to this Strat including the installation, removal, and subsequent reinstallation of a mini toggle switch under the pickguard for turning the neck pickup on, changing the white pickguard to black, installation of an XLR jack to eliminate noise from his Fuzz Face, neck changes, knob changes, you name it and it was probably done.  In the mid 80’s the Black Strat was donated to the Hard Rock Café where it remained on display until 1997.  It made its triumphant return in 2005 at the Live 8 show and has been David’s main guitar ever since.

The next most recognizable Strat for Gilmour fans is the American Vintage ’57 Strat reissue in candy apple red.  This guitar was used for over two decades of David’s career and subsequently defined the post-Waters era Pink Floyd sound.  This guitar was obtained from a second hand store in Chandlers, UK and once belonged to Mick Ralphs who played rhythm guitar for Gilmour on his 1984 About Face tour.  The American Vintage reissues were brought about in 1982 to counteract the disastrous effect CBS’s takeover had on the company.  There’s an interesting history behind these guitars so look into it when you have time.

Early on David played a white 1966-67 Strat with a rosewood fingerboard.  This guitar was a gift from the band and made its debut in 1968 at the free show in Hyde Park and came along for David’s first US tour a few weeks later.  This guitar was also stolen with the band’s equipment in 1970.  A second white Strat was seen in David’s hands at the St. Tropez Music Festival in August 1970 with the pickup covers removed.  This is the only time this guitar was seen.

Probably the most sought after guitar in Gilmour’s collection is his #0001 Strat.  While not being the first Strat ever made, this one was an unusual color for the time as well as having gold hardware.  It is speculated that is was a showpiece or made for a special occasion.  It had an ash body with what appears to be an aged Olympic white finish, a gold anodized pickguard, and Kluson Deluxe tuners.  This guitar was obtained from Phil Taylor around 1976-77.  It had originally belonged to Leo Fender who gave or sold it to Seymour Duncan who later sold it to Phil in the mid 70’s for $900.  There is some debate and controversy surrounding this guitar as well and I encourage you to read more about it.

The information contained in this article was obtained from www.gilmourish.com.  There is more information on each of Gilmour’s instruments on that site if you would like to find out more about the history of these iconic instruments.  Thank you to www.gilmourish.com for providing all this information to Gilmour/Floyd fans.  It is much appreciated!

 

 

 

The Details of Your Tone: Picks

Guest contributor:  Rusty Wiseman

 

Hello all.  Welcome back to The Corner.  Last time we discussed small details that can have a pretty large effect on your overall tone.  This week we’re going to continue that discussion with an oft-overlooked detail, the plectrum.  The guitar pick is the first interaction of your body with the strings, the first point of contact that causes vibration and eventually tone so naturally it will have an effect on how the final product sounds.  The thickness, shape, and material of the pick are all factors in the overall sound while the size is a factor in control and comfort, which does affect tone.  After all, no one sounds good when they can’t play well.

 

One of the primary aspects of a pick that people consider right off the bat is thickness.  The thickness of your pick can make a big difference in not only tone but attack and volume as well.  Thin picks have more give than a thick one.  This allows them to roll off one string easily to the next, making them great for rhythm guitar.  They also allow a harder strike without the fear of breaking strings.    Thin picks will also tend toward a brighter tone with a softer attack.  They roll across chords smoothly and evenly producing a consistent volume.  In general, they are a good choice for beginners for this reason since beginners don’t have any sense of dynamics or control in their muscle memory.  Thick picks tend more toward a darker tone more powerful tone.  They allow the player more control over volume and attack but in general they produce more volume than their thinner counterparts with a sharper attack.

 

When I refer to the shape of the pick, I’m actually more concerned with the shape of the tip.  The tip is the point that actually comes into contact with the strings and its shape can be a major player in both control and sound.  A rounded tip gives a smooth surface across the strings and tends to favor the rhythm player.  The pick will slide easier from string to string and, much like a thin pick tends to produce a more even string-to-string volume when strumming chords.  The rounded tip also softens the initial attack a bit.  A sharper tip provides the player with more accuracy and control when playing single notes and provides a strummer with a harder, more aggressive attack.  Lead guitarists normally favor sharp tips since they more easily produce artificial harmonics and control over each individual note.  Keep in mind, there are many lead players that favor rounded tips and many rhythm players that prefer sharp tips.  It’s all in what you’re most comfortable with.

 

The pick size has more of an effect on comfort and playability than actual tone but like I said, if you’re not playing well then tone isn’t really a factor is it?  Small picks favor small hands and vice versa but I’ve found small picks also provide more control when playing fast leads or single-string staccato rhythm patterns.  Larger picks may be unwieldy for some but, unless you’re a precision player, they tend to be favored by a larger amount of guitarists than small ones.  Large picks in general are easier to hold on to due to the larger surface area.  I personally like to use larger picks for hard strumming and rock rhythm because they don’t slip out of my hand as easily.  When I’m playing more controlled jazz or leads, I prefer a smaller, Jazz III sized pick with a sharp tip.  There are also large picks with sharp tips that can provide the control of a Jazz III (like the Jazz III XL) while still providing a large area to hold on to.

 

I saved this part for last because it is a big subject and it can be very subjective as well.  The material a pick is made out of can have a large effect on sound.  Picks come in a variety of materials from multiple synthetics to metal to stone.  Since this is such a large subject, I’ll touch on each one as painlessly as possible.

 

Probably the most sought after pick material is tortoise shell.  Back in the 1960’s and early 1970’s actual tortoise shell was used to manufacture many things, including guitar picks.  True tortoise shell picks are favored by many guitarists for their durability and organic feel but most of all for their tone.  They produce a unique tone that is described by many to be a cross between fingers and fingernails and they outlasted any plastic pick on the market at that time.  These picks were made primarily from the shell of the Hawksbill turtle, which is now an endangered species.  In 1973 the trade of tortoise shell was forbidden under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species act.  They still exist from black market sources but I implore you, please do not support these guys.  The material is protected for a reason and our ecological balance is much more important than your tone.  If you’re lucky enough to have a stash of them from back in the day, or come across some vintage ones (that were made before the act), grab ‘em and check ‘em out.  I myself have never tried one and would be curious to if I could find an old one.

 

Due to the protection on tortoise shell, there has been a constant search for a replacement that will give the same tone, response, and feel without the impact on turtle population.  Dunlop has the Tortex line, which is made of DuPont Delrin.  While they are not the same, they are a popular alternative.  They also have recently introduced the Ultex line, which seems to be gaining in popularity.  I’ve recently switched from Tortex to Ultex due to the more durable nature of Ultex.  For the most part, these plastic (I use the term “plastic” in a very general sense denoting a variety of materials) alternatives tend to have a less warm tone than tortoise shell according to some of the old guard that actually have played or still own tortoise shell picks but I’ve found that the Tortex picks have a smooth attack and balanced tone while the Ultex have a sharper attack with a slightly brighter tone than Tortex.

 

There are some boutique pick manufacturers that have been on the quest for a replacement for tortoise shell and have come up with some pretty solid alternatives.  A company called Picks and Stones (www.picksandstones.com) has discovered some very similar tonal qualities to tortoise shell in Amber.  Amber comes from condensed sap from the Hyenaea tree that has formed over 20+ million years.  According to them this organic material has close to the same density and texture as tortoise shell and a very close approximation of the warm, organic tone as well.  Another company called Red Bear trading has formulated a polymerized animal protein (that does not include harming animals) that they claim has the same physical and tonal properties as tortoise shell.  This material is exclusive to them and comes in a variety of colors.

 

Most guitar picks you will find at your local shop are made from a variety of synthetics such as nylon, delrin, celluloid, ultem, and acrylic.  Celluloid was the first plastic to be used in pick production and most vintage enthusiasts gravitate toward this material.  It’s very balanced and warm with a slight shimmer to the notes.  Nylon is a very popular material for thin picks as it’s very easy to produce thin sheets.  It is on the slightly bright side tonally and tends to wear quickly.  Delrin picks are a form of acetal which is very durable and glassy smooth.  It takes doping well for texture and the glossy Delrin picks glide easily across the strings with little pick noise.  The tone has an emphasis on lower order harmonics with a round bottom.  Ultem is one of the stiffest materials that produces a bright tone, perfect for mandolin.  Acrylic is a lightweight, stiff material that resists wear and weathering.  It won’t yellow or get brittle with age and can be cut into almost any shape and thickness.  Gravity Picks is a company that specializes in cast acrylic picks.  They are cut and laser engraved then individually ground and polished.  They definitely have a great tone, they tend to be well balanced with great projection and represent all frequencies in an even way.  Another interesting property of these picks is that as your hand warms up the pick, the more your grip increases.  Once you get going, these picks stick like glue to your fingers so you really don’t have to worry about dropping one on stage.

