I wish he would play these sometimes instead of the 335 on songs like SFTD and GS. So much more grit in the tone compared to the 335 which is very warm and jazzy sounding. IMHO

355.

yeah, and what about the 3pickups les paul custom? just like the gool old tours!

Most songs on Sticky Fingers and Exile were recorded with an ES-355 (both Keith and Taylor), so I think it's a good guitar for Keith to play. Doesn't look as cool as Les Paul but the sound is very similar (slightly less "fat").

I prefer the 355 to the les paul. In my opinion, unless you are peter green or mt, it`s easier to obtain a better sound.

Yeah but the hollow body produces a nice blues sound but not a distorted one. So play the 355 on blusy songs and crank some more distortion on songs like GS. That LP junior he played sounded mean. Also like the double cuttaway he plays MR on.

>> Also like the double cuttaway he plays MR on. <<

that's a 1958 or 59 LP Junior - well, technically it's called an LP TV,
but it's a Junior with the TV-yellow finish. he also uses it for Out of Control.

What guitar did Keith use on Gimme Shelter in the Paradiso in Holland in '95?

IMO this is the best ever version of the song and mainly because he has such a good distorted sound!!!

Cheers,
Wuudy

I also wish Keith would not play the 335 all the time. But much of that IMO has to do with age. Those guitars are an elder respected statesman'sa guitar. Which is what Keith is now. he prefers the clean dry sound, Most guitarrists know that the hollowbodies are not good on stge if you are wanting to use effects and particularly distortion. Keith ruled in 72 on "Bitch" on that Les Paul. He used to do the Berry type numbers on LP too I think. Bye Bye Johnny and stuff. A song like that he does on hollowbody today. I think the 3 PU LPs are retired with the tight leather trousers.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

I think that the LP is simply to heavy for extensive use today.

C

>> What guitar did Keith use on Gimme Shelter in the Paradiso in Holland in '95? <<

he was using the single-cutaway (pre-58) LP TV for Gimmie Shelter in 94/95, at least in the versions i have.
he was using those single-cutaway LP Juniors a *lot* in 94/95.



"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

I am not a player but I had thought maybe he is playing the 335 more these days is because the LP's are much heavier and with his age it would be harder on the body for 2 hours, having said that he still plays Tele's and they are quite heavy too aren't they? what do the guitarists here think? and as side note which is the heavier guitar between a LP and a Tele? , or does it depend the particilar model, year?

I remember him saying in an interview years ago that his '72 Tele Custom (the black one he used constantly from '75-'82) weighed a ton, which is why I'm kind of suprised he started using it again this tour.

In recent years, I can't remember him using a Les Paul on anything aside from Satisfaction in '94/'95, though I could very well be wrong about that.

I think the black, 3-humbucker LP custom (used in Sympathy For The Devil & Circus as well as '69/'70) got stolen from Nellcote, along with a bunch of others.

Has he ever used a Strat onstage aside from "Miss You"? I know there's that photo of him in '64 that was discussed here not long ago . . . and I haven't seen it in a while, but is he playing one tuned to open G in Ladies & Gentleman?

Goddamn, I love geeking out about stuff like this!

Cheers,

John

JuanTCB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Has he ever used a Strat onstage aside from "Miss
> You"? I know there's that photo of him in '64
> that was discussed here not long ago . . . and I
> haven't seen it in a while, but is he playing one
> tuned to open G in Ladies & Gentleman?

Yep. you can see one on the L&G movie tuned to OpenG in Brown Sugar and SFM. The well-known footage from the 78 tour features him playing Let It Rock with a Strat, too.



[There'll be no wedding today...]

A Les Paul can vary greatly in weight. I've seen them anywhere from 7.5 to 9.5 lbs whereas Teles tend to be on the lighter side thoguh they can be just as heavy. It depends on the wood. Adler and Ash are both used on Fender guitars where Les Pauls tend to use mahogany. As to the weight of the ES-355 I could only guess. I love the one that keith gets with the Les Paul though. His solo on 'Bitch' was certainly recorded with one and stands as one of my favorites. You can't get a sound like that with a Tele, ofa 355, great guitars though they are.

