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shortpunks
Copper Member
USA
47 Posts |
 Posted - 09/07/2007 : 15:12:58
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This topic has me thinking of all the other shoegaze-influenced bands I've always loved. Monsterland, from my home state of Connecticut, were a great band who did a series of EPs and a record in the early '90s. Their bass player later did engineering work for The Lilys and I think now plays with Beechwood Sparks. Smackmelon from Boston was also very cool, as were Bailter Space, who I think were from New Zealand or Australia.
It's also fun to trace back some of the shoegazer influences...I'm still a huge fan of Mission of Burma, Dangerous Birds, Husker Du, Dinosaur, Jr. Joy Division, and early Brian Eno tunes like "Needle in the Camel's Eye."
By the way, that old shoegaze band of mine in college had two huge influences in addition to the other ones I mentioned...The Byrds and Syd Barret's Pink Floyd. I've always thought Ride could have done an awesome cover of The Byrds' "Lady Friend"...and though my bandmates didn't agree with me, I still think there are some great swirly guitar sounds on the first two Big Country records...just listen to "Wonderland" again and you'll hear some great chorus and overdrive tones... |
Edited by - shortpunks on 09/07/2007 15:22:13 |
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Alice
Bronze Member
USA
66 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2007 : 03:10:44
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quote:
By the way, the distortion or overdrive before the wah is key, especially if you run a second distortion after the wah...you can get incredible washes just by using the wah to cascade through different frequencies produced by the first distortion pedal.
This is funny. I just got an FW-3 foot wah in the mail yesterday so I'm gonna try this. I've got like 3 distortion pedals laying around right now too. Borrowing an HM-2 and DS-1 and my own MD-2 plus my roommate's hyper fuzz. My room is becoming a goddamn pedal festival.
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had a Rickenbacker 330 going into:
DOD FX-75B Flanger --> MXR Distortion + --> Crybaby wah --> Boss RV-3
You rule. FX-75B is my favorite flanger. I used to have one years ago and I found a beat up one recently at a pawn shop for 15 bucks. Score! It's soo smooth and deep. Kicks ass on bass. You say DOD and people look at you like you're crazy and turn their nose up at you. But they did have a few pedals that were real jewels.
And the RV-3 of course. Don't get me started. I'm still not ready to fork over the $140-150 that they're going for these days (that's what they were brand new. wtf?). But I want one so bad I can taste it (reverb tastes metallic, btw).
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Smackmelon from Boston was also very cool, as were Bailter Space, who I think were from New Zealand or Australia.
My roomate turned me onto Bailter Space, and he's a bigger shoegazer freak than I am. They're definitely in that direction. He had an album of theirs that I liked a lot so I went and bought a different album but it wasn't as good.
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Brian Eno tunes like "Needle in the Camel's Eye."
That early Brian Eno shit freaks me out. It's like he was shoegazer long before it even existed. NITCE, Here Come the Warm Jets, Baby's on Fire, all that stuff. Hell yeah.
-Alice
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Edited by - Alice on 09/09/2007 03:15:04 |
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shortpunks
Copper Member
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2007 : 04:50:52
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Tell me what you think of the distortion/wah/distortion trick! I've never tried it with anything but a Crybaby, so I'd love to hear what happens when you use the FW-3...I think a DS-1 --> FW-3 --> HM-2 combination would sound awesome.
When I do the distortion wash trick now I usually run an overdrive first, then the wah, and then a pedal that gives me more saturation, like the HM-2. I don't use a wah live these days--too tough to do since we're a duo--so I just loop the washes in my RC-2; that way I can keep the rhythm going and still get those wah effects.
DOD Flangers are awesome! I just picked up an FX75 and sent it as a gift to my cousin back in Connecticut...it was only $20 at one of the shops here in Chicago. They had several of them! Like you said, DOD made some great stuff...the FX75B was one of the first pedals I got in high school--for 20 bucks at a pawn shop (that was back in '91, I think, so I guess they've sort of held their pawn-shop prices).
I've had my RV-3 since '94 when I got it at Manny's in New York for about $140 or so...I think that's still the most I have ever paid for a pedal, but I've definitely gotten my money's worth...I've used it in every band I've been in since I first got it and it's still going strong...
Also cool, by the way, is the Peter Laughner cover of "Baby's on Fire." The stuff he did with Rocket from the Tombs and early Pere Ubu also has a little shoegaze feel, especially Alan Ravenstine's synthesizer washes on the first Pere Ubu singles...like Eno, very scary stuff!
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Alice
Bronze Member
USA
66 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2007 : 10:27:09
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I tried it the other night with DS-1 > FW-3 > HM-2, which works very well. Then just for the hell of it tonight I did FZ-2 > FW-3 > MD-2, which mostly sucks. I should've used the DS-1 again. FZ-2 is a hard pedal to work with. Oh well.
But with the DS-1 and HM-2 it's great. FW-3 is a very trebley wah and DS-1 itself is pretty trebley so I turned up the low end on the HM-2 to put some bass back. I was too lazy to hook up my Quadraverb but next time I'm gonna try it with tons of reverb.
I had an FW-3 years ago and got really attached to it so that's why I bought another one. It's pretty distinctive and unique sounding as wah's go.
-Alice |
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shortpunks
Copper Member
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2007 : 01:23:21
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Glad to hear the DS-1/FW-3/HM-2 combination worked well...I had a friend who used the flanger setting on his Quadraverb in conjunction with the wah/distortion wash and he got some great sounds.
