Lou Reed R&R Animal Questions - Guitars used and who's in the left and right channel

[TopDog]

Most know that Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner are the guitar players on this iconic record.

Does anyone know what guitars they used? And, who's on the right and who's on the left?

 

[mbargav]

What kind of chorus is being used on the live version of "Sweet Jane"?

Ok guys, I've searched the net for the answer to this, and I can't find it. I'm trying to get the same sound as the guitarist (is it John Cale?) in Lou Reed's band on the album "Rock n Roll Animal" and the song "Sweet Jane". I've been told that it's a combination of over-drive and chorus, but...

www.thegearpage.net

Might be a useful thread for you. And if you aren't already doing it, make sure you play barre chords the way Lou did. Like when you play the opening D to "Sweet Jane," make sure you're adding the A on low E. That's a big part of the beefy sound he gets on chords. But don't do it when you come back to the D in the end of the pattern.

 

[icr]

A little off topic but check out Wagner’s solo on Here Comes The Flood from Gabriel’s first album.
Blues based Strat sounds...somewhat anti-Fripp.

 

[Carlo]

I believe Steve Hunter was using a Les Paul Junior.

 

[TopDog]

What kind of chorus is being used on the live version of "Sweet Jane"?

Ok guys, I've searched the net for the answer to this, and I can't find it. I'm trying to get the same sound as the guitarist (is it John Cale?) in Lou Reed's band on the album "Rock n Roll Animal" and the song "Sweet Jane". I've been told that it's a combination of over-drive and chorus, but...

www.thegearpage.net

Might be a useful thread for you. And if you aren't already doing it, make sure you play barre chords the way Lou did. Like when you play the opening D to "Sweet Jane," make sure you're adding the A on low E. That's a big part of the beefy sound he gets on chords. But don't do it when you come back to the D in the end of the pattern.

That link was semi useful. Thanks ---- I know its not a chorus but phase pedal.

Not interested in how Lou plays it. I'm only interested in this live record because of the band.

 

[John H]

Way, way back when....
I lived in a converted "chicken coop" with Steve for about 2 weeks!
yep, a chicken coop...

I was Engineering & Producing a Leslie West record at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati California.
Leslie wanted Steve Hunter to play second guitar with him on this release.
I was stoked to meet and hang with Steve, as he was one of my heroes! (as was Leslie!)

Funny enough, on the first day of rehearsals after meeting Steve, as soon as we were done and he & I got back into the apartment (chicken coop!) I couldn't wait to ask him about the Lou Reed Live record.

All my questions were about that intro to Sweet Jane, with him & Dick Wagner.
As it was a very big deal for me when that record came out.

Steve not only showed me the entire intro, and played both parts for me, he told me that Sweet Jane was just one of the songs in the set...
UNTIL..
About 1/2 hour before the show was to start, Lou Reed entered their dressing room and said, you know what, I wanna open with Sweet Jane, so if you guys can please figure out a intro to the song before I come out~!

Steve said, he & Dick just played around the chord changes, and came up with that part in about 15 minutes.
Then they went over it once more before the call to get onstage....

And the rest, as they say is history.

PS, Steve is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet!

 

[SoPhx]

Both played Jrs/TV P90 models and it was recorded with a DI off the guitars. It was re-amped in the studio to get those tones. I think Steve Katz came up with the idea. OK---I didn't know about the MM...mea culpa.

 

[John H]

The gear list for 'Rock'n'Roll Animal' and 'Lou Reed Live' (the other half of the same concert) is as follows:

Dick Wagner: Gibson Melody Maker (sunburst, doublecut), MXR phase 90, Marshall 100 watt stack, an acoustic guitar with a magnetic pickup (heard on 'Lou Reed Live' on 'Walk on the wild side'.)

Steve Hunter: Gibson Les Paul Junior (TV, doublecut), Fender Strat (sunburst), MXR phase 90, volume pedal, Hiwatt 100watt stack

I exchanged emails with Steve a couple of years back, discussing the above and also his work on Jack Bruce's sublime 'Out of the storm'. Dick was apparently never happy with his MM, and spent the money earned with Reed on a BC Rich, which became his main guitar for the next 20 years. I have to say, the Melody Maker with its little SC pickup sounds fine to me on the Lou Reed stuff....
Steve subsequently added a neck (strat) pickup to his LP, and 'completely ruined it' - a salutary tale, folks. He used the strat on 'Rock and Roll' and 'White Light, White Heat'. These days you're much more likely to see Steve with a Gretsch white Falcon or an SG standard.

