Every guitar player would love to get a hot band into a studio and record a live record. But to actually do so takes an incredible investment in time, effort, organization and, of course, money. That said, legendary Tele player Jim Weider did just that with his latest release, Pulse. Recently, I caught up with him to ask about how the whole thing went down.
“We did the record over the course of three days at Allaire Studios in Shokan, N.Y.”, Weider said.“ It was myself, along with Mitch Stein on guitar, Rodney Holmes on drums and Steve Lucas on 6-string bass. Engineer John Holbrook [Natalie Merchant, B.B. King, Brian Setzer] was invaluable on this project, and really made us all comfortable.”
As for the studio, Weider added, “Allaire is an amazing studio, but we had to get towed up to the top of the mountain the first night of the session because it was in the middle of a blizzard. We were one of the last sessions there before the placed closed for good.”
 Jim Weider |
On the approach he used on his latest release, Weider said he was trying to capture the spirit of a well-rehearsed band playing together live, all in the same room.
“We’d been hitting most of these tunes together on the road, so they were really ready to go when we got in the studio,” he said. “We were all in the same room, and John Holbrook had worked ahead of time with Rodney Holmes to get the drum sounds and baffle them off. I had a 4x12 Marshall with my signature Fargen JW-40 head, and I just put my pedals on the floor [King of Tone, Analogman, wah pedal, T-Rex replica delay], as did Mitch [Stein]. Our amps and speaker cabs were in different rooms. It was just us in there with our instruments and the drums. We recorded with cans [headphones], which I usually don’t like, but we had a good sound and I was really comfortable because we had been playing so much together.”
Weider continued, “Everything was live, leads and all. We just cut a few passes of each, and said, ‘ok, that track feels good.’ Actually, we took only around three passes of each song before moving on, so we didn’t burn out the feel. On some songs we did use a click to play to so it was in time—but Rodney [Holmes] is such a monster that he plays relaxed even when using one. I actually didn’t listen to it, I just felt the groove. The reason we did it that way was that if a solo or a section was better on one take, need be, we could slide it in.”
Weider, who played mostly his ’52 Fender Tele and a Gibson Sonoma acoustic, noted that there are a few overdubbed guitars on the record, but that everything else is live.
“I just wanted the record to have a real natural feel, and really show what the band sounds like live,” he said. “It was great because there is no better way to get that feel and not belabor over the overdubs.”
Engineer John Holbrook recorded direct into Pro Tools through a Neve console. For Weider’s classic tone he used a Royer 121 and a Shure SM-57 on the Marshall, as well as on Stein’s setup. The bass had a combination DI and a mic’d up cabinet for extra punch.
Holbrook, who also did Weider’s last studio record at Clubhouse Studios in Rhinebeck, N.Y., mixed Pulse at his well-appointed home studio. Consisting primarily of a Pro Tools HD system with Lynx Aurora converters, it also features an SPL MixDream 2384, which is a 16x2 analog summing mixer with 16 balanced inserts. This let Holbrook mix Weider’s project as a hybrid, combining the digital aspects of Pro Tools with the analog punch of all his outboard gear.
“I loved recording like this. It really is an amazing way to work,” Weider said. “The last step was mastering it at Airshow Mastering in Boulder, Colo., with Dave Glasser. Overall, this is the record I’ve always wanted to do; get into a great studio with a great band, great engineer and just do it live. It was a great experience to go into the studio in the middle of a blizzard and come out three days later with record.”
For more information on Weider and his music, visit jimweider.com and iTunes.
Rich Tozzoli
Rich is a producer, engineer and mixer who has worked with artists ranging from Al DiMeola to David Bowie . A life-long guitarist, he’s also the auther of Pro Tools Surround Sound Mixing and composes for such networks as Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon and National Geographic.
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.