Will Fenders new 57 Twin get me close to Keiths sound?

only if you play a telecaster and wear a bandana

Yes - I would think so.

Sleep in a cage for two hours every week...!!!

ROCKMAN

Do I drink vodka 6 or 7 days a week? How many packs of smokes a day?

You're not really getting much response^^
Maybe you should give some more infos.

Do you play in band?
What kind of guitar and amp do have right now?
Are you familiar with the Fender sound characteristics?
Does price$ matter?

The '57 Twin is about double the price of a '59 Bassman LTD reissue.
Keith also uses Bassman.

>" Do I drink vodka 6 or 7 days a week? How many packs of smokes a day?smiling smiley

thats only necessary if you start singing

I'm between bands right now..I play Teles and Strats and am up-gradeing my amps. (I play through a hotrod deluxe)

In order to get the exact sound Keith is getting, there's three options:

1. Buy an original 1957 Low Watt Twin. If you can find one, it'll set you back $15.000.
2. Have a boutique builder build an exact copy. This will set you back $2500.
3. Buy Fender's own reissue for $2000.

In my opinion, option number 2 is the way to go. Victoria in the US and Cornell in the UK are building absolute one-on-one copies of classic Tweed models, even upgrading when they can (like using the best caps and transformers available). You can custom order, so you can specify exactly what kind of wiring you want, what set-up of speakers you want, and so on. Option number three gets you very, very close to the sound, but the overall build of the Fender reissue is less then of the Victoria company. The used components are of lesser quality, the speakers are more generic. Also, Fender's reissue is not an exact clone, they do compromise in the wiring to cut down costs.

By the way, I have never heard or seen Keith use a Bassman. Also, the reissue of the bassman -including the Limited Edition- are nowhere near the original, using PCB's instead of point-to-point, and using MDF for the cabinet instead of pine (MDF lacks in bass). All the reissue Bassman's I have tried are generic and mediocre sounding, with piercing treble that sounds vey unpleasent.

Mathijs

Mathijs, You seem to be the guy...Have you played the Victoria? How would you have them set it up as far as the wiring and the speakers go? Also is that you playing the "Hey Negita" riff in that tribute band? Would you go Boogie or Fender for your first buy?

You will never get the exact sound of Keith. The guitar, amp, strings, pick, etc is only part of the sound. It's the player that contributes a lot to the sound too. If Keith playes a Korean Ibanez imitation, he will sound more like him, than if I play on a 5-string Telecaster and Twin.

Mathijs, I read about Keith using Bassman's a few times now, must be some truth in it. Maybe Heads into Mesa Boogie or whatever. I haven't seen photos myself.
[members.tripod.com]
The Bassman reissue is made out of: "Solid Finger-Jointed Pine Cabinet"
according to Fender.com
I guess you're right with the rest you said.

cheers
open-g

Koen Wrote:
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> You will never get the exact sound of Keith. The
> guitar, amp, strings, pick, etc is only part of
> the sound. It's the player that contributes a lot
> to the sound too. If Keith playes a Korean Ibanez
> imitation, he will sound more like him, than if I
> play on a 5-string Telecaster and Twin.

Well, if I grab my Tele and pump it through my Boogie Mark IIB, I bet you won't know by the sound it's me playing and not Keith in 1978. Same for the Victoria's. I bet with your eyes closed nobody will know it's you on that Telecaster, and not Keith. In fact, for guitarists it's a bit of a curse. One of the all-time best sounds is a cranked up Twin or Blues Deluxe, but that is so much Keith's signature sound that it becomes a ripp off just too soon. For example, in my new band I play Marshall, and not my Boogie, just too sound less like the Stones...

I have played two Victoria's, one 20112 (that is 20 watts, 1 12" speaker, say a Tweed Deluxe) and a 50212, which is the Twin copy. To my ears, they are the absolute very best available on the market, maybe except for the originals (if they are serviced well, most vintage ones sound like crap as they have detoriated over the years). It such a different experience, playing through these amps.

