What is the Authentic Rockabilly Guitar tone?

The debate rages on about what the Authentic rockabilly guitar tone is, which guitar, which pickups etc.. let's sit down and have a proper discussion about it! We visit the likes of Luther Perkins, Carl Perkins, Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup, Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, Eddie Cochrane, Grady Martin, Brian Setzer and Danny Gatton - all trailblazers of rockabilly, to really get down to the truth! See Chapters Below.
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00:00 Introduction
00:32 What is the Authentic Rockabilly Guitar Tone
01:31 50’s / Early Guitar Tones
03:05 Scotty Moore Example
03:58 Luther Perkins
05:14 Mid 50’s
06:55 Grätsch Duo Jet ? Cliff Gallup
10:25 1957 Onwards
13:03 Brian Setzer
13:27 Filtertrons
15:05 Rockabilly Rebuild Course
15:44 Humbuckers
17:06 - Danny Gatton and back to the telecaster
17:30 the WAY people played
19:17 - Back to Danny Gatton and Brian Setzer
21:50 Summary
Gretsch Duo Jet
Gretsch Double Anniversary
www.gretschguitars.com/
Nocturne Mystery Brain
www.thenocturnebrain.com/prod...
Supro 64
www.suprousa.com/

[@AdrianWhyte]

Apologies for the camera focus issues - if I was as interested in cameras as I was guitar this wouldn't happen - I will address it though! I might even buy a new camera with money from my supporters on Patreon! If you fancy joining you'll get tabs for all my instructional videos! www.patreon.com/Adrianwhyte Or if you want to go deeper with an organised library and courses, checkout my online resource - Adrian Whyte Online adrianwhyteonline.com Thank you so much for even watching the videos, commenting and liking etc!! I really appreciate it and so does my family :)

[@Dennistcb78]

Always happy Adrian and I'm working on becoming a full member see ya 😎 TCB 😎 Rockabilly Rules 😎 TCB 😎☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕☕

[@slicksnewonenow]

Hiya Adrian - You're CLOSE... But if I may, I'll relay to you what I remember from conversations with a lot of those actual people... I'm old and was lucky enough to have met or known many of those guys. It turns out that Sam Phillips discovered he could add the echo to the early Sun recordings by running the one inch Ampex tape signal into a second one inch Ampex tape machine, as early as 1952... Every Elvis recording had this tape delay featured on it. There was also a man named Ray Butts who lived in Cairo (Kay-Roe) Illinois, who invented the very first "effects" Combo Amplifier in 1953-54, it was called the EchoSonic. (Deke Dickerson owns one of Scotty Moore's amps and also has one that was a reverse engineered prototype built at Rickenbacker, I think)... There were only about 75 or so built, but Chet Atkins got the first one. By late 1954, Scotty Moore had one that he played live shows through... And bought a second one in 1955 when Elvis discovered that they could replicate the sound of the Sun studio recordings on stage... He'd run his vocal mic through it while playing live. Luther Perkins used a Fender Esquire single pickup guitar for nearly his entire career, except for Leo Fender giving him a Jazzmaster in late '57 before they were publicly released... Also, I'm pretty sure that he also had one of the Ray Butts amplifiers from about 1957 on. Cliff Gallup's rig was an early Fifties Standel amplifier, along with an old DeArmond liquid tremolo unit and an Echoplex... He used the setup live and also in the Nashville studio in late '56 to record the first Gene Vincent album... Then he quit the band and went back to a regular job. Speaking of Standel amps, DeArmond liquid trems and the Echoplex, it turns out that THE KING GRADY MARTIN used the same set-up... Along with the two Bigsby built guitars he had. As a side note, before helping invent the Maestro pedal in the late Fifties, the "Fuzz tone" that Grady got on his early recordings, like "Train Kept A'Rollin" was because of him driving the Standel at lower volume, but running the Bigsby pickups CRANKED... the Bigsby pickups were really low-ohm and we're built using square bar magnets wrapped in square profile wire. Apparently that has something to do with their unique sound. (Big Sandy and The Fly-Rite Boy's original guitar player, T.K. Smith, makes IDENTICAL reproductions). Of course, you're absolutely correct about none of these guys using effects in the studio, on any of these famous recordings... All of that extra sound we hear on those records was on those recordings because of the tape echo used in the studio. There is one thing that I hear a lot of Rockabilly players overuse... And that's reverb. Reverb wasn't "a thing" until Fender designed the first reverb tank effect in the late Fifties ('59) and even then it was only used by the Surf Bands... But in conjunction with tremolo and delay. If course reverb as an effect was used well before the late Fifties on music recordings, but the way it was created, was by huge plates of steel hanging from springs in giant concrete rooms... Capital Records was famous for their reverb.... But it just was never really a popular add-on to the Rockabilly stuff. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone... Or burst somebody's bubble 😁 Cheers!

