Menu

blog

Repair Stories Songbirds

Silly Tales from the Bench: Volume 1

, , , , ,

Happy December, and Happy impending Holidays! This post is a bit unusual, and it kicks off an annual tradition of sharing interesting, crazy, and silly repair stories about fixes that have happened over the past year. Since this is our first one, I’m throwing in some classic repair stories of Songbirds legend. Going forward, I’ll just mention tales that have happened over the past year. We really enjoy instrument repair around here, but most clients don’t see “behind the curtain” – here’s a peak at some of the silly stuff that goes on! So, grab a cup of hot cocoa, a nice blanket, and let’s have some laughs!

Shameless Plug: Just a reminder that Songbirds does instrument and gear repairs on site! We fix combo instruments (guitars, amps, pedals, speakers, etc.) as well as band and orchestra instruments! Contact us and check out our Repair Page for more information!

Disclaimer: If any of the mentioned repair stories sound familiar, no worries! We aren’t poking fun, and crazy things happen to everyone! If you provided one of these silly incidents, thank you, and we’re glad to have helped with the fix!

 

Aw, Rats!

I complete a decent amount of acoustic piano tunings throughout the year, and I’ve got a few silly repair stories to go with them! A lot of clients get pianos as gifts, heirlooms, or for free on local marketplaces. Of course, this means that the origin and history of the instrument may be a bit nebulous. One time, I was at a lovely home with a lovely family. They had just found a free piano on the street and had spent a lot of time refinishing it. Goodbye 1970s chipped lacquer, hello gorgeous white wash! I was nearly completed with the tuning when I dropped one of my tuning mutes down inside the instrument. This is pretty common – I’m clumsy. The mute fell behind the action and ended up in the bottom of the piano. I popped off the bottom panel to retrieve my mute, but I was surprised to find a big rat’s nest at the bottom! Someone had a lovely and warm home, complete with ambient music from the keys. The client had no idea and was horrified, but I’m sure that they got it all cleaned out. You wouldn’t believe how many rat nests I’ve seen on the job…

 

It’s Electric!

Here’s a story that implicates yours truly. The first thing that every tech learns about electronic repair is that tube amps are incredibly dangerous. They carry higher-than-normal voltage that can seriously hurt and kill you. We are lectured and warned time and time again to be careful and avoid accidents. It only takes one shock to kill.

Well, we are human after all. I had a tube amp on my bench and was checking the voltages at the tube pins with a multimeter. I forget why, but somehow a metal piece of debris shifted inside the chassis and rested against one of the pins. I unplugged the amp, but I completely blanked on the rest of the normal safety protocol. Friends, removing a piece of metal debris with a metal screwdriver is not the best idea. Even though the amp was unplugged, I got a nasty shock and a huge dose of adrenaline.

That was the end of my repairs for that day. I’ve been extraordinarily careful since then, but I’ll never forget the horrible feeling that I could have been found on the shop floor…

 

Who You Gonna Call?

Electronic repairs are funny. If there’s an issue with the circuit, usually nothing works. It’s either fully functional or not at all. Some rare times, you get a partially-working circuit that behaves like it shouldn’t. Haunted electronics, I say!

Very recently, I had a dead circuit that wasn’t doing anything at all. I plugged in my audio probe and oscilloscope. After carefully tracing the entire audio path, I powered on the circuit again only to have it work completely. To clarify, I didn’t do anything that warranted a fix. It just… magically worked.

I’d be lying if I said that this was the first time something like this happened. Sometimes, the electric ghosts are on your side.

 

Money!

I do a lot of “house calls” for local schools and their band programs. Recently, I had a bunch of keyboards to fix at a piano lab classroom, and many of them had annoying clicking and sticking keys. These repairs are usually simple as those symptoms indicate mechanical issues like foreign objects. Well, let me tell you, I got a big pay day! There must have been a coin-collecting hooligan at the school, because every single keyboard had multiple quarters shoved beneath the keybed. One was even from the 1970s and may be worth something, so that’s cool! Money sabotage!

 

GOOOOOAAAL!

At another acoustic piano tuning, things were going as well as could be expected. The instrument was old and needed to be put out to pasture, but I was having success in getting it close to where it needed to be in regards to tuning. When I was about halfway through, the client approached and asked if it would be a problem if they “put the game on” while I finished the tuning. The television was in the same (small) room, but when faced with an awkward situation like this, you can’t really say no to the homeowner. I agreed and tried to hurry with the rest of the tuning, except…

The family was from a country in South America, and their team was playing in the game. That game was the FIFA World Cup. All of a sudden, a ton of new guests were in the living room and the noise was deafening. TV volume: up. Shouting: up. Tuning ability: dismal.

 

Magic Smoke!

We have a silly joke in the repair business, and it goes something like this: there is magic smoke hiding inside every electronic device. If you let the magic smoke out, the device stops working.

I had a PA speaker repair on my bench, and after checking the fuse and the mechanical connections, I powered it on. The client had said that it wasn’t working at all, and in “dead” cases like this, there usually isn’t a lot of danger in powering it up to get some test voltages. I flipped the switch, and immediately thick white smoke billowed out of the speaker from the grill, from behind the back panel, from everywhere! I have a propensity for gallows humor, and let me tell you, the smell in the building reeked of chemicals and cancer.

It turns out that the full wave rectifier had completely failed. AC voltage was running through the entire circuit and fried everything!

 

Not Rats… Cats!

Of all the repair stories, this one takes the cake. Unfortunately, I’ve had this one happen twice. The more memorable situation went something like this:

We got a call from our affiliate warehouse that there was an issue with a keyboard that was just dropped off. The guys there had stored the keyboard upright, and when they moved it to put it on the truck and get it to our shop, they were horrified to find that the keyboard “was leaking”.

Excuse me, what? Keyboards don’t have any fluid inside of them, and if they do, that’s usually a death sentence. That’s all the information that we got until the instrument arrived at my bench.

Guys. That was cat urine. I took the keyboard to a neighboring room, closed the door, put on a mask and heavy-duty gloves, and got in there. I think that I burned an entire roll of paper towels. I used diluted bleach. Rubbing alcohol. Febreeze. Air fresheners. Dawn dish soap. One of our admins came into the room to ask a question, not knowing what was going on, and immediately asked why it smelled like her cat’s litterbox.

The keyboard still smells. It’s in storage and is in need of new PCBs that have not been used as a bathroom. Maybe some day I’ll be able to resurrect it, but until then, I’m staying far away!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for our next post to the Songbirds Knowledge Blog! Happy Holidays, and may your gear never break (but if it does, let us know and we’ll fix it for you)! Our next volume of repair stories will be out around this time next year.

Songbirds Harpsichord

Harpsichord Hands-On Evaluation

, , , , ,

The average person has probably heard mention of the harpsichord through shows, movies, and that general music class from elementary school. However, they’re incredibly rare to see and hear in the wild! I recently had the opportunity to tune and play a local harpsichord, and I thought that this would be a great opportunity to write about this historic piece of musical innovation and how it compares to the modern piano.

 

What Is It?

The harpsichord is the predecessor to the piano. It was first invented in the 1400s, or the late Middle Ages. It looks similar to a piano because it has a long, elongated wooden case that is elevated on legs, many metal strings that run the length of the case, and at least one row of keys that look similar to modern piano keys. Also like a piano, the lid can be propped open to allow maximum sound projection while performing. While it traditionally had a different tuning system than a modern piano, it can commonly be tuned and played in equal temperament tuning, meaning that all of the keys sound just like a piano.

 

Under the Hood:

There are a couple of key differences (ba dum tss) between a piano and a harpsichord which we’ll discuss in a bit, but the biggest variance is the way that the sound is produced. With a piano, a wooden hammer that is wrapped in felt strikes a group of strings when the adjoining key is pressed. The hammer strikes with higher or lower velocity, or strength, directly depending on how hard the key is struck.

In the case of the harpsichord, a tiny plectrum, or pick, produces the sound. Much like a guitar pick, these plectrums were traditionally made of quill but are usually plastic today. Pressing a key on the harpsichord moves the plectrum against and past the correlating string, which results in a plucked guitar-like tone. A massive difference here is that changing how hard you press the key has no resulting effect on how loud or soft the produced sound is. No matter what, the harpsichord has a continual and constant volume without variance.

