Gear Demo

[Tom Wright]

I am enjoying my new distortion pedal, a "King of Tone" from AnalogMan. It is a double pedal, so I can have "clean" on one side, overdriven on the other, and full shred with both sides running. Also, I am enjoying the little cabinet I made using a small high-power speaker. Here a couple of clips, "Street Fighting Man" to use the "clean" side of the pedal, and Jimi's "Red House" using the fat overdrive tone. Both are played on my Ryder through a Crate PowerBlock head into my 6.5" speaker and miked.

In "Street Fighting Man" I begin without the pedal, playing clean to emulate Keith Richard's acoustic guitar, then I turn on the pedal to sound more electric. Settings are pedal drive at 7, volume at 4, tone up. Mando bridge pickup at about 7 on its volume knob, treble mostly up. Mike (SM-58 Beta) is slightly off-axis. (If you have trouble streaming, ctrl-click for PC or option-click for Mac to download.)

http://www.twtunes.com/pages/StreetFightingMan.mp3

For "Red House" I use the other side of the pedal, set for distortion with extra boost, drive all the way up, volume medium, and pedal tone control rolled off somewhat. Mando neck pickup volume at 6, tone at 5.

http://www.twtunes.com/pages/RedHouse.mp3

[Tom Wright]

A few more examples of classic rock. Using the "clean" side of my King of Tone pedal, Jimi Hendrix' "Wait 'Til Tomorrow" and "The Wind Cries Mary". The first one is both pickups, volume at 7, tone up at 10, the second is neck pickup, volume at 10, tone 10.

http://www.twtunes.com/pages/WaitTilTomorrow.mp3
http://www.twtunes.com/pages/WindCriesMary.mp3

A couple with plenty of metal. "Sunshine of Your Love" for power-chord effect, neck pickup at 8, tone at 8. "Whole Lotta Love" is neck pickup, volume at 7, tone at 5. (For this one I play in F so I can have the low C.)

http://www.twtunes.com/pages/SunshineOfYourLove.mp3
http://www.twtunes.com/pages/WholeLottaLove.mp3

As before, Crate head, Eminence 6.5" speaker miked off-axis with Shure Beta 58. All solid state, no tubes.

[Ed Goist]

Tom, Top shelf all the way!
I particularly like your Hendrix renditions, but everything here is outstanding.
I'm hearing a wonderful, subtle reverb throughout, but especially on the first two clips. Is it an amp effect, or just the room?
Oh, and that slow, driving, precise groove on Sunshine of Your Love is as powerful as I have ever heard an e-mando sound.
Great stuff. Thanks so much for posting.

[Tom Wright]

Thanks, Ed. These are fun.

I added reverb with my editing software, SoundForge. The echo is a Boss DD-3 delay pedal.

[Chinn]

Very nice Tom. Nice to hear someone who does not play a mando with any mando pretensions!

[Tom Wright]

Thanks. I chose the pickup layout on my Ryder to sound like a Strat, I am not really a fan of "true" mandolin sound. I actually prefer guitar but am more comfortable with mandolin tuning and scale. I also prefer the sustain of flattops, whether guitar or mandolin, and the low string height of a Fender electric or a Martin acoustic over the rise of an archtop or Les Paul style electric. The Ryder is low like a Fender and has a bolt-on maple neck, but the body materials are like a Les Paul, mahogany body with maple overlay.