[@Dennistcb78]

That's a comment 😏 I'll have it translated into German. What I understood is already a mega piece of information.😎 TCB 😎 Rockabilly Rules 😎

[@AdrianWhyte]

No offense at all, brilliant to have your clarifications! Thank you so much!!! You’ve actually confirmed some things and clarified others, appreciate it a lot!!

[@slicksnewonenow]

@@Dennistcb78 cheers!

[@slicksnewonenow]

@@AdrianWhyte you bet! As I stated, I luckily lived in Nashville while nearly all of those guys were still around... I missed out on knowing Luther and of course never met Mr. Gallup. But I did meet and frequently hang out with guys like the entire "A Team" and a lot of the original Rockabillies. Grady is my idol and he and Bob Moore were two of my all time favorite people. I only wish I'd have recorded those conversations with them. Now I'm getting old, so I want to share what I learned with the younger Cats. Cheers, man. I dig your channel.

[@slicksnewonenow]

@@Dennistcb78 oh, Dennis - I forgot to add that in Germany, there's Randy Richter... He's a great guy and a wealth of knowledge.

[@gregormcgregor7522]

Great video! Thank you. Love the history. Just subscribed, can't wait for more!

[@jozR803]

Great informative Video Ace

[@AdrianWhyte]

My pleasure, this was a fun one to make!

[@theunravelers3995]

Even though it’s not a product placement, the nocturne mystery brain I used to record my entire album. Incredible pedal. It’s so cool that rockabilly slap sound was all post production

[@jeremyp2295]

My 6118t has the hilotron pick ups in it. And plugged straight into the supro delta king 12 with tones at 12 and just a touch of reverb it makes that 50s to mid 50s sound really nice. Add a little slap back and it's all kinds of fun to play the carl Perkins tunes. I really enjoyed the video. It's always neat to see how everything changed along the way and the different ways they got the tones

[@AdrianWhyte]

All I can say is, single coils rock :) hilotrons don’t get enough love but I dig em!!

[@jeremyp2295]

They are a great all around pickup, love the sound of your duo jet

[@kevintaylor8055]

Good interesting video mate well done 👏 ✔ 👍 👌

[@DeadThom-vv1qr]

Great video! In one pickers opinion it's anything that scratches that itch. Here in the crypt we dig it all!

[@AdrianWhyte]

I think that’s a good opinion! I like it!!

[@gringogreen4719]

Adrian, you sound awesome on here! Something that I would DEFINITELY recommend is START with a Rockabilly setting and then gradually put more of your mannerisms in your playing. Years ago Guitar Player Magazine did an issue on Rockabilly when Brian Setzer was jumping and jiving. The key takeaways were to use both pickups on a two pickup guitar and emphasize the upper mids and the highs while turning the bass knob down. Depending on your amp, you just have to sit there until you get the best tone you can. Keep in mind if you are in a studio, the mic picks up EVERYTHING. Live, loads of things happen so "close enough," is usually as good as optimal settings. Going back to putting YOU in your sound. I sincerely hope that everyone who reads this has the opportunity to go to a Rockabilly Weekender at least once in your life. But when you listen to Rockabilly for HOURS the main issue is that pretty much everyone sounds the same. Doesn't matter the guitars or the amps, there comes a point where your ears will have enough. This also tends to happen when you listen to Surf band after Surf band. I also experienced this a bit between 2008 to about 2015 in Psychobilly when the preferred rig was a Marshal half stack with a Gretsch Electromatic or a Brian Setzer model running through it. Find subtle ways to put more of YOU into your sound. Have another influence that weaves in and out of your sound. One band that was awesome back then was The Moonlight Cruisers and since these guys came from Southern California and were Hispanic, they used loads of Cumbia and folk influences in their songs. Great guys to hang out with too. But melding the tones of Cumbia with Rockabilly and switching back and forth, my ears did much better. I would also recommend playing with other genres of bands that you get along with as it will help you stand out and avoid the whole issue of "everyone sounds the same."😎👍✨

[@AdrianWhyte]

Fantastic contribution man, thank you! As much as social media gets canned, it’s these discussions and this interaction that is such a positive thing! Thanks mate :)

[@gringogreen4719]

@@AdrianWhyte Thank you. I have a rule that I only contribute if I can add something positive to the conversation. You took your time to make these videos and I appreciate all the work that you do. Keep up the good work my friend.😉👍✨

[@zeo5008]

Cliff Gallup

[@theunravelers3995]

He was a monster!