 

Speaking of Volume:

I was shocked at how quiet the harpsichord is. It’s notoriously low in volume, but the real sound in the room was still surprising. I’m not sure how people at court in the Middle Ages heard the harpsichord, especially considering that it was often played with stringed instruments and singers. Just imagine if someone coughed or sneezed – you’d miss everything! Most of this volume loss is because the instrument has difficulty with resonation. A modern piano has multiple strings per (most) notes that are tuned to the exact same pitch. For most of the range, the piano has three metal strings per key. The piano also has the strings pulled across a heavy metal harp, or soundboard. This combination greatly improves the resonance and can result in thunderous projection that can easily fill a recital hall or stage.

The harpsichord struggles with volume on both of these fronts. The plectrums attack the strings gently, which honestly is good because they are fragile and getting in there to replace them is frustrating. This produces a low volume output at the start, but in addition, each note is only produced by a single string tuned to the correct pitch. The final nail in the coffin is that the remainder of the instrument’s soundboard is made of wood, a dampening, soft method of projection that can’t hold a candle to the modern piano.

I’d be remiss in mentioning that the harpsichord commonly does not have any pedals. There is no ability to sustain notes which also results in decreased volume and overtones.

 

Quirky Bonuses:

It’s not all doom and gloom for the harpsichord, though. It does produce a completely unique and pleasant sound. It also comes in several variations. The instrument that I got to tune has two separate rows of keys much like an organ. It also has three manual levers that can be adjusted while playing to change how the harpsichord sounds. For example, a small lever in the center of the front panel can make the bottom keybed sound muted. The resulting tone is fun and is similar to pizzicato strings or palm-muted guitars.

The remaining two levers add or remove additional octaves. Each note of the harpsichord has an adjacent string that is tuned either an octave higher or lower than its neighbor. When the correct lever is activated, a single note resonates with the fundamental pitch and the corresponding higher (or lower) octave! This is pretty cool, and it definitely produces the quintessential harpsichord sound.

 

Speaking of Octaves:

The particular instrument that I tuned really struggled with staying in tune in the higher registers. I’m sure that this isn’t the case for every harpsichord, but it was challenging and frustrating to coax it to pitch. The tuning pegs on a harpsichord are much smaller and less sturdy than on a piano, meaning that they like to be sneaky and move on you when you’re not looking. I’d expect that musicians who own harpsichords are used to frequent (if not constant) upkeep and tinkering to help it sound its best.

 

Overall Review:

Just like in the case of an organ, it is apparent that a harpsichord is not a piano. Sure, pianists can make pretty sounds on it, but properly playing and learning the instrument requires different technique and know-how. The keys on the harpsichord are notably smaller than on a piano, and I found myself stumbling over simple melodies and chords because my hands were used to the proper piano key spacing. I’m glad and grateful that I got to tune it and play with it, but I can’t overstate how much I would never want to own one (that is, unless I had ludicrous personal wealth, extra time, and space). It’s an incredible piece of history, but the tinkering and upkeep required (not to mention the sizeable footprint that it occupies) makes it a hard pass for me.

Sounds like a perfect time to dust off those harpsichord plugins and emulations on your favorite digital keyboard, MIDI instrument, or digital workstation. At least those ones don’t go out of tune or break quills!

I hope that you learned something interesting about the mighty harpsichord, and stay tuned for more installations of the Songbirds Blog! In the meantime, enjoy rocking out to Vivaldi, Bach, and all those other great composers who composed for the ancestral piano back in the day.

Songbirds Electric Pianos

Electric Pianos: A Forgotten World

, , , , ,

There’s a fascinating and awesome world of electric pianos that often gets overlooked in music. No, I’m not talking about electric keyboards like the ones that you can purchase at Songbirds or other stores. I’m talking about bonafide analog electric pianos from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. These incredible instruments occupied that special space where musical innovation blossomed out of necessity – technology wasn’t advanced enough yet, but music couldn’t wait. I’ve recently fallen back in love with my vintage keyboard sounds, and I’ve become increasingly aware of how many of my favorite records, both new and old, use these sounds heavily. If you’re a composer, it’s a great idea to experiment with these tones. And, if you’re a music nerd, read on and learn a bit about this hidden realm of music history!

 

The Reason for Innovation:

In the 1960s, rock and roll was taking off. Big bands, swing bands, jazz, and Hawaiian shows were starting to take a back seat, and there was a brand new need for portable piano sounds for rock shows. If you’ve ever tried to move an acoustic piano, you know that they are extremely heavy. They require multiple adults to lift, plus ramps, dollies, and lots of tylenol for that inevitable back pain. What’s more, acoustic pianos need frequent tuning and upkeep, especially after being moved. If you’re planning on throwing an acoustic piano in the back of a truck every night after a show, you’d better have a piano tuner and technician on board. It boggles my mind that, in his book, one of my favorite modern pianists and composers, Ben Folds, admits to starting his career by doing just that – lugging a real piano to all of his gigs.

Another challenge of acoustic pianos in loud rock shows is that they are notoriously difficult to mic. The piano has the widest range of any common instrument, so the sound technician has to adequately capture all of it. The piano also produces and ‘sprays’ sound in all directions – it’s not like an acoustic guitar with an obvious sound hole in the front. Combine these challenges with a loud noise floor on the stage and antiquated sound technology (remember, the Beatles played their first stadium shows with just a few amps!), and the acoustic piano was a dreadful nightmare for audio engineers.

 

Hit the Rhode

Invented after World War II by Harold Rhodes, the Rhodes electric piano is still considered the king of the niche. Often called a “suitcase piano” for its portability and rough, road-worthy Tolex covering, the Rhodes acts like a combination of an electric guitar and an acoustic piano. When a key is played, a hammer strikes a thin metal rod called a tine. This tine is connected to a larger piece of metal (called a “tone bar”) which vibrates at the correct pitch. This vibration is picked up (pun intended) by an electric pickup just like on a guitar. This allows the instrument to be plugged into an amplifier and negates the need for microphones. What’s more, most models included an onboard preamp and some rudimentary effects like tremolo, EQ, and even a patch bay for use with other outboard effects.

Rhodes produced a smaller bass version as well as full piano models that had 73 or 88 keys. Much like with their acquisition of the Leslie rotating speaker, Fender produced the Rhodes piano as an already-completed product with the Fender name slapped on. When someone speaks about a vintage electric piano sound, the Rhodes is likely what comes to mind.

 

Wurlitzer

Invented by Benjamin Miessner and first introduced in 1954, the Wurlitzer electric piano is the sister instrument to the Rhodes. It uses a real piano action and hammers to strike a metal reed. This causes vibration which is then “heard” by an electrostatic pickup, a different technology than the more traditional coil pickup found in the Rhodes. Most Wurlitzers are smaller with only 64 notes, and they currently are more expensive and harder to find on the used market than the Rhodes. While both brands sound similar, the Wurlitzer has a distinctive “bark” that cuts through a mix more sharply. If examined under an oscilloscope, the sound of the Rhodes resembles more of a natural sine wave while the Wurlitzer looks more like a saw wave. This is a more abrasive sound, and today, saw waves are commonly found in synth leads and bit-crushed synth guitar effects.

 

Yamaha CP-70 and CP-80

The Yamaha CP-70 and CP-80 stand out as notably different from the style of the Rhodes and Wurlitzer. Boasting 73 and 88 key models respectively, the Yamaha CPs are about the size of a modern miniature baby grand piano. They use the same piano action as a Yamaha full grand piano, but the strings and harp assembly are much shorter and smaller. Real hammers and felts strike real strings just like on an acoustic piano, but the full instrument is wired with piezo pickups. This allows it to be plugged into an amp or a PA, plus most models include rudimentary onboard effects and a patch bay. Unlike the Rhodes and Wurlitzer, the Yamaha CPs sound just like a regular acoustic piano, but amplified. Sure, you can get wild and creative by adding outboard effects, but this instrument does not sound like an electric piano, rather an amplified piano. This instrument is the most piano-like model in this category, and has been heard on countless piano-centric albums made by Billy Joel, Journey, Genesis, Elton John, and more.

Songbirds has a Yamaha CP-70! Let us know if you’re interested in seeing it or purchasing it for your own studio.

 

Clavinet

Featured prominently on albums by Stevie Wonder, the Clavinet has a unique and distinct sound unlike the other listed instruments. The clavinet was invented by Ernst Zacharias in Germany around 1964. Produced by the famous Hohner company, most Clavinets have 60 keys and are most at home in reggae, rock, and pop. The Clavinet sound is produced by small rubber mallets that are struck against metal strings. This sound is transferred to a series of traditional pickups like in an electric guitar or the Fender Rhodes electric piano. Each string is further dampened by yarn, preventing the string to vibrate in excess and ring out. The sound of the Clavinet is distinctly sharp, “barking” and the most in-your-face of all the instruments in the electric piano family. Just listen to the opening riff of “Superstition”, and you’ll immediately know the classic Clavinet tone!

