Hi,

Just wanted to get a guitar tech's opinion on this. What kind of effects does Prince use on the guitar intro to the song Sign 'O' The Times on the video cassette?

Does he use a rackmount or does he use foot pedals? I heard distortion and delay in the sound, but is there anything else?

I'd like to hear that intro with a Dunlop "Wah-Wah" pedal, even the Dunlop "Jimi Hendrix" pedal.

Thanks.

devilman said:

Im doing a music technology degree so I hope I can help.

There is some distortion but its acually just amp over drive & not a pedal. The sound u hear as delay isnt actually delay, if u listen closely, the echo is only on certain parts of the intro & actually echos identically to the one before it. This is known as echo, which granted is a type of delay

He uses a mixture of digital & analogue effects so the analogues are stomp boxes on the floor but the digital is on a rack but controlled by a midi pedal.

U should read this article on his guitars & sound, its great

Lewis

DAMN,
He asked.. and got the answer!
nice.

Hello thecloud9mission, thanks for your expertise. I really
appreciated your help.

I am going to try that out and see if I can duplicate the
sound with my telecaster.

devilman said:

Thats where the guitar comes in too. U may find it hard to acomplish your sound on a telecaster as these have a very trebley sound. Its all down to the neck on the cloud guitar see. He always uses fender style bodies, electronics & frets with a gibson style neck. It may not sound like much difference but the Gibson neck is much shorter so while the strings are still tuned to the same note, the strings are actually slacker. Thats how come not many people can re create his sound because his guitars are hybrids if u like. Thats what gives him that warmth to his tone.

The echo effect I was speaking of is actually a digital copy of an old effect called tape echo. A tape echo used to be used by the beatles to get their guitar echo! Tape echo was literally a short cassette tape connected to ur guitar that recorded the last bit of what u played & played it back. Thats what delay used to be. My dad used to use it & said sometimes u'd set it up for a gig & it would echo the last chord u played the night before lol.

Anyway, I have a Boss G700 digital effects rack that has a simulator of a tape echo & I'm pretty close to the sound just now on my dads Gibson.

The sound also has reverb on it & a little chorus to make it brighter btw

Glad I could help

Lewis

Cloud, very impressive shit. Does your Dad like Prince too? That would be cool if he did. I'm gonna get my kid (when I have one) to learn the guitar as soon as he can walk. He'll hate me for a year then he'll be thanking me.

Wow!

SmegHead said:

Im studying a degree on this stuff & plus I do a [b]lot[/] of recording at home so I have to know how to achieve the sounds I want quickly. I dont know that much really, my Dad knows a lot more than me.

Lewis

DMSR said:

Yeah my Dad got me into Prince. We were watching TV one night & he said, u have to see this (looking at the TV guide). I changed the channel & there he was, Prince!

Hes not as obsessed as me, but he appreciates people who can play like that.

Yes definatly get ur kid some guitar lessons. I teach drums for a living now & its made me realise how important it is to start young when I see my younger pupils catching on. I never needed coaxing to play as I just took one look at my Dad on stage & knew that was what I was destined to do. I started learning my instruments at 3 but be careful not to put him in for lessons too early.

I personally wont teach anyone below the age of 7. So many of my pupils parents were wasting their money, before I introduced the 7 minimum, as their child was just too young to teach.

My best advice is that you get him a guitar as soon as possible & let him play around with it for a while. This will give him a feel for the instrument & you will also see if hes interested or not. When u know hes keen, then get him lessons. Then he'll be thanking you

I hope my advice helps as I just see too many parents in my line of work wasting their time & money. My youngest was 5 at one point & it was impossible to teach him. However, I advised his Mum to bring him back when hes 7 & hes now the best pupil I have

Lewis