[@whimpypatrol5503]

Not. I am at 3:52. Maybe the tone will improve as I see a gretsch Duo Jet in the background. But i can't see how thru a Supro.

[@willw3900]

My man… you never disappoint. Open invitation to jam anytime you wanna visit the Lake Superior area. 😂

[@DamonBrazzellUkesploitation]

When you jumped from the late 1950's to Brian Setzer, it hit me that The Stray Cats and The Cramps came out at about the same time. Two very different bands that had the same inspirations and brought 1950's inspired music to a generation that had probably never listened to that style of music.

[@AdrianWhyte]

That’s a really good point, two very different regurgitations of music consumed from prior generations! Well considered my friend!

[@GoenndalfTheBlue]

Greatly appreciated Video! The lighting is superb, but what happened to the focus, it was all over the place.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Hey man, I really don’t know- it’s infuriating because this camera was working well, I’m not sure if it’s the changed lighting or if I’ve bumped something. I may just upgrade the camera 😒

[@GoenndalfTheBlue]

@@AdrianWhyte Maybe... it's Autofocus? Manually should fix it, but i don't know what you use. Nevertheless... one of my fav video of yours!

[@Tcrunk365]

Great video

[@AdrianWhyte]

Thank you! It’s one of those videos that felt really easy to make after all of these years of listening, learning, playing and teaching rockabilly! Glad it’s been well received!

[@DavidGarcia-pi9wn]

I have a jazzmaster 66 reissue with 58 curtis Novak pickups and a vibrochamp and I have tons of warmth and fidelity To my I can get the dynasonics sound on the neck, filtertron In the middle anf p90 in the bridge It’s actually the perfect guitar to ever exist

[@AdrianWhyte]

That’s really cool, hey if Luther Perkins used a jazzmaster, that’s alright with me! Actually they make a great rockabilly guitar!

[@tedc6694]

I watched Danny Gatton on a vrc tape, teaching how to make the sound of slap back without a pedal. Not frickin easy. To me, he rivaled EVH and Chet. Gaston and Jerry Reed were my heros since I was a kid in early 70s

[@AdrianWhyte]

Oh man, Danny Gatton is just amazing - he made the guitar sound larger than life! Thanks for your comment!

[@darwinsaye]

Very informative video, but I have to be honest, I was hoping for some discourse on amps and amp settings that were typically used in the early years.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Hi Mk, checkout my Pedals for rockabilly, I talk a bit more about that stuff in that video!

[@BabyBoomerChannel]

I always go back to the beginning: According to my research, Danny Cedrone (not Franny Beecher) played the guitar on Rock Around the Clock when recording in 1954. He played a Gibson ES-300 (???) with a P-90 through a BR-1.

[@michaelfox1432]

You talked about Sun studios. I saw something recently where they talked about the enormous plate they used to get plate echo/reverb. You can easily hear it on singers voices but they used on instruments as well. I'm not sure when springs started to be added to amps for reverb but the combination of the two gave that drippy tone before the 60's

[@AdrianWhyte]

Oh absolutely, mystery train which I think was 1955 had a much more prominent echo on the guitar than the earlier recordings courtesy of Sam getting a grasp on various technology + the room design! Cheers for contributing, feel free to add anything else you think of!

[@lachlangrant1588]

G'day Adrian, strange as this sounds, I think the first person to play rockabilly, or play in the style of rockabilly with a Filter'Tron equipped Gretsch was in 1962. Even though the band wasn't rockabilly by any stretch, they did perform almost note perfect covers of many Carl Perkins songs from his Sun Records era. The band is of course The Beatles, and the guitarist is George Harrison. I'd be interested in your thoughts on this. Cheers!

[@AdrianWhyte]

Ha! That’s brilliant and a very apt point- I’ll only say that Chet was over at RCA doing bits and pieces that you might consider rockabilly around that time, and a little before, but I’m not clear on what extent we were hearing that sound.. it might be something for me to research a bit actually!

[@richardfinette8506]

Great info.. Focus was not issue as the material was gold. Are you currently performing with Sun Rising? Saw a poster at Jaks Music

[@AdrianWhyte]

Hi Richard, I am playing with sun rising - where is Jaks music? Really glad to hear that, so much of my spare time goes into making and editing these videos it pains me to think about trying to figure out this camera when it’s supposed to be automatic 😡🤬 but anyhow, so glad to hear the content has come through- and also, it just came up while I was writing that you jumped on the Patreon! Thank you so much!!!