>> I remember him saying in an interview years ago that his '72 Tele Custom (the black one he used constantly from '75-'82) weighed a ton <<

i thought it was the rosewood Tele he had in mind as being tragically heavy,
and/or the mahogany Newman-Jones-made Tele.
a normal Tele weighs considerably less than a Les Paul, no? they just look real hefty-like.


"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith

>> Has he ever used a Strat onstage aside from Miss You? <<


- 1972, by Jim Marshall, courtesy of BrownEyedGirll

i've also got a lot of shots of Keith the Barbarian with a Strat backstage, but i don't know what he used it for ...


- 1979, by Henry Diltz

Brano Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Most songs on Sticky Fingers and Exile were
> recorded with an ES-355 (both Keith and Taylor),


How do you know this? Most pictures I've seen of Keith from the Exile period, he was playing either a Tele or LP. Is there a website or source that mentions this use of a 355 on most of Exile's tracks?

What guitar did Keith use on Gimme Shelter in the Paradiso in Holland in '95?

IMO this is the best ever version of the song and mainly because he has such a good distorted sound!!!


------------------------


Yeah that version is rockin and both guitars have a real edgy sound. It was a les Paul as mentioned before. That version is the same arrangement as the have played basicly up to today but the guitar sound is what makes it!

I also don't buy the arguement about weight. He uses one for MR still. You can still get a good tone from lighter gibsons like the Special II model he played on VL tour.

how about.....bring back the "wall of ampegs"......crank 'em up......get rid of the hollowbody and use a solid body for a ballsier, crunchier sound.....and snort, snort then "turn up the heat".......and shut up the critics

Ditto on the Ampegs Leonard. The Stones live sound was much better with them, at least IMHO. As to Exile and Sticky Fingers being recorded mostly with ES-355s, I'd like to know where you got that as well Brano. Care to elaborate?

ChrisM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ditto on the Ampegs Leonard. The Stones live sound
> was much better with them, at least IMHO. As to
> Exile and Sticky Fingers being recorded mostly
> with ES-355s, I'd like to know where you got that
> as well Brano. Care to elaborate?


yep yep ChrisM....all one has to do is give a listen to any early '70s Stones live recording.....listen to that beautiful distortion...it's a symphony to me ears....and this is a well worn subject...but watch the Stones in their live prime on Ladies & Gents....Keith & Mick T. are strumming, strumming and more strumming and less mugging, mugging and posing.........maybe they could listen to some Ramones early albums for a strumming refresher course



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-01-23 23:28 by Leonard Keringer.

>> As to Exile and Sticky Fingers being recorded mostly with ES-355s, I'd like to know where you got that as well Brano. Care to elaborate? <<

i think Mathijs said something about that too, on one of the guitar threads a while ago; i'd also love to hear more, please and thank you.
meanwhile a shot from the basement of Nellcote ...


1971, by Dominique Tarle, courtesy of mainstreet skyblog

>> i think Mathijs said something about that too, on one of the guitar threads a while ago <<

found it: [iorr.org]

Posted by: Mathijs (IP Logged)
Date: September 24, 2005 14:52

The guitar on the 1969 picture is an ebony 1959 Gibson ES-355, block inlays, custom head inlay, golden PAF pickups, wired to mono. The guitar was bought in june 1969 while rehearsing for the upcoming tour, and remained a favourite of both Taylor and Keith until 1971, when all the guitars were stolen at Nellcote. This guitar can be seen at the back of the Ya-Ya's cover too in the hands of Taylor. They had two ES-355's: Keith's ebony 355, and Taylor's wine-red 355. In Tarle's Exile book they play these guitars on 75% of all pictures, so they really must have liked them. On the 1969 tour Keith played Little Queenie and Midnight Rambler on the 355. The ES-355 guitar is Keith's favourite since the 1997 tour, where he plays an ebony and a cherry model.

here's the picture he was referring to:


MSG 1969 (don't know who took it, sorry!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-01-23 23:51 by with sssoul.

