Mix: Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good"

[ernstinen]

In this month's "Mix" magazine, there a really interesting article on how they recorded Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good."What surprised me was that the opening lick was recorded with a Les Paul through a Fender Twin! I've been saying that Twins can't get dirty (after playing in bands with guys that used them), but that lick sounds pretty cool! Every time that lick is repeated, he adds more Twins, Tweeds, and Champs to get that BIG sound.A very detailed article on the vibe of the recording session, mics used etc., and a good read for you Fender amp guys!Ern

[elser]

I wonder which Twin. The tweed twins really had a completely different sound than the later ones. I wonder if he had some kind distortion or something before it, cause I agree with you, I've always found Twins to be annoyingly clean and loud. Now that I think about it wasn't there a channel switchable version in the 70's? Walsh's technique was really pretty amazing too. The idea of the tone coming from the fingers was really true in his case.He is really an under rated guitarist I think. Listen to his solo on Hotel California and the way he negotiates those changes. There's 3 keys signatures in that progression and he makes it sound like all one key while Felder, though he plays a really cool solo, you can tell he's thinking about the chord structure and accidentals and all that stuff.And what a crazy character on top of it all!

[ernstinen]

Apr 12, 2009, 2:38pm, fretnoise wrote:I wonder which Twin. The tweed twins really had a completely different sound than the later ones. I wonder if he had some kind distortion or something before it, cause I agree with you, I've always found Twins to be annoyingly clean and loud. Now that I think about it wasn't there a channel switchable version in the 70's? Walsh's technique was really pretty amazing too. The idea of the tone coming from the fingers was really true in his case.He is really an under rated guitarist I think. Listen to his solo on Hotel California and the way he negotiates those changes. There's 3 keys signatures in that progression and he makes it sound like all one key while Felder, though he plays a really cool solo, you can tell he's thinking about the chord structure and accidentals and all that stuff.And what a crazy character on top of it all!Very good points, Elser! I tend to think of the 1973-1980 85-130 watt Silverface Twin models with master volume that are SO unliked they are only worth $700-$900 according to my book. Loud and unforgiving.BUT, if you go back to the 80-watters from 1958-1963, those 80-watt babies are worth $6000-$17,000! So I'm sure Joe Walsh could afford a Tweed, and the sound must be competely different from a post-CBS Twin.For instance, I had a friend that owned a 1960 brown Bassman head, which was killer for guitar. Value? $10,000!A 1970 Silverface Bassman is worth $500. Quite a difference!And, yea, that "Hotel California" dual lead is one for the ages ---Rock On ---Ern

[elser]

"I tend to think of the 1973-1980 85-130 watt Silverface Twin models with master volume that are SO unliked they are only worth $700-$900 according to my book. Loud and unforgiving."Ya and what's weird about that is 90 per cent of the time you get backlined you get a choice of either that amp or a Marshall stack, neither one of which I have ever owned or liked. Although Eric Johnson makes the Twin sound good and a lot of guys make the Marshalls sound good, I'm just more of a Bassman or an AC30 guy, classic but less omnipresent..Those tweed amps really had a sound that was just so musical, they almost sounded like an acoustic instrument in the way the amp interacted with the cabinet, I mean the cab would vibrate and you could hear the sound of the cab as well as the speaker and the tubes and all that stuff. I'm going out on a limb here but I contend that the closest you can get to that sound now is through the modelling technology. I know, I'm crazy, I never said I wasn't.

[ernstinen]

Apr 12, 2009, 10:31pm, fretnoise wrote:Ya and what's weird about that is 90 per cent of the time you get backlined you get a choice of either that amp or a Marshall stack, neither one of which I have ever owned or liked. Although Eric Johnson makes the Twin sound good and a lot of guys make the Marshalls sound good, I'm just more of a Bassman or an AC30 guy, classic but less omnipresent..Those tweed amps really had a sound that was just so musical, they almost sounded like an acoustic instrument in the way the amp interacted with the cabinet, I mean the cab would vibrate and you could hear the sound of the cab as well as the speaker and the tubes and all that stuff. I'm going out on a limb here but I contend that the closest you can get to that sound now is through the modelling technology. I know, I'm crazy, I never said I wasn't. Yea, you're crazy! If I could afford a Plexi Marshall, a couple AC-30's, an early 60's Bassman etc., I'd be in AMP HEAVEN!But I found my Soldano, which gets so many sounds I'm not gonna bitch about it! Granted, I really haven't tried out the modeling amps, but I heard a guy play through a Line 6 awhile ago, and I thought "That sounds good, but it sounds FAKE!"The BEST "modeling" amp I've ever heard (if it is one) is a Hughes & Kettner stack on the latest RUSH video played by Alex Lifeson. I "think" that amp is part modeling, and it SURE is expensive! He played through about 4 half-stacks, and I've never heard him sound better.I did a stage crew at a RUSH concert where he was playing through 4 Hi-Watt stacks, and it sounded amazing! Then he dabbled with Marshall combos, and they sounded like crap.FINALLY, he's found H&K, and whatever he's doing with those amps really work live. Maybe built-in effects, I dunno. Gorgeous, HUGE sound! ---- Alex has to toss in a few salads, but still plays great! Ern

