Drippy Drippy Surf

[JD01]

I'm doing my annual re-record of my podcast theme and it occurred to me that I missed the obvious in that I haven't recorded it in the style of surf guitar yet.

I was gonna start by using the bridge pickup of my tele into a totally clean amp unboosted. Should I boost it?
Might try spitting the bridge pickup on my Crimson is this sounds too aggressive.
But I know the tone of this is all about the reverb. The only reverb I have is a Hall of Fame mini. It should have a spring setting if I go in to the digital witchcraft and beam it into the pickups. In which case, what sort of settings do you aim for on this? The other idea would be to record it dry and add it in Reaper. Anyone know of a good drippy spring sound included in Reaper or have an suitable impulse I could load into Reaverb?

I'm actually getting a bit pushed for time on recording and releasing this now!

[Greg_L]

Record a DI and I'll reamp it through my spring tank and Deluxe.

[JD01]

Oh, good idea.

[WhiskeyJack]

I'm doing my annual re-record of my podcast theme and it occurred to me that I missed the obvious in that I haven't recorded it in the style of surf guitar yet.

I was gonna start by using the bridge pickup of my tele into a totally clean amp unboosted. Should I boost it?
Might try spitting the bridge pickup on my Crimson is this sounds too aggressive.
But I know the tone of this is all about the reverb. The only reverb I have is a Hall of Fame mini. It should have a spring setting if I go in to the digital witchcraft and beam it into the pickups. In which case, what sort of settings do you aim for on this? The other idea would be to record it dry and add it in Reaper. Anyone know of a good drippy spring sound included in Reaper or have an suitable impulse I could load into Reaverb?

I'm actually getting a bit pushed for time on recording and releasing this now!

I can send you the holy grail reverb impulses. Those are what i like to use in reaper. they are impulses taken from the Holy Grail Pedals and they are the cat's ass. (For guitar. They are rubbish on stuff like vocals and drums etc.)

Or Take Greg up on his offer to reamp.

I'd argue that for a good authentic surf sound it isn't only about the reverb. thats the big noticeable charcteristic. A longer scale neck and some beefy strings will get you a lot further than you might think. I think regardless of what your ears might like your tele will get you closer to a traditional sound then your crimson.

There used to be this band of kids in my scene and they were a surf punk kind of band and they had all the good gear and remarkable dual guitarists with reverb tanks but they all played with Epihpone les pauls. Sounded gross. It had all the hallmarks of fast and furious surfy skate punk but was missing that BLONK PLONK that youd get from a longer scale.

Food for thought.

[Greg_L]

I can send you the holy grail reverb impulses. Those are what i like to use in reaper. they are impulses taken from the Holy Grail Pedals and they are the cat's ass. (For guitar. They are rubbish on stuff like vocals and drums etc.)

Or Take Greg up on his offer to reamp.

I'd argue that for a good authentic surf sound it isn't only about the reverb. thats the big noticeable charcteristic. A longer scale neck and some beefy strings will get you a lot further than you might think. I think regardless of what your ears might like your tele will get you closer to a traditional sound then your crimson.

There used to be this band of kids in my scene and they were a surf punk kind of band and they had all the good gear and remarkable dual guitarists with reverb tanks but they all played with Epihpone les pauls. Sounded gross. It had all the hallmarks of fast and furious surfy skate punk but was missing that BLONK PLONK that youd get from a longer scale.

Food for thought.

While I agree that LPs are not the best suited for surf sounds, I don't think it's the scale length. Jags are short scale and they'll plucky surf drip all day long. Mosrites are shorter scale and they're the fucking kings of plucky surf guitar sounds.

IMO there are a few ingredients for the right surf guitar sound, from my own research and experience:
1) Single coil pickups. You need the sharp attack of a single coil to activate the next step...
2) Spring reverb. A plate or room won't do it. You need the boing and drip of a spring, which also leads to...
3) Delay. A very quick slap-back which is naturally inherent in the design of spring reverb. Or you can fudge it with a pedal.
4) Guitar vibrato. Not only for the wiggle, but vibratos usually diminish sustain. Sustain is kind of the enemy with surf sounds.
4) The amp. Gotta have the right kind of amp that has the right kind of circuit.

[JD01]

Well, there's no reason I can't try both. I'd like to do it myself and actually have my own surf sound in the room. Fuck knows if I'll get that out of a HoF. But I know the piece really well so it'll be no hassle to record a DI to send to Greg.

Got your email, Shan. Will DL over the weekend when I start piecing this together.

[Greg_L]

I use this thing when I don't feel like dragging out the reverb tank...



It's not bad. And it was only 40 bucks. A little metallic sounding, but it does the slap-back and drip all in one. It's only good for it's one thing, but it does it pretty well if you don't have a real reverb tank to go through.

[JD01]

Ah, well that's TC. So its probably within my HoF. I'll start there. If you think it sounds like donkey bollocks when I get it done I'll do a dry take for a re-amp.

[Greg_L]

Ah, well that's TC. So its probably within my HoF. I'll start there. If you think it sounds like donkey bollocks when I get it done I'll do a dry take for a re-amp.

The HoF is a great reverb. I'm not sure it'll do the drip though. Try it and see. The surf "drip" is a type of reverb sound that pretty much no one wants except surf and rockabilly players, so most reverb designs don't go there.

[WhiskeyJack]

I can send you the holy grail reverb impulses. Those are what i like to use in reaper. they are impulses taken from the Holy Grail Pedals and they are the cat's ass. (For guitar. They are rubbish on stuff like vocals and drums etc.)

Or Take Greg up on his offer to reamp.

I'd argue that for a good authentic surf sound it isn't only about the reverb. thats the big noticeable charcteristic. A longer scale neck and some beefy strings will get you a lot further than you might think. I think regardless of what your ears might like your tele will get you closer to a traditional sound then your crimson.

There used to be this band of kids in my scene and they were a surf punk kind of band and they had all the good gear and remarkable dual guitarists with reverb tanks but they all played with Epihpone les pauls. Sounded gross. It had all the hallmarks of fast and furious surfy skate punk but was missing that BLONK PLONK that youd get from a longer scale.

Food for thought.

While I agree that LPs are not the best suited for surf sounds, I don't think it's the scale length. Jags are short scale and they'll plucky surf drip all day long. Mosrites are shorter scale and they're the fucking kings of plucky surf guitar sounds.

IMO there are a few ingredients for the right surf guitar sound, from my own research and experience:
1) Single coil pickups. You need the sharp attack of a single coil to activate the next step...
2) Spring reverb. A plate or room won't do it. You need the boing and drip of a spring, which also leads to...
3) Delay. A very quick slap-back which is naturally inherent in the design of spring reverb. Or you can fudge it with a pedal.
4) Guitar vibrato. Not only for the wiggle, but vibratos usually diminish sustain. Sustain is kind of the enemy with surf sounds.
4) The amp. Gotta have the right kind of amp that has the right kind of circuit.

Word. I forgot the amp bit. That band i was talking about also used those solid state entry level Marshalls that were hella popular back in the early 2000's . that could have largely been another issue with those guy's sound too. barf.

I still think long scales introduce a little something extra to that sound. But that might just be a me thing and we all know how often i am wrong.

[JD01]

Ergh, my trem picking is rubbish. Been practicing this evening