"original Sound from the 60-ies"

Among musicians and collectors of today they tend to discuss and speak in regards of the sounds of the 60-ies. How an actual instrument or voice during the time was sounding with the equipment of that era.

With this in mind they wisit the local musicstore in order to buy a guitar and amp that has the 60-ies sound, now a days called a vintage sound. What I do find very interesting is that they with the vintage sound in mind mean a sound that is often distored almost like Jimi Hendrix.

They want a Stratocaster that doesnt produce a clean sound, and a similar amplifier! But during the actual 60-ies working in a musicshop I often met the problem with customers and their guitars.

- There must be something faulty with me guitar, it sounds like shit, they said and handed over a nice Stratocaster that acutally did have a distorted output and they wanted it to be rapaired.

What happened was the the lacquer insulation in the microphones had dryed and cracked causing shortage in its windings. This made the microphone produce a distorted sound, and not a clean one, as when it was new.

Those microphones was then partly dismantled and dipped in heated lacquer, after drying they was again working as new, producing a clean undistorted sound.

In a similar manner musicians began to dislike their tubeampliers. They alwas makinf a noice and especially at high output volumes they produced a distorted sound. The heat from tubes often made the capacitors dry out and partly break down causing unwanted sounds. In a matter of a few years companies started to offer the new type of amplifiers.

The new Silent Solid State amplifiers. On my behalf I swapped med nice VOX AC50 for a Burns Orbit Double 12 solid state amp. As many others did, well maybe the main part of musicians did that swap. (perfect for the upcoming to be collectors - a good VOX was at sale for peanuts).

In the late 60-ies early 70-ies everyone was desperate to have the sound of Jimi Hendrix and others similar in musicstyle.

With those new silent solid state amp´s they was forced to either crack loudspeakers with a razor(common) or in other ways electronicly force the amp into malefunction. The sollution of the problem was different gadgets, pedals that made the sound distorted.

Even manufactors of guitar microphones started to produce mic´s that produced a distorted sound alrady as new, calling them high output, or some other fancy names.

A new era in music was coming. Suddenly everyone was back searching for the vintage sound! But what was that sound, was it the sound from worn out microphones and cracked amps, or was it the clean sound this instruments did have as New?

So, was the sound of the the 60-ies like the clean guitars of The Shadows or the cranked out sound of Jimi?

By the way saw and heard the WHO on a conswert in Gothenburg, where they started to crash their instruments and amps. A guitar was smashed in the floor so it brooke down in pieces and guitar was smashed into the speaker of a huge Marchall mowing it to amplifier heaven. The hole performance made me sad, so sad that instead of enjoying their great music, I left the place with their expensive instrument distruction in mind only. It took me years to overcome this concert and once again starting to enjoy their music.

Output Hysteria! Just something about sound that came up in me mind, during me writing all this nonsense. As a youngster wisiting a concert with the Beatles in Gothenburg, I came to realise and look into what gear this popgroup used on stage at this arena event.

There was John playing a Rick thrue a VOX AC50, George with his Country Gentleman and a similar amp. Paul with His cute H;fner bass using a VOX 100 topbost. Plus their song microphone running thrue a VOX 100watt amps with a couple of speakers. Thats all in front of an audiens of app 10000 screaming girls.

Natuarly from my seat it was impossible to hear anything but the screaming. But still in mind, they used app a maximum of 700 watts.

At my bands last performance at a club in Malmoe 15 years ago, we used almost the same equipment. 700 watts, but all our amps including the drums was going thrue loads of microphones connected to a 6000 watt PA/system. This for an audience of almost 200 people.

Today using Our livingroom partly as a studio I use a VOX like the one pictured. There is all the power I might need, in fact much more thenI had om me first gig in the early 60/ies. It can also reproduce all the so called 60-ies sounds that I need.

Similar amps is today produced of lots of other manufactors. Amp´s with loads of sound gadgets buildt in. But still I do miss that real 60-ies tape echo!