 

Historically metal picks have never gained much in popularity.  They tend to produce a very bright, scratchy tone that is both annoying and appealing at the same time (opinion).  They will chew through strings like a saw blade but the sound is worth it in some cases.  Most commonly found as fingerpicks, metal picks are made from aluminum and stainless steel as well as some that are cut from actual coins so the tones vary but they are all generally on the bright side with stainless probably being the smoothest sounding.  Banjo and country players love the metal fingerpicks while some rock and experimental artists have been known to use a standard shaped metal pick or coin.  Frank Zappa, Warren DeMartini, and Billy Gibbons (rumored) have all used metal picks or coins for unique tones.

 

Lately there has been a rise in stone pick popularity.  Materials such as Brazilian Agate, Mahogany Obsidian, Mookaite, and Ocean Jasper are cut and polished into picks that are both aesthetically and tonally pleasing.  These picks produce a bit brighter tone but also tend to have a full low end and be very smooth across the strings.  As one would expect, they are very durable and will last a lifetime.  They do tend to be on the pricey side though; some of the less expensive examples I’ve found start around $10 a pick.

 

Before I wrap up, I wanted to give a shout out to the fingerstyle players out there.  Since this article was on picks, I didn’t want to leave you out.  There are major tonal differences between fingerstyle and pick playing, so many in fact it could be an article in itself.  There are many timbres and dynamic nuances to be found in fingerstyle that depend on a variety of factors.  I just wanted to throw that out there so you all wouldn’t feel left out.  I play some classical guitar and bass so I use fingerstyle quite a bit.

 

As with all things tone, picks are subjective.  One player may swear by small, thin, nylon picks while another cannot live without a pick cut from Brazilian Agate.  Pick choice depends a lot on both skill level and personal preference so finding what’s right for you is all trial and error.  Used to be that experimenting with different picks would only cost around $3 or $4 at the most for a variety of different shapes, sizes, and materials.  With the rise in popularity of tonal nuance, some pick makers are charging top dollar for their products now so experimenting can be a rather expensive endeavor.  I do recommend it though.  I’ve recently started checking out different materials and realized that there is a whole world of tone out there that I never knew about.

 

Thanks for reading folks.  Hope you enjoyed this installment of The Corner.  It has been a learning experience for me and I’m now on a pick experimenting endeavor so if you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.  Also, please feel free to comment on anything I might have missed so that we can all share our knowledge and gradually work toward our ultimate goal…Ultimate Tone!

 

 

The Details of Your Tone

Hello all!  Welcome back to The Corner.  This week we’re going to talk about the little things on a guitar that are often overlooked when searching for that sweet, sweet tone we all crave.  The first thing most people do is change pickups and electronics to get the sound they want (or close to) but what about non-electronic parts like the nut, saddles, strings, and even simple things like the pick you use?  There are a myriad of small details that are easy to pass by when retro-fitting an instrument or when building a guitar from pre-made bodies and necks.  Let’s check it out.

Aw Nuts!

The guitar nut is not quite as dirty as it sounds.  This is the small strip of material placed at the joint of the headstock and the neck at the end of the fretboard that has grooves in it and guides the strings to the tuning keys.  A good portion of guitars are fitted with a nut made of synthetic materials from the factory, the most common ones being Micarta and Corian.  In the olden days, bone was used commonly and elephant ivory was used on higher end instruments.  The nut is extremely important to string alignment, action height, and tuning stability.  An improperly cut nut or a worn out nut can cause all kinds of issues to surface so first of all, if you’re having problems with tuning stability or fret buzz (once the guitar is set up) it’s a good idea to have the nut checked by a luthier.

Besides the tuning and buzzing, the material of the nut has an impact on tone.  Now keep in mind the tonal effect is only heard on open strings, once the string is fretted the nut isn’t making any difference in tone since the string is breaking across the fret at that point instead of the nut.  This also applies to instruments with a zero fret.  Softer nut materials like ebony tend to wear quicker and have a darker tone while harder materials, like bone, tend to emphasize the highs more and last longer.

Cheap plastic will tend to kill sustain and are not very durable, they wear out quick.  Higher quality plastic, like Micarta, Corian, and TUSQ are higher density materials that are durable and have an even tone, often compared to bone by many luthiers.  Graphite is a popular material for tremolo-equipped guitars due to its inherent “self lubricating” properties.  This helps the string slide across the nut easily when using a tremolo and also allows for an easier return to “neutral” position when letting of the trem, increasing tuning stability.  Some guitars can be found with brass nuts as well.  These are extremely durable and tend to have a unique tone that can make the open strings a bit shrill but lends itself well to keeping clarity when heavily overdriven.  Bone is still the preferred material for a lot of guitarists and luthiers.  Its balanced tone is nice and even with no excessive volume or brightness on the open strings and, when unbleached, it self-lubricates making it a great choice for tremolo-equipped guitars.  Fossil ivory is used in higher-end instruments and seems to have a subtle difference compared to bone, slightly mellower and warmer.

Ivory is no longer (if it ever really was) an acceptable choice due to the ecological impact.  This is a forbidden material due to the fact that animals have to be killed to obtain it.  It can be found through “black market” sources but definitely should not be used nor should these “sources” be encouraged to provide it.  Please avoid any ivory that is not fossil ivory.

Saddle Up!

A saddle is the part of the bridge that physically supports the strings.  On acoustic guitars it is usually one piece and the materials available are mostly the same as those available for the nut with the same sort of tonal effects, but since it’s on the other side of the guitar, these effects apply to all notes sounded instead of just the open strings.  Electric guitars on the other hand usually have individual saddles for each string (barring vintage Tele-style bridges where two strings share a saddle) and are almost always metal.  Electric guitar saddles can be found in stainless steel, brass, hardened steel, titanium and aluminum as well as graphite.  Just like the nut, each material has an effect on the tone of the instrument.

Brass exudes a very balanced tonality with an equal measure of highs, mids, and lows coming through.  Cold rolled steel is slightly brighter than brass with an “acoustical” quality.  Stainless steel tends to have a bit more pronounced midrange than brass.  Heat treated steel is similar but slightly warmer than stainless.  Titanium is very similar to brass but with some added sparkle in the highs.  Aluminum is the brightest with extended highs and a slight scoop in the midrange while retaining bottom end.  Graphite saddles tend to be on the warmer side, similar to brass, with improved sustain at the cost of increased wear due to the softer nature of the material.

Break Your Angle

Another oft-overlooked aspect of guitars is the break angle of the strings across both the nut and the saddle (in the case of acoustic and TOM style bridges).  The break angle is the downward angle of the string between the nut and tuner and the bridge and tailpiece (or bridge pin).  This affects the downward pressure of the string across the nut or saddle and can have a drastic effect on sustain and vibration.  Too little break angle will dampen the vibration causing a loss of sustain.

The break angle at the nut is the reason we see string trees on some guitars.  Take a Strat for instance, the headstock is parallel to the neck resulting in a shallow break angle.  The addition of string trees (usually on the E, B, D, G) increases the break angle for good pressure on the nut, this keeps the string in the slot and improves sustain.  This is also the reason we’ve seen an increase in staggered tuning machines on instruments of this type, the lower posts on at the far end of the headstock increase the break angle, often making string trees unnecessary.  Now, if you look at a Gibson Les Paul, you’ll notice the headstock is not parallel to the neck but angled backward.  This increases the break angle and eliminates the need for string trees completely.

How Dense Do You Gotta Be?

When replacing metal parts on a guitar with aftermarket “upgrades” one factor that some people overlook is the density of the part.  I’m referring to bridges and bridge parts as well as tuning machines.  While not necessarily affecting the tone in terms of frequency response, these parts do play an important role in sustain and resonance.  For example, a very popular upgrade to a tremolo is a “high mass” bridge block.  Many aftermarket companies make these for tremolos.  The higher mass increases sustain and resonance as opposed to a lighter-weight “shaved” block.  The same goes for the bridge plate on a Tele, TOM bridge and tailpiece and tuning keys.  Lightweight parts are great for comfort and some even are made of materials like titanium that have excellent tone and response but a majority of stamped out, mass produced parts are low density metals that may rob your favorite axe of some sustain and resonance.  Always keep this in mind when choosing between the “cheaper” aftermarket parts vs. the “boutique” ones.  The boutique guys usually have spent years researching their products for superior tonal qualities while the stamped out import parts are just made to be functional.

