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"Cross Road Blues (Crossroads)" by Cream (For other videos in this series: Click here)
Artist: Originally performed by Robert Johnson and released in 1937; famously recorded live by Cream at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on March 10, 1968
Performed by: Steve Book
Difficulty: Intermediate
Guitar Tab: Available Here
The Guitar Tab:
Accurate, officially-licensed guitar tab for “Cross Road Blues (Crossroads)” available here:
Cross Road Blues (Crossroads) Guitar Tab. The first 100 users get a free officially-licensed tab PLUS everyone else gets 50%-off until midnight the day this video is first posted at Premier Guitar.
About the Song:
Cream's cover of Crossroads is ranked at #409 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The Tone:
From Steve Booke – “The guitar I used to record the lead guitar parts for my cover of Crossroads was a 1977 Stratocaster with a rosewood neck. There is a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail pickup in the bridge position, and the other two pickups are stock. There is an original Floyd Rose tremolo system that I had installed when I first got the guitar in ’87. I since then blocked the tremolo in an attempt to restore the fixed bridge type of feel that it had before I altered it. I string the guitar with 11 gauge GHS Boomers.
I used an amp simulator plug-in to record this video: Waves GTR. I have a preset I designed for this amp simulator called “Blues Tone”, which is a moderately clean amp/pedal combo. Basically, this is a clean setting on warm with the drive set at 7.5, the bass at 1.1, the mids at -0.4, treble at -0.6 and the presence at 6.4. The cabinet model was a 2x12” closed back with a dynamic 409 mic off-axis. The air knob (which simulates a natural space between the speaker and mic) was set at -35.2. The signal path is the guitar into the PRS guitar interface. This interface is a custom DI designed to get an optimal sound when recording with the plug-ins. The DI then went into a Neve 1073 mic pre, which when into the A/D converter (a Lynx Aurora 16).
As far as the effects go within Waves GTR, I just used an overdrive pedal (tube screamer simulation) with the drive at 78, level 50 and tone 26. The graphic EQ was set at slightly boosting 250 hz and 500 hz, slightly more boost at 1k, a little more boost at 2k, and even more boost at 4k.”
The Gear:
- Lead Guitar: Fender Stratocaster (1977) with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail bridge pickup
- Rhythm Guitar: Fender Telecaster (2006) with stock pickups
Player Tips:
From Steve Booke – “There are two particularly challenging parts in Crossroads. The first is the main riff. Yes, it’s simple, but the subtle muting, bending and vibrato are what really make it sound great. It took some time to get the vibe ‘just right’ for this main riff, so definitely don’t rush over it just because the notes are simple. The second solo also provides a bit of a challenge (especially near the double-stop section about 2/3rds of the way through this second solo). Overall, this second solo has a much more impromptu feel, which makes nailing the timing particularly difficult – this is a section that definitely takes some practice to get just right.”
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