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Things we didn't know or do in the 60's and 70's
- Thread starter Paulabass
- Start date
Yeah, the draft number alone should be enough to squash a lot of back-in-the-good-old-days reminiscing.
Emerson, Wake & Farmer?
They are, for better or worse, inextricably woven together - this is the history of particularly electric music. One can become way, way too much of a gear head, tho'.
Coil cords!!!!
Shames me to admit I still like them (especially those shiny red ones) even though the were among the worst cords I ever used.
Those metal edges hurt when we moved them in the winter.
I've been listening to a new CD from a local one-man-band who recorded it in the UK at Sugar Ray's Vintage Recording Studio recording all 14 tracks in a one-day session, capturing single takes with no overdubs, and using entirely 1950's mono recording equipment, direct to tape. On the whole it sounds great. What it lacks in fidelity it gains in lots of natural compression with a little bit of breakup on the harmonica in particular. Sometimes simple is good!
I know I've seen bands completely rule when I wouldn't have picked a single item of gear they were using up off the side of the road. I've also seen bands TOTALLY suck on custom shop guitars out of boutique amps.
People are spending good money these days trying to replicate the way things sounded back in the day. Tube "warmth" (I put that in quotes because some would argue it's just distortion) and lo-fi are highly sought after in some circles. Analog tape saturation is another thing people really want to emulate.
Good things and bad in those old days. I can't imagine playing without a digital tuner (I have a 1U rack mount) these days. My pitch was horrible and I was surprised that once I had the tuner, my pitch improved a bit. Equipment costs have also plummeted in general and choices have exploded. On the on other hand I would never have picked up soldering skills (and Army boots).
Still have A440 tuning fork from the 70's, and occasionally use it for acoustic guitar - old school tuning!
O God - So many memories from the 60's!
Coil Cords
Hi-Z Mic through a guitar amp with the guitars!
No instrument setup.
Never changed strings
I couldn't afford a P Bass - most of the rest of them were horrible junk.
No such thing as "vintage" we hacked and chopped the instruments.
All the amps coming off one extension cord. (30W was huge power then!)
A Shure Vocal Master was an amazing PA!
VW bus for the band!
TONS of gigs everywhere.
Standby switches
Polarity switches
Inputs for guitar, mic, and accordions
Rocker and slide switches on the instruments
Your point is well taken and I made it far earlier in the thread. The history of rock 'n' roll is also the history of its technology - that is indisputable.
In the 60s we learned songs off a transistor radio -- something about the size of three cellphones stacked one atop the other.
Never been accused of being highbrow, but I did have a tuning fork in my case for a long time. Back when I was just singing I bought the first electronic tuner I ever used for a band that spent more time tuning than practicing. Got super sick of that so the tuner was purchased. What a revelation.
I remember mine as being red, but can't find a picture of a red one.
We lusted after this set up as kids. We ended up getting the Kustom equivalent eventually.
We made do with a Farfisa organ, then a Clavinet. The only real tuner i used was in junior high and high school band. They possessed some strobe tuner with a humongous dial.
361, in the last lottery.
