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The Glen Sound

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jay
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Re: The Glen Sound

Post by jay »

Bob

Interesting that you would say "Glen always had an issue with too much Bass... I think it always bothered him all of the way to the end."

I was able to see 3 of the goodbye tour concerts and at each one, Glen would start out frustrated about the bass and then get to a point where he was totally and visibly upset that there was too much bass. He would look back at Nilsson and the kids and everyone except TJ would ignore him...because of the exact explanation that you gave. One time he looked at Shannon and told him to get Kief out of here. And I lol'ed because he hid behind Cal the rest of the concert and played bass...but Glen thought he was gone. Of course with his disease, it probably exacerbated his response...but it is interesting that Glen was always bothered by it.


Bob Willard Henke
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Re: The Glen Sound

Post by Bob Willard Henke »

When we performed on stage Glen always had an issue with too much Bass. It wasn't so much the Bass Guitar but it was the position he had on stage that exacerbated the problem. If you stand front and center on stage between the Sub Woofers you experience a standing low frequency wave develop. I talked to Glen about this and I know he understood but in the heat of the moment he'd instinctively turn to me and ask me to turn the Bass down. I'd do my best to comply but at the same time let him know it was where he was standing on stage that was the problem. I never took it personally but on one of our tours of the UK it got so bad that when we arrived at one of the venues I told the sound crew not to put a Bass Amp or Monitor on stage for me. All I needed was DI to plug my Bass Guitar into. Well, about a third of the way into the show Glen turns around to me and says "Henk, Turn The Bass Down". I pointed behind me and said "Look, No Bass Amp" and then pointed in front of me and said "And No Monitor". I think that was the moment that he realized that it was his position on the stage that caused him to hear the Bass so strongly. I think it always bothered him all of the way to the end.


Bob Willard Henke
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Re: The Glen Sound

Post by Bob Willard Henke »

Glen wasn't particular about what amp he used. As Jeff said he was happy with whatever the rental company provided. He used to joke about how he got his sound. He would say "When it comes to messin' with the amp, I'm like a monkey looking at the back of a watch tryin' to tell what time it is". He hated a guitar with more than two control knobs. He liked one volume control and one tone control. Anything more just confused him during a performance. I strung his Stratocaster with regular light gauge strings, .010 thru .046. I don't know what he used after I left but I would suspect it was the same or similar.


frankthetank
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Re: The Glen Sound

Post by frankthetank »

Thanks again Jay! You are a fountain of information.


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jay
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Re: The Glen Sound

Post by jay »

Frank,
The SD concert was towards the end of Jeff's tenure with Glen. I am sure you are familiar with the Line 6 Pod...he obviously was modding if he was using that at some point. And of course since they were making a CD and DVD, no doubt they wanted to make sure they got the sound Glen wanted at SD. So, no doubt they went above and beyond at that setting. But Jeff confirmed what I thought, they usually left their stuff at home and used what the venue had...went with a sound check and then showtime. During the tour, the G&L sounded clean to me Frank. The Hamer sounded compressed some...but electric 12s are hard to gauge to my ear...

And this just may be me...but Glen, during the tour, had problems being happy with what he was hearing through his monitor. He stuck with old school floors...so I am not too sure he was worried about tone...It appeared he was being overwhelmed by bass and volume...maybe it was just part of the confusion he was experiencing... Honestly, I think they just handed him a guitar, made sure he knew what key and let him take off. Of course he played wirelessly, so it is just a guess what he was plugged into. In Albuquerque, he thought his viper was out of tune, still having hi had a capo on and started to tune it and everyone yelled no! Too late. So Shannon took his part while they took Glen's viper and retuned it.. It was funny...Shannon said, dont worry dad, I got this...Glen said "are you sure" and Shannon nodded and then Glen made some face, teasing Shannon nodding and said something funny about kids and we'll see.


frankthetank
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Re: The Glen Sound

Post by frankthetank »

Jay bless you for the welcome and so much info on this topic. I was defense but mostly wrestled in High School. But an do I love playing guitar. Neil Young made me think it was possible and Glen Campbell made me want to strive to get better and better.

any info on effects like compressors etc? His tone on the DVD sounded very compressed and some chorus I think
I know layer it was just straight amp with a built in boost knob.


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jay
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Re: The Glen Sound

Post by jay »

Frank, here is what Jeff Dayton just shared with me about Glen's amp preference.

"He was always partial to old tube stuff like his 50s Fender Pro. He loved the old tweeds. We toured so long without personal amps that he got okay with what the back line company brought us. Here are the amps he used that I recall: always stock unless noted.
GK stereo compact model 250ML
Peavey Nashville 100
Fender Vibro King
Fender Dual Professional with 15" speaker, custom made
Fender Hot Rod DeVille
He also used a Line 6 POD for a while, one of the old ones, going into an amp.
After 2002 I don't know what he used."


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jay
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Re: The Glen Sound

Post by jay »

Frank the Tank! Welcome to the Forum!!!
Heck of a name...Offense or Defense?

I honestly don't know if Glen preferred one amp over another. I have emailed Shannon and Jeff to inquire. I have never read an article where he mentioned a fondness for one amp.
Glen played a strat at the SD venue. He played a G&L Comanche during the goodbye tour.
Similar guitars. Both designed by Leo Fender.

I saw Glen 3 times on the goodbye tour. I felt he just DI'ed into the house mix board/system.
I will let you know what I hear, if anything, about a particular amp he used.
btw, you may have already seen it, but with a little help from Jeff Dayton, I documented a little info on Glen's fondness of the Strat RIGHT HERE


frankthetank
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The Glen Sound

Post by frankthetank »

I love the tone glen got around the time of the Farewell tour. I especially loved his sound from the 2001 DVD with the SD Symphony.
What amp setting or effects do you all use to try and get that sound? I use a modified Strat that I added Lace Sensor gold pickups to. I also use a Japanese Reissue telecaster with Heavy bottom strings when I wanna play those thick tremolo solos of his. Please share!


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