Ritchie Blackmore

[docgorpon]

What amps was he using during the heyday of Rainbow?

[bjm007]

Non-master Marshall stacks............

Probably some Plexi's all the way up through some early 70's metal panels.

I think they were 100 watters, but there are many who think they were the 200 watt "Majors"

[Lespaulsignature 74]

I have read several posts on the forum that say he used 200 watt Majors..Whatever Marshall he was using he always attained KILLER TONE !!!

[docgorpon]

It's an amazing tone. Tight, heavy and solid.. but not super hi gain by moder standards. He always used single coils too, right? Maybe that had something to do with it.

[Geetarpicker]

When I was in my early 20s our band got to backup Rainbow. Richie had a couple full stacks with modded Marshall major heads. The club was about 1200 seat, and they miked his amp setup. I'm pretty sure his had master volumes added.

[blastastick]

His pickups were all modified, and were actually stacked humbuckers.

[indravayu]

Ritchie also used a tape delay - he claims it didn't affect his tone, but surely it must have added some sort of color;

http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/003083.html
“Mistreated” was an extraordinary example of you playing a slow blues and using the ReVox for that slow repeat delay.
RB: Yeah, it was good.
Have you subsequently changed to an Echoplex?
RB: I don’t use an Echoplex. I use my own thing. I made like my own tape recorder up as an echo. It gives me an echo when it’s played back. It’s hard to explain. I just overload the input side and I can get my sustain as well. It doesn’t thin out my sound like all the echoes do. Echoes always thin the sound. The way I’ve got this built is to give me the exact same sound that I’ve had if I was actually plugged straight into an amp without all that bloody extra circuit.

[It's Time!]

[steadygarcia]

Wow. You see, to me, this is the best part of the TGP experience. This is all fantastic information, and thanks to all for sharing it. Not that I'm a huge Blackmore fan, but I did listen to some Rainbow while in college, and strange as this may sound, now that I've read the info above, I feel like a more well-rounded individual. Laugh if you want to, but it's true.

[alguit]

Ok, here's an opportunity for me to spread the word about BSM's RPA booster. RPA stands for "Ritchie's pre-amp. The pedal has gain and volume knobs, and they worked to replicate the path his guitars would take, from the Aiwa tape recorder to the heavily modified Majors.

I have one, and into an amp with either the power tubes starting to add something or a good lead channel set to very little overdrive, this thing nails that tone really well.

I'd put up samples, but I am old and do not know of such things!

Still, check out the BSM website for more info.


-Alan

[jtm622]

Originally Posted by Joe F

The tape deck is an Aiwa TP-1011. It's used both to boost the amp and it had a switch installed so that he could turn it on for echo. It's a sound on sound design, so it can be used as a tape delay.

Not what the OP asked, but...
The tape deck Blackmore was running thru on the Deep Purple "Machine Head" tour was definitely a Sony model 650 reel-to-reel... I still have one stored away, myself - bought it after I saw his!!!
That Sony could be use to slightly overdrive the pre-amp of that NMV Marshall Major, and add a little "hair" and "sustain" to that "Strat-direct-into-Marshall" normally "thin" sound (it could also be used to add a little "echo", of course.)

P.S. - If you've ever played a Strat DIRECT into a cranked 100-watt Marshall Stack with a NMV head, you may experience "Strat-itis" with that rig on a level that you didn't imagine was even possible. The fact is that most everybody playing Strats into NMV Marshalls in those days utilized something to "sweeten up" the signal.

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by jtm622

Not what the OP asked, but...
The tape deck Blackmore was running thru on the Deep Purple "Machine Head" tour was definitely a Sony model 650 reel-to-reel... I still have one stored away, myself - bought it after I saw his!!!
That Sony could be use to slightly overdrive the pre-amp of that NMV Marshall Major, and add a little "hair" and "sustain" to that "Strat-direct-into-Marshall" normally "thin" sound (it could also be used to add a little "echo", of course.)

P.S. - If you've ever played a Strat DIRECT into a cranked 100-watt Marshall Stack with a NMV head, you may experience "Strat-itis" with that rig on a level that you didn't imagine was even possible. The fact is that most everybody playing Strats into NMV Marshalls in those days utilized something to "sweeten up" the signal.

I remember reading an interview where Ritchie said he could hardly stand playing without that tape preamp because it sounded too shrill without it.

Ritchie Blackmore
("Guitar Player", December 1997)

"...It's my preamp, which is an old souped-up Aiwa reel-to-reel tape recorder that I originally used as a tape delay. It has an input and an output stage, so I plugged into it and noticed that it gave me a fatter sound - about a 3-watt boost. I used it from that day on. If I don't use it, the sound is too shrill. It seems to calm the sound down and give it more midrange. I just thought it was a normal tape deck, but now it's become this little soul on the side of the stage. It's like my little friend