Don’t String Me Along!

The most basic, and most important, component of any guitar is the strings.  Without them, well the guitar won’t make any sound!  This obvious factoid aside, the strings have a rather large effect on overall tonality and character.

We’ve covered this before in The Corner but here’s a quick reminder, strings matter!  Both for playability and sound.  The playability part is up to you, you know what your fingers can handle but the sound, well…that’s what it’s really about correct?  Lighter gauge strings are easier to bend at the cost less volume and more intonation problems.  Heavier strings tend to have a stronger fundamental content than lighter ones as well as more overall output and also remain more stable for tuning.  This comes at the cost of them being harder to bend.

The string material is also important to tone.  Pure nickel strings are warm and round.  Nickel plated steel have better top-end and sustain than pure nickel.  Stainless steel strings are brighter still (not harsh, just more highs) with another slight increase in sustain.

Besides the material, both the core and the winding affect the character of the string.  Flat wound strings are warmer and rounder while round wounds are brighter with a more percussive attack.  Half wounds are right in between, though these are more common on bass than guitar in my experience.

As far as the core goes, there are two types, hexagonal-core and round-core.  Hexagonal core is the most common while round core is only made by a few companies currently.  So how does this affect sound?  When the core is wound with the wire, the wire digs into the sharper edges of the hex-core string with more pressure than the flat sides.  This results in uneven pressure around the core.  A round-core string, when wound, the windings exhibit even pressure across the core that helps lower overall tension and increase sustain.  Round-cores are also thought to emphasize even order harmonics for a “sweeter” overall sound.  Some also find the round-core strings to be a bit warmer, lacking some of the sparkle of hex-core strings.  If you haven’t tried them, give ‘em a shot you might like them.

Don’t Fret It!

While more of a “feel” aspect, frets do matter.  Most commonly found frets are nickel/steel but there has been a rise in the popularity of stainless steel frets.  Stainless steel is more durable and can last the life of the guitar while nickel/steel is softer and will wear quicker.  Now, if you’re a weekend warrior, there’s a pretty slim chance you’ll ever need to replace the nickel/steel frets but if you play constantly on one guitar, eventually they’ll wear to the point of a re-fret.  This is a span of years of playing though, not like it will happen every few months.  There is also a debate about the sound of stainless vs. nickel/steel.  Many players feel that stainless frets are harsh and too bright while many cannot hear a difference.  This is all in the individual ear.  I haven’t played too many stainless fretted guitars myself but the ones I have played sounded just fine, not harsh or too bright.

The fret size is a major aspect of playability.  The lower, wider frets tend to be easier to bend on and some believe they increase sustain and resonance due to more mass.  They do tend to have a bit blurrier, less distinct tone than narrow frets, which tend toward a more precise sound.  This is a microscopic difference by the way; if you can actually hear this your ears are better than mine!  The fret height is also a major player in feel.  Some heavy handed players will tend toward bending the string out of pitch due to the amount of pressure they put on the string behind the fret while players with a lighter touch will not have this problem.  In general I’ve found that if a fret is too low it makes it harder to achieve satisfactory vibrato and bends but if too high, I can’t keep the note in pitch.  I’m really not sure how Malmsteen plays on a scalloped fretboard but then again, I simply do not have the training and discipline that he does either.

One thing to remember about frets, they should be taken into consideration when purchasing an instrument or neck.  Replacing the frets on your guitar is not something for an inexperienced person and a luthier will not be inexpensive.  If your guitar is too dark sounding, don’t run out and have the frets replaced with stainless.  Check out the myriad of other details that can be addressed easily.  In fact, it’s probably more cost effective to replace the entire neck with the frets you prefer than having one re-fretted.

So there you have it, some aspects of the guitar that you may not have thought of when thinking about tone.  Remember “tone” is a result of many different components and variables coming together to give us “the sound” and changing any aspect, even the smallest details can and will inevitably cause some sort of change.  Whether it’s for better or worse depends on the ear of the beholder.  While it’s true that tone is in the fingers, it’s also true that tone is in the details.  As per usual, if your guitar sounds really good, play until you make it sound great.  After all it’s about making music and learning.  What good does a great sounding guitar do you if you can’t play it?  Thanks for reading folks!  We’ll see you next time, in The Corner.

 

When people speak of guitar idols, very few names carry as much weight as Jimmy Page.  His awe inspiring guitar lines and leads have inspired more than one generation and continue to inspire up and coming guitarists every day.  Jimmy is widely recognized as one of the most influential and important guitarists and songwriters of all time.  Beginning in London as a studio session guitarist Jimmy then moved to The Yardbirds from 1966-1968.  After The Yardbirds, Jimmy Page founded one of the most important rock bands in history, Led Zeppelin.  The mix of classic rock guitar riffs and attitude set the standard for rock and roll in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

 

One of the most recognizable aspects of Zeppelin’s music is, of course, the guitar sound.  Unique, heavy, and dynamic Page’s guitar playing has carried a legacy throughout the years and brought him to legendary status among guitarists.  Throughout his career with The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and in his solo career since, Page has played a multitude of guitars, many of which are instantly recognizable by Zeppelin and Page fans.  Today, we’re going to take a look at some of his coolest guitars.  Why?  Because they’re cool.  Enjoy!

1959 Fender “Dragon” Telecaster

One of Page’s earliest recognizable guitars is the blonde 1959 Fender Telecaster he obtained from Jeff Beck in the Yardbirds.  Beck had obtained this guitar from John Owen and brought it to the Yardbirds with him as a backup to his Les Paul.  Beck had replaced the original white pickguard after it crumbled off with a black one.  When Beck left the Yardbirds in 1966, he left the Tele for Page to use.  Besides its use in the Yardbirds, Page used this guitar the Led Zeppelin record, most notably this is the guitar that was used to record the solo to Stairway to Heaven.

Soon after Page acquired the Telecaster, it appeared on stage with reflective circles on the front of the body.  This is commonly assumed to be a nod to Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd.  Shortly after that, Page stripped the paint from the body and hand-painted a psychedelic dragon on the front in red, green, and orange as well as replaced the pickguard with a clear acrylic one with diffraction grating underneath.   This unique aesthetic made the “Dragon” Tele instantly recognizable.  Unfortunately, the Dragon Tele was not destined to retain this aesthetic as Jimmy tells the story in a quote from www.led-zeppelin.org;
“I still have it (referring to the Dragon Tele), but it’s a tragic story. I went on tour with the ’59 Les Paul that I bought from Joe Walsh, and when I got back, a friend of mine had kindly painted over my paint job. He said, ‘Ive got a present for you.’ He thought he had done me a real favor. As you can guess, I wasn’t real happy about that. His paint job totally screwed up the sound and the wiring, so only the neck pickup worked. I salvaged the neck and put it on my brown Tele string bender that I used in the Firm. As for the body… it will never be seen again! (laughs)”.

1959 Gibson Les Paul “No. 1”

When most people hear the name Jimmy Page, one of the first images that comes to mind is Page in his black dragon outfit with a Les Paul slung low across his hips and a smoke dangling from his mouth as he pounds out Whole Lotta Love.  This is perhaps the most recognizable guitar Page played.  This 1959 Les Paul standard was obtained from Joe Walsh in 1969 and debuted at shows in San Francisco in late April of that year.  It didn’t take long for “No. 1” to replace the Dragon Tele as Page’s main guitar on stage and subsequently it was used to record Led Zeppelin II.

No. 1 was by no means a stock Les Paul.  When he received the guitar, the neck had been shaved to a more elliptical profile and had undergone some repairs.  The headstock had been broken and repaired causing the serial number to be missing.  Later in 1969, the tuners were replaced with gold Grovers and by the end of that year, the pickup selector had been replaced by gaffers tape (later to be replaced with a white switch cap) and the chrome cover had come off the bridge pickup revealing a double white PAF.  Throughout the 70’s the jackplate was broken and replaced several times, including being temporarily fixed with tape and the bridge humbucker was replaced with a chrome covered T-Top.  When the 80’s rolled around, the cover was removed from this pickup as well, the replacement white pickup selector was replaced with an aged tip and a push/pull pot was swapped in for phase switching of the pickups.  This is how No. 1 remained since.

1959 Gibson Les Paul “No. 2”

After a US tour in late 1973, Jimmy acquired Les Paul “No. 2”.  Another Les Paul Standard, No. 2 started to get heavy use in 1975 as a DADGAD tuned guitar for Kashmir, a backup for No. 1.  Since Jimmy had knocked the pickup cover off No. 1 by slapping it with a violin bow he wanted to prevent any further damage to it and started using No. 2 with the bow.  This also kept the strings on No. 1 from being covered in rosin, though it still saw the bow every now and then.

