You Vote: BOG EL34 vs. 6550

Tone Slinger · Post by **Tone Slinger** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 8:47 am

On the "Fillmore' "Hear My Train A Comin", he has the fuzz on with the volume rolled back alot as well. That particular Fuzz Face he used on BOG stuff, wasnt a pure germanium, it had that slightly compressed 'notched' sorta 'clink' when rolling down the guitars volume, which is a sign of some sillicon transistor(s ) going on.

I agree about Hendrix's Fearless aproach. Like at Woodstock, Hendrix had said that he worried about trying to be as good as A. Lee, from Ten Years After ("I'm Comin Home !") Hendrix thought Lee was fabulous. So what did Hendrix do ? He played a 5 + minute extended acapella solo chocked full of fearless expression.

Freedom · Post by **Freedom** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:49 am

Tone Slinger wrote:That particular Fuzz Face he used on BOG stuff, wasnt a pure germanium, it had that slightly compressed 'notched' sorta 'clink' when rolling down the guitars volume, which is a sign of some sillicon transistor(s ) going on.

BOG fuzz = one PNP silicon transistor and one NPN silicon transistor so it wasn't Germanium at all if you ask me...

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:16 am

I used to follow the hybrid line but hearing the full crankage parts like at the end of Machine Gun I do think its just a very good Si.

basile865 · Post by **basile865** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:01 pm

did he not chain 2 Fuzz's for some parts? If not thats some impressively heavy distortion he got on some of the later tracks.

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:42 pm

I dont know about that. I think Tone SLinger is right. I think he had the level knob cranked so its really driving the amps input.

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:45 pm

basile865 wrote:yea thats the moment in time where the magic comes out. Who knows pretty much sums up the ultimate strat tone Ive ever heard. I think my problem is that i dont have 2 4x12s with bass speakers cranked up loud. Thats a bigger aspect then the tubes probably.

Yeah I think thats going to be a lot of peoples bottle neck. Then again he did do tv shows with a single 4x12. I dont know that it sounds as good but it still sounds like Jimi. I mean I dont know of any other shows period that sound as good as the recordings on the BoG album. Even the versions of WK and MG recorded on the other nights dont have the mojo.

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:48 pm

Damn I just dropped and popped one of the 6550s

Oh well. Now Im runnin a mix of EL34s and 6550s. Interesting.

I just ordered some Tung Sol's to try.

basile865 · Post by **basile865** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 8:40 pm

Im tired of all this guess work, I think I'll just buy the digitech Jimi Hendrix pedal and be done with it!

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 8:58 pm

Mynameisfritz · Post by **Mynameisfritz** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:28 am

'Who knows':
Basically no effects, exept during the solo where he used the wah and the octavia. He clearly switches off the octavia after they finished the song.

'Machine Gun':
After the announcement he starts the univibe. I can't see him switch the fuzz, but I think it's there. Before the first long solo he just cranks his guitar volume, so the fuzz must be already running. After this solo he switches off the fuzz, in the second solo he clearly starts it again, just before adjusting the volumes on the two heads. He switches off for the quiet part and switches on for the feedback right at the end.

That's what I guess...

Do you think he used the octavia and the fuzz somewhere simultaniously?

Tone Slinger · Post by **Tone Slinger** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:15 am

I think he had both Octavio and Fuzz going at certain spots, like right around that pentatonic flurry towards the end of the man solo on "Machine Gun".

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:16 pm

He must have both on prior to 6:58 in Machine Gun. He clicks the octave off and the fuzz remains. Otherwise he'd have to be floating to click the fuzz on and the octave off at the same time. The Octave solo in Who Knows is a good indicator of how much gain you get out of an octave into the amp with no fuzz, the way he had it set anyway. Its not much. He probably had the gain on 0. You get the most octave effect that way and when you have it on with a fuzz it kinda tames the fuzz down. If your not familiar with the 2 effects you may think theyd go nuts when theyre on together but when you have the octave set like that and you put a fuzz on its not as gained out as the fuzz by itself.

Mynameisfritz · Post by **Mynameisfritz** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:15 am

Very interesting...thanks.
What about the octavia solo at the end of 'We gotta live together' - do you thing it's just the octavia with the cranked amp or the fuzz and octavia combined. To me it sounds different than any sound in 'Machine Gun', but on the other side it's more powerful than the octavia part in 'Who knows', so the fuzz might be involved...

basile865 · Post by **basile865** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:54 am

what does everyone think about those callaham blocks/bridges? Ive heard recorded comparisons that sound pretty good. Ive always noticed that I can get more of a woody tone by picking closer to the bridge and an upgraded one should increase that.

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:39 am

I havent directly swapped but I use Callaham bridges. The small things are really nice about them too. The little hex screws for the saddle pieces are around the perfect height for each saddle, the end saddles having the shortest ones, so that they re pretty flush when the guitars set up. I hate strat bridges where those screws dig in your hands. The saddles themselves seem really nice and easy to set up too. The trem arm works nicely too with that material keeping it tight.

Metropoulos Forum

You Vote: BOG EL34 vs. 6550

Do you feel the Band of Gypsies tone is El34s or 6550s?