 

[phusana]

Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter | Vintage Guitar® magazine

Even the world's greatest rock and roll showmen can't monopolize the affections of the world's youth without some help. Sorry, Alice Cooper. Sorry, Lou Reed. Yeah, they had help. Big time! Especially from Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter! Both Cooper and Reed enlisted hired-gun guitarists Wagner and...

www.vintageguitar.com

Steve Hunter:

What gear did you use on Rock and Roll Animal?

I was using a early-’70s, 100-watt Hiwatt Hundred amps. They had a certain kind of edge to them that was different from a Marshall. I had an Echoplex and the MXR Phase 100. My guitar was a ’59 Les Paul TV Special with just a P-90 pickup in the back. I also used a ’60 Strat at the end of Rock And Roll.

 

[paulg]

As I recall, TV junior’s and half stacks. Maybe one single cut and a double cut. I feel very lucky to have seen that show in 74’! Great band and Lou was mesmerizing.

 

[tiktok]

LP Jr, Phase 90, Echoplex, HiWatt.

Intro/Sweet Jane
If your speakers are wired correctly and positioned L/R correctly, Steve should be on the right which was his normal position onstage.
For some unknown reason there are some re issues that have Steve and Dick reversed in the mix. However Steve will still be the dominant guitar.

 

[Mark Robinson]

Hunter plays the main lead all through the intro, with Wagner also filling some single note stuff. When they hit the chords for the body of the song, I believe it's Wagner that drops that first savage solo right before the vocal. Between this album and Get Yer Ya Ya's out, and Band of Gypsys, that's where I got most of my early cues for how the electric guitar should be played.

 

[TopDog]

Thanks guys!

 

[huskerjohn]

The Intro/Sweet Jane tone on that Live 1973 album is among my favorite tones ever. For me, this defines the classic rock tone.

 

[Eddie-Applegate]

Kickin' thread, thanks for the info y'all

 

[Suave Eddie]

What kind of chorus is being used on the live version of "Sweet Jane"?

Ok guys, I've searched the net for the answer to this, and I can't find it. I'm trying to get the same sound as the guitarist (is it John Cale?) in Lou Reed's band on the album "Rock n Roll Animal" and the song "Sweet Jane". I've been told that it's a combination of over-drive and chorus, but...

www.thegearpage.net

Might be a useful thread for you. And if you aren't already doing it, make sure you play barre chords the way Lou did. Like when you play the opening D to "Sweet Jane," make sure you're adding the A on low E. That's a big part of the beefy sound he gets on chords. But don't do it when you come back to the D in the end of the pattern.

I saw Lou Reed with that band live when the album came out. It's so long ago I can't remember what guitars they were using. One thing I do know is that Lou Reed was not playing any instrument.

 

[tiktok]

I saw Lou Reed with that band live when the album came out. It's so long ago I can't remember what guitars they were using. One thing I do know is that Lou Reed was not playing any instrument.

Yeah, it was Bob Quine who prompted him to start playing more (any) guitar onstage, to the point where Lou decided he didn't need Quine after a few albums and tours.

 

[mbargav]

Yeah, it was Bob Quine who prompted him to start playing more (any) guitar onstage, to the point where Lou decided he didn't need Quine after a few albums and tours.

I read in a Quine interview that Reed actually wanted him to keep touring, but Quine found being on stage just playing one chord drones like Reed would want to be incredibly boring and unsatisfying.

Either way, the absolute best guitar work on any Lou Reed solo album was Quine on Blue Mask.

 

[tiktok]

I read in a Quine interview that Reed actually wanted him to keep touring, but Quine found being on stage just playing one chord drones like Reed would want to be incredibly boring and unsatisfying.

Either way, the absolute best guitar work on any Lou Reed solo album was Quine on Blue Mask.

There's a DVD from that era shot at the Bottom Line where both of them are tearing it up through... Bandit 65's.

 

[ellis dee]