 

Honorable Mentions:

Rock and roll wouldn’t be the same without the Hammond B3 organ. This instrument doesn’t quite fall under the same category as the rest, and I’m sure I’ll write a dedicated post all about Hammonds in the near future. In the meantime, check it out and get used to the awesome, swirling sound of the B3!

Another honorable mention includes one of the first commercially available digital synthesizers, the Yamaha Dx7. This one is historically important because it fits into the category of vintage piano sounds. The tones and modeling that it attempted sound nothing like the real instruments that it is emulating, and that’s exactly why it has solidified its place in the electric piano hall of fame. It sounds bad, and that’s the charm.

 

Practicality for Today:

If you’re like me, you may have played a bunch of different electric and digital keyboards that include “electric piano” patches. Or, perhaps you’ve experimented with plugins and effects on your computer or digital audio workstation. The problem here is that many (dare I say, most) of these patches don’t sound very good. They also usually aren’t specifically labeled, so you commonly end up with some cheesy, outdated tones that sound like they belong in a K-Mart advertisement rather than your newest hit song. Most manufacturers focus on the actual piano sounds and leave the electric piano patches as an afterthought.

So, what do you do if you’re hunting a real Rhodes sound, for example? You can look at the used markets – they’re not super uncommon yet, but they are steadily rising in price. I’d be wary of buying a real vintage one unless you have the studio space for it. Any of the above discussed instruments are amazing, but they all do require upkeep, and I wouldn’t feel confident dragging them to gigs. This is one example where modern technology has done a really, really good job at copying the tones if you know where to look.

My personal favorite option is the Korg SV-1 or SV-2. I’m biased as this is the keyboard that I gig with and have in my studio. It’s my baby. I love this option because Korg set out with the goal of specifically capturing the electric piano sound. The other patches on the keyboard, like acoustic pianos and strings, punch well above their weight class and will get you through a demanding multi-genre cover gig. However, Korg really nailed the Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and Clavinet sounds. When you power on an electric keyboard, the first patch that auto-loads is usually an acoustic piano. Not the case here – Korg proudly presents the Fender Rhodes front and center.

The flagship electric keyboard brand has been Nord, pretty much forever. The sight of a sleek red chassis on stage inspires awe and envy for those in the know. Nord is expensive, but their emulations and patches can’t be beat. There’s heated debate about which is better between a Korg and a Nord for the electric piano sounds, and the general consensus is that Korg beats Nord if you are just looking for Rhodes and Wurlitzer patches, but Nord has more versatility and edges out the competition for other sounds. For example, I admit that the organ sounds on the Korg are lackluster, and most players prefer the Nord in this department.

I’ll also shout out Yamaha for their work in emulating electric piano tones. While their patches may not be as accurate as Korg and Nord, many players opt for a flagship Yamaha like the CP-88 for their all-around excellence. (Note: the CP-88 mentioned here is a modern digital keyboard, not the vintage analog electrified piano. Confusing, I know.) Much like Fender and Gibson fans in the guitar world, Yamaha has a healthy cult following in the keyboard universe. From their lovely, reliable keybed and action to their utilitarian tones and versatility, you can’t go wrong. Many players who need a lot of diverse sounds at a gig or in the studio grab a flagship Yamaha before upgrading later to a Nord.

 

It’s Electric!

I hope that this post has inspired you to dive into the beautiful and hidden world of electric pianos. If you listen closely, you’ll start hearing Rhodes and Wurlitzers everywhere! Let us know if you have any questions, and we’ll see you for our next blog post!

Songbirds Electric Pianos
Songbirds Magnatone Vibrato

Magnatone Vibrato: How It Works

, , , , , , ,

In the 1960s there were plenty of amplifier manufacturers that were clamoring to compete with giants like Leo Fender. Of course, competition breeds creativity, and many companies struggled to find their niche. Silvertone, for example, secured their place as the “budget-friendly” Fender competitor and monopolized the mail-order catalog. Ampeg cornered the bass amplifier market. Vox and Marshall voiced their circuits in a distinctly different way that produced the “British sound.”

Enter, Magnatone. Known for their clean, but not as sparkly as Fender, tones and their stiffer, less-responsive overdrive, there wasn’t a wide-open field for their company to shine. Sure, the Magnatone sound is different and excellent in its own way, but it wasn’t spectacular enough to dethrone the Fender royalty. Except for one special thing; one secret and proprietary effect that would cement Magnatone in the halls of amplifier history: true vibrato.

*Magnatone ended its run in the mid 1970s, but there has been a modern revival. If you are enamored with the sound, you can purchase a brand new reissue of one of the classic circuits. Or, you can always try your luck at finding a vintage one that’s hoping for resurrection. Most fans now lovingly refer to them as “Maggies”.

 

Vibrato versus Tremolo:

Let’s clear up a confusing detail right away: the difference between tremolo and vibrato. Many vintage and modern amps include onboard effects like reverb. The most common and ancient effect is tremolo. This is a post-amplification effect that modulates, or changes, the instrument signal by rapidly changing the volume. Commonly, you can alter the intensity of the tremolo, or its depth, as well as the speed at which the volume change happens. This allows the player to layer on a slow, rhythmic pulse all the way to a fast, trembling warble. Remember: tremolo is a manipulation of output volume.

Vibrato is a change in pitch. Say, for example, someone sings the musical note “C”. Vibrato happens naturally in healthy singing, and if you were to look at a recording of that singer, you’d see an audio wave that subtly fluctuates around the note “C” by going slightly sharp, then flat, then sharp, then flat, etc. Vibrato sounds organic and is commonly heard in the human voice, orchestral strings like the violin, and even guitars and fretted instruments on longer notes.

In the 1960s world of amplifiers, it was pretty simple to create tremolo, a fluctuation in volume, but extremely difficult to create vibrato, a fluctuation in pitch.

The difference between tremolo and vibrato is easily confused, but it’s further convoluted by the fact that Fender called their effect “vibrato” on many of their amps (and still do!) when in reality, the effect that they were producing and manipulating is tremolo, a fluctuation in volume, not pitch.

 

Hold Up:

You may be wondering if the difference between tremolo and vibrato is noticeable, or if it even matters. Yes, it is noticeable, and yes, it matters! The two effects are closely related, but they do have distinctly different sounds. Check out this video from one of my favorite technicians of all time, Uncle Doug. Around the 18:30 mark, you can hear a side-by-side comparison of tremolo and vibrato… plus, he’s using a vintage Magnatone amp!

As you’ve probably surmised, Magnatone figured out a way to create real vibrato in their amplifiers. They coined their effect “true vibrato”, and kept the circuit a secret. That didn’t work for long, though, as amp technicians were able to get their hands on the Magnatone true vibrato, trace the circuit, and see how it works under the hood. Speaking of…

 

How Magnatone Vibrato Works:

Traditional tube tremolo (like the kind found in Fender amps) is pretty straightforward: take a tube that can function as an oscillator, then have it throttle the audio signal before it gets to the output section of the amp. It can also be done by oscillating the signal at the phase inverter, which is technical nerd jargon for “you can have the audio signal cancel itself in rhythm to create the effect”.

Magnatone true vibrato uses a rare and super special component called a varistor. A varistor is a type of semiconductor that is kind of like a common resistor. Instead of being one permanent value, however, the varistor can change its electrical resistance based on how much voltage is applied to it. They are most commonly found in surge protection, so think of it this way: if current is flowing normally through a circuit, the varistor will have very little resistance. If a voltage spike happens and the circuit starts to overload, the varistor will “see” this irregularity and will quickly increase its resistance until the spike has been resolved. This helps protect the rest of the components.

Now, this isn’t helpful for audio. Magnatone realized that a partner circuit had to be employed to make the varistors shine. This is an LFO, which stands for a “Low Frequency Oscillator”.

LFOs are incredibly common with audio. Most modulation guitar pedals, synthesizers, and keyboards use them. They simply generate an audio wave that is too low for human hearing. Then, this wave can be controlled like a common amp tremolo circuit by manipulating the intensity and the rate. Most importantly, other audio signals, effects, or controls can be attached to the LFO and “ride” it to create interesting and novel sounds.

