Guitar sound in Chris Isaac's Wicked Game

[dmarkj22]

I really didn't appreciate it back when it came out but after 20 years or so I have really grown to love the beautiful tone and playing of Calvin Wilsey in that song. I know he used a Strat and a Silverface Twin with some delay and echo. Anyone else appreciate the guitar playing and sound in that song?

[High Gain Junkie]

I was just listening to it earlier today thinking how great the guitar sounds.

[shg]

Originally Posted by dmarkj22

I know he used a Strat and a Silverface Twin with some delay and echo.

Slightly more complex

Guitars are key to the song. Isaak himself played two acoustics: one standard and one in a Nashville-style high-strung tuning he'd picked up from Night Ranger's Jeff Watson. The haunting lead was by Silvertone's guitarist at the time, James Calvin Wilsey; that, too, was painstakingly crafted. Although Wilsey's melody had been written and played with the live tracks, the version that appears on the record was put together from numerous tracks overdubbed over a period of a couple of weeks, then comped and refined piece by piece.

One of the subtly cool sounds on the track is a MIDI'd string sound triggered by the lead guitar. “Jimmy's Strat had a custom MIDI setup,” notes Needham, “and he played the underlying string pad that goes along with the guitar. [Keyboardist] Frank Martin also played a little sustaining part along with it. It's the only keyboard part on the song; you hear it like a little drone.”

Another striking effect on Wilsey's guitar, which was played through a 1964 Fender Deluxe amp miked with a Shure SM57, is a long, quarter-note, triplet delay that swells up at the end of certain notes. To create it, his mono guitar track was sent to a TC Electronic 2290 for pre-delay, then fed to an Eventide H3000 stereo Rich Chorus program. The effect is that the mono guitar hit swells up into the delay, then spreads out into the stereo chorus to create a kind of pad. (Engineer Mark Needham) rode the effect up at each spot by hand, then automated it and printed onto a track of the MCI.

http://mixonline.com/recording/inter...isaaks_wicked/

[DRS]

Wilsey is a member at FDP and he has said that he doesn't recall all the stuff in the above article. He has said he can get his tone with his strat and any BF amp. So who knows . . .

[weshunter]

somebody posted a soundclip with an axe fx tone where they just dead on NAILED it this week.

[TNJ]

Our band does that tune, and our lead singer/guitarist captures the vibe of that Strat quite nicely. His delay and use of whammy bar are spot on.
He has a Fender Am Std Strat, a Boss Delay, Boss RV unit and a '66 Fender Deluxe (non reverb).

S.
j

[therhodeo]

Originally Posted by DRS

Wilsey is a member at FDP and he has said that he doesn't recall all the stuff in the above article. He has said he can get his tone with his strat and any BF amp. So who knows . . .

I remember reading an interview with Wilsey where he swore it was just a strat into a silverface twin (I think on the amp) as far as his part went.

[Stratofuzz]

If you dig that sound, check out Hank Marvin and The Shadows.

[Sidney Vicious]

Wilsey is also on TDPRI as I recall goes by WickedGTR. Good dude funny and an excellent guitarist.

[gtr_5155]

Originally Posted by Stratofuzz

If you dig that sound, check out Hank Marvin and The Shadows.

Not to minimize Hank,but the tone on Wicked Game is a cut above.

[mountain blues]

The studio sound is superb, and at the same time I've seen Hershel Yatovitz nail that tone to perfection live with his Strat and a Twin. Of course, Hershel is that good and more...

[bluesjunior]

Originally Posted by Stratofuzz

If you dig that sound, check out Hank Marvin and The Shadows.

You beat me to it. After reading the "dubious" amount of studio effects etc in post 3 I thought well Hank B has been getting that sound with a guitar an amp a little reverb and echo for over 50yrs.

[WahmBoomAh]

Originally Posted by therhodeo

I remember reading an interview with Wilsey where he swore it was just a strat into a silverface twin (I think on the amp) as far as his part went.

did he take part in the mix ?

[therhodeo]

Originally Posted by WahmBoomAh

did he take part in the mix ?

No idea.

[Chris Scott]

Of all the tunes on our setlist, the one Issak tune we do (Things Go Wrong) gets arguably the most attention put on levels and dynamics, as well as tone, and is one of my all-time favorites to play - lots of space, lots of emotion.