I was watching that Amazing Journey / Story of the Who DVD .....

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

and while Pete's Hiwatt backline got plenty of film, they never once mention anything about the gear.

One comment was something like " The Who were developing such an amazing FULL rock sound out of just a guitar, bass and drums ..... it was incredible! "

I was thinking ..... well Gee, I wonder if those stacks of Hiwatt heads and cabs helped at all?

...... anyway, it's a cool flick. I wonder how Pete's hips and knees are doing these days?

 

[StompBoxBlues]

It's a good point, and a sore spot for a lot of us. Back in the 70's, 60's, they were so avant garde, the "documentaries" of the musical happenings, yet it almost seems the hippies at the time thought Hendrix made the guitar sound that way with his incredible mojo, not having anything to do with the stacks, pedals, etc. (and to this day we say "it's all in the fingers"...well yeah a LOT but fingers don't make wah, vibe, fuzz sounds...and the amps had something to do with the signature sounds as well) around him. It was some magic...

For whatever reason, they just never show the equipment except as a backdrop. I wonder sometims, the prevailing mindset was that computers were inherently "bad" and that technology was the establishments tools, that we needed to go "back to nature" so I wonder how much simply was that they wanted to think of it as guitar/drums/bass as if they could have played out in some electricity-free commune or something.

I am wondering if it didn't ruin the narrative, or something because with Hendrix as just one example, there are tons of pictures, but very few showing a good shot of his gear or pedals, or guitar or amp settings...

Just a thought.

 

[DGDGBD]

Rock-umentaries never focus on the gear. It would be nice if they did, but most fans don't give a crap. If I remember correctly (its been a while) the Kids are Alright film talks a little more about the WHo's smashing of gear and shows them pushing a hiwatt stack over as a studio gag during a TV appearance.

 

[reno88]

check entwistle's vintage marshalls. i can only imagine what the volume must have been like, particularly in the 69-72 era. the opera house gigs must have been an incredible experience for eveyone as well.

 

[daddyo]

Only us guitar geeks obsess about the gear

 

[Tripower455]

Great documentary.....

The Hiwatt era Who simpy rocks..... The amount of sound that they produced with one guitar, one bass, drums and vocals is astonishing.....