 

So, in combination, the magic and mystery of Magnatone true vibrato is this:

Instrument audio signal enters an amplification tube. At the same time, an LFO signal is being injected into the same tube. This LFO is strong enough to rhythmically vary the voltage at the tube, meaning that the output signal of the tube also varies accordingly. The tube has a separate varistor attached to both the positive and negative outputs, so the out-of-phase audio signal (which has been juiced with the below-human-hearing varying signal) gets squeezed and “corrected” by each varistor. When the two out-of-phase signals are combined at another amplification tube, the summed sound is the smooth, musical vibrato that we love. If you’d like to see an explanation using a schematic, check out this video at the 34:05 mark.

 

The Maggie, the Myth, the Legend:

Much to the despair of amp technicians back in the day, Magnatone was one huge step ahead: they kept the values, construction, and technical details of the varistor close to their chest. The actual component doesn’t have any markings on it, and attempts to recreate it have been futile. That is, until the Maggie revival in the 2010s. The current company that produces these amps spent a ton of time, research, and development in reproducing the varistors, and while their construction is still a secret, it’s refreshing to know that the knowledge of how to make them hasn’t been lost to time.

 

Is It Worth It?

To me, a vintage nerd, technician, and enthusiast, yes. Yes, the Magnatone true vibrato is a completely unique sound unlike any other, especially in comparison to traditional tremolo. It’s a subtle, musical, and organic sound that sits with the music. Tremolo interrupts the music more – it sounds choppier and more abrasive once you’ve tasted the sweetness of vibrato.

That being said, the Magnatone sound is a sum of its parts. An all-tube ensemble, vintage (often sub-par quality speakers), and the ability to jumper channels on the amp give the vibrato a charming grittiness, warmth, and mojo.

If you’re looking for just the sound of the vibrato and don’t need the full amplifier, there are some great modern pedals that try to faithfully emulate the Magnatone vibrato sound. Check out the Equilibrium by Alexander Pedals, Magnavibe by Bigfoot FX, SurfyVibe, and Killer V by Crazy Tube Circuits.

 

Wrapping Up the Vibes:

Thanks for learning about this unique and magical circuit from the 1960s! Keep in mind that not all Magnatone amps have the true vibrato circuit under the hood, but models that do can still be found in the wild. Keep an eye open for vintage ones at places like the Orlando Guitar Expo, and there’s always Reverb. Stay tuned for more interesting and nerdy offerings, and contact us if you have any questions!

Songbirds Magnatone Vibrato
Songbirds All About Analog Reverb

All About Analog Reverb

, , , , , , ,

Before our modern era of digital technology, pioneering musicians and inventors had to figure out how to create complex effects like reverb in an all-analog environment. This caused a lot of difficulty, in particular with reverb, as it is a natural acoustic phenomenon that is hard to capture in a compact and easily portable way! In this blog, I’ll go over the basics of how analog reverb works, give some examples of units that were produced, and discuss why non-digital reverb may be worth exploring.

 

What’s Reverb, Anyway?

Let’s pretend that you clap your hands once in an empty room. That sound will emanate out in all directions before bouncing off the walls. The reflected sound that returns to your ears will first appear as echo, or delay, (in a particularly hard-surfaced room) before quickly washing out into the sum of many reflections. This ambient noise is called reverb. It’s the sound of the room and the resulting responsiveness of the space.

Obviously, you can’t take a huge empty room with you on tour, and different venues have a lot of variance. That’s why audio engineers had to figure out how to recreate the sound of reverb for portable use!

 

How Does Analog Reverb Work?

When you play an electric guitar, bass guitar, or other amplified instrument, the acoustic signal is transformed into an electrical signal by the instrument’s pickup. This most commonly happens by manipulating a magnetic field. The steel strings vibrate close to magnets that have been wrapped in a conductive coil, and that disturbance creates a tiny electrical signal. An amplifier takes that signal and makes it many, many factors louder in order to move a speaker and knock the walls down at a concert.

Analog reverb uses this same concept but in reverse. If you take that amplified signal, increase it some more, and send it through metal springs, the resulting sound has reverb. But how? At the end of each spring, there is a small component called a transducer. The incoming electrical signal is strong enough to create a mechanical disturbance, or vibration, effectively transforming the electrical signal back into an acoustic wave. This wave is transferred to and through the springs where another transducer converts the bouncy, wiggly acoustic signal back into an electrical signal. This vibration that has occurred through the length of the spring causes the reverb effect that we all know and love. At the output point, the signal is sent through more amplification stages before driving the speaker.

 

Why So Much Boosting?

Astute readers will notice that we’ve amplified the instrument signal a lot, and many times. This is because all of that signal transfer through springs and conversion is really, really inefficient. Signal loss is problematic with all types of analog reverb, so we have to hit, or drive, the springs really hard. It’s also vital to pick a recovery circuit after the reverb effect that can boost the signal without adding more unwanted noise. It turns out that the audio that comes out of the springs is pretty low-fidelity compared to what went in, so the recovery stage also has to do some heavy lifting with tone shaping and equalization. In many reverb circuits that use tubes, one tube does the input boosting, and another takes care of the output recovery. Solid state reverbs use transistors, but many more than just one are required on each side of the springs.

 

Some Milestones on the Road to Reverb:

The first successful models of amplifiers didn’t have onboard reverb. It hadn’t been invented yet! Early tweed Fender amps like the 5e3 Deluxe, for example, were built without any effects. When spring reverb exploded onto the music scene, in particular with the craze for surf and Hawaiian-influenced music, manufacturers like Fender rushed to meet the demand by introducing piggy-back units.

The Fender 6g15 was first produced in 1961 and was intended for use with the current Fender line of amps, the brown and cream-colored models (now referred to as the “brownface” era). This unit, and others like it, act like a giant effect pedal that sits between the input instrument and the amplifier. Our custom Chickadee is a product that we built from scratch and is heavily influenced by the 6g15. This model still remains one of the finest examples of standalone spring reverb ever made.

It didn’t take long for Fender and other competing brands to figure out how to insert the spring reverb circuit into an amplifier. This was a much more attractive concept to the average player – who wouldn’t want everything in an easy-to-carry package? Fender introduced the Vibroverb amp in 1963, their first combo amp that included onboard spring reverb. With few exceptions, reverb was forever destined to stay in amps, delighting players and adding extra dimension to their music.

Tube reverb (and tube amp circuitry), would eventually be challenged by the advent of solid-state technology. More affordable and durable transistors could handle the job of amplification, and spring reverb was no exception. In 1966, Fender pioneered the FR1000, a short-lived piggyback solid-state spring reverb. While it didn’t find much success, the FR1000 paved the way for using transistorized circuits in amplifiers going forward. Most amps today use solid-state technology for their onboard reverb, which even includes circuits that use digital reverb emulation.

On this long arc from invention to ubiquitous implementation of spring reverb, the guitar world had some interesting and quirky detours. Also in 1966, Fender produced a reverb unit using licensed technology from the Tel-Ray Morley company. This product was named the Echo-Reverb and produced the reverb effect by passing audio signal across a spinning metal disc. This disc was coated in electrostatic oil (which is why this and similar units are referred to as “oil cans”) and could delay and modulate the sound in addition to creating ambience.

In 1973, Roland started producing the Space Echo, an incredible magnetic tape delay unit that also boasted onboard reverb. Until then, most tape delays focused on the echo, but Roland combined the magic of tape with a miniature onboard spring reverb unit.

More popular in the recording studio versus on the road, a different but related innovation called plate reverb was booming through the 1960s and 1970s. This technology creates the reverb effect by injecting audio signal on one side of a large metal sheet. Much like with spring reverb, this creates an acoustic disturbance which is converted by a transducer. Plate reverb is still used today but has a distinctly different sound than spring reverb. While springs can sound bright, bouncy, and erratic, plate reverb often sounds dense and lush.

 

Why Choose Analog Reverb Today?

There’s a bit of magic to hearing audio signal pass through real vibrating springs, but most of the secret sauce comes down to two factors: preamplification and spring specifications. Units like the Fender 6g15 piggyback are great because they use real tubes to boost and recover the signal. Even if the spring reverb effect is disengaged, you can use tube circuits like this to further boost, saturate, and enrich the sound of your guitar or instrument before it hits your amplifier. Transistorized circuits do this too, of course, but the ability to use them as a preamp pales in comparison to tubes. Almost all modern reverb pedals use solid-state technology. Spring specifications matter because there are a million differently-sized reverb tanks (springs) that are produced. Extra-long springs can handle long, ambient delays that are darker and richer than modern pedals.

If you’re into vintage and some of the quirky side-quest units that were mentioned above, there really isn’t a substitute. Those effects are ultra-unique, and while modern pedals that emulate them come close, they don’t quite hit the mark. Of course, most of those examples are like a top-shelf aged whiskey: definitely not for everyone, an acquired taste, and best explored in moderation unless that’s really your thing.

