after years of not really listening to him, my bro has reacquainted me with the amazing el becko. i'm not terribly crazy about the fusion stuff (jan hammer's playing never did it for me w/ mahavishnu, either), but his playing on tracks like "the stumble" is just....jaw-dropping.
so, since i haven't any specific track names to recall, this may be a toughie, but....beck gets this weird "growl", particularly on his more recent stuff. my best guess is that he is letting the strings go slack with his whammy,hitting a harmonic, and bringing the bar back up to pitch.
i'll try to get some track names, and perhaps a location in the song(s) where he does it. for my money, he puts the guitarists of his generation to shame!
Posts: 610 | Location: brooklyn -where everyone is from Kantdriveistan | Registered: April 26, 2002
He's the only "guitar hero" I'll go out of my way to see, and I haven't missed a show since the There And Back tour. I've never seen him use more than two or three stomps. Last time he was in town, he had a wah between a couple of Marshalls, and the surf green beater strat. He got some comp and a bit of delay through the house mix, but that's about it. Aside from playing a tele for an encore, he played the green beater strat all night. He beat the crap out of that guitar, and seemed to make very few adjustments between tunes. Jeff sets the Marshalls with a lot of high end, but rolls most of the highs off at the strat and just keeps it in reserve. Fave studio toy is a ring modulator. I read a thing where Steve Lukather was talking about hearing Jeff play a strat through a small Fender, Champ or Princeton, don't remember which, in a hotel room. Steve was evidently astounded, because he said it sounded... well, exactly like Jeff Beck. But yeah, the "growl" has a lot to do with the bar creating some slack in the lower registers. People say it's "in the hands" - if so, I couldn't possibly cite a better example than Beck. Nobody makes me break out in a cold sweat quite like Jeff. He's been the bottom line in rock guitar playing for me for 30 years.
Posts: 3463 | Location: Atlanta, Ga | Registered: December 25, 2001
And what, my friend, is wrong with Beck? His last album, "Sea Change," is great! Very mellow, well-crafted songs... Opinion, yes, but still... I'd have a hard time believing anyone who said they had a problem with his most recent work... You should give some tracks a listen if you have the chance!
I've kept up on Beck since his first release, and just don't like him!! Everything about him repels me, from his stupid behavior at award shows to his music which bores the hell out of me. Especially the new stuff.
Now having said that, I don't think that makes him bad, just not for me. That's just my opinion, and you know what they say about those.
I for one care what "Beck" is doing alot more than Jeff Beck. Jeff Beck is an amazing guitar player, but Beck is an amazing songwriter. In the end it's songs that matter, not solos.
Posts: 1253 | Location: Canada | Registered: August 31, 2003
The last two posts were clearly from people who haven't listened much to Jeff Beck - or at least haven't heard then last 3 or 4 CD's.
Anyone who is familiar with Jeff Beck knows he isn't into solos. He creates soundscapes. He is the greatest living "rock" guitar player - period.
Saw him in Denver a few months ago as part of a BB King tour and he smoked! Still re-inventing himself and the rock guitar after almost 40 years in the business. When was the last time Page and Clapton did anything different? As much as I love them too, they're still basically doing the same old stuff.
He's playing a signature white strat these days with Hot Noiseless pickups and usually no pedals, except for maybe a wah. Any sound he gets is usually just the guitar, the amp and his hands. And he doesn't do solos (much)!
Posts: 1 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: December 22, 2003
I wouldn't mind checking out his new discs, I should give the guy a chance. I'm just not the biggest instrumental music fan in the world. Does he have a vocalist now? The only Jeff Beck album I have is "Blow by Blow" and its not exactly my cup although it has great moments...
If he doesn't solo much, good, I'm proud. But if you're a texture player pedals sure do come in handy.
Posts: 1253 | Location: Canada | Registered: August 31, 2003
quote:Originally posted by guysmy: But if you're a texture player pedals sure do come in handy.
Yeah but Jeff Beck doesn't need pedals, that's one hint of how far ahead of the curve the guy actually is. He can get some of the most beautiful, and some of the most pissed off, fucked up sounds you've ever heard, simply from a basically stock Strat and JCM 2000.
Actually his last three albums have been progressively better IMHO, and I find it really cool to see a 60-something dude not just rehashing old stuff but still pushing the envelope, just like he did back in the 60s.
So funky I can smell it!
