What might be behind the You got me floating track on Axis?

[VintageCharlie]

Dear forum members,

i've always wondered what might have been used for the You got me floatin track from Axis: Bold as love - it's a very unique tone that i haven't heard on other Hendrix tracks nor from another player. there is some extreme... "glassiness", but without getting harsh - the amp has a wonderful bite and body at the same time. The guitar, i suppose is a strat on the bridge or bridge/middle position? Also there are some weird "glass-like" noises before the first guitar part kicks in that might be done on a guitar too somehow. I'd appreciate any suggestions very much.

Afaik Axis supposedly was done on a Sound City and a 100w Black flag, but i'd say this track sounds nothing like anything i would expect from these two. A 45/100 might also be involved, but this doesn't sound like that either. Might it be Kramer's magic - EQ and some other Studio tricks? If not what amp/speakers and settings could bring me close to that unique tone?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Regards,

VintageCharlie

[Tone Slinger]

I'd say the amps you mentioned were probably the ones used. I think the tone on 'You got me floating' has a certain 'graininess' to it. I dont really hear the glassiness though. Not a spanky clean, but a little 'duller' maybe.

I DO start hearing alot of glassiness, in that big shimmering Fender kind of way on Electric Ladyland.

[VintageCharlie]

Tone Slinger, thanks for the input. Yes, the "graininess" is there, as well as some "bite", but it all sounds like a (don't know how to put it) grain structure that i personally don't attribute to any of the Marshalls. I know too little about the Sound City tone tell if it might be it's realm. All, especially early, Marshalls hawe that "growl", the smoky mids the 45/100 bit more in the lower region, the el34 amps a bit more in the upper midrange, but that particular track doesn't have the caracteristics of either of the two (to my ear at least). Also it is grainy, slightly overdriven, but very tight sounding (which shouldn't be the case with either of the early Marshalls in question. Or do you guys think this sound can be obtained with a 45/100 or a black flag with some specific settings?

Regards,

VintageCharlie

[Roe]

I guess 45/100 or sound city

[VintageCharlie]

thanks Roe, for some reason i thought it might be something more "exotic"
Also what pickup position would you suggest on the strat? Iguess it could be anything from mid to mid/bridge to bridge. Has lots of top end, bite and little bass, but doesn't sound harsh or trebly either, has some nasal quality too - so maybe middle position?

[spaceace76]

It kinda sounds like he's using the bridge and middle pickup, but wired out of phase, and some light fuzz into his normal setup. The out of phase wiring configuration will definitely give you that nasal, bitey quality to your sound.

[VintageCharlie]

spaceace76, id you really mean out of phase or did you actually mean the standard (parallel) mid/bridge position? To get them out of phase would require some wiring mods on a strat and then i suppose the tone would be very very thin, as you're left with the frequencies that are different on the individual pickups, and as they are very close to each other and towards the bridge, that tone might be quite terrible.
I hqve to admit it's really hard to understand where to begin with for this tone. Bridge alone sounds too thin, mid might have too much body, but there's also not much of that quack/glassiness of a bridge/mid position in that tone, but you might be right - could be bridge/mid- when overdriven that glassiness and quack go over to other qualities.
Btw.- Mayer and Jimi say Mayer did some magic with his guitars - what might that be - is there any serious info on that somewhere? (guess not, but ...? ) This might be one of the cases where the guitar wiring or other mod to it might have an effect too.

[spaceace76]

I was referring to the real out of phase wiring, not the in between positions. and i don't doubt that mayer could have messed with Jimi's guitars. The out of phase mod must have been known (at the very least) since humbuckers were created, since the principle is nearly the same, so it's plausible enough to assume that Mayer could have tried it with Jimi at some point. He was always looking for new sounds, and he couldn't have been short on ideas if he had someone more knowledgeable working with him

[VintageCharlie]

Might be worth a try - is a simple mod anyway. But from what i've heard it usually sounds very thin. A ballsy 100w Marshall could make up for it though. Thanks for the tip!

[Xplorer]

i need this Fender showman.

to me he's responsible of many great clean tones on axis. a blonde showman, heard on electric ladyland, with the tube vibrato. it really sounds fantastic.

for you've got me floatin',
i could perhaps hear two different amps at the same time, mixed together, a fuzz i can hear into this song.

when you know that voodoo child slight return was made also thanks to this fender showman, with big stacks and 10" speakers...
eddie kramer talked about that.

also, kramer + tape recorder + pulltec certainly+very light nickel strings.
mid pickup-bridge pickup, yeah

i'm not sure about wich song, maybe this one : at Seattle, there's two or three songs that eddie offered with separated tracks, that you can mix together, that's really great, doing the eddie.
if you go there, and if i'm right, you might hear this guitar alone.