Guitar sound on Big Star's 'Radio City'

Hi everyone

I've been obsessing for the last couple days over Big Star's second album, and I was wondering (again) if any of you guys knew what gear Alex Chilton was using at the time it was recorded.

I play a little guitar myself but I'm not very good at spotting the sounds of different guitars/amps/etc., not having tried many but my trusty Squier Strat.

The sound is so absolutely magical, so shimmering it's unreal. It sounds like being stuck on George's 'Nowhere Man' (or was that John?) for a lifetime..

I assume you must already know I'm talking about the guitar parts on, for example, 'O My Soul' (very first bars), 'Life Is White' (has anyone else been absolutely struck by the 'wrong' chord at the very beginning of the song, the one that sounds like Alex was just f*cking around.. like he just banged all the strings without fretting any chord?), .. and/or all of 'September Gurls'.

Anyway, just curious.

Best regards,

Damián

 

I'd always been told that Alex played a Fender Stratocaster on Radio City, though I couldn't give you any real info on amps/pedals, etc. I've always liked the bright, ringing tone he got on that album.

 

I have always thought that Alex Chilton, as noted by Reechie, played a Strat on "Radio City". Also, it certainly sounds like he is playing the Strat through a Fender tube amplifier, which would account for the bright, shimmering tone that he got on that recording.





Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

Here's a link (if you haven't been to it already) where you may be able to do a little clicking here and there to find an answer:


http://frontlinearts.com/bigstar/

 

The first time I saw Alex, in 1985 in Charlottesville, Virginia, he was playing a Fender Mustang (I think) that night through a Vibrolux (I think, IIRC), and the tone just sounded spot-on for all the Big Star stuff that I thought maybe it was the same guitar. So at the break I asked him what guitars he played on Radio City. He told me he played all kinds of guitars on the Big Star albums: Les Pauls, Teles, Strats. He said the sound was down to the way John Fry recorded the album. He actually gave all the credit to Fry for the Big Star sound. I know the guitars mattered too, 'cause I could hear what I was hearing--there's the tone, and then there's also a certain way Alex attacks the string, sorta coming down and digging or plucking at the string instead of just picking it with a back-and-forth wrist motion.

Anyway, that's what the man himself told me. And I agree completely with everything you said about the sound, Damian.

 

This is a groovy thread!! It's funny because yesterday I was at a recording session with my friend Paul(Mother Hips) and we were having this exact conversation! We pretty much agreed that the amp has to be Fender. I'm suggesting that it's most likely a Twin because it's so clean, but it is rather punchy for a Twin. Big Star's guitar tones are the best. They've accomplished all that is shimmering, slashing, and jangly about the Vox/Rickenbacker combo, but without using Vox/Rickenbacker and thereby creating an incredible sound that is simultaneously familiar and totally unique. Jesus Christ, I love Big Star!!

 

Thanks for posting that. Agreed about the wonderful guitar sound on the #1 Record and Radio City LP's. Of course the songs are wonderful as well

I'm majorly bummed about the cancellation of the MOFI SACD #1 Record/Radio City twofer. Doesn't Fantasy own the tapes for the first 2 LP's? (hint, hint)

Chris

 

Speaking of which, who has the 24 bit remastered #1/Radio City just out from ZYX... done "from the original analog tapes with APOGEE PSX 100" ?!?

 

I don't have it, but I'm curious....how is it? Is it a disappointment like most remasters? Where do you find it?

 

I just finished listening to "Radio City" and I have to agree here that it is Alex that makes the guitar tone, not the amps and guitars. I hear Les Pauls and Strats through Fender amps, but I really think the magic is in the composition and the technique. It's kind of like Tom Verlaine, who sounds like Tom Verlaine whether he's playing a Strat, Jazzmaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Vox, Danelectro, Fender, or Musicman.

 

Big Star git?

I first saw Chilton play electric at Raul's in Austin, TX
back in '79. He had a Gibson electric 12-string (the
model with the ES-335 style body) and told me that he
had used it back in the Big Star days. Great shows,
especially on the second night when he opened up
with "Bad To Me" and "When You Walk in the Room"...

 

Haven't heard it myself, but the 24-bit reissue is available from Amazon: ASIN: B000062V3F

 

I just scored an unplayed promo copy of "Radio City" in the Ardent folder with the press pack for $50. I'm going to keep the vinyl and sell the other goodies. Maybe there will be some photos or some sort of clue to the guitars/amps used in the sessions.