This is probably not a good place to shop for acoustic treatment and soundproofing materials.
Photo by Francine Girvan, Wikipedia Commons
In last month’s column, Keeping the Peace, we began exploring the issue of sound control. We looked at both controlling the sound from amps and other instruments that bleeds out from our space and controlling external noise from wafting into our microphones when we’re recording. You may have just noticed that I didn’t use the word “soundproof,” which implies that sound is completely stopped cold in its tracks and prevented from leaving or entering the room. In the real world, achieving a truly soundproof space is extremely difficult and extremely expensive. But what we can do is knock down the level of sound that is escaping from or coming into the room.
A professional acoustician will have a large bag of tricks to draw from to achieve sound control. There’s a lot of science, education, and experience behind what those guys do. If you can afford to hire one to create a studio for you, I highly recommend it! But whether you hire a pro or do it yourself, there are several components to controlling sound that we can address. What will work for you all depends on your specific space and situation.
Mass — Sound travels by vibrating materials. Whether we’re talking about air, water, metal, drywall, wood, or whatever else, the principle is the same. It probably seems obvious, but the more mass a material has, the harder it is to make it vibrate. It’s also a matter of how inert a material is and where its resonant frequency falls. For example, a thin brass pipe might ring like a bell when struck, because it vibrates easily. On the other hand, a sheet of lead probably won’t ring at all, no matter how hard you strike it. One of the main components of sound control is mass. But it has to be mass that is installed correctly to prevent resonance. In studio design, for example, you might use two layers of drywall on each side of a wall to increase the mass of the wall, instead of just a single sheet.
Air Space — Air between two boundaries (such as between the sheets of drywall on the two sides of a standard wall) helps to control sound transmission. The bigger the air space, the better. The key here is making sure the boundaries on the two sides of the air space aren’t resonating.
Decoupling — This has nothing to do with breaking up with your significant other over noise issues. Decoupling means preventing the vibrations in one surface from causing another surface to vibrate. Many of us use foam pads or other decouplers under our studio monitors to prevent vibrations from being transmitted into the desk or stands on which they are sitting. In pro studios, the floor and even the walls and ceiling might be mounted to springs or rubber pucks to prevent vibrations from propagating.
Tight Seals — Sound can travel through the smallest of openings. The more airtight you can make the space, the more you will control the sound. Be it gaps around and under doors, AC outlets punched through wall surfaces, or holes cut for lighting fixtures and light switches—all of these and more can reduce how tightly a room is sealed. Let’s also not forget about heating and cooling vents and returns. Sound will travel right through these into the duct-work, and from there, throughout the rest of the building.
Mythbusters
When it comes to acoustics and sound control, there are a lot of myths floating around out there. So let’s bust a few of them.
Acoustic foam or fiberglass
panels will help with
sound control.
FALSE. Absorptive materials,
such as acoustic foam, will do
the job of taming and tuning the
acoustic response inside your
room, but will do little to prevent
sound from escaping into
the outside world.
Egg cartons can be used for
sound control.
VERY FALSE. Let’s not even go
there. Egg cartons are for transporting
and storing eggs.
Using carpet on the walls
and ceiling is a good option
for sound control.
FALSE. In fact, from an acoustic
standpoint, carpet on the walls
and ceiling is generally a bad
idea inside the room because it’s
a poor acoustic absorber and will
do next to nothing in terms of
blocking sound from escaping.
Now that we’ve looked at some of the components of sound control, we can begin to look at how to utilize or address those components in our spaces to cut down on noise escaping or entering. Tune in next month, we’ll get started!
Mitch Gallagher's latest book is
Guitar Tone: Pursuing the Ultimate Guitar
Sound. He is the former Editor in Chief of
EQ magazine. In addition to being a writer,
he is a freelance recording engineer/producer/
mastering engineer, teaches music
business and audio recording at Indiana
University/Purdue University, and is Sweetwater’s Editorial
Director. www.mitchgallagher.com
Gibson originally launched the EB-6 model with the intention of serving consumers looking for a “tic-tac” bass sound.
The Gibson EB-6 was announced in 1959 and came into the world in 1960, not with a dual-horn body but with that of an elegant ES-335. They looked stately, with a thin, semi-hollow body, f-holes, and a sunburst finish. Our pick for this Vintage Vault column is one such first-year model, in about as original condition as you’re able to find today. “Why?” you may be asking. Well, read on....
When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye. The real competition were the Danelectro 6-string basses that seemed to have popped up out of nowhere and were suddenly being used on lots of hit records by the likes of Elvis, Patsy Cline, and other household names. Danos like the UB-2 (introduced in ’56), the Longhorn 4623 (’58), and the Shorthorn 3612 (’58) were the earliest attempts any company made at a 6-string bass in this style: not quite a standard electric bass, not quite a guitar, nor, for that matter, quite like a baritone guitar.
The only change this vintage EB-6 features is a replacement set of Kluson tuners.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
Gibson, Fender, and others during this era would in fact call these basses “baritone guitars,” to add to our confusion today. But these vintage “baritones” were all tuned one octave below a standard guitar, with scale lengths around 30", while most modern baritones are tuned B-to-B or A-to-A and have scale lengths between 26" and 30".)