Let’s be honest, though: the biggest perk to using a real analog spring reverb today is the ability to manipulate (and abuse) the springs in real time. If you kick, bump, shake, or rattle the spring reverb, you create a thunderstorm of clattering, banging, echoing, reverb-y goodness. The song Decks Dark by the rock band Radiohead uses the unmistakable sound of spring reverb for rhythm and ambience – check it out! A little noise and controlled chaos can go a long way in making your music stand out.

 

Go Forth and Sproing!

I hope that this post cleared up some of the mystery of spring reverb. I also hope that it has inspired you to experiment with it and hear some examples for yourself! Let us know if you have any questions or requests for future posts!

Songbirds Tubes vs. Solid State

Tubes versus Solid-State

, , , , , , , ,

There’s a lot of information (and confusion) out there regarding the constant debate over tube amplifiers versus solid-state amplifiers. Everyone has their own preference, but in general, most professional players agree that tube amplifiers are superior. Let’s look at why that is the case and compare how both tube and solid-state amps are constructed and function.

 

Note: With a few exceptions (looking at you, gorgeous Roland JC-120), I am firmly planted in the Tubes-Are-Better camp. I’ll be as unbiased as possible in discussing the pros and cons of each, though.

 

Overdrive Tone:

The real conflict between tubes and solid-state swirls around the way that each product produces distortion and overdrive. When an audio signal enters the amp, it gets amplified by either tubes or transistors. Transistors are smaller, more cost-effective devices that have a cut-off point. When the incoming signal gets loud enough to reach that threshold, the transistor clips the signal, or cuts off the tops and bottoms of the audio waveform. This gets further amplified by other transistors and eventually results in a distorted sound at the output.

Tubes don’t have a cut-off point in the sense that they clip the audio signal more gently, as if in a curve. This results in a more organic, smoother sounding distortion that most people find more desirable. There’s also the addition of even-order harmonics with tube amplification, which means that faint distorted frequencies ring out at higher octaves of the fundamental note. These harmonics aren’t produced with transistorized circuits, and their inclusion rounds out and enriches the overall audio signal.

The lack of hard cut-off point with tubes results in the touch sensitivity that many players enjoy. You’ll often see this referred to as “edge of breakup”, meaning that, under the right conditions, the instrument can be played without distortion when the strings are picked lightly, and with distortion when they are strummed with more force. This trick is more difficult to achieve with transistors. What’s more, tube overdrive and distortion creates a natural audio compression that helps the audio signal sound richer, warmer, and fatter, especially at high volumes.

Speaking of high volumes, tube amps need to be relatively hot to work properly and sound their best. Most tubes sound anemic and hollow at low volume, where transistor circuits do just fine at a whisper. A lot of players don’t have the luxury of knocking the walls down with added volume.

 

Durability:

Tube amps are much more fragile than solid-state. Tubes are made of glass and hold an internal vacuum. Even though they are protected by the amp’s cabinet, a wrong bump or smash can break a tube. Tube amps also run on significantly higher internal voltage than solid-state, and although the components are rated to handle the current, it’s still a lot of energy running around and causing stress. Solid-state amps can usually be thrown off a moving truck and still function (please don’t try this at home!), but problems at the component level are more difficult to diagnose when they arise.

 

Repair:

Unfortunately, most solid-state amplifiers are built to be disposable. It’s much more challenging to fix a broken solid-state amp, and hourly repair costs can quickly balloon when the required fix is complicated. When solid-state amps fail, it usually is a matter of weighing the cost of repair versus putting that money towards a new amp or better model. The transistors that amplify the signal in solid-state amps require more connected components to function correctly, and the circuit boards are always more populated and intricate. In digital circuits, proprietary chips may be involved that can only be replaced from the manufacturing company, not repaired.

On the other hand, tube circuits involve larger and fewer components. The tubes do all of the heavy lifting, so in a super simplified sense, the other components are just carrying current and making the necessary connections to help the tubes do their job. Most tube amps are designed with future repair or modification in mind. In short, it seems like most solid-state manufacturers don’t want you to repair the product, while most tube manufacturers know that you will eventually.

 

Realness:

Tube amplification was invented before solid-state, so the natural progression of technology is that solid-state will forever try to capture, emulate, and improve on the sound of tubes. Has it happened yet? Many players including myself would argue no, not at all. Solid-state sounds close to the real deal, especially with digital modelers, but that extra five percent of je ne sais quoi is what has yet to be accurately captured. The combination of even-order harmonics from an amp’s tubes, plus the volume saturation, plus the physical act of moving air in the room from the speaker is, as of now, the missing piece from solid-state products.

 

Cost:

There’s no bones about it: tube amps are far more expensive than solid-state. This is because the tubes themselves are costly on a parts-level, plus tube amps require expensive output transformers whereas solid-state usually relies on transistors to do the job in the output section. Tube amps that have onboard effects like tremolo, true vibrato, and reverb usually have extra transformers, chokes, and tubes for those sections as well. What’s more, tube amps that are intended to last decades are often hand-wired or constructed with point-to-point wiring, meaning that all internal components are easily accessible and visible in case a repair is needed. Building an amp in this fashion requires literal hands-on work, so labor costs are higher.

 

Mojo:

Guitars and cars are always compared, so a tube amp is like a classic American muscle car and a solid-state is like a brand-new vehicle that just came off the line. You may find enjoyment in both, or you may prefer one over the other. At the end of the day, your amp should be like your guitar – it should make you want to play more! I find that tube amps have extra mojo and “coolness” that gets me excited to pick up my instrument and play some tunes. Your goal is always to find that piece of gear that makes you want to do the same.

 

I hope that this helped shed some light on both sides of the eternal tube versus solid-state debate! Let us know if you have any questions, and if you’re interested in your own custom tube amplifier, check out our custom amps page!

DIY Leslie II Songbirds

DIY Leslie Part II: The Reve-less-ion

, , , , , , , , ,

Around this time in 2022, I attempted to build my own DIY Leslie Rotating Speaker. The honest and unfiltered process is documented here, as well as the loose guide that I followed from Premier Guitar. Ultimately, building that was a frustrating but fun experience, and after using my DIY Leslie a couple times, I moved it to storage. I’m sure that it’s not as bad as I remember, but I filed this project in the deep and dusty mental bin labeled “failed projects, may experiment later”… knowing full well that I’d probably never get to it. To recap, the Leslie worked, but the effect wasn’t as pronounced as anticipated, there was a decent amount of operational noise that I couldn’t tune out, and it took up a lot of space. Plus, I was forever scarred from trying to get that styrofoam baffle to spin on a perfectly balanced axis. Still, I wanted to find a usable Leslie tone for the studio. Even with my DIY Leslie build, I could tell that there was some magic in the sound of the baffle spraying the sound through the air as opposed to using a pedal or some other type of simulation.

 

Enter, Don:

Recently, I was scrolling the local online marketplaces (as one does, when one has an obsession with finding vintage gear), and I came across a listing from a local musician with a Fender Vibratone. We’ll call this person Don, in homage to the inventor of the Leslie Rotating Speaker, Donald Leslie. The Fender Vibratone was produced between 1967 and 1972, and is the exact same thing as the Leslie 16, just with a Fender logo slapped on. In short, it’s a real deal vintage rotating speaker that you can use with guitar or keyboard. There’s an incredibly detailed article here that explains everything you’d ever want to know about the Vibratone.

I don’t have much luck with the marketplace that I was on at the time. You know, the one that starts with an “F” and ends with “-acebook”. It’s rare that anyone responds at all, but our new friend Don was quick to communicate and eager to meet up. You see, his original listing stated that he might be interested in trading for other vintage effects, and it just so happened that I had several weird and wacky pieces that I had restored. They were looking for a new home. Don made it clear that he loves finding “effects that he’s never heard of” – we’re evidently kindred spirits in that regard!

After arranging a time, we both walked away with a happy trade, an incredible deal for both parties, some arrangements for future work and jamming, and in my case, some extra back pain from the Vibratone. That’s right – after two years, I had my hands on a rotating speaker.

 

Guts and Dust:

After getting it home, I took time to restore it with some trusted 303 vinyl cleaner and elbow grease. For being as old as it is (I’m guessing 1970?), there were surprisingly few creepy crawlies inside. Just a few eight-legged audio engineers who spent their lives laboring to keep the Vibratone running smoothly. They have since been evicted and laid to rest in the bottom of my vacuum cleaner bag. There were some creaks and squeals from the motor that sounded shockingly like a baby pig, but those have been sorted out with the help of Bill over at BB Organ and some special motor oil.

