The Gretsch Pages: Discussions: Other Guitars: The Twangiest Guitar

The Twangiest Guitar

« » Page 1 2

- Rated: 17 ↑
Jun 19, 2008 7:09 p.m. TwangOmatic:

What do you guys think the twangiest guitar and or pickup is?

My twangiest is a tele but is the tele king of twang?
- Rated: 52 ↑
Jun 19, 2008 7:28 p.m. Bear:

You really need to define "twang". Any guitar with single coil pickups can sound twangy but I feel that 'twang" is defined by the original Duane Eddy recordings of tunes like "Rebel Rouser". Those were played on an old 6120 with Dynasonics and to me that is the essence of "twang".
- Rated: 7 ↑
Jun 19, 2008 9:08 p.m. Julian:

For me twang would be George Harrison playing the T. Rose with Hilos.

It has to be with single coils.
- Rated: 17 ↑
Jun 19, 2008 10:42 p.m. TwangOmatic:

Ok i wondered if it needed definition. To me twang is the vowel like neaouw sound and the more pronounced the ouw part the twangier it is. ouch, meow and now would all have some twang in them if words could be twangy. When i think of twang duane eddy does come to mind as well as the james bond theme and the shadowy men on a shadowy planet. To use a guitar to describe twang i would ask you to pluck your big E string very hard over your bridge pickup and maybe drop the bigsby a little then fret the 12th fret on the big E and softly pluck above the neck pickup, the first E is the twang and the second the anti twang.
- Rated: 17 ↑
Jun 19, 2008 10:56 p.m. TwangOmatic:

One of these day im gonna dig out my dads spectrum analyzer and try to scientifically define twang.
- Rated: 83 ↑
Jun 19, 2008 11:01 p.m. Mark Synchro:

My favorite exampe of twangy sound is Brian Setzer playing the James Bond Theme, Spies in the Night. This is the song that made me take a second look at the Dyna-equipped Duo Jet. It's certainly not the only good example of twanginess I can think of but to my mind it is an excellent example of raw twangage.
- Rated: 27 ↑
Jun 19, 2008 11:59 p.m. 57 Chet :

Sheesh!
- Rated: 27 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 12:33 a.m. 57 Chet :

More Duane

And even more Duane
- Rated: 27 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 12:45 a.m. 57 Chet :

Don't believe all that you read though!
- Rated: 204 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 1:14 a.m. Proteus:

But hmmm. In the photo, he's clearly playing on the NECK pickup of the 6120, completely counter to the how-to-twang instructions in "even more Duane."

NOW what are we to think?
- Rated: 27 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 1:30 a.m. 57 Chet :

Yep!

As I said ... Don't believe the text!
- Rated: 27 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 1:42 a.m. 57 Chet :

Deed - Can you help us out on this hot topic?
- Rated: 44 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 7:16 a.m. Richard Hudson:

I'm amazed at how these "experts" can tell you how to get the exact sound that someone gets. I have read several accounts on how to get the Duane Eddy sound. All written by "experts." None of them by Duane himself. Most all of them tell you to use the bridge pickup and pick close to the bridge. So far I have not heard anyone get the Duane Eddy sound except Duane.

IT'S ALL IN THE HANDS I TELL YA!!!
- Rated: 91 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 7:23 a.m. Baxter:

The twangiest guitar in the world is whichever one Duane Eddy happens to be holding at that particular moment.

Duane Eddy stops Chuck Norris dead in his tracks with nothing but twang.
- Rated: 25 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 7:45 a.m. Dawg:

I think a maple fingerboard '50's Stratocaster is pretty damn twangy - it has a real springy sound. My Nocaster doesn't really 'Twang' per se - it's more like a Mac truck. Hang on - yes it does twang. I guess there's a million shades of grey with 'twang'......