At the time, those Danelectros were instrumental to what was called the “tic-tac” bass sound of Nashville records produced by Chet Atkins, or the “click-bass” tones made out west by producer Lee Hazlewood. Gibson wanted something for this market, and the EB-6 was born.
“When the EB-6 was introduced, the Bass VI was still a glimmer in Leo Fender’s eye.”
The 30.5" scale 1960 EB-6 has a single humbucking pickup, a volume knob, a tone knob, and a small, push-button “Tone Selector Switch” that engages a treble circuit for an instant tic-tac sound. (Without engaging that switch, you get a bass-heavy tone so deep that cowboy chords will sound like a muddy mess.)
The EB-6, for better or for worse, did not unseat the Danelectros, and a November 1959 price list from Gibson hints at why: The EB-6 retailed for $340, compared to Dano price tags that ranged from $85 to $150. Only a few dozen EB-6 basses were shipped in 1960, and only 67 total are known to have been built before Gibson changed the shape to the SG style in 1962.
Most players who come across an EB-6 today think it was a response to the Fender Bass VI, but the former actually beat the latter to the market by a full year.
Photo by Ken Lapworth
It’s sad that so few were built. Sure, it was a high-end model made to achieve the novelty tic-tac sound of cheaper instruments, but in its full-voiced glory, the EB-6 has a huge potential of tones. It would sound great in our contemporary guitar era where more players are exploring baritone ranges, and where so many people got back into the Bass VI after seeing the Beatles play one in the 2021 documentary, Get Back.
It’s sadder, still, how many original-era EB-6s have been parted out in the decades since. Remember earlier when I wrote that our Vintage Vaultpick was about as original as you could find? That’s because the model’s single humbucker is a PAF, its Kluson tuners are double-line, and its knobs are identical to those on Les Paul ’Bursts. So as people repaired broken ’Bursts, converted other LPs to ’Bursts, or otherwise sought to give other Gibsons a “Golden Era” sound and look ... they often stripped these forgotten EB-6 basses for parts.
This original EB-6 is up for sale now from Reverb seller Emerald City Guitars for a $16,950 asking price at the time of writing. The only thing that isn’t original about it is a replacement set of Kluson tuners, not because its originals were stolen but just to help preserve them. (They will be included in the case.)
With so few surviving 335-style EB-6 basses, Reverb doesn’t have a ton of sales data to compare prices to. Ten years ago, a lucky buyer found a nearly original 1960 EB-6 for about $7,000. But Emerald City’s $16,950 asking price is closer to more recent examples and asking prices.
Sources: Prices on Gibson Instruments, November 1, 1959, Tony Bacon’s “Danelectro’s UB-2 and the Early Days of 6-String Basses” Reverb News article, Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars, Tom Wheeler’s American Guitars: An Illustrated History, Reverb listings and Price Guide sales data.
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
Released in 1983, the Roland SDE-3000 rackmount delay was a staple for pro players of the era and remains revered for its rich analog/digital hybrid sound and distinctive modulation. BOSS reimagined this retro classic in 2023 with the acclaimed SDE-3000D and SDE-3000EVH, two wide-format pedals with stereo sound, advanced features, and expanded connectivity. The SDE-3 brings the authentic SDE-3000 vibe to a streamlined BOSS compact, enhanced with innovative creative tools for every musical style. The SDE-3 delivers evocative delay sounds that drip with warmth and musicality. The efficient panel provides the primary controls of its vintage benchmark—including delay time, feedback, and independent rate and depth knobs for the modulation—plus additional knobs for expanded sonic potential.
A wide range of tones are available, from basic mono delays and ’80s-style mod/delay combos to moody textures for ambient, chill, and lo-fi music. Along with reproducing the SDE-3000's original mono sound, the SDE-3 includes a powerful Offset knob to create interesting tones with two simultaneous delays. With one simple control, the user can instantly add a second delay to the primary delay. This provides a wealth of mono and stereo colors not available with other delay pedals, including unique doubled sounds and timed dual delays with tap tempo control. The versatile SDE-3 provides output configurations to suit any stage or studio scenario.
Two stereo modes include discrete left/right delays and a panning option for ultra-wide sounds that move across the stereo field. Dry and effect-only signals can be sent to two amps for wet/dry setups, and the direct sound can be muted for studio mixing and parallel effect rigs. The SDE-3 offers numerous control options to enhance live and studio performances. Tap tempo mode is available with a press and hold of the pedal switch, while the TRS MIDI input can be used to sync the delay time with clock signals from DAWs, pedals, and drum machines. Optional external footswitches provide on-demand access to tap tempo and a hold function for on-the-fly looping. Alternately, an expression pedal can be used to control the Level, Feedback, and Time knobs for delay mix adjustment, wild pitch effects, and dramatic self-oscillation.
The new BOSS SDE-3 Dual Delay Pedal will be available for purchase at authorized U.S. BOSS retailers in October for $219.99. To learn more, visit www.boss.info.