The Vibratone is unique in the way that it sprays the sound around the room. The DIY Leslie (and most real Leslies) operate on a horizontal axis, meaning that the speaker (or speakers) are mounted parallel to the ground and shoot up towards the ceiling. From there, the styrofoam baffle spins and sprays the sound around the room in all directions. The Vibratone works vertically, meaning that the speaker is mounted perpendicular to the floor like a normal guitar amp, and the baffle spins parallel to the floor. The Vibratone sound is sprayed to the sides and top of the cabinet, meaning that the strongest effect is heard when standing beside the Vibratone.

This model works with two separate but connected motors. One is responsible for the “chorale” setting, a slow speed of about 40 revolutions per minute, and the other controls the fast “tremolo” speed which is around 340 revolutions per minute. The hardy and molded styrofoam baffle is spun with a cloth belt, and a magnetized control quickly jumps an axle barrel in between both motors when the different speeds are engaged. Rubber grommets and wingnuts hold the motor assembly to the pine cabinet to prevent knocking and excess vibration during operation.

For better or for worse, the Vibratone utilizes an audio crossover system. Long story short, it has to be driven by an amp as the actual speaker is passive. The crossover connects in between the amp and its speaker or connected speaker cabinet. Due to the inductors in the crossover, the guitar signal from the amp dumps all of the midrange frequencies to the Vibratone, and the amp’s speaker gets only the treble and bass frequencies. This creates a unique wet/dry blend as the input signal is shared by two separate speakers. Most players opt to bypass the crossover and send the entire frequency range to the Vibratone, but the intended crossover system sounds excellent as is. The “advanced mode” layout consists of using two separate amps, one for just the Vibratone mids and one for the rest of the frequencies, which allows you to balance levels and further craft the tone.

 

Self-Indulgence:

So what does it sound like? Absolutely incredible, that’s what. The slow setting is a very subtle phasing that sounds simultaneously trippy and disorienting. The fast speed is a watery, complex amalgamation of sonic bliss. This effect is musical self-indulgence: it’s tricky to capture live or on a recording in its entirety, so it’s really for the player in the room. Ripping tired blues licks and strumming cowboy chords never felt so good. Even the most rudimentary songs sound interesting, fresh, and complex with the Vibratone engaged. If you are a guitarist or keyboardist and get the chance to play one of these (or buy / trade one), do it!

 

Okay, but Pedals:

The burning question that everyone has: can a pedal do what a Leslie / Vibratone does? The answer is yes, and no, not really. Like any piece of gear, you’re going after a specific sound for a certain reason. If no one in your audience can tell if that cool keyboard lick uses a Leslie or a digital plugin, does it matter? I’d argue no, and in that regard, you don’t need a real rotating speaker to get the sound of one. Any good pedal that gets close or in the neighborhood (like flangers, univibes, vibrato, etc.) will be just fine unless you’re hunting the real deal. Which brings me to the other half of that answer: there is no substitute for a real rotating speaker in a room. There’s an extra five percent of magic and je ne sais quoi that comes from the air spraying around the room. It’s pure musical bliss, and I can’t help but smile when I play it. For me, this Vibratone is already a staple part of my rig that I’m not giving up. It’s truly incredible. That doesn’t mean that I’m crazy enough to take it to a gig, though. Your mileage may / will vary, of course.

 

The DIY Side of Things:

So, after all this rambling, let’s compare the Vibratone with the DIY Leslie that I made. Even before I met Don, I was doing some rudimentary research on the Vibratone and found some pictures of it open and in an exploded view. The genius of the design is that the baffle rotates parallel to the floor, and that there is a metal bracket on each end that keeps the styrofoam from wobbling and getting out of balance. I bet that I could apply some kind of bracket to my DIY Leslie speaker and make it a lot more reliable.

People rag on vintage gear for its simplicity. Don’t get me wrong, the motor and assembly inside the Vibratone is ancient by our modern standards, but it’s all sturdy and is specifically designed with quality in mind. It’s meant to do its one job and never break down, which is a stark comparison to what I was able to cobble together with my DIY build. As Eric Haugen said in this awesome demo video of a Vibratone, “everything is just a little bit broken all of the time”. I’d rather take the vintage and creaky model with quality parts than the new DIY Leslie build with questionable life expectancy.

Speaking of quality parts, I was super surprised by the firmness and durability of the Vibratone’s baffle. The molded styrofoam is hard. My DIY version looks like tissue paper in comparison. In addition, my DIY Leslie model has a motor controller that can set the speed wherever you like within the designed range. While the old-school Vibratone only allows for two locked-in speeds, I’d rather have that than one variable option. What’s that saying about how limitation encourages creativity?

In my research, I ran across a good amount of forum posts, reddit posts, articles, and blogs of people that also built their own DIY Leslies. Some went from scratch like I did, and some used old motors and baffles that they had rescued or cannibalized from old vintage models. Across the board, every builder seemed ecstatic and claimed that their project had turned out perfectly. To the true scratch-build DIYers: I don’t believe it, unless you used reliable parts and/or vintage specs. To the vintage cannibals: Maybe, I’d have to hear it. In my limited experience, it seems like there isn’t quite a substitute for the real thing.

 

If I Were to Do It Again:

If you’re trying to do the DIY thing, I bet you can implement some massive improvements. I’d use my previous article to get started, then try the following, in order of suggested importance:

  1. Mount the baffle parallel to the floor like the Vibratone.
  2. Get a vintage baffle, or find some way to mold styrofoam or other lightweight material. Low density foam won’t cut it.
  3. Install a metal (or otherwise sturdy) bracket to keep the baffle axle straight and noise-free.
  4. Get a quality motor that won’t cause wobble or noise. There's no comparison between the cheap, but functional, motor that I purchased from Mr. Bezos and the heavy-as-a-brick-murder-weapon motor that came installed in the Vibratone.
  5. Find ways to lubricate the motor and axle to reduce noise (felt pads for oil, like the originals)
  6. Find ways to dampen everything with rubber grommets and/or insulation. No noise!

Let me know if you try your own build, and once again, if you get a chance to play a real Leslie or Vibratone, do it! It truly is unique and sonically incredible. 

DIY Leslie II Songbirds
Songbirds Tube Screamer

Tube Screamer: How to Use

, , , , , , , ,

Known for their guitars and cutting innovations with modern rock and metal, the Japanese company Ibanez created one incredible effect that has become legendary: the TS-808 Tube Screamer. Originally produced in the late 1970s, this guitar pedal is still being sold and added to guitar pedalboards around the world. It’s rugged, heavy, and iconically green. The Tube Screamer is heralded as one of the best overdrive circuits ever made, but the guitar community has been sharply divided on its tone and usefulness since the beginning. Let’s clear up some confusion about the TS-808 Tube Screamer.

*Note: I am admittedly not a fan of the Tube Screamer. I definitely prefer more transparent overdrive options. However, I’ve learned how to use a Tube Screamer effectively and can get some cool tones out of it.

 

First Things First:

Let’s clear this up right away. The TS-808 is named the Tube Screamer because it can make your amp’s tubes scream. It does NOT replicate the sound of a screaming amp. Maybe that was a marketing fluke, but the ambiguity has caused countless players to buy this expecting a great overdrive circuit right out of the box. This pedal must be used in conjunction with a tube amp.

 

The Amp:

Sure, you can run a Tube Screamer into a solid state amp, but it likely won’t sound very good and certainly won’t produce the tone that Ibanez champions. For best results, you have to use a tube amp. Hybrid models that use solid state preamps and tube power sections won’t do it – the amp needs to be all tube (with the exception of the rectifier, which can be solid state).

General consensus indicates that a vintage-style blackface Fender amp or a Marshall sounds the best, but anything with hot tubes will work. Check out our article on different Fender amps if you're wondering about the company's amp eras.

 

Speaking of Hot:

Your amp should be cooking to benefit from the Tube Screamer. It’s an unfortunate circumstance for most guitarists these days since the amp market has shifted to overall lower output, but your amp needs to be loud for this to work. Using the circuit with a quiet tube amp will result in fizzy, lackluster overdrive that may sound like it has been EQ’d incorrectly.

You want to set the amp to the edge of breakup, or light amp distortion. When the Tube Screamer is engaged, it will boost and over-saturate the guitar’s signal. This means that the amp’s preamp tubes get hit harder, that signal is… well… amplified, and the power tubes distort more than they would have on their own. The Tube Screamer pushes your amp over the edge and helps it roar.