Dyna Gretsch guitars though - they do the job more than adequetly. Did Duane use flatwounds back in the day?- his '59 version of Peter Gunn sounds like flats to my ears
- Rated: 25 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 8:10 a.m. audiodrome:

My '63 Jaguar has one of the best "twangs" I've ever heard, especially with both pickups - full treble (think of the "I Get Around" guitar solo). I'm assuming that my DSV is going to be pretty darn twangy when I get my new SD Dynas installed.
- Rated: 30 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 9:02 a.m. JazzBoxJunky:

Gotta agree with Dawg, I have a Fullerton Plant built Fender early 80's vintage reissue Strat, Candy Apple Red like Buddy Holly's with a Maple board. It's the springiest twang I've ever heard. I would not confuse it with Duane's kinda twang, but it is super twangy. It really nails the Robert Cray kinda sound.
- Rated: 66 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 9:02 a.m. Walter Broes:

Baxter said: The twangiest guitar in the world is whichever one Duane Eddy happens to be holding at that particular moment.

Hear hear!
- Rated: 47 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 9:04 a.m. The Norm:

Duane set the bar.

The thing is, it probably was a title made up by a suit. (don't kill me if I'm wrong)

But Duane still set the bar
- Rated: 41 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 9:09 a.m. dubkitty:

I think that "twang" is a result of multiple factors, of which the most important are a fairly small tube amp that's saturated but not overdriven (if that makes any sense at all), serious reverb, a vibrato tailpiece, and PUs with a particular kind of peak in the treble/upper mids. they don't necessarily HAVE to be single-coils, cf. Neil Young's Firebird PU in the bridge position, but it sure helps. though i used to twang the night away on an ES335 with stock humbuckers in in the 1970s. but the point is, it's not all in the guitar. if i was looking for a guitar specifically to twang upon, it would probably be a maple-neck Strat with the tremolo set up to float like the guy who plays with Chris Isaak; if not that, then a 6120, a Falcon, or a Duo Jet. the Jet would definitely have Dynas, the big guitars could have either Dynas or Filters.
- Rated: 78 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 9:30 a.m. Deed Eddy:

We're in LA, it's pretty darn early but I wanted to check in..Baxter, you cracked me up! Norm, you are absolutely right, the term "Twangy" actually was first used by Lee Hazelwood's partner, Lester Sill. They were in the studio listening to a playback, and Lester said, "That sounds so twangy!" Duane wasn't too sure about it, but the record company jumped on it, and the term came to be so closely associated with Duane's sound that he probably should have trademarked the term. He's proud of it, and when discussions like this arise, it makes us both smile.

Tonite is The Hollywood Bowl show, and I'll be back with pictures in a few days. A very cool thing...Gil Bernal, who played sax on Rebel Rouser, will join Duane tonight for the first time since 1958. Also, Don Randi, member of The Wrecking Crew, will be playing piano.
- Rated: 9 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 10:18 a.m. Zol:

Bax and Chet have it right, at least in my mind, that's the sound I associate with the term - and it IS amazing that all that has been written about 'how' to get Duane's sound doesn't really get you there!

peace - Z

ps. Here's to a great show at the bowl tonight.
- Rated: 0 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 10:57 a.m. WFCharlie:

Speaking of twangy guitars, is there any way to level the staggered poles in a Fender Strat bridge pickup? I would like to have more of a Telecaster sound from that pickup. Any ideas?
- Rated: 52 ↑
Jun 20, 2008 11:16 a.m. Bear:

WFCharlie said: Speaking of twangy guitars, is there any way to level the staggered poles in a Fender Strat bridge pickup? I would like to have more of a Telecaster sound from that pickup. Any ideas?

Just leveling the poles won't achieve what you're looking for. The Telecaster pickup and Stratocaster pickups are two very different animals. You'd be better off having a pickup made for you with the tone you want. This guy can do it for you. Tom Short
- Rated: 25 ↑
Jun 21, 2008 6:24 a.m. Dawg:

You could never get a Stratocaster pickup sounding just like a Telecaster - think about it.

A Tele pickup is directly mounted to a steel plate bolted directly to a solid lump of Ash/Alder. The strings are also directly mounted to the wood. A Stratocaster pickup is mounted to a plastic scratchplate and strings are mounted to a floating block. That alters things quite a lot.