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Looper's Delight
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<<>>does anyone know what signal chain Robert Fripp uses to get that tone? I've always liked that. It sounds like a fuzz box to me, maybe with an octave.<< I think it's just shit-loads of gain, though you never hear any buzz or hiss.... the guitar itself is a major factor; you'd never get sustain like that from a stratocaster.... it would have a lot more "character". another thing about fripp's sustained notes is that he seldom applies vibrato. this lends his solos a strange emotionless quality. whereas mr torn will wobble all over the place. probably the same amount of sustain, just used differently. also, mr fripp uses his tone controls very carefully- it's quite a mellow sound compared to, say, gary moore playing the same sort of guitar through the same amp and on the same pickup. but this would be the famous "skysaw" e-bow-less sound that eno introduced him to, and therefore probably deeply secret. I think fripp has a tiny e-bow built into the palm of his hand, meself. doesn't that sound a bit like him on that "we are all made of stars" tosh by moby melville? anyway, no octaver.>> Well, at least in the early 70's, Fripp used just a volume pedal, wah wah, and fuzztone, with, I think, a tape delay of some kind (for regular echo effects). Fripp did an interview in Guitar Player back in 73 or 74 (Earthbound is mentioned, and so if Bruford, so it had to be about that time frame), and he said he wasn't even sure what brand wah wah or distortion pedal he was using at that point, and added "I've been able to get my sound regardless of what fuzztone I'm using" or something like that. At least the way it appears on records like Earthbound, I think it's the fuzztone, combined with the careful use of the wah wah and the tone controls on the guitar. I remember reading where Steve Stevens (when he was still playing in Billy Idol's band) said that he used "an old Robert Fripp" trick, which revolved around using the neck pickup and backing off on the tone control. I think he said that he prefered to use a Rat pedal, whereas Fripp used a Big Muff (not sure about the early 70's, but I know I read in other articles where Fripp mentioned using a Big Muff, and also that he used to use a Burns Buzzaround as well, in later articles and one of the boffins working for him build a switching unit that allowed him to switch between any distortion pedal he wanted). I also think part of the sound comes with the playing style, using a lot of hammer ons, pull offs, and slides. Nowadays, of course, Fripp has that Fernades Les Paul copy (actually, a couple of them, at least, I think) with the Sustainer built in, so "infinite" sustain is no problem. ===== May you never thirst! The Scuba Diver Presently Known As Chris "What do you get when you give a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos?"-James Earl Jones __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com