Subject:      Re: Steve Albini guitar sound

From:         jamescho@nuri.net

Date:         1997/01/30

Message-ID:   <5cpqhb$6ci@cham.nuri.net>

Newsgroups:   alt.music.independent







>> 

>> bullshit. every piece of equipment he uses is custom, from the homemade amps

>> to the Schneller aluminum guitar (same as members of Tar used)....

> 

>I'm pretty sure (as in positive) he currently plays a Travis Bean. 

>Although, once I saw him play a Veleno with Shellac.

>(A Veleno has a metal neck, metal body, and a faux ruby in the headstock.) 

>

>There is at least one very good web page all about Travis Bean guitars and

>basses, but I have forgotten the URL. Oh Well.





Last time I saw him play he used a black Stratocaster with Gibson P-90 

pickups, and a beat up red Stratocaster. I think these are the same guitars he 

used in Big Black. Also a guitar with 6 "G-strings."  ;-)



In Shellac, a giant homemade tube amp, the same one for bass and guitar, and I 

think Peavey speakers. No effects, I think just a distorted channel and a 

clean channel. Big Black, from Bulldozer on,  of course, used many effects, I 

imagine some very expensive digital boxes. 



There is, of course, more to Big Black than a guitar sound, and I wish the 

numerous "Little Blacks" explored in this area more. For vocals, I know that 

"Songs About Fucking" used a vocoder. The only vocoder I've ever heard of was 

made by Moog. Good luck finding one.



The drum machine on "Lungs" was a primitive Roland TR-606, which sounds just 

like the TR-707, 808, and 909 used in "techno" music, but don't let that 

prejudice you. They sound great, though maybe not so good on Lungs.  After 

that, four E-mu Drumulators which unlike the TR's, play back digital drum 

samples.  I imagine four were necessary because they had very little memory. 

Probably very very cheap if you can find one, unlike a Roland 808.



							Regards,



														James Cho