Jerry Garcia and his guitar 'sound'

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by noname74, Nov 24, 2015.

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  1. reb

    reb Money Beats Soul

    Location:
    Long Island
    Lot's of video JG guitar lessons on youtube. Non impressed me enough to post a link here though.
     
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  2. captwillard

    captwillard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nashville
    The last great Garcia tone (for my tastes) was from the Travis Bean's that he played. I loved the Guild, SG, Modded Strat, and Original Wolf tones. As the years passed, his tone became less fat and more hi-fi. He also started using distortion pedals more as I don't think he could get it from his amp rig anymore. I think the big change came when he got Wolf back at the end of 1977. Of course, no Jerry tone is a bad tone and he always sounded like himself.
     
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  3. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    Ah I see what you mean now thanks very much for pointing that out. I would also add that of all the tribute players I have seen nobody ever seems to get the full palette he worked in and seemed to expand at a never ending pace; expand at least in those golden years certainly.
     
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  4. Rne

    Rne weltschmerz

    Location:
    Malaver
    Just for fun and to share experiences: what was the first recording featuring Jerry you've ever heard?
    In my case, it was the "Dark Star" excerpt included on the soundtrack of Zabriskie Point. The album also includes Jerry's beautiful solo playing for the love scene.
     
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  5. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    I was raised on Tiger and so maybe did not appreciate some of his earlier guitars as much as I should have back in the day; I have had a newfound love for the Nash Strat, and I think anyone that wants to dive into his playing should spend some time listening from an unknown-to-me start-date in '71 until 8/31/73. I made a point of commenting on how much of his tone drips through on this awesome sounding tape Springfield Civic Center 3-28-73; a tape so good I guess that lo and behold it is now the latest Dave's Picks 16 which I have yet to listen to, so I have a weekend listening project going for me... which is nice. I was blown away by his playing on Around and Around if you can believe it, but plenty of other gems to be sure. I could be wrong of course but some must-listen-to homework for this thread.
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2015
  6. Archtop

    Archtop Soft Dead Crimson Cow

    Location:
    Greater Boston, MA
    The one word I'd use to differentiate his sound from others is inflection. He really knew how to bend a string, even in a fast run, and make it sound in pitch even when it technically wasn't.

    Sure, he had some great axes (the Nash Strat being by far the best, IMO), but it wasn't the guitars so much as it was his own, personal technique. Give him a one stringed coconut tied to broomstick and he'd sound like Jerry and it would be different from anyone else playing that thang.

    Ed: I just saw this after I posted. Good on yer mate; a fine tone, and in conjunction with Phil's Big Brown, Bobby's ES335, Keith's grand, and Billy's stunning drumming, they never sounded better, IMO.
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2015
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  7. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    In my case it was this lp,[​IMG] and then I went backwards to the beginning, and then forward to the lps after Live Dead, ending with Go to Heaven (in real time). I've gotten the later albums since, and all the officially released product through the Godchaux period.
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2015
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  8. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    I am listening to that 3-28-73 China Cat now and I cannot remember him bending as much as well as running to the end of a pitch all to your point. 3:23 to 3:43 on that Miller above for you Archtop!
     
  9. Archtop

    Archtop Soft Dead Crimson Cow

    Location:
    Greater Boston, MA
    Wow, that is a really sweet "jamlet." Thanks for the heads up. For those of you playing along at home, on DaP 16 it runs from 3:16-3:36.
     
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  10. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Your welcome. This thread made me go back and focus on Jerry's trademarks.
    As you said, He is not an easy player to replicate without sounding lost. I can get about 3/4 the way there and that is only trying to replicate his melodic lines. His tone was also very unique as you are aware.
    He was an unusual mix of bluegrass, jazz and blues. His bending technique was also very unusual.
     
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  11. RiCat

    RiCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Here is a quote by Santana that speaks volumes. My opinion is that we look at the talent and spirit of the artist not the hardware in explaining his amazing sound.

    "Most people who play the blues are very conservative. They stay a certain way. Jerry Garcia was painting outside the frame. He played blues but mixed it with bluegrass and Ravi Shankar. He had country and Spanish in there. There was a lot of Chet Atkins in him – going up and down the frets. But you could always hear a theme in his playing. It's like putting beads on a string, instead of throwing them around a room. Jerry had a tremendous sense of purpose. When you take a solo, decide what to say, get there and give it to the next guy. That's how Jerry worked in the Dead. Jerry was the sun of the Grateful Dead – the music they played was like planets orbiting around him. He wasn't a superficial guy at all. It was a lot of fun to play with him, because he was very accommodating. He'd go up and down; I'd go left and right. And I could tell he enjoyed it, because the Dead always invited me back. By Carlos Santana"
     
  12. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Great quote.
    Jerry was a genius at creating little melodic cells and then repeating them twice maybe three times and not always exactly the same way and then he would go on to creating another one. He was a brilliant improviser as everyone probably knows.
     