[@richardfinette8506]

@@AdrianWhyte Great place, with space for Open Mic, Stage (lights and PA) and master-classes. Warragul

[@anthonymoore1705]

you say they had mostly a dry amp sound, does anyone know when scotty moore first used that amp built by ray butts with built in echo?

[@AdrianWhyte]

That’s a great question! I suspect later in the 50s but upon another listen the delay sound on mystery train in 54 is pretty intense!

[@anthonymoore1705]

@@AdrianWhyte thanks adrian, yeah i'm not sure when scotty began using it but your right there is a lot of slapback on those early sun recordings.

[@mesolithicman164]

Can you tell me what those interesting Grady Martin solo phrases you played were from after the Johnny Burnette riffs?

[@AdrianWhyte]

I think from memory they were licks based loosely on lonesome train, which I did a full tutorial on start to finish with full tabs for free on my Patreon (you’ll need to search lonesome train or Grady Martin on my Patreon). Let me know if you need help finding it but if you KZbin search lonesome train Adrian Whyte, you’ll find it!

[@mesolithicman164]

@@AdrianWhyte Thanks. But we really know it was Paul Burlison that played them don't we!!!😉

[@AdrianWhyte]

@@mesolithicman164 hey don’t bring that up at Christmas pal!! 🤪😜😂😂😂

[@theunravelers3995]

As far as guitars, pickups and all that jazz…… rockabilly can be done on most guitars. It comes down to the player. Teles, jaguars, jazzmasters, gretsches, hollow bodied Gibson even a les Paul and strats can get you the twang you need.

[@williamd1891]

Guild Starfire SC1 nails that rockabilly tone with its split coil pickups. (Can be a humbucker or single coil) Very versatile guitar.

[@williamd1891]

Also flat wound strings give a dry, woody tone.

[@URTH-yb5xh]

Nice

[@AdrianWhyte]

Thank you!

[@robertmartinez4174]

Tone is on our fingers.

[@lesterpaul9657]

What underwear? Boxers of course with teddy bears on it.😀 But serious, good video. I like that sound even if I' m not the best Rockabilly player in the world.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Teddy bear boxers lol! I love it!!!! You don’t have to be the best mate, just do it honestly from your perspective 😎

[@Dennistcb78]

Great infos here.😎 TCB 😎 Rockabilly Rules 😎 TCB ☕☕☕☕

[@guyhillTophat]

Whyte Castle!

[@michaelpond6386]

Carl Perkins, during his rock a Billy years , tank spring reverb.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Great tip!

[@zzubuzz]

I am not a hard boiled expert on this but from what I've heard I think Scotty Moore's early recordings are "it". I keep a small room empty for natural echo and my old tube Gibson amp really sounds incredible in there. Yeah, echo pedals are ok if you don't have natural echo but real echo is what really gets you that tone.

[@AdrianWhyte]

I totally hear ya, I have a hard time getting past plugging straight in if I’m honest, I just love that sound!!

[@CC-qb9sm]

🤠

[@Dennistcb78]

Hard to say good sound is a good Sound. I need the Setzer padel 😏 😎 TCB 😎 Rockabilly Rules 😎 TCB 😎☕☕☕☕☕☕

[@charlieoscar09]

What a shame this excellent video was all over the place on focus....Made it tough to watch

[@AdrianWhyte]

Apologies, very frustrating for me as well, thanks to my supporters ill likely allocate some money to upgrading the camera because it’s really irritating!!

[@davidcollin1436]

​@AdrianWhyte always turn auto focus off.

[@hinduismwithpremananddasbhagat]

I think what they played is half the sound. I mean, you can do Van Halen with that classic sound, and its not gonna rockabilly.

[@lukehalter6181]

Says, "I'm going to try to" *continues to shred** I thought my playback speed was still at 2x there for a second!

[@rocco8222]

Gotta shave with a double edge saftey razors in a tank top to get true rockabilly toanz

[@AdrianWhyte]

Is a Gillette Mach 3 acceptable? 😬

[@rocco8222]

@Adrian Whyte no... ha ha ha, another great video, keep em comin!

[@ew3632]

Rockabilly underpants... so that's the secret to sounding so good.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Haha thanks man, that was a compliment wrapped in.. underpants! 😂

[@williamd1891]

It's gotta be 1956 underwear.