The only fuzz pedal I have ever used which works well with this trick is a Fuzz Face (which I guess makes sense since that was Hendrix's fuzz of choice!). I used to have a Vox Tonebender reissue and it was too harsh when placed before the wah; there was no way to tame the sound even with another, darker overdrive pedal. The Fuzz Face has a much warmer, darker sound which works well. Other distortions I've used to get the wash are the Rat II (nice range of sounds when combined with another overdrive) the OS-2 (Overdrive/Distortion--a real underrated pedal) and the OD-2r (turbo overdrive)...I know I later sold the OS-2 and the OD-2r but I'm not sure what I ever did with that old Rat! |
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Right Foot Boss
Gold Member
USA
881 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2007 : 10:39:30
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I just want to personaly thank everyone who has contributed to this topic. It has been the single most defining read of the musical explanation, clarification, taste and style that I have tried so hard to explain to all of my friends for so many years. I have made every approach to summerize my musical interests to my over zelious punk friends (and I have nothing against punk music) but every time my explanation comes out I am catoterized into that emo sector. And there are a few emo bands that I do enjoy to listen to, but I am by far not among the emo fans of todays youth. 
Even more so I want to thank you all for turning me on to all the great 'gazer' bands that you all love so much.
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Edited by - Right Foot Boss on 09/18/2007 13:57:35 |
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tomwest
Silver Member
United Kingdom
436 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2007 : 01:16:05
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Alice, if only I could edit that site...OF THE FACE OF THE PLANET.
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Alice
Bronze Member
USA
66 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2007 : 08:17:20
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Alice, if only I could edit that site...OF THE FACE OF THE PLANET.
LOL, I hear ya, man.
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I just want to personaly thank everyone who has contributed to this topic. It has been the single most defining read of the musical explanation, clarification, taste and style that I have tried so hard to explain to all of my friends. . .
Awesome. That's really cool to hear. I like a lot of different kinds of rock music but I think this style is the biggest influence on how I play. It's just a shame that it's kind of obscure and hard to explain to people. Oh well, music is music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxQQtjjVyKY
I made a little video using shortpunks's distortion > wah > distortion technique. I think it's kind of loud so turn your speakers down.
I'm using DS-1 > FW-3 > HM-2 > Quadraverb (on 'King's Hall' reverb setting).
Also, I'm playing an 8 string bass with a bass amp so a guitar would sound a bit different. I know my playing sucks but it's an example of using a wah as a floodgate for distortion wash. YouTube, of course, butchers the sound quality but you still get the basic idea.
Enjoy.
-Alice
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jan
Copper Member
USA
37 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2007 : 19:44:07
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| MBV used alot of reverse reverb sounds also. |
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indytone
Bronze Member
USA
124 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2007 : 21:50:22
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I know that many of the classic Shoegaze bands used a lot of rack equipment with the Boss stuff sprinkled here and there. One piece of equipment many people used were the Yamaha FX500s. You can get these for pretty cheap now, which is nice.
I rely heavily on my RV-3 (yes Alice, I'm a jerk lol), my DC-2, and my PS-3. Other than that, I have a homemade Shin-ei Companion Fuzz to get that nasty, glass shattering JAMC and Medicine sound. For fuller distortion and fuzz, I use a DinoFuzz. It's a two channel distortion+fuzz pedal.
Another pedal that's pretty good for this stuff that's a newish pedal is the Danelectro Backtalk. It has the best reverse delay/verb of any I've heard -- including Digitech and Boss pedals (such as the DD-6). Add a hint of this in the mix and it really widens your sound and feel to that dreamy tone. Add the DC-2 and you're set.
Shameless plug -- My band, Svetlana, is about to release an album. Check out some MP3s if you feel like it. We're pretty gazey...
http://svetlanamusic.com
Tony
Indianapolis |
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 09/21/2007 : 22:14:43
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| Mazzy Star is considered shoegazer.. I love Hope Sandoval.. absolutely. |
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shortpunks
Copper Member
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2007 : 22:54:25
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Hey, Alice, nice work on the You Tube clip! You get a nice range of sounds with the wah--you're getting those sounds Ride uses in "Leave It All Behind" and "Unfamiliar." Nice work!
Speaking of reverse reverb and My Bloody Valentine, the Digitech Digiverb has a very nice reverse setting. I found a used Digiverb at the Chicago Guitar Show a few weeks back and it has some great sounds.
Some of MBV's sounds were also coming from Kevin Shields' and Bilinda Butcher's alternate tunings. There was a great article in "Guitar World" back in the early '90s where he discussed some of those tunings--I can't remember what they were! However, suspended chords and 9ths sound very good with the distortion wash effect... |
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Gizzorge
Silver Member
USA
245 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2007 : 03:12:59
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Here is the Kevin Shields trick..........
Pick any two strings, and tune them the same..........(example B down to A...or the G up to A)
(he has said it himself!) |
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Right Foot Boss
Gold Member
USA
881 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2007 : 13:11:10
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I'm not totally confident about this but wouldn't The Flaming Lips be considered a shoegazing band?
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Leeroyfunk
Silver Member
United Kingdom
400 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2007 : 15:52:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Right Foot Boss
I'm not totally confident about this but wouldn't The Flaming Lips be considered a shoegazing band?
I'd say no - The term shoe-gazing supposedly refers to not only gazing downwards at the vast number of pedals at their disposal, but also to avoid looking directly at the audience (many of the original shoegazing bands had a distinctly "anti-popstar" attitude) - I'd say that Wayne Coyne is much too confident a frontman for the band to qualify as Shoegazers.... |
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Question for the "shoegazers"
