Gary Richrath WHOA!

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JohnnyGtar

JohnnyGtar

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This tune is one of my favorite examples of a Les Paul through a Marshall scorching badass rock and roll guitar.

Some people hate how bright his tone was when he used the wah like on this first tune, but I love it.

Besides using the wah as a tone shaper, I read somewhere that he would adjust his pickups to sit really low and then raise the pole pieces real high. I gotta try that.

Anyone out there know what kind of Marshall he used? I've heard that he had mahogany speaker cabinets made, but can't confirm this. I wonder what speakers he used.

Jeebus on a pogo stick, he was amazing on this tune. FIRE!

RIP Gary.



No wah on this track. I would kill to get his tone. I know original PAFs vary a lot tone wise... any suggestions for killer bright sounding PAF type pickups?



Wow...



And lest we forget this monster classic...

 
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Richrath was a monster player, and I have been a long time fan of his phrasing and tone. You cannot go wrong with an old Les Paul through a Marshall.

He seemed like one of those players that was very restrained in his playing, and only played what was necessary for the song, but could knock other guitarists of that era into the dirt, when provoked.
 
JohnnyGtar said:
I read somewhere that he would adjust his pickups to sit really low and then raise the pole pieces real high. I gotta try that.
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That's how I set mine. I don't know if it's anything special but it gets the job done. Clarity, and string separation. I think it's one way you can try to tune the mud out of a darker pickup. But every time I take it to a tech they lower the pole pieces down and raise the pickup back up.
 
He had the total rock star vibe when he was performing. I wanted to be him years before I even touched my first guitar. Such a tasteful player too. He was an integral part of REO's songwriting, and they lost whatever magic they had when Kevin started winning the tug of war.
 
VonBonfire said:
That's how I set mine. I don't know if it's anything special but it gets the job done.
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Good to know!

VonBonfire said:
Clarity, and string separation. I think it's one way you can try to tune the mud out of a darker pickup.
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That's exactly what I want, clarity and string separation.

VonBonfire said:
But every time I take it to a tech they lower the pole pieces down and raise the pickup back up.
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Threaten them with great bodily harm if they do that. LOL
 
JohnnyGtar said:
That's exactly what I want, clarity and string separation.
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Might be worth a try for you. It does take a while of fiddling to get them just right, which is why I mentioned the tech screwing up my settings, lol. I lower the pickup to just a little above the trim ring, raise the polepieces to where they sound good, and then once I'm in the ballpark I tweak the overall pickup height AND the polepieces once more if need be. This way I can fine tune the volume balance across the strings as well. I tend to bring the high string pole pieces in a little tighter than the wounds.

Lemme know how it works out.. Good luck Johnny.
 
VonBonfire said:
Might be worth a try for you. It does take a while of fiddling to get them just right, which is why I mentioned the tech screwing up my settings, lol. I lower the pickup to just a little above the trim ring, raise the polepieces to where they sound good, and then once I'm in the ballpark I tweak the overall pickup height AND the polepieces once more if need be. This way I can fine tune the volume balance across the strings as well. I tend to bring the high string pole pieces in a little tighter than the wounds.

Lemme know how it works out.. Good luck Johnny.
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Will do and thanks!
 
Nice! Always great to hear “new” music. My previous exposure to Rep Speedwagon has only been the character on JoJo’s Adventure.
 
Your not going to get those tones out of a 15 watt bedroom amp or a plug in. Or a modeler. Analog beauty.
 
Tone Junkie said:
Your not going to get those tones out of a 15 watt bedroom amp or a plug in. Or a modeler. Analog beauty.
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WRONG

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Greazygeo said:
Cranked 50 watt Marshall and greenbacks. Wah as a filter and an old LesPaul. He may have used an echoplex to boost it alittle sometimes.
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Do you know what type Marshall? Plexi or metal panel?
 
Golden Country. Heard it yesterday and it brought me back in time. Richrath was a big influence on me. That live album was incredible. Seen them in '77 and they played that live album+. I believe he played an elevated 2×12 cab hence his lack of of some low end. He left his mark no doubt.
 
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