[matthoggard]

After a lot of research lately, Ive found that HiWatt's were used by loads of famous guitarists through the years.The sounds I assumed to be marshalls and Vox and Fender were HiWatt all along.David Gilmour was my biggest surprise. I ALWAYS thought he played through Marshall tubes with a Strat. I still love the Fender Twin though. Ive heard them get dirty plenty of times. You have to play with all the eq and drive and they have to be loud but you know what they say,"If its too loud your too old!"OF course now that im in my 40's im happy with the amp going to 9 instead of 11! Matt

[mojobone]

HiWatts are a favorite of mine, as well. Stout, with more headroom than a typical Marshall and built like a brick shipyard. They even turned up on an AC/DC record or two. If you're into the Tweed thing, the Victoria Amp company makes some gorgeous stuff.

[Mark Kaufman]

Well, that opening lick may have had a lot of other amps involved too:"The opening kick and snare of “Life's Been Good” are joined after four bars by Walsh's Les Paul played through a Fender Twin Reverb; each time the pattern repeats itself, another electric guitar is layered in, using an assortment of Fender Twins, Tweeds and a Champ amp, miked with various condenser microphones including AKG 414s. The track would have four or five electric guitar layers before a dramatic acoustic guitar part is interjected, miked with a KM-84 through a UREI 1176. “Everything about the track was in creating contrasts between parts,” says Szymczyk; this motif would extend to the vocals. "

[t4mh]

Apr 13, 2009, 7:23am, lyle wrote:Well, that opening lick may have had a lot of other amps involved too:"“Everything about the track was in creating contrasts between parts,” says Szymczyk; this motif would extend to the vocals. "I agree with this statement but I get the feeling listening to modern rock and metal today that this is not what they want. More of a crammed together sound than one of contrasts.As a side note, I saw Joe Walsh live in Mobile, Alabama once. This would have been in the early summer of either 73 or 74 and that is as close as I can remember as I was in bama both summers. In any case it was before he joined up with the Eagles. On stage were a combination of Twins & Marshalls. I would rate that concert as better than average!Keith

[elser]

Apr 12, 2009, 11:29pm, ernstinen wrote:Apr 12, 2009, 10:31pm, fretnoise wrote:Ya and what's weird about that is 90 per cent of the time you get backlined you get a choice of either that amp or a Marshall stack, neither one of which I have ever owned or liked. Although Eric Johnson makes the Twin sound good and a lot of guys make the Marshalls sound good, I'm just more of a Bassman or an AC30 guy, classic but less omnipresent..Those tweed amps really had a sound that was just so musical, they almost sounded like an acoustic instrument in the way the amp interacted with the cabinet, I mean the cab would vibrate and you could hear the sound of the cab as well as the speaker and the tubes and all that stuff. I'm going out on a limb here but I contend that the closest you can get to that sound now is through the modelling technology. I know, I'm crazy, I never said I wasn't. Yea, you're crazy! If I could afford a Plexi Marshall, a couple AC-30's, an early 60's Bassman etc., I'd be in AMP HEAVEN!But I found my Soldano, which gets so many sounds I'm not gonna bitch about it! Granted, I really haven't tried out the modeling amps, but I heard a guy play through a Line 6 awhile ago, and I thought "That sounds good, but it sounds FAKE!"The BEST "modeling" amp I've ever heard (if it is one) is a Hughes & Kettner stack on the latest RUSH video played by Alex Lifeson. I "think" that amp is part modeling, and it SURE is expensive! He played through about 4 half-stacks, and I've never heard him sound better.I did a stage crew at a RUSH concert where he was playing through 4 Hi-Watt stacks, and it sounded amazing! Then he dabbled with Marshall combos, and they sounded like crap.FINALLY, he's found H&K, and whatever he's doing with those amps really work live. Maybe built-in effects, I dunno. Gorgeous, HUGE sound! ---- Alex has to toss in a few salads, but still plays great! Ern Actually when I said modeling technology I was thinking about the software modeling stuff for recording.I agree when it comes to the actual modeling amps. I tried all of them about 7 years ago and the only I liked was this onehttp://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/guitar_ ... dex.htmlSo that's my main amp now and I really like it. It doesn't really emulate the different amps all that closely, I would never mistake it for a Marshall but it really sings because of the tube in the power section.I just sold a HiWatt 50 watt combo that sounded great but it was just not versatile enough for what I do. Same thing with the Marshall combo I sold a couple years ago.But as far as software modeling goes, I think there's some really good stuff out there if you can't afford the real thing.Back in about 87 or 88 I was working at this music store in Hollywood called Johnny Guitar, it was right by Guitar Center, I think it's gone now. But we had a late fifties tweed twin in there and I got the call to take it down to Ocean Way recording so Brian Setzer could check it out.That was quite a lesson in itself, he could hear where the edges in the cabinet were loose and really just new the thing inside and out.Super nice guy but I was just a kid and so nervous I couldn't even act like a human being.He didn't buy the amp, seems to me we were asking about $3500 for it back then. But it was a pretty cool learning experience!