Twang

[heavy blueser]

So post clips of yourself or other people including adored twangcats like james burton etc where you hear that twang sound-the essence of country.

and if you already found your twang machine-let us know what it is and how you get your guitar to sound that oh so sweet kinda way.

[Big_dawg]

obviously not me but this is my favourite - not traditional twang, more modern twang... - I saw this about a month ago and have been trying to play it ever since...

YouTube - Pete Townshend-Magic Bus

YouTube - Pete Townshend-Magic Bus

[Iceman0124]

YouTube - Duane Eddy Rebel Rouser

YouTube - Duane Eddy Rebel Rouser

YouTube - Duane Eddy - Ghost Riders In The Sky

YouTube - Duane Eddy - Ghost Riders In The Sky

My twangers

You gotta work a little for full blown twang (finally found a use fro my amps bright switch!)...but she has the looks in spades, the gretsch buckers have a very unique tone, and a tone I wanted to keep so for pure twang I got "lil red" below "black Bettie"



Got a hell of deal on this baby, and she has loads of twang unplugged....and these dearmond 2000's ( slighlty tamer dynasonics, silimalr pups to what Mr. Eddy is using in the vids) are just awesome....super bright and punchy...but never shrill of ice picky, even with tone rolled all the way off it still has some twang. Gonna do a few cosmetic mods to her but thats about it.



My first twang machine.....wanted a gretsch 6120....couldnt afford it, and Gretschs budget offerings at the time were rather lacking....so I mutated an epi sorrento....lots of snarl and a super fast neck.



and finally the only solid (and boy is she solid...heaviest guit I've ever owned) body guitar that can hold my attention these days. She was meek at first till I put the vintage plate and 3 brass saddle bridge on her...minor disappointment turned no questions asked keeper with only one mod!

[heavy blueser]

hey iceman
nice guitars you got there

how is that electromatic
i also thought bout gettin me one-does it nail that setzer/szay cats raw rockabilly tone?

[Iceman0124]

The black one, (G5120) has a pretty unique voice stock, not really gretschy, but alltogether different, the bridge pup kinda blows, the neck pup is really nice, fat and round, and the mid position is the bees knees, on a nice clean setting with a bit of verb you can get strong piano like tones....hence my desire to not change them out. Throw in some TV jones classics (they drop right in with the english mount version) and it nails the setzer tone quite nicely. On a lot of the gretsch forums, most of the diehards say they would rather have an upgraded fender era (02-present) korean elctromatic 5120 than a baldwin era (67-81) 6120, pretty much the same construction, only higher quality parts and build quality.

The red one, G5129 (discontinued) has that classic 50's gretsch spank, the 5120 is basically a cost cut version of the 512X, smaller sounposts instead of one larger one, gretsch buckers instead of USA made Dearmond 2000's, tuneomatic bridge instead of a one piece bigsby rocker bridge, a bit flimsier bigsby, simpler binding etc....the fact that the 5120 is available in orange however pretty much sells itself. Both are great, and I'm much happier owning both than simply throwing some TV's in the 5120 ( didnt pay much more for the 5129 than a set of TV classics , quality harness and install would run) between both I can nail just about evey G inspired tone and a lot more.

[heavy blueser]

yeah i might do some modding i just dont know which pus would be best the humbuckers or that single coil ones

[heavy blueser]

i of course i meant that i dont know which would be better the humbucking tv jones or the dearmonds both sound really good.
brian setzer , to my knowledge, uses both.....

[Iceman0124]

As stated the stock gretshbuckers have their own unique tone, and IMO sound best squaeky clean, the dearmond 2000's sound great clean or dirty, and offer a much wider variety of usable tones.

On my 5120 to get a good convinvcing classic biting rockabilly tone I have to use the bright boost on my amp, with the 29 I have a vast pallate of tones with the guitars controls, the neck pup on the 5129 with the tone halfway has a good bit more bite than the bridge pup on the 5120 with the tone dimed.

I'm really glad I opted for the b-stock 5129 over upgrading the pups in the 5120, right now I'm really happy using the 5120 for moody fingerstyle jazz type stuff....and the 29 for just about everything else. If i could only have one....the G512x wins over the 5120 hands down.

There are still some good Bstock buys on fleabay for B stock 512x's, MF still has the black ones available burt they are almost a grand after the price hike, I got mine on ebay for a little over $400 shipped. Fit and finish are far from perfect, but its all cosmetic and its still a beauty from 3 feet away, tone and playability are better than I could have hoped for.

[Iceman0124]

You Tube

You Tube

YouTube - Chet Atkins "Orange Blossom Special"

YouTube - Chet Atkins "Orange Blossom Special"

[Belzeebub]

I've always wondered what makes the twang sound. Is it the pups? the guitar's body/woods? Is it the bridge?

[Skynyrdpicker]

Originally Posted by Belzeebub

I've always wondered what makes the twang sound. Is it the pups? the guitar's body/woods? Is it the bridge?

On a Tele, I would put a lot of it on the big steel bridge. But a lot of it is in the fingers, or the way you play.

[Iceman0124]

Combination of all, a real twangy guitar though sounds twangy unplugged, my 5120 doesnt have a natural twang, its deep and mellow, natural jazz tone, but my Tele after the mods, and my 5129 (lil red) have it in spades. The epi has a nice natural rock tone, after adding the old bigsby, it almost soundss slightly overdrivven unplugged.

[yllsacky]

Originally Posted by Iceman0124

YouTube - Chet Atkins - Yakety Axe

YouTube - Chet Atkins "Orange Blossom Special"

gothhh dmt! in the 2nd one hes tapping!

[Big_dawg]

Originally Posted by Belzeebub

I've always wondered what makes the twang sound. Is it the pups? the guitar's body/woods? Is it the bridge?

this does...

[Big_dawg]

ok I know thats not what you meant - according to the guys over at TDPRI the bridge is the main culprit...

[Iceman0124]

Originally Posted by Big_dawg

ok I know thats not what you meant - according to the guys over at TDPRI the bridge is the main culprit...

For teles I agree..When i swapped my modern 6 saddle bridge for a vintage plate and 3 brass saddles...the change in tone was beyond remarkable.That said, other guitars can have just as much if not more "twang" than a tele. Duane Eddy is known as "the man with a twangy guitar"...he mainly uses(ed) gretsch, gulid and gibson guitars throughout his carreer, the only constant of those was the dearmond dynasonic pickups (Duncun copies in the gibsons)...that said, Chet Atkins, who I believe has cranked out some serious "twang" hated the dynasonics...stating the magnets were too strong and sucked all the tone out of the guitar, and D E was the only person who could get a good sound out of them.

[coldsteal2]

Originally Posted by Big_dawg

obviously not me but this is my favourite - not traditional twang, more modern twang... - I saw this about a month ago and have been trying to play it ever since...

YouTube - Pete Townshend-Magic Bus

Man that is Twangy!

[heavy blueser]

as an answer/reply to previous posts:
the bridge definitely is an integral part of that sound though i also heard 6 saddle teles that had that sound goin on


i heard bout the squier classic vibe tele to be an outright twang monster-might look one up in the shop

[Iceman0124]

YouTube - the hellecasters orange blossom

YouTube - the hellecasters orange blossom

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube