Analog Distortion
While its true that cranking the ever-loving bejeesus
out of an amp will produce distortion, sometimes a
new flavor is needed when an amp just gets boring.
I think we can all agree that amp overdrive is the cat’s
pajamas, but unless one owns Nigel Tufnel’s amps,
they all top out at 10. This is when homebrewed
distortion can make any amp sound like it’s on the
verge of meltdown.
Consider the case of Link Wray’s “Rumble,” a song so
distorted and raw that radio stations actually banned
its broadcast. When it was originally recorded in the
studio, it sounded more distorted than Link himself
could recreate. When the time came for Link and his
band to perform “Rumble” for the crowds that loved
it, he discovered that he couldn’t get his guitar tone
to sound just right. Link, being the resourceful man
that he is, got out his pencil and went to work…
on his speakers. Indeed, intentionally damaging his
amp’s speakers gave Link the edge he needed to
accurately produce “Rumble” in a live setting.
Several bands have used this since, with one other
notable example being “You Really Got Me” by The
Kinks. The distorted tone all over that track is all cutspeaker madness. More recently, dance-rock band
The Faint used a modern approach to this method
on the song “Dropkick the Punks;” the band cut a slit
in the speaker with a razor blade and stuck a playing
card in the slash. What card it actually was remains a
mystery.
The Faint’s method sounds a lot tighter on the final
mixdown than “You Really Got Me” or “Rumble.”
That said, the general rule of thumb is that untreated speaker wounds produce a more
open tone and treated gashes tighten the tone up significantly. Most musicians have old
speakers lying around, so when in doubt: destroy.
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TONE TALK //
DIY Workarounds for Studio Effects