>> the Special II model he played on VL tour <<

which one do you mean?

and: is the weight of an LP Junior about the same as a standard LP?
i always understood Juniors are lighter, but i'm used to being wrong. :E

>> I think the black, 3-humbucker LP custom (used in Sympathy For The Devil & Circus as well as '69/'70) got stolen from Nellcote <<

Keith's had a bunch of black 3PU LP customs - the last sighting of him with one that i know of was a 1977 photo shoot.
apparently the trippy-painted one used in SFTD and R&R Circus wasn't stolen. here's a thread about it: [iorr.org]

while i'm at it, here's a sort of index of Keith Guitar threads, just to have them handy -
and i think i need to call it something strange to make it easier to find in a search ... for example Ratbag Boogie :E
Keith's Very Early Guitars: [iorr.org]
his 3PU LP Customs: [iorr.org]
his LP TVs and Other Juniors: [iorr.org]
Less-Common Teles: [iorr.org]
Lesser-Known Gibsons: [iorr.org]
Acoustics: [iorr.org]
Semihollows: [iorr.org]
Custom Jobs & Other Oddities: [iorr.org]
and one about Brian's guitars: [iorr.org]


"What do you want - what?!"
- Keith



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 2006-05-20 22:20 by with sssoul.

I've got a '74 LP Custom and a '59 Special(slightly different from a Junior but weighs about the same).The Custom is quite a bit heavier.By the way,Leonard,totally agree with you about the old Ampegs and that 70's sound.That's one of the things that makes listening to the '78 and especialy '81 live stuff less than satisfying for me-I mean I know the ultra-clean sound suits certain songs but in general it just doesn't have that bite.I remember reading an interview with Iggy years ago and him mentioning that the most impressive thing to him about seeing the Stones in '69 was that awesome Ampeg sound,especially when everyone else at that time was using Marshalls.Course that didn't stop his bandmate Asheton from using Marshall stacks...but I digress.

andrewm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've got a '74 LP Custom and a '59
> Special(slightly different from a Junior but
> weighs about the same).The Custom is quite a bit
> heavier.By the way,Leonard,totally agree with you
> about the old Ampegs and that 70's sound.That's
> one of the things that makes listening to the '78
> and especialy '81 live stuff less than satisfying
> for me-I mean I know the ultra-clean sound suits
> certain songs but in general it just doesn't have
> that bite.I remember reading an interview with
> Iggy years ago and him mentioning that the most
> impressive thing to him about seeing the Stones in
> '69 was that awesome Ampeg sound,especially when
> everyone else at that time was using
> Marshalls.Course that didn't stop his bandmate
> Asheton from using Marshall stacks...but I
> digress.


hey AndrewM......yeah those Ampegs certainly added some nice crunch to the already great Stones sound...no problem with the Igster & the Stooges & the Ramones using Marshall amps...............Krunchhhhhh!!!!

I think Keith's tone has less to do with the guitars and more to do with the amps. Two high wattage Twin Reverbs simply aren't going to drive the speakers like the Vox's that were used on those early records. Their not class A and don't break up like the Vox. The Ampegs sounded great live, and I would love a return to a driven amp tone for the Stones, without the use of digital effects, Ronnie! Anyway, I play a 335 and a 330, one is semi hollow, one hollow, with a band that is a bit more heavy, Deep Purple heavy, not today heavy. I have never had a problem with the 335 not sounding ballsy because I am running a Marshall Super Trem.

I have also heard that some of Keith's sound on those early records had him running two amps, one Vox driven hard, and one clean Fender. I have tried this several times with the Super Trem and a 1969 Silverface Twin Reverb, I don't really find the appeal live, but the sound on those records is great. If anyone has more info on the amps used on the records, I would sure appreciate a bit of knowledge.

LP too heavy for the aging back (it kills my younger one)? What about a Hamer Special or Studio. It's got LP nads with lighter weight and more versatility. I'm sure Joel would make him a three-bucker job in a heartbeat.

Well I see Ronnie at least switched to a green Les Paul tonight on GS and YCAGWYW.