The first thing Page did to No. 2 was replace the Kluson tuners with nickel Grovers and had the neck shaved and finished to try and match the profile of No. 1.  No. 2 was used subsequently throughout the rest of the Led Zeppelin tours.  Next up, in the early 80’s, Page had push/pull pots installed for coil splitting and, probably the most unique mod to this guitar, had two push button switches installed under the pickguard for series/parallel and phase switching.  Lastly, Page and guitar tech Tim Marten experimented with the bridge in an attempt to make it easier for bowing.  No. 2 was used later in the 90’s on tour with The Firm as well as the 1995 and 1998 Page/Plant reunion tours and the O2 reunion concert.

1959 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty”

This gorgeous instrument was purchased by Page in 1962 and got heavy session usage from 1963-1966.  Page then took it on tour in 1970 where it was stolen at the airport around April 13 or 14 of that year.

Then I got a Les Paul Custom which I stayed with until it was nicked in the States during the first 18 months of Zeppelin-the second or third tour. Usually I never took that on the road, because it was so precious. But things were going so well for us that I eventually took it over and it suddenly went.

It had a big tremlo arm and Joe Jammer custom wired it for me. I was starting to use it more than anything else. It got nicked off the truck at the airport-we were on our way to Canada. Somewhere there was a flight change and it disappeared. It just never arrived at the other end. I advertised for it in Rolling Stone. Just a photograph-no name-and a reward. No luck though, even though it was very recognizable for all the custom work that Joe Jammer done on it. – Jimmy Page, CREEM Magazine, Winter 1980

The custom work by Joe Jammer that Page refers to in the quote above was fairly unique.  He installed a Bigsby tremolo and replaced the pickup toggle switch with three on/off switches, one for each pickup.  This allowed Page to use any combination of pickups for some sweet, sweet tone.

1971 Gibson SG EDS-1275 Double Neck

Nothing says iconic for electric guitar players like a good old fashioned double-neck and Page is perhaps the first rock guitarist to really put them on the map.  His 1971 Gibson SG EDS-1275 was custom made for him by Gibson (they were only made to order at the time) with a 12-string top neck and a 6-string bottom neck.  This guitar was debuted on March 15, 1971 at Ulster Hall in Belfast for Stairway to Heaven.  Since three different guitars were used on the recording for Stairway, the EDS-1275 was the perfect instrument for playing the song live without Page having to switch guitars mid-song.  This guitar has also been used on The Song Remains the Same, The Rain Song, Tangerine, and Celebration Day.  Aside from one pickup cover that was removed in 1971, this guitar has remained stock since day one.

1965 Fender Electric XII

Most likely sourced during his Yardbirds days, the 1965 Fender Electric XII was not seen on stage with Page until a performance on April 4, 2009, everyone has heard this guitar.  This unique instrument was used in 1969 to record Thank You, 1970 to record When the Levee Breaks and most notably in the same sessions to record the legendary Stairway to Heaven.  It was also used in 1972 to record The Song Remains the Same at Stargroves.  While this guitar may not be visually associated with Page, it’s tone is familiar to any Zeppelin fan.

Eko Ranger VI

 

 

This acoustic was used to record the rhythm track for Thank You at Morgan Sound Studios in 1969.

Eko Ranger XII Electra

This acoustic/electric made its appearance in Melbourne Australia on February 20, 1972 on the song Tangerine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1961 Danelectro 3021

Page started using this guitar on stage in 1967 for White Summer.  It was tuned modally to BADGAD, a sitar tuning.  It saw stage use through 1970 then again in 1975  on the US tour for When the Levee Breaks and In My Time of Dying.  It was brought out again for these songs on the 1977 US tour, 1979 Knebworth dates, and 1980 Over Europe Tour.

In 1982 this guitar had the original steel bridge replaced with a Leo Quan Badass wrap-around bridge.  This is the only mod we’re aware of.

 

1967 Vox Phantom XII

 

 

This electric 12-string was used in 1967 on The Yardbirds album Little Games as well as live with the Yardbirds in 1967.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1964 Lake Placid Blue Fender Statocaster

This guitar was used at Earls Court in 1975 for recording sessions for In Through the Out Door and at Knebworth in 1979 for  In the Evening.

 

 

1966 Cream Fender Telecaster

The 1966 Telecaster was used on Physical Graffiti and All My Love in the 1980 Over Europe Tour and according to Page’s guitar tech, Binky, also in the studio for the guitar solo on Upon a Golden Horse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1953 Fender Telecaster

This “Botswana Brown” Telecaster was purchased from Rob Lawrence in 1975 and was used on the 1977 US tour for Hot Dog and Ten Years Gone.  It is notable because this guitar inherited the rosewood neck from the “Dragon” Tele for use on the 1979 Knebworth tour.  It was also seen on the 1983 ARMS tour and in 1984 with Roy Harper and 1985-1986 with The Firm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manson Triple Neck

 

 

This unique instrument was a combination of an 8-string mandolin, 6-string guitar, and 12-string guitar.  Page was used for The Battle of Evermore on No Quarter: Plant and Jimmy Page Unledded album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giannini Craviola Acoustic

 

 

 

Used on stage from 1971-1972 for Tangerine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Others:

Danelectro DC-12

Fender 800 Pedal Steel

1957 Fender Stratocaster

1966 Fender Telecaster

1920 Gibson Mandolin

Gibson ES-350

1952 Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster

Gibson U-Style Harp Guitar

Too many Les Paul’s to list!

1956 Gretsch Chet Atkins

Gretsch White Falcon

1958 Hofner President Acoustic Archtop (1958 BBC Children’s Programme)

Jerry Jones Master Electric Sitar

Jerry Jones Original Shorthorn (2 and 3 pickup models)

Martin D-28 Acoustic

Mosrite Melobar

Ovation Adamas II

Paul Reed Smith Custom 24’s and 22

Vega PS-5 Banjo (Belonged to John Paul Jones, used on Gallows Pole)

Throughout the years there has been quite a bit of debate over tube amp biasing.  Some lean toward adjustable bias and some lean toward set bias.  In the words of Randall Smith of Mesa Boogie, ‘…during my 12 years of repairing… one of the most frequent problems I saw was bias controls that were either set wrong or that had wandered out of adjustment due to vibration.  As any honest tech will tell you, there’s lots of easy money to be made by sprinkling “holy water” on amplifiers … uh, what I meant to say is “Your amp needed biasing.”’  This taken from the Mesa Boogie published article Bias Adjustment when referring to why Mesa doesn’t put bias adjustments in their amplifiers.  Now agree or not with Randall’s statement, every guitarist should have a little background on amplifier bias so that they can make an informed decision when it comes to replacing tubes or purchasing amplifiers.  So let’s get started and see if we can’t get a good explanation of what the tube bias setting is without making anyone’s head explode with technical terms.

 

Water through a pipe…

I believe this has been mentioned in a previous Corner article but a quick review of voltage and current.  Think of a water pipe in your sink.  It’s full of water but none flows out until you turn the tap.  When the tap is opened there is a pressure difference on one end of the pipe that causes the water to flow forth.  Well, electrons act in a similar fashion.  Electrons just hanging out in a wire and not moving cause no current.  When a voltage is applied, the electrons move.  So when referring to the water pipe, voltage is the pressure (this makes more sense if you think of voltage as potential difference) that causes current to flow.  Current (measured in Amperes or Amps) is the number of electrons that pass through the wire per second.  The faster the current, the higher the reading (in Amperes).  When you multiply voltage and current together, you get Power (in Watts).  The important thing to remember about all of this is that in electricity, similarly charged particles repel each other while oppositely charged particles attract each other.  Opposites attract…easy as that.

 

 

Electrons through a tube…

 

Now we’ll try to give a simple understanding of how a vacuum tube works.  Every tube has a cathode which is made of a material that emits electrons when it heats up.  Since electrons are negatively charged, they want to repel each other and so when they are emitted from the cathode, they just float around in the vacuum repelling each other.  So our hot cathode now has a bunch of electrons jostling around with nowhere to go.  Enter the Plate (or Anode).  The plate carries a positive charge which attracts the electrons.  The electrons penetrate the plate and become moving current in a wire or conductor.  What we have now is a diode that can be used to turn AC voltage into DC voltage, or a rectifier.