About the bassman: over the years, some stories have become "thruth", like Keith using Bassman's and Champs, or Wood playing Tumbling Dice in E9 tuning, or Keith playing T&A in open tuning. Most of the time, these stories come from guitar magazines where the journalist makes a mistake, or make things up. I have a fair amount of studio pictures, but I have never seen a bassman or a champ.

Mathijs



[www.victoriaamp.com]

Mathijs Wrote:
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> Well, if I grab my Tele and pump it through my
> Boogie Mark IIB, I bet you won't know by the sound
> it's me playing and not Keith in 1978

Probably not, in your case
I guess my point was, it's not only the sound of the equipment, but also the person's timing, phrasing, emotions, etc. Which is pretty unique in Keith's case.

Thanks for the tip on the Victoria Mathijs...now can you teach me how to play the solo in Around and Around

Mathijs Wrote:
>...but I have never seen a bassman or a champ.

Nor have I. I posted this a few days ago and a few people
thought I was the devil incarnate.

Getting the same amp and maybe the smae make of guitar is not near enough to sound like someone else. It's about attack, the amount of time your left fingers stay on the styrings, the amount of muting you do with the right hand, are you using a pick?, what gauge are the strings? and finally what is your imagination like? I believe avtually that the Amp and guitar are the LEAST of your problem..I rememebr once reading a quote by some producer or tech who said that Keith can walk into a room and pick whatever guitar is laying there, plugged into whatever amp and within seconds the setup will sound totally Keith.
And I once picked up Eddie Van Halen's guitar, plugged in and ready to blow on stage, and guess what? I did not sound at all like Eddie. Damn!

I agree with Chelsea. I have never been able to get exactly the right feel for Keith's sound. So i quit trying. I got closest by taking what I liked about his setup and trying different things. I can not get a fender or victoria amp to sound like the stones through a tele or whatever guitar. The V4 Ampeg amps and I do not work well together, But I grabbed a tele and/or a les paul and ran it through a texas tone amp (mesa boogie) and just played not trying to duplicate Keith or anyone else. Inadvertanely, I got the closest to Keith because I just did something different and tried to highlight my strengths as a player and that set up worked best. Some Soldano amps work well with for a 70s ish sound. But you will just have to try and retry and not be afraid to highlight your strengths and then just let the stones influence come out.

I wish I was still in a band that didn't suck.

Excuse me for diggin' out this old thread, it's kinda vintage
but good vancouver found some great pics from '66.
You can see Keith and Brian using Fender Bassman's
on pic 1 + 4.

[images.google.se]
[www.iorr.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-07-04 03:32 by open-g.

open-g Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Excuse me for diggin' out this old thread, it's
> kinda vintage
> but good vancouver found some great pics from
> '66.
> You can see Keith and Brian using Fender
> Bassman's
> on pic 1 + 4.

Those are Showman amps. I forgot about those photos.
There are photos of them at RCA using those amps, so one would assume
those ended up on Aftermath. I think they were used also on the '66 USA tour.
NOw the Champ is a different story. Despite what Keith says in interviews,
I've never seen a photo of him using one, nor picked one out on a record.
They do have a pretty unique sound. Doesn't mean he never used them in rehearsals or anything.

Yes, you're right, Tom.
Keith is playing over a Showman. After closer inspection I spotted the extra control knobs. 6 (Vibrato, depth).
but on the right side I think THAT is a Bassmann, no?
probably Bill's

The thing is: from 1964 until 1968, the Stones ordered the promotor to supply "guitar amps", by the brand name "Fender" and of at least "50 watts". The Stones couldn't care less about the kind of amps they played. From 1968 on, the Stones were finding there own sound, and they were searchig ways to get the sound that was in there head. Therefore, I find the 1964 to 1968 period to be amusing, but in my opinion they really were just a boy band then.

Mathijs