  13. Archtop

    Archtop Soft Dead Crimson Cow

    Location:
    Greater Boston, MA
    It is a great quote, and far be it for me to contradict someone as great as Carlos Santana, but I think Phil was the sun of the GD, and Jerry was the set of eyes that allowed us to see it.
     
  14. Atmospheric

    Atmospheric Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eugene
    I too am a strat aficionado. This is really geeky, but I spent quite a lot of time checking out his strat when I saw Sunshine Daydream in the theaters. One thing that really struck me is the pickup height adjustment. Jerry adjusted them the opposite of what most players do... the neck pickup is set quite high and the bridge pickup quite low. This causes a couple of things to occur. The neck pickup is quite a bit louder than the rest of the guitar and because he didn't drop the bass side down as almost all strat players do, the bass strings tend to fart out at times when using the neck pickup. Also string pull (the pull of a magnetic pickup on the strings when set too high) and Jerry's preference for big (high gauge) strings almost certainly created some tuning/intonation problems for him, especially as he played up the neck when using the neck pickup. Also, the bridge pickup is the softest pickup on the instrument. You can hear this clearly in China Cat Sunflower (E72) second break.
     
  15. BrentNC

    BrentNC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Asheville, NC
    Touch of Grey then Casey Jones myself. Didn't become a hardcore fan till I discovered the live stuff from 77. That's where I "got it"
     
  16. elaterium

    elaterium Forum Resident

    Heard Aoxomoxoa at a party in 1969.
     
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  17. wavethatflag

    wavethatflag God is love, but get it in writing.

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I think you mean a nightfall of diamonds. :)

    Some great comments in this thread, and I've heard some of these elsewhere, Vassar Clements describing Jerry's "lope" for example. I remember reading a review of a 2009 Dead show, and the reviewer saying that Warren Haynes is a much more "direct" player than Garcia. With Jerry there was no rush to the note. Rather, he'd play a bunch of other notes on the his way there.

    I remember taking a music appreciation course in college, and learning about chromaticism in classical music, and thinking "Hey, Jerry is chromatic."

    As someone else said, he sounded the same on acoustic as he did on electric. I think this has something to with his bluegrass background. Lotsa notes.
     
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  18. notesofachord

    notesofachord Riding down the river in an old canoe

    Location:
    Mojave Desert
    Was it a "barbed wire whipping party"? :laugh:

     
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  19. notesofachord

    notesofachord Riding down the river in an old canoe

    Location:
    Mojave Desert
    Oh yeah, those "love scene" improvs from Zabriskie are niiiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccceeeeeeeeee.
     
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  20. Archtop

    Archtop Soft Dead Crimson Cow

    Location:
    Greater Boston, MA
    Here's an unreleased example of not only Jerry's Nash Strat tone, but also his crazy facility on his instrument: Big River
    Check out his second solo from 3:44-4:32 (with particular emphasis on 4:19-4:24). Those Dom9 chords he slips and slides with are an easy voicing, but his rhythm that incorporates them is stupidly difficult. When you can pull this sort of thing off while improvising in front of tens of thousands of people, you have absolutely mastered your instrument.
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2015
  21. ducksdeluxe

    ducksdeluxe A voice in the wilderness.

    Location:
    PNW
    He used it some. If you have the big box the 1979 show has a version of Dancin' In the Streets where he uses it in addition to the normal effects he used for that tune. I've seen him use it on Dupree's Diamond Blues to great effect as well. But I'd say Estimated was 90% of its use, or more. Someone else may remember more.
     
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  22. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    His playing is like fine lace. Such a beautiful delicate touch, full of clour and light but profound at the same time.
    There, I had a go at explaining it!
     
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  23. elaterium

    elaterium Forum Resident

    Meat, meat, gimme my meat!
     
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  24. budwhite

    budwhite Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

    Location:
    Götaland, Sverige
    I really like his '78 sound. The Shrine shows and Eugene comes to mind. I don't know when he changed guitars again, '79-80?
     
  25. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    I find the Jerry Garcia site is the best for start and end dates http://jerrygarcia.com/guitars/#tiger Click the guitar icons at the bottom then the more details ">" at the right for the dates.
     
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