 

In order for this tube to amplify AC voltage (instead of rectifying) we need a way to control the amount of electrons flowing through the plate.  This is where the Grid comes in.  The grid is a small network of wires that is wrapped around the cathode without touching it.  By applying a changing voltage to the grid we can change the charge of the grid in order to repel or let electrons pass depending on grid voltage.  As the grid becomes more and less negative, the plate current changes and this causes changing output voltage.  With a small change in input voltage, we get a large change in output voltage and this is the basic principle of an amplifier.

 

Now that we have a basic understanding of how an electron tube operates, let’s look at bias.  As electrons move through the grid, it heats up.  If enough electrons keep moving through it the heat will surpass the tolerance of the materials and the grid will eventually break down and destroy itself.  In order to keep this from happening, we apply what is called a bias voltage across the grid.  The bias voltage is a steady negative voltage source that is constantly applied to the grid to keep it more negative than the cathode.  This will reduce the amount of electrons passing through the grid.  The bias voltage is set to keep an optimal idle current running to the plate.  The idle current depends on the specifications of the tube as well as the surrounding circuitry.  So, setting an amplifier bias means that the idle current to the plate is set at an optimum point for that particular amp and set of tubes.

 

So what?

 

There are two types of tube biasing commonly used in guitar amplifiers.  The above example refers to “fixed bias”.  This name is somewhat misleading to us common folk.  When referring to “fixed bias”, we’re really referring to applying a “fixed” negative voltage across the grid.  When you see an amplifier with an adjustable bias (trimpot), this is actually a fixed bias amplifier because we “fix” a certain amount of steady negative voltage as per the specifications of the amplifier and tube(s) used.  So a fixed bias amplifier can have a bias adjustment or can be truly fixed at a value the manufacturer set for optimum performance.  Mesa Boogie is a prime example of this.  All Mesa Boogie amplifiers exclude the bias adjustment from their design.  They have “set” the bias point to optimum performance for their amplifiers.  What about tubes with different specs?  In Mesa Boogie’s case, they test all of their tubes to a very specific specification that is an optimal match for their amps.  Most companies do not do this and offer a bias adjustment for the ability to use different or “out of spec” tubes.  Out of spec purely means that the tubes’ specs vary from tube to tube, not that the tubes are bad in any way.

 

The other commonly used method in guitar amps is cathode bias.  The cathode bias does not rely on keeping a steady negative voltage across the grid.  Instead a resistor is placed between the cathode and ground and the grid is referenced to ground with a large value resistor.  This will induce specific behavior in the tube that will “stabilize” the bias current.  Cathode bias is somewhat complex for this article but there are many great articles on the web that go in depth for you tech-heads out there.  What I can tell you is that fixed bias is normally used for higher powered amplifiers while cathode bias is normally found in lower wattage amplifiers.

 

Bias, Tone, and Tubes

 

Tube bias is not only important to functionality of the amplifier but it also has prominent effects on tone and tube life.  By setting the bias to optimal, you should be getting the longest life out of your tubes as well as the best tone from your amplifier.  Now, the life of the tube can be proven but tone is subjective so “best tone” is in your ears.

 

There are a couple of terms to note here; under-biased (hot) and over-biased (cold).  These can be easily confused so I’ll explain.  Under-biased (otherwise known as biased too hot) is a state when the idle current is set too high.  This causes the signal to distort earlier, decreasing headroom and can also cause the tube to exceed the plate dissipation at certain operating conditions causing the plates to overheat and fail, thus shortening tube life.  An under-biased amp can produce a sound that is slightly louder and may sound punchier and fuller at the expense of headroom.  Keep in mind this may be a subtle effect.  An over-biased (biased too cold) amplifier will cause the audio signal to deteriorate quickly and sound thin, possibly sterile.  Over-biasing may also decrease tube life but not as drastically as under-biasing since it is running the idle current too low.

 

At the proper idle current setting, your amplifier should be performing exactly as the manufacturer intended with the perfect amount of headroom and overtones for that design.  Some folks love to adjust the bias out-of-spec to get a different sound from their amplifiers and that’s fine.  Just please keep in mind, if you’re not electronics savvy, this should not be attempted.  If your amp doesn’t have enough headroom or doesn’t break up early enough, the tubes and bias setting can help a little but if the amp is biased properly then you might want to consider an amplifier that sounds the way you want it instead of running your existing amp out-of-spec.  For all you modders and circuit tweakers out there, just keep in mind that manufacturers design amplifiers to certain operating specs for a reason and operating the unit outside of those specs can damage the amp (or yourself) and will, in most cases, void any warranty the manufacturer offers.

 

I hope this has helped shed some light on the mystery of tubes and biasing.  It’s a great topic for debate and some are sticklers to the numbers while others argue with their ears so it’s always fun to hear everyone’s opinions, especially when related to “hard science” like the electronic circuit theory behind tube operation.  Like anything else involving your gear, if it sounds bad, replace it; if it sounds good play it until it sounds great.  Tone is in the fingers and soul.

 

Disclaimer:  This is in no way an article meant to encourage hands-on activity in your amplifier.  Tube amps contain voltage and current that can easily kill you so please play with care and tinker at your own risk.  If you’re uncertain in the least, take your amp to a qualified technician.  Any good tech will be happy to let you watch on as they adjust the bias and point out what they’re doing.

 

 

 

A guitar’s finish, despite being the last in the building chain, is never an afterthought.  It’s the final step to make a guitar or break it.  After all the parts are set in place and measured to exacting specifications it gets completed.  We analyze every detail of our instrument to make sure what we want to hear comes out and the finish is no exception. Through the years there have been many different options yet the major players have stayed nitrocellulose lacquer, polyurethane and polyester.  Each type of course has their camp of devotees that will swear by one or the other, but in a market of changing needs and changing climate both finish types are striving to be the best, and if done correctly these finishes can rival each other on any guitar.

Nitro

To get a basic understanding of finishes and how they work we start with Nitrocellulose Lacquer. Nitro has been the mainstay for decades since it was first developed in the 1920s.  Nitro blended with paint extremely well, which made it an easy way for early car companies like Ford to start introducing new color options to their stale black and grey lines.

Nitrocellulose is a solvent-based lacquer in which resin (a clear plant based substance, in most cases cotton) is combined with sulfuric and nitric acids in a process called nitration.  This is the same process used to create explosives like nitroglycerine and trinitrotoluene, or TNT. This is why nitro can be a very dangerous finish to work with, as it is highly flammable.  Once the lacquer is applied the solvents (chemicals that are able to dissolve another substance) dissolve into the air leaving the resin behind to be sanded and buffed to a high gloss.  When nitro first came out it was much faster drying than other options, but today poly has taken the crown for faster finish dry time.

If you are strumming on your new guitar with a nitro finish and you smell that heavenly sweet smell, you are whiffing the solvents as the final evaporation process takes place.  Cherish it; it won’t last forever.  For those of you who haven’t set foot in a nitro booth to experience the aromatic pleasure of highly explosive substances disguised as ice cream topping, I pity you.  On the flip side it is exactly these chemicals that make nitro hard on the environment.

Aside from its olfactory appeal and beautiful gloss nitro is also great finish because it cooperates with other material and substances well.  I mentioned before that it was very useful to blend with colors on cars, and the same holds true for guitars.  Nitro never cures like poly finishes do.  If the solvents that evaporated are reintroduced the layers of finish can be combined making it a very easy finish to repair.  Along similar lines, it blends well with pore fillers, sealers, sprays, and buffing products. Flexibility is key for an instrument’s resonance and because nitro never completely hardens, it is less rigid and constricting as other finishes.

The same things that make it great make it less durable.  It is softer and can be worn away by materials that react with the resin like a solvent does, such as rubbers on a guitar stand.  You may have seen guitars with tacky part of the neck or where the arm rests on the body, this is because it reacts to chemicals and oils much more readily than hardened finishes.  Many players consider this a badge of honor on their guitar, a sign of the hours devoted to their instrument.  The highly scratched and worn relic look that is popular right now is a display of nitrocellulose’s imperfections.  Temperature changes lead to checking (small cracks in the finish from the wood underneath contracting and expanding).

Growing old gracefully and showing everyone where it came from, a nitro-finished guitar doesn’t hide.  The Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) that solvent based lacquers give off may eventually make them a thing of the past, as they are hard on the environment and hard on the respiratory systems of those applying the finish.

Very elaborate and expensive ventilation systems must be maintained to comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and work place safety regulations, if it is even allowed at all.  Many guitar manufacturers locate their facilities in states with lenient air quality laws for this exact reason. Combining the high cost of ventilation systems and the health risks of nitrocellulose could be the biggest reason we have seen a push for non-solvent based finishes like polyurethane and polyester.

