Blackmore on Machine Head......AC30???

[Pete Faragher]

Hey All
This may have been covered here before but..........I have always wondered about Ritchie's tone on Machine Head. It sounds like a non-top boost AC30 to me. I know, I know he is known as a Marshall Major user. But it just does not sound like a Marshall to me. I've always thought that since the album was released. Of course back then, I didn't know what an AC30 sounded like, but I had a Strat and a Marshall and it just didn't ever add up to me. The sound is soooo smooth and compressed. with that (IMHO) high mid tone of a Vox.
I was just looking at a remastered CD jacket and for the first time I noticed John Lord sitting on an AC30!!!!.
Whadda ya think. Anyone know for sure?

 

[Peppy]

Si. Love that tone on "Lazy".

 

[Cirrus]

There was a thread about this over on the pro sound web forum about a year ago. A search might dredge it up, but some of the guys on that forum know people that were present for those sessions so the info was pretty good.

I think the consensus was that it was an ac30.

 

[oacikgoz]

treble boost pedal+AC30 Normal Channel Cranked.... That's about it. Post-Burn Blackmore tone is very different though.

 

[Shiny McShine]

Yeah, I remember reading that Marshall tried to build an amp for him but they couldn't get the tone he wanted. AC30 was the one he went with from what I remember.

 

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

That whole album just kills!!

I heard Jon Lord pumped that Hammond through a Marshall.

 

[Thelastninja]

The treble booster is a Hornby Skewes treblebooster. The Si version.

 

[oacikgoz]

In my experience, Rangemaster works almost equally well on AC30 Normal channel. Just eq the amp well, make sure bass is all the way down.

 

[paulg]

Live it was always a Marshall Major (200wt?), for that album a AC-30. I guess the MM was too loud for the studio!

 

[Pete Faragher]

Live it was always a Marshall Major (200wt?), for that album a AC-30. I guess the MM was too loud for the studio!

Studio?!?!?!?!
They were in a hotel's hallways.

 

[Steve73]

Man, some of my favourite tones are on that CD. 'Maybe I'm a Leo' and 'Lazy' are just fantastic sounds. I can really hear a lot of Clapton in his playing on the bluesier stuff. Dark and chewy and pretty much perfect! From reading the remastered jacket, apparently Lord setup his amps at the end of one hallway and Blackmore set his up at the end of another and then they all played at the crossroads of the hallway.

 

[Bigtone]

Man, some of my favourite tones are on that CD. 'Maybe I'm a Leo' and 'Lazy' are just fantastic sounds. I can really hear a lot of Clapton in his playing on the bluesier stuff. Dark and chewy and pretty much perfect! From reading the remastered jacket, apparently Lord setup his amps at the end of one hallway and Blackmore set his up at the end of another and then they all played at the crossroads of the hallway.

Maybe I'm a Lea solo, is just amazing, really killer tone,
that whole record is a masterpiece though,

Bigtone

 

[Blanket Jackson]

Thanks for this thread. I always speculated that it was a Vox not Marshall sound. Don't know why I thought that. Anyway, glad to hear my ears aren't dead yet.

 

[Blanket Jackson]

Studio?!?!?!?!
They were in a hotel's hallways.

'till some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground

 

[Ed Reed]

That was the local night club wasn't it?

 

[Blanket Jackson]

That was the local night club wasn't it?

you're right, sort of -- the Montreux Casino theater burned down, Machine Head was recorded at Montreux Grand Hotel.

 

[sled]

Smoke on the Water intro you can really hear the compressor pumping... very cool.

also, the Roger Glover Remix has some pretty interesting takes.

 

[Steve73]

regrading compression in the post above me - I think Martin did use some, but that was actually the amp. It's the treble boost, the modded pre-amp, and the Major volume set high. Even on a stock Major, once it's on 7 or 8, it compresses. It's the only amp I have ever played that can sound tight and compressed at the same time. When you add the silicon booster (that makes for a more solid attack) and use a strat - you recognize how he got his sound. Even a stock Major will do that but with the mods - forget about it. There is concet footage (doin there thing - it's on youtube) where RB's guitar volume is up all the way (it's a small show so I think he was riding the volume it for that show or just had the gain on the amp set higher so that he could get the power amp volume lower since there's people sitting right by the cabs) and then hits a note and a good second goes by before you hear it - THAT is mondo compression and part of his heavy sound.

Yeah, I remember reading a post by Dawk on his forum or on the net where he explains the mods done to the Major to achieve the sound of the guitar on Smoke on the Water. I can't remember it in detail but basically what sounds like compression is the amp sagging out and recovering.

Where did you find the individual tracks Joe? I did a Google search and couldn't find them. A PM would be great if you don't want to post it. Thanks, I'd love to hear them!

 

[Fuchsaudio]

The English series running on VH-1 (Classic Albums) showed the making of this record, and it was all Marshall, from what was shown anyway. Stellar guitar tones, no matter what it was !!

 

[5150user]

Smoke on the Water, especially the live recording that is played so often on the radio, has the best solo guitar tone I've ever heard.