I have just about worked out the end guitar solo of Purple Rain, my question is what sound/pedles/effects does Prince use.

I am finding difficult in certain parts, especially when Prince hold a bend or implements vibrato, any suggestions?

Thank you!

You could use the distortion or the overdrive pedal of your choice but add 480ms of delay with 20% repeat.

Practice the solo without the effects first and listen to how he uses his vibrato. Make sure that your bends are in tune.


Prince has really good vibrato. On the song "With You" Prince will play a note hammered on and then bend it downward which sounds good.

To me he plays Santana stuff better than Carlos as witnessed at The Essence Fest.

Take your time and have fun with it. You can practice the spins and buy the purple coat a little later!

Hope this helps!

cranshaw62

Thanks for the tip! please Keep them coming!

On holding a bend and adding vibrato: I can do it well with some fingers, not so well with others. So experiment a little.
About the tone: even though P plays PR on the white cloud in the movie, I understand that the actual first avenue video tape of the recording shows him playing the hohner telecaster copy. So the sustain isn't because of (active) humbucking pickups. This means you'll need a lot of distortion/compression to hold a note that long. And yeah, a lot of delay. There's also chorus on there, I think.

hectim said:

Hectim - you should clarify - I know most orgers know - PR was recorded live, not in the studio. So, you COULD go track down the boot of the performance, (08/03/83) and watch in awe. I know I did.

I still can't believe that it's on single coils. The solo is hot - like "Vernon Reid through five racks" hot. Y'alls input is very helpful. You guys rock.

[ And yeah, insert jab about wanting to be prince here. ]

I don't know what it is but his distortion tone on his Tele sounds very good. That and the cloud guitar sound the best (IMHO). The distortion tones on his Strat and the symbol guitar sound fizzy and weak. And I like his playing better without the vibrato bar.

But no matter what guitar he plays he sounds great.