Poly

Though they have been used as far back as the late 1960s on guitars, in the past few decades polyurethane and polyester finishes have become very popular because they have bypassed many of the complications of nitro finishes as well introducing their own assets such as durability and brilliant gloss.  The resin is synthetic and it leaves almost zero solvents in its wake as it cures.  Low VOC, which the EPA loves. Chains of polymers (linked molecular units that may be natural or synthetic) are activated by catalyzing chemicals, much in the same way solvents are used in nitrocellulose finishes.  The finish left behind is completely hardened and cannot be broken down by solvents.  I like to think of it like Jell-O.  The hot water is the catalyst that breaks down the chemical bonds of the ingredients and reunites them in a new bond that is hardened, all the while not releasing chemical in the process. This is why poly finishes are so durable and resistant to cracks, scratches and overall dulling of its gloss.  If you want your guitar to polish up to a new guitar shine for as long as you own it, then a poly finish is probably for you. Unlike an old nitro guitar showing its age, poly guitars are sipping from the fountain of youth.

VOC are on the EPA’s radar and as necessary regulations continue to be instated to protect our environment manufacturers will have to look very hard at polymer based finishes.  Since there are no chemicals emitted to cause health or environmental problems, these finishes, though more costly by the pound than nitrocellulose, save manufacturers a lot of overhead.  Bypassing the need for extraordinarily expensive ventilation systems only strengthens the case for an already clean and quick drying finish.  In a market of mass production guitar overseas and domestically, the ability to cure a finish in a matter of minutes, and send them on their way is a must.  Currently major acoustic and electric guitar companies are employing hand held UV lamps to cure polyester finishes in mere seconds.  In this situation the UV light is the activating agent to start curing process.  Although it takes seconds now, this process took many years of trial and error to develop.  In printing this method was used to catalyze a reaction when exposed to UV light, by putting a photoiniator into the resins.  This method also allows for a much thinner finish, which brings us back to the ultimate purpose of this dissection, the tone.

Tone

A thick finish, regardless of its composition, can stifle Tone. No matter what process it goes through, the one constant that holds true is that the finish must be thin to maintain resonance.  Nitro finishes are almost always thinner than a poly finish due the blending of layers and the method used to apply it. Perhaps this is why purists and tone junkies love them. The fact of the matter is, the more layers you put on the more you stifle the tone, especially in acoustics, where the voice of the guitar is all in the wood.  Many guitars have amazingly thick poly finishes that leave a solid body with very little acoustic resonance, which absolutely translates when plugged in.  This is the reputation that poly finishes have.  You never get a second chance to make a first impression, but luckily for poly finishes new advances that allow for a thinner skin will win players over.  Also, do not be fooled by matte finishes.  In many cases these finishes are not necessary thinner than their glossy counterparts, but have an additive to render a different sheen level.  Poly finishes can be lively and resonant if done correctly just as a circuit board can be dynamic and durable.

Nitro is not an unbreakable chemical bond like polyester and polyurethane.  Nitro is not a cocoon, permanent and unmoving, wrapped tightly over your guitar’s body.  Nitro is evaporating and leaving your guitar always.  You notice this with every check and scratch.  You notice this especially on a spruce top guitar where the finish has sunk into the grain lines.  The wood under your finish is dead and has been since the day it met its first and last chainsaw.  However, it is still moving, expanding, contracting, and vibrating.  A finish that gives way under the strength and movement of this wood is displaying its ability to let your guitar ring out and sustain.   You will find nitro finishes with this ability and you will find good poly finishes with this ability.

All finishes, whether poly or nitro have some effect on the vibration in the guitar wood and the translation throughout the instrument.  While this effect is subtle, it does exist.  While this may not be detrimental to the heavily saturated rock guitarist, it certainly could be to jazz or blues player that relies on resonance and dynamics instead of all out distortion and it does have a noticeable effect on acoustic guitars.  With the modern techniques of applying poly, the finishes are getting thinner and thinner allowing this resonance to come through more and more.  While nitro is still there and going strong in the boutique guitar market, its days are probably numbered in production due to the environmental cost.  Which is for you?  That is for you to decide.  If you like off the wall colors and that are durable and don’t fade, go poly.  If you’re more into a classic aesthetic and want your years of playing and road-wear to show, then a nitro finish is the way to go.  Either way, don’t to let either one discourage you from getting the instrument you love.  If you pick up a guitar and it sounds good, plays well, and has the look you want, go for it.  Over-analyzing every detail will drive you mad and remember tone is in the fingers not the finish.

By Guest Contributor: Gavin Wahl-Stephens

 

Welcome back to The Corner, We thought we’d revisit Andy’s first post and learn more about his personal choice in gear and the story behind his tone…

(Originally posted March 15th 2010)  For this first issue of Andy’s Corner I thought I’d answer the call of many loyal watchers regarding my choice of gear. First off, I acquired mostly everything you see here before I came to Proguitarshop.com in 2007 over the span of 15 years. Of course, working at PGS has opened a huge door for finding new and exciting products. And while I don’t own many of them yet, having all these toys at my disposal makes me feel like I do!

Effects:
My pedals aren’t extremely rare but they all seem to have a story behind them.

Until recently, I wasn’t happy with my tuner choices. They were always buffered, and I could tell how it affected other pedals. The TC Polytune is not only cool for the poly mode, but small and true bypass. It’s going to stay.  (This was one of the first prototype Polytune pedals from TC Electronic, or as we called it for this sneak peek video the “mystery pedal”.)

I like to place all my modulation effects first to avoid that harsh distorted white noise swish, which some people prefer. But I feel the actual sound of the pedal translates better before any dirt.

The Voodoo Lab micro vibe is an older model, no LED and I swapped the DC jack for a boss style. It’s does the Hendrix thing pretty well, and the speed knob has been swapped for easy foot adjustments.

I like to place all my modulation effects first to avoid that harsh distorted white noise swish.

MXR Phase 90

The MXR Phase 90 is an original and a little odd since it’s obviously a block logo but has a circuit closer to the Script (single op amps). I compared it to a buddy’s Script Logo version and mine had a tad faster sweep and more low end throb.

It’s more my style since I often use it to mimic a fast Leslie speaker. Sometimes I swap this out for a Phase 100 or an Ibanez PT-9 which is great for Clash tunes with it’s higher resonance and squishier sound.

The “Black Box” is one of many fuzz kits built by my dad or myself. This one is the “Boutique Late 60′s Fuzz” from GGG. It has a unique sound from a set of germanium transistors.

Not sure which models they are but one is a top hat style and the other tall and cylindrical. It sounds a bit more nasty and compressed than you’d expect a germ fuzz to sound. I place it in front of the wah to get that barfy fuzz wah tone, like Bowie era Ronson.

The Vox V847 reissue is from the 90′s and it’s had some heavy modding. It has a Fox Rox buffer installed, the same one in the Teese Wahs, to help widen the sweep and prevent the lame oscillation when a fuzz is placed after it. The Wah also had the inductor swapped with a Halo type and quite a few resistor and diode changes. Basically I like the classic vocal wah style with an extended high end sweep. I’m not interested in boosting bass.

The EH Octave Multiplexer is one of the few stock pedals in my collection. It sounds great with fuzz and phase for mean single note solos and such. I used to have the big box version but now I have more room for fuzzes!

I was lucky enough to hand match a set of NKT275 transistors before the batch so famously dwindled down.

It cleans up like no other fuzz I’ve owned, almost overdrive like. The enclosure was obviously a B-stock for it’s lack of lettering and for that I love it even more!  The ’69 Fuzz is one I assembled while I was at Fulltone.

The Marshall Bluesbreaker is one of my first pedals I got around ’94. It’s very transparent and gets along well with most of my amps. I was unaware people were cloning this pedal nowadays but can understand why.

It has a way of bringing out the good qualities in an amp and it’s perfect for lead boosts. It trades places with an OCD ver.3 that I also picked out of a batch I was testing.

Last is a Fulltone Supa-Trem which has a sweet amp like pulse. The half speed switch gets a lot of use.

I could probably swap out everyone of my effects for something new but one crucial piece of gear I must have is a tape delay. I’ve had a half a dozen Echoplex’s since high school and even though they can be fickle, the sound is pure magic. A tape echo has cleaner repeats than analog delay but degrades more natural than digital, so it’s a beautiful mix. I love the extra shimmer from the tape rolling around and the tone coloring of the Ep-3 circuit as well. I have a TTE at home, but the Maestro Echoplex is still my favorite.

Amps:

My main amp is a ’78 Orange OR120. It’s got the Partridge trannys and is a bit of an odd duck with the stock black tolex.