Posts: 2460 | Location: ATL | Registered: March 16, 2002
[QUOTE]Originally posted by stratoplaster: so, since i haven't any specific track names to recall, this may be a toughie, but....beck gets this weird "growl", particularly on his more recent stuff. [QUOTE] I think the growl you're talking about is a 'flutter' effect he does with his whammy bar. If you have the vibrato set up where it is floating, adjusted to pull sharp and go flat, you can get that growl sound by quickly sliding your hand off of the end of the bar. This will cause it to depress slightly and then quickly release causing a rapid sharp/flat flutter. Last time I saw Beck he was doing it by keeping his right hand right on the back end of the bridge, and sliding his palm off quickly to get the growl. It is a cool sound and works best with a lighter spring setup. I think Beck uses 3 springs and has the bridge set where he has a lot of room to pull the bar sharp.
Posts: 127 | Location: Foley, AL | Registered: November 21, 2002
quote:Originally posted by robnieboer: The last two posts were clearly from people who haven't listened much to Jeff Beck - or at least haven't heard then last 3 or 4 CD's.
Anyone who is familiar with Jeff Beck knows he isn't into solos. He creates soundscapes. He is the greatest living "rock" guitar player - period.
Saw him in Denver a few months ago as part of a BB King tour and he smoked! Still re-inventing himself and the rock guitar after almost 40 years in the business. When was the last time Page and Clapton did anything different? As much as I love them too, they're still basically doing the same old stuff.
He's playing a signature white strat these days with Hot Noiseless pickups and usually no pedals, except for maybe a wah. Any sound he gets is usually just the guitar, the amp and his hands. And he doesn't do solos (much)!
I didn't say that Jeff Beck was only about solo's!! Just because you like his last 3 or 4 CD's doesn't mean that I have to!!!!!!!!
I realize he isnt everyone's cup of tea, but for my money there is no more vocal player, nor one that is in total command of his instrument...these are the qualities that allow him to slip in and out of so many different styles of music. Have you heard his rockabilly chops?? whoaaman!
He's always flown just to the outside of the mainstream for lots of players to appreciate him...and he can have a rather searing tone at times, but his unique phrasing, noise making (the growl and whammy harmonics), and command of international musical styles just is the right recipe for me. I mean, c'mon....he learned the scale to play over bulgarian traditional music...arabic styles....next step, mars.
Maybe I should check out Beck's newer stuff. I had Blow By Blow in the seventies and hated it. A guy that I was in the navy w/ had one of His tapes and it didn't do much for My either. Believe it or not the only thing I've heard him do that I like is His work on Rod Stewarts "Infatuation".
Posts: 2815 | Location: Nampa,Idaho | Registered: July 24, 2003
Jeff Beck has a new live CD out that is available online. It is from last year's tour with Tony Hymas and Terry Bozzio. Say what you want about his recent direction/material, but no one can do what that man does with the guitar. There is definitely some WTF guitar going on on this set. I got mine for $12.98 shipped. Highly recommended. Jeff Beck Live
Posts: 127 | Location: Foley, AL | Registered: November 21, 2002
Quote: Yeah but Jeff Beck doesn't need pedals, that's one hint of how far ahead of the curve the guy actually is. He can get some of the most beautiful, and some of the most pissed off, fucked up sounds you've ever heard, simply from a basically stock Strat and JCM 2000. End Quote:
Yes, he is so good that he can make phasor sounds, and both analog and digital delay sounds, as well as wah wah, envelope follower, ring modulator, and all of the other things that we losers use pedals for. That's why he doesn't need them. It's not because he has a pallette of sounds that begins clean and ends distorted, with varying degrees of overdrive in between.
So, once again, all you people who buy pedals and like them....
BE ASHAMED BECAUSE IT JUST MEANS YOU SUCK!
(For those of you who say stuff like, 'he's so great he doesn't need pedals!' the above is an example of a spoken or written communication technique called sarcasm.)
He gets alot of those sounds two different ways with the bar. First, the normal way. Second, he basically "vibratos" the whole bridge (which is set up floating) with his palm. So his right hand is picking with thumb and fingers, doing volume swells, going up and down with the bar, plus the rapid "vibrato" thing with the bridge. For you guys who havent seen or heard him in a while, I recommend 3 video clips from the 2001 Montreaux Jazz Fest:
A day in the life Brush with the Blues Loose Cannon
Go on to Kazaa-lite or whatever and download those, amazing to watch his right hand technique!
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