 

EQ:

The TS-808 is known for its prominent midrange boost. Many blackface-era Fender amps have a missing chunk hollowed out in the mids, so using a Tubescreamer simultaneously beefs up the Fender sound and tightens up the bass end of the spectrum. This is particularly useful as many players complain about Fender’s flabby bass tones during passages with high distortion. Armed with this knowledge, try using the EQ controls on your amp to play with the mids. The Tube Screamer is known for being dark, so you may want to experiment with adjusting the treble on your amp in addition to the tone control on the pedal.

 

Tricks to Try:

In my opinion, the distortion that is generated from the Tube Screamer’s circuit is pretty unremarkable. It certainly can’t compete with the sound of your tube amp’s natural overdrive. I like using it as a boost – try reducing or limiting the gain on the pedal and using the volume control almost exclusively. Higher volume output means hotter incoming guitar signal to the amp, which means hotter amp distortion. You can color the amps’ distortion by mixing in a little gain from the pedal, but I wouldn’t let the circuit’s grit get in the way. Let your amp do the talking.

Although it’s not a great standalone pedal, the Tube Screamer works fantastically as a stacker. Try combining it with another overdrive or distortion pedal. John Mayer has used the Tube Screamer stacked with a Klon for a long while, and it sounds great. This works best with a transparent circuit like the Klon or a Bluesbreaker.

 

Final Thoughts:

It’s helpful to think of the Tube Screamer as an extension of your amp, or an amp hacker, rather than a pedal. It’s really good at doing one thing, which is pushing a hot tube amp over the edge and making it roar. Most players aren’t using loud tube amps for practice or gigs, so the Tube Screamer may not be the best choice for your application. The actual TS-808 circuit is legendary, however, and countless clones and competing pedals have evolved from its success. Let us know if you have any guitar pedal questions, and I hope that this information about the Ibanez Tube Screamer helped to clear up some confusion!

Check out this gallery from the legend himself, Analog Man, to see the different iterations of the Tube Screamer.

Understanding Fender Amps

Fender Amps: A Comprehensive Guide

, , , , , , , ,

Fender, the beloved guitar, amp, and effects company, has been producing excellent amps since 1946. Over the years, the products have evolved and changed so much that it’s difficult to keep them all straight, let alone understand which sound may be right for you and your music. I’ve broken the following information up into eras – most vintage enthusiasts use the same categories to discuss the amps. Modern models that are being sold today are mentioned at the end.

It’s important to note that the vintage amp market is ludicrously expensive, and will likely only continue to appreciate. As with classic cars, the number of available units will never increase, and as time marches on, more and more amps will be lost, only further pushing up the price of surviving models. I do not personally own any vintage Fender amps, but I have had the pleasure of playing several so far. I have scratch-built and repaired most of these models, though. The nice thing about Fender is that most amps are still derived from their original ancestors, so you can get the sound of a vintage piece at a fraction of the cost by buying a newer reissue. Likewise, you (or someone you know, like Justin at Songbirds) can build a new amp to the exact specifications of the vintage ones, allowing you to experience the exact sound and feel of the original circuit.

*Note: If you come across a vintage Fender amp and are in the United States, it’s advised to operate it with a variac set at 117 volts AC. If you aren’t experienced with amp repair, vintage gear, or electronics, it’s recommended to send it to a repair tech or someone with experience before even powering it on. You could get hurt or shocked – for example, vintage tweed amps were made with a sheet of asbestos covering the chassis… oh, the past!

Now, without further preamble, let’s look at the Fender eras of amp manufacturing:

 

 

Woody: The very first Fender amps were only made for a year and a half. Starting in 1946, they were constructed with a stylish wooden cabinet and came in three models: Princeton, Deluxe, and Professional. These circuits would grow and continue to be the cornerstones of Fender for decades to come. They are small and rather quiet by modern standards, but Fender was able to make a name for itself by producing amplifiers that were reliable and sturdy in a relatively empty market. Needless to say, if you ever come across an original Woody model, you’ll be sticker shocked as they are incredibly rare!

 

 

Tweed: The Tweed era is the true beginning of Fender amps as we know and love them. While still rare, you can find original Tweed models every so often. Most importantly, they sound incredible and, in my opinion, offer some of the finest tones that Fender has ever produced with their products. These amps are lacquered with a fine twill fabric and have a small chrome chassis. Tweed models include the Champ, Princeton, Deluxe, Tremolux, Vibrolux, Bassman, and more. Most of the named models are variations on the same circuit. It’s helpful to think of the amp as building blocks. For example, the Champ is the most simple circuit, and the Princeton is essentially the Champ but with an added tone control. The Deluxe is like a Princeton but with higher wattage output and two channels. The Vibrolux is like the Deluxe, but there’s a tremolo circuit added on. You get the idea.

The most important trait of all Fender tweed amps is that they are simple. Nearly all of them are made with all-tube topography, and some, like the Deluxe, are built with undersized output transformers. Both of these features mean that tweed amps produce the purest, most natural sound of real tube breakup and distortion. If you’re looking for incredible edge-of-breakup touch response and rich tube sound, you can’t go wrong with the Deluxe or other amps in the tweed family.

 

 

Brownface: This era was short-lived, but marks a vital transition from tweed to the powerhouse Fender amps that we love. Built between 1959 and 1963, brownfaces (named for their cocoa brown control panel), offered a few new bells and whistles, pushed the capabilities of volume, and were a bit higher fidelity than their tweed predecessors. Brownface amps are serious performers and can fetch a pretty penny due to their rarity. You may also see them with blonde control panels or Tolex. These amplifiers introduced more negative feedback in the circuit, meaning that they are capable of staying cleaner at higher volumes. They have two channels and independent tone circuits. Fender introduced standalone reverb units that could be piggybacked onto other amps during this period, and later brownface models like the Vibroverb were the first to incorporate onboard reverb. Most existing Fender model names were carried through to the Brown and Blonde faces.

 

 

Blackface: Named for their all-black control panel and commonly matching black Tolex, these amps are probably what you picture when you think of the classic Fender amplifier. They were produced between 1963 and 1968, and plentiful reissues and lookalikes are still made today. All of the models from this era were derived from the AB763 circuit (an internal Fender code for July, 1963). Most amp enthusiasts consider the AB763 to be the pinnacle of Fender’s innovation. Each one included tremolo, reverb, or both, and boasted the loudest and cleanest tones thus far. Midrange controls were added to the tone amps’ tone stacks, and an emphasis was placed on high fidelity, making the blackface era a far cry from the original sounds of the tweed era. An important moment in Fender’s history occurred in 1965 when the company was sold to CBS. Most enthusiasts agree that quality dipped across the board during the CBS era, but vintage blackface amps are largely exempt from this degradation. Silverfaces, however…

 

 

Silverface: You’ve figured it out by now – these amps have a chrome or silver faceplate. This is the biggest era yet and encompasses the time between 1967 and 1981. The last three years of the 1960s covers “drip edge” silverfaces, a unique cosmetic design that varies from the “silver panel” silverfaces of the 1970s. Drip edge silverfaces are the cream of the crop for this era and are only cosmetically different from the blackface era. In my opinion, I find a drip edge amp to be ultra classy and sleek.

In the ‘70s, Fender was well into its CBS occupation. Word had gotten around that the new ownership was cutting corners with quality, and rumor had it that the internal amp components weren’t as good. This isn’t necessarily true, but silverfaces quickly earned the reputation of being cheaper and the “working musician’s amp”. This resulted in them getting beat up, lugged around, dropped, water damaged – you name it. Silverfaces from this era are rife with modifications, damage, and strange tweaks that aren’t original to the design. This is the first time in Fender’s history that their amps received negative public feedback.

Speaking of feedback, the emphasis shifted from unique tone to overall volume. Concerts were getting louder, and CBS altered the AB763 circuit to compete with the newly required decibel output. Silverface amps from this era use an “ultra-linear” circuit, a feature (or a detriment, depending who you ask) that essentially prevents the amp from ever breaking up and distorting. Silverfaces are clean machines and can remain sparkling when pushed to extreme volume. Most players want the natural tube overdrive that Fender championed, but lovers of hi-fi may enjoy silverface amps.

 

 

1985 to Now: Fender was bought again in 1985, and the CBS era was officially over. Fender saw a sharp pivot across the board towards a return to quality. The beloved amp designs of the tweed and blackface eras were resurrected and continue to be reissued to vintage specifications. Upgrades and modifications of the original circuits were (and continue to be) incorporated with the needs of the modern player in mind while never sacrificing tone. Some of the current best-selling amps include the Blues Deluxe, Blues Junior, and Bassbreaker – all derivatives and improvements on the original tweed Bassman circuit.