I rarely use any OD pedals with it because it’s dirty enough! However, it cleans up remarkably well with my guitars since they all have treble bleed caps installed (an easy trick to retain high end when you roll back the guitar volume). The tone is unlike a Marshall; it’s “Foggy” like you might have read but there’s this extra weight you get behind riffs or even single notes that I haven’t found in other amps. It’s a beast!

My other main amp is a JTM45 clone from Metropolis that my Dad built. It too has had some small mods with tone cap and resistor changes. I love the tone of the KT66 tubes, very dynamic and bold. I always jump the two channels to get a little more low end out of it.

The tolex has this funky cowboy leather look and he built a matching a 2×12 cab (ADA Style) loaded with Celestion V30′s and a little 18 watter project that came out of a Hammond organ. I often use either Redtail amp to record little diddies for the spec portions in PGS demos. I crank it up and scale it down with a Weber Mass 50 and mic a Dead Room ISO cab which I just adore. No more amp simulators for late night recording!Guitars: For the past 17 years I have been exclusively playing guitars built by my dad, Greg Martin. He first started building guitars after I began learning and he’s been steadily producing about one a year under Redtail Guitars.Redtail Guitars

Having a life’s experience as a cabinet maker didn’t hurt, but it’s definitely been an exciting challenge for him. It’s a tremendous privilege to play his guitars since every detail is tailored for my fingers. I’ve shown two of his latest creations, built from a blueprint of a ‘59 Les Paul but with some creative liberties taken.

The Redtail Goldtop was sprayed to have a vintage gold hue, more on the green side with celluloid binding just like the oldies. It weighs a ton from it’s Honduras body and neck, just the way I like it. It’s fitted with original 70′s Gibson mini humbuckers which have quite a bit of twang.

I have recently discovered the wonders of the Earvana nut and it really helps correct sharp notes on the first 3 frets. However, he’s been building any newer guitars with a shorter first fret like PRS to correct the issue. Everything is built from the ground up, including the neck and fretboard. The Gold top has one of the fattest necks I’ve played but I feel it really helps contribute to the tone. All of my Dad’s guitars are Nitro lacquer finish which just make them look 20 years old when they’re brand new!

The Sunburst LP is the newest and has a real vintage hue to it with a less flashy top like my favorite Page LP. The top is actually not maple but English Sycamore and the body is made of Honduras and Crotch Mahogany. I’ve always loved the early humbuckers in the Ibanez Artist guitars so he put in a ‘Flying Finger’ and Super 70 in the bridge. Generally, I’m a humbucker guy and with my finger style approach, I always gravitate towards hotter pickups to get the missing edge. I could write all day about his Redtail guitars but maybe I should save that for another issue!

Well, that’s a glimpse at my gear. It’s a culmination of trial and error and finding out what works best for my own style. I encourage everyone to go after their own sound and trust their ears above all.

See you next time in the corner,
Andy

First of all you will need to check your neck for the proper amount of forward bow, you can do this by using an 18″ steel straight edge and placing it lengthwise down the center of your fret board while the guitar is tuned to proper pitch and in players position! Players position is the guitar setting properly in your lap the way you would play it, If you try this procedure with the guitar laying flat on it’s back the neck will not be in it’s natural position, gravity plus probably the tip of the head stock will cause it to bow in a different position throwing off the measurements you are trying to gauge.

Make sure that one end of the straight edge is touching the center of the first fret and the other is touching the center of the last fret.

Now take a feeler gauge and check the clearance at the 7th fret. If there is less than .005″ clearance you will need to turn the truss rod nut counter clockwise. Do this in 1/10 of a turn increments and recheck the clearance. If when you checked the 7th fret you found that there is more than .015″ of clearance then you will need to turn the truss rod nut in a clockwise direction. Remember to move it only in 1/10 increments as it will move allot with each turn, and recheck the clearance often.

Below you will see pictures of the common types and where the truss rod nut is located.

 

If you do not have a straight edge or set of feeler gauges to help you check for the adjustment you can always have a friend hold down one of the outside strings at the 1st and last fret while you try to slide a playing card under the string at the 7th fret. The card itself should barely slide under the string without lifting it, so adjust your neck to the proper setting from the results you observe.

Pictured above are the two most common style of truss rod adjustment tools an Allen Wrench on the left and a barrel style socket wrench on the right, If your adjusting the neck on say an older style Strat neck you may need to use a flat bladed screwdriver instead.

Original Article by Brian Calvert courtesy of ProjectGuitar.com

Hi Folks, Welcome back to The Corner… We recently received a few questions regarding input buffers and how and when to use one.  We thought this article from Screamin FX in Austin Texas did a great job explaining them and thought we’d share it with you.  Enjoy!

WHY AND WHEN TO USE A GUITAR BUFFER PEDAL – IMPROVE YOUR TONE

GUITAR BUFFER PEDAL OVERVIEW:

Ever plug into a pedal or long cord and feel like your sound got more bassy or muffled, even with the pedal off? This article explains what a guitar buffer pedal does and why and when you would want to use one to improve your tone.

Simply put, a buffer is a circuit that will exactly replicate what is connected to the input to the output and more importantly, be able to apply that output with no changes (be transparent) to the next guitar pedal in the line.

When used correctly, a properly designed buffer pedal improves the high frequency response of your overall pedal chain. The main times you use one is if you have a long cable between anything, if you have a guitar pedal with a low input impedance (fuzz face) or non true bypass (many mass market pedals, wah wahs are known for “tone sucking”) and if you have a lot of pedals connected in series and are losing sound fidelity.

To explain this, first I give a method to test if you might want a buffer, then I give some examples where you would want a buffer and then I show the circuit explanation. If you want, skip down to the end and you can visually see the difference in frequency response with and without a buffer circuit. I’ll add some sound clips when I get a chance.

WHAT DOES A GUITAR BUFFER CIRCUIT DO?

A guitar buffer circuit is very simply a circuit where the output is the same as the input. The better the buffer, the more similar the output is to the input. So why would you want that, sounds like it does nothing? The hidden beauty of the buffer circuit is that it has a very high input impedance and a low output impedance. This means it can reproduce a signal from a non-ideal source or send it through a non-ideal load. We will talk about this more later, but first here are a couple tests for you to try.

SIMPLE WAYS TO TELL IF YOU MIGHT WANT A BUFFER PEDAL:

These are some great tests for figuring out if you want a buffer pedal.

Test One: First, play your guitar through your amp with a very short cable, maybe one or two feet long. Then play through your pedal board with all pedals off. If it sounds different and you like the short cable sound, you might want a buffer.

Test Two: To test specific pedals, get two very short cables, as short as you can stand for this, maybe one foot long. Then, get a 1/4 to 1/4 adapter, guitar center and amazon sell Planet Waves Dual 1/4″” Jack Adapter which should work. Or, you could use a pedal that you are 100% sure is true bypass. Then, connect the cable to the adapter (bypass) to the cable and play a little bit. This will be tough because the line is short, but bare with me. The reason to use short cords is to rule out cable capacitance which has a big effect we will talk about later. Then, connect the pedal you are wondering about instead of the adapter. With the pedal off, if the sound is at all different, you might want a buffer. With the pedal on, its harder because then the effect is in place. But if you lose a lot of the crispness of the sound (sparkle, brightness etc. . .) then you also might want a buffer.

Test Three: To see how cable capacitance changes your sound, play the guitar into your amp with the 1 foot cord, then attach a long cord and listen to the difference. You should be able to hear less treble with the longer cord.

Of course, the other option is to just get a buffer and plug it in to see how it changes the sound.

MAIN PLACES TO USE A BUFFER PEDAL

BEFORE REALLY LONG CABLE:

You might want to use a buffer before a long cable. The cable will reduce your higher frequency tones because of capacitance. More about cable capacitance later.

MANY EFFECTS IN A ROW WITH TRUE BYPASS:

You might want a buffer before a lot of pedals with true bypass. The reason is that all the pedals are essentially similar to a long cable, with true bypass you are connected multiple cables in series which could have a high capacitance and effect your tone.

A PEDAL WITH LOW INPUT IMPEDANCE OR ONE WHICH EXHIBITS TONE SUCKING:

Some pedals have low input impedances such as fuzz faces. There is a debate about buffers and fuzz faces which we won’t go into, but you will be losing tone. Wah wahs are also known for tone sucking. If you try test 2, see if you can hear the difference with and without your wah.

SOME PLACES NOT TO USE A GUITAR BUFFER:

There is no use spending money on stuff you don’t need, and there are some places where using a buffer has no point. Here are a couple of them.