You’ll see a lot of Hot Rod amps on the used markets, so let’s discuss. Fender made the Hot Rod Deluxe and the Hot Rod Deville, the latter being slightly cleaner and sparkly. They were introduced in the late 1990s and continue to be produced today. These amps are known for their huge output – the volume is enough to peel the paint off the walls. Most players use an attenuator with these models or only use them for big, outdoor gigs. In general, the clean channel for this series is exquisite, but the overdrive channel leaves a lot to be desired. If you’re comfortable getting your distortion tones from pedals and need high volume, these Hot Rod models may be for you.

Fender released their line of Mustang amps in the 2010s and still produce them today. Let me tell you, this is the amp that I wish that I had when I was learning to play guitar as a kid. This is a digital modeling combo amp that includes around thirty presets that emulate the tones of famous amps and musicians. They’re limited in versatility with live rigs – I’d never play a gig with one, but they are loads of fun and sound great in the house.

Naturally, the company continues to innovate and release newer models. For example, Fender recently released the Champion 100, a solid state model that seems to do it all for an incredible price. Of course, all entry and intermediate amps are solid state – but for the bells and whistles that they boast, plus the price, you can’t beat it!

This has been a ton of information, but I hope that I helped clarify some of the mystery and confusion of Fender’s history with amps. To recap, short and sweet, vintage Fender amps sound incredible but are extremely expensive. Modern reissues and custom builds can produce the vintage circuit sound for a fraction of the price. Fender amps made through the 1950s up until 1968 are the pinnacle of design, but your mileage may vary with models made through the CBS era from 1965 until 1985. Modern models riff on the classic circuits of the 50s and 60s with tone and taste in mind.

Let me know if you have any questions or need advice on your next amp upgrade!

Songbirds Ten Solo Gig Tips

Ten Solo Gig Tips

, , , , , , ,

I’m the first person to confess that I’m certainly not the master at performing solo, and I’m not selling out crowded stadiums. However, I’ve learned a lot from gigging and continue to do so! There are a lot of pitfalls that ensnare new solo gig performers – many unfortunately are learned the hard way, but if you’re savvy and just starting your gigging career, I hope that you can read on and avoid some of these mistakes that I had to overcome! Contact us if you have specific questions or are looking for some gig advice!

There is a lot of crossover with this information in regard to performing with any group and at any type of venue. For the sake of this article, we’ll assume that you’re a solo gig musician (singer/songwriter type) performing cover tunes at a public place like a restaurant, bar, or cruise ship.

Don’t Test Drive a Song at a Performance

This is the most important one, and the mistake that every performer makes at least once. Always, always, always, practice your songs at home before giving them a spin in public. It’s challenging to pull and keep a crowd that is engaged with your music, and it only takes one lackluster song for the mood to shift and for people to start closing out their tabs. It’s the call of the siren on the hidden rocks – I KNOW that you really want to play that song that shaped your teenage years that you only thought of in the moment because someone walked past wearing that specific band tee, but DON’T DO IT. Go home and practice. Do it at the next solo gig. Trust me.

*Small caveat: I have been known to “wing” requests as a bit of a schtick. If someone comes up, gives a tip, and requests a song that I kind of know, I’ll often do part of it or give it a try. Note that I only do this if the mood at the venue is right and if I am at least ninety percent confident that I can pull off the gist of the song. If it’s a tune that I don’t know, I won’t do it period. The trick here is to feign reluctance and give in to make the other person happy, all the while being in control of the situation and knowing your own musical limitations. Attempt with caution.

Prevent Request Monopolies

Speaking of requests, remember that YOU are the performer and that YOU have the most experience building a solid solo gig set and keeping a crowd. Taking requests is super fun and rewarding, but it’s your responsibility to tailor what you get to fit the venue. For example, playing a request for a slow Elvis tune smack dab in the middle of a fast, dancy set is a surefire way to clear the floor. Fit requests into the pace of your already existing set layout.

It’s also important to prevent request monopolies, or when one person makes several requests back to back. Even if all of the requests are good choices, doing them in a row kills the mood and energy of the set. To be blunt, energy drops mean less engagement, which means less people stay, which means less people tip, which means less money is in your pocket, which means your mood also loses steam and the solo gig slogs on.

Avoid Self Indulgence

When you’re building your set, only include “keeper” songs that you know most people like to hear. Ask a trusted friend or family member to help you weed out your B-tier tunes. You’re there to be an entertainer, so you only want to keep songs that will grow a crowd, generate tips, and fit the atmosphere of the venue. Top 40s (pretty much anything that has been on the radio for a while) are safe bets as well as classic rock and pop tunes. This isn’t the time to play your favorite K-pop deep cut as very likely most people won’t know it. If the crowd can sing along, you’re on the right track. I never particularly want to play “Margaritaville” ever again, but I live in Florida and play bar gigs. So, I do it because it’s what the people want to hear.

Up Tempo is Where It’s At

On the topic of singing along, almost all of your songs should be fast or mid-tempo choices. Of course, you can throw in a couple of slow bangers, but keep them sporadic and make sure that they’re generally well received. Any tune that leans to the slow side is a risk for clearing the floor and the crowd. A song like “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” is a nice choice because it’s a great slow dance tune, it can be dedicated to someone at the venue who might have just tipped you or might be celebrating something special, and it gives you a vocal break. If you pick a slow song, it’s your job to sell it as an event – a reason for changing the pace – not just a random song in the set list.

Be Personable / Have a Schtick

This one happens as you gain experience and confidence with gigging, but it’s super important. Talk and joke with your audience, build rapport over time, and don’t be afraid to show a little of your authentic personality or the persona of your performer. Be willing to be silly – it goes a long way. For example, I just had a solo gig where I played “Roxanne” by the Police, and a woman ran up to say hello because her name is Roxanne – a serendipitous occurrence that has never happened before! Extending the song and making a big deal of dedicating it to her was definitely worth it. Try not to be a robot and jump from song to song. Talk in between tunes, announce who wrote it, tell small anecdotes, etc. Anything that you can do to show your friendly side helps, and it’s necessary to create a following of fans from gig to gig.

Have Thirty-Seven Backup Plans

There’s no debating it: things always go wrong at a gig. Whether it’s a bad cable, a forgotten piece of gear, a broken string, or a random source of hum, something will fail at the worst possible time. I have a rugged backpack that I use to carry all of my small gear like cables, and I always pack it with at least two extras of everything that I need. My guitar case has a million extra picks and several full sets of strings. Even though I only use one microphone, I have three with me. If you have extra supplies, you’ll be good to go when something breaks.

The other side of this coin is that you should know your gear inside and out. If your guitar pedals stop passing signal, for example, you have to know what to unplug to quickly troubleshoot on the fly. The more intricate your rig becomes, the more points of failure are introduced. Try to limit your solo gig setup to only the bare essentials.

Commit For the Gig

This is challenging to maintain, especially when very few people are at your gig. It’s critical to perform with high energy and give the gig everything that you have even when no one is watching. The audience is smart and will know if you are phoning it in. Solo gig energy is contagious and builds on itself – if you’re not putting out the energy that you want to receive in return, the gig will slow and people will leave.

Know Thyself

Knowing your own limitations, strengths, and weaknesses as a performing musician comes with time and perseverance through setbacks. However, it’s crucial to understand details like your vocal range, endurance, artists that you can cover comfortably, artists that you should probably avoid for now, how you react under pressure, when flustered, and more. Every little bit of groundwork that you can lay in knowing your skills before you perform will help tighten your set and result in a more polished performance that has fewer moments of potential derailment.

Self Promote

No one will promote your business better than you, so don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself! Be sure to announce your name, your upcoming solo gig performance dates, and any other important information like a website or social media. I put small business cards out by the tip jar so that fans can get in contact if they’re interested. If you have an album or original music, you can make a QR code, sign, or even have some select merch with you. Don’t overdo it, of course, but ensuring that your fans know you by name is a great first step in building brand recognition and people who can follow your musical journey.

Be a Good Partner

In most cases, you are performing at a venue that you don’t own. It’s vital to be a good partner with the administration of the venue and be easy to work with – that’s how you get hired back! My bandmate always says that the true talent of the evening is the “bar / wait staff”. Always announce them, give them shoutouts, and be social with them. Be professional but friendly with the management and whoever is your point of contact with the establishment. At the end of the day, everyone who works at the venue will have something to say about you which will have a direct impact on your chances of getting hired back – always put your best foot forward and be yourself!

Load More