• Your guitar has a buffer built in. Some guitars already have a buffer and tone shaping built in. One way to tell is that you have to plug in a 9V battery to get it to work. My Ovation is an example of this but there are a lot more.
• Your pedal already has a buffer built in. Some pedals already have a buffer built in so there is no point adding another. For example, the famous tube screamer pedal already has a buffer that is on even when the guitar pedal is off. Other boss pedals have them as well. Some of these buffers aren’t the greatest, but they are already there.

Many buffers already in the pedal chain. The idea of a buffer is for it to always be on, so if you have a lot of them on, you are going to start adding more and more noise to your sound. This depends on the buffer design, but at some point, you will start hearing added noise. Don’t do…

WHY SHOULD A BUFFER CIRCUIT HAVE HIGH INPUT IMPEDANCE?

Figure 1. Resistor Divider Network. Rout is the guitar output impedance of your guitar and Rin is the pedal input impedance. The signal from the pickups is Vguitar. Ignore the cable for now and we’ll talk about that later.

Lets look at this in terms of circuits. A resistor divider is shown in Figure 1 where you have an output voltage source such as your guitar (Vguitar) with output resistance Rout and then an input resistance to a pedal called Rin. All pedals have an input resistance, the higher the better. The way the voltage appears to the pedal can be written as

Vpedal = Vguitar (Rin / (Rin + Rout))

What this means is that if Rout is large and Rin is small, then the voltage at the input of the pedal is small (which you don’t want). An example where this is a problem is a fuzz face pedal, where the input resistance may be 15kOhm or lower and is shown in Figure 2. Your guitar output voltage is about 100mV and the output impedance is about 15kOhm (It’s actually a little different because of frequency response but let’s save that for a different time). So, this means that:

Vpedal = Vguitar (Rin / (Rin + Rout) = 100mV * (15k / (15k + 15k)) = 100mV * (1/ 2) = 50mV

Only half the guitar voltage actually appears at the input of the fuzz face!

Figure 2. Resistor divider showing input of a pedal with low input impedance where you are losing your signal.

Figure 3. Resistor divider showing input of a pedal such as a buffer with high input impedance where your signal is reproduced fully.

Now, what if you have a high impedance guitar buffer, with an input resistance of 1M instead of 15k shown in Figure 3?

Then:

Vpedal = Vguitar (Rin / (Rin + Rout) = 100mV * (1M / (15k + 1M)) = 100mV * (0.99) = 99mV

Now, almost the entire guitar signal appears across the input because it has a high impedance. That’s quite an improvement, isn’t it? You will hear a difference in your tone.

Side note now, some of you fuzz face aficionados might pipe up about how the low input impedance of the fuzz face gives it some of it’s character. Completely true, but many other pedals have low or undesirable input impedance, especially those without true bypass. Also, did you ever notice you loose treble with your fuzz face. . . read on to find out why. Check out the end too, where I talk about the buffers and the fuzz.

WHY SHOULD A BUFFER CIRCUIT HAVE LOW OUTPUT IMPEDANCE AND HIGH INPUT IMPEDANCE:

Now that we did the hard work before, we can use our resistor divider to explain why a buffer circuit needs to have a low output impedance. Lets ask this hypothetical question: what if our guitar had a lower output impedance of 100Ohms instead of 15kOhm and we plugged it into that 15K fuzz face (sorry but because of the guitar pickup, that low of 100Ohms won’t happen in real life). Here’s the calculation:

Vpedal = Vguitar (Rin / (Rin + Rout)= 100mV * (15k / (15k + 100)) = 100mV * (0.99) = 99mV

So, if we have a low output impedance, than almost the entire signal will appear across the input impedance of the next pedal, even if its low. Much Better!

These two main points are the basics of any buffer circuit. A high input impedance makes sure that the full signal will appear across the input, no matter what the output impedance of the previous circuit is. A low output impedance helps drive the next circuit because it allows the signal to appear across the next input impedance. This circuit is often called a driver, because the low output impedance allows the buffer to drive the next stage.

CABLE CAPACITANCE, WHAT HAPPENS AT HIGHER FREQUENCIES?

Now, let’s add something else into the mix. What happens when you connect a big, long guitar cable to the output of your pedal? Guitar cables are basically long conductors, where a ground wire is wrapped around the signal but is separated by a non-conducting material called a dielectric. This forms a capacitance which is around 40pF per foot. So what happens if you have a 20ft cable; you have an 800pF capacitance to ground. You can see this in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Guitar connected to 20 foot cable into a pedal with low input impedance. The DC signal at the pedal would be 50mV and the signal at 10kHz would only be 36mV. As the frequency of your signal goes up, you loose more tone.

The problem is that this capacitor also adds an impedance; which depending on the frequency, can be very low. This is the problem that makes you loose higher frequency components of your sound. In fact, as frequency goes up, impedance goes down for a capacitor (guitar cable) and you loose more of your high frequency guitar signal. The impedance of a capacitor can be written as:

Zcap = 1/(2*pi*f*C) where f is the frequency.

Because frequency (f) is in the bottom, as it goes up the impedance Z goes down. You can hear up to about 20kHz, so lets run an example at half this. What if your guitar outputs a 10kHz signal into a 20 foot cable? The impedance is (use 10k for frequency and 800pF for Capacitance):

Zcap = 1/(2*pi*f*C) = 1/(2*3.14*10,000Hz*800pF) = 20kOhms

This is kind of low for an input impedance so lets look at what happens at 10KHz when we have this cable connected from the guitar to that low input impedance of 15k.Figure 4 shows the circuit, where we can analyze it for 10kHz.First, simplify the input impedance of the fuzz face and the cable impedance using a parallel network. The input 10k of the pedal is in parallel with the 800pF capacitance of the cable and two impedance in parallel have total impedance (Z1*Z2) / (Z1 + Z2) so:

Rcableandpedal = (Rin * Zcap) / (Rin + Zcap) = (15k * 20k) / (15k + 20k) = 8.57kOhm

This means that the guitar output sees an impedance of only 8.57kOhm at 10kHz when you connect the guitar to the pedal with a 20foot cable. We can find the signal at the pedal input by using our resistor divider network and guitar output impedance, we get:

Vpedal = Vguitar* (Rcableandpedal / (Rout +Rcableandpedal)= 100mV * (8.57k / (8.57k + 15k) = 0.36*100mV = 36mV

Because you connected the fairly long cable, you loose even more of the actual signal and it doesn’t appear across the input of the pedal. You are now losing a good amount of the signal from those expensive pickups you bought. . . The story gets better for low frequencies, but worse for higher frequencies. This configuration is called a low pass filter, because low frequency signals pass through but higher frequencies do not. You really don’t want this if you want to preserve the fidelity of your original guitar pickup signal.

Question time, where is it better to put a guitar buffer, before or after a long cable? The answer is before. The reason is that if you have a low impedance of the capacitance of the cable then it is in parallel with the input impedance of whatever is after it (remember from before). So, even if you have that high impedance guitar buffer, effectively the impedance is low and you will lose your signal. But, if you have the guitar buffer pedal before the cable, then the low output impedance of the buffer will be able to drive the cable and the input resistance of the next pedal or amp in the line.

CONCLUSION:

Two main culprits of sound loss are the capacitance of your guitar cables and a low or non ideal input impedance of guitar pedals in your chain. If you add a guitar buffer in between, you can more easily drive these two situations and preserve your tone across all the frequency range your guitar produces. When you start using a buffer, you will immediately notice that you tone sounds a lot “brighter” or has more “sparkle”.

SOME NOTES ON BUFFERS BEFORE FUZZ PEDALS:

There is a long running debate on whether or not a guitar buffer should be used before a fuzz pedal. A portion of what makes a fuzz a fuzz is that the input impedance is low and will directly affect how the pedal works. If you were to buffer before this, you run into a couple of different scenarios. One is that you are now able to drive the input even though it is a low impedance. This give the fuzz a more gritty sound in my opinion. Another is that you can loose some of the interactiveness of the guitar with the fuzz. Things like how fuzz will change a lot with a little rolloff in your volume knob. However, you gain a couple of things as well. For one, you can keep all the bright tone of your guitar and the sound doesn’t sound as mushy. Another is that pedals like wah wahs before your fuzz don’t make such a drastic change in volume or tone when switched on and off. I find these two reasons to be worth it for me to buffer around the fuzz, especially because I don’t use my volume knob as a control for a lot of my playing. The fuzz pedals I put together have buffers at both the input and the output, but with a switch to turn them off if you want. What it all comes down to in the end though is what you prefer for your sound.

Article courtesy of Screaminfx.com