Grateful Dead Music Forum

NeilG1 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 3:58 am Having had many, if I could only have one drive for a range of Jerry tones, it would be the Sarno Earth Drive. But my Spud Drive arrives soon, so maybe that will change.

I ordered an Earth Drive the other day, what's a Spud Drive.

you will love it - fantastic pedal.

Spud Drive is a new build by Waldo. Based on MXR 2000 series Distortion + that Jerry used from '83 to '87

Sounds cool. I’ve got a Spud Twin Reverb. Perfect for Jerry and any other genre of music. It’s a beast.

What’s the best way to get a hold Waldo? I don’t have any social media besides forums.

PM'd

tdcrjeff wrote: ↑Sun Sep 19, 2021 6:54 pm I believe Alligator had the Alembic blaster installed by the time of Europe '72, so not just pickups > Twin.

It did have a blaster, but it was run at a low gain where it is pretty neutral to the tone, other than preserving highs through the cable path. It wasn’t cranked to the point of jfet distortion.

As said the main impact was the impedance change to preserve highs through the cable run. It may have also been a bit over unity gain which would hit the pre-amp a bit harder, but a small adjustment of the channel volume will adjust for that.

I also don’t think Jerry played with the guitar volume and tone controls on 10. From what I saw, he adjusted them frequently. While the amp chain was full bright (except bright switch is off in photos) I believe he used a larger than typical tone cap in the guitar and controlled the highs there. FWIW, the bright switch has less impact the higher than channel volume so that’s not a big element to JG’s tone.

SMS Earth Drive

I tried my SR with the bass all the way down. I can hear that element in Jerry's early 70s tone. I turned the middle up to 7 or so. It still sounds a little harsh and brittle to me.

I think I need a bit of compression. Even though Jerry didn't use a compressor, at stage volume there is output transformer saturation, power supply sag, and speaker compression all happening. And I need a bit more harmonic content.

Phrygian wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:04 am I think I need a bit of compression. Even though Jerry didn't use a compressor, at stage volume there is output transformer saturation, power supply sag, and speaker compression all happening. And I need a bit more harmonic content.

Very good line of thinking. Rarely do folks talk on how to overcome the factors in JG's intense volume and speaker movement in a quieter setting.

Twin Reverbs don’t really have power supply sag with their big transformers and solid state rectifiers. That is one of the things that sets them apart from many of the other AB763 base amps.

A couple things to consider. Alligator’s pickups were shielded, and I think the tone cap was replaced with a larger value (0.1?) which would reduce the highs, especially when rolling the tone down.

Based on replies here, I am investigating the Timmy V3 and Earth Drive. If anyone here has had both, could you compare them?

Phrygian wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:04 am I think I need a bit of compression. Even though Jerry didn't use a compressor, at stage volume there is output transformer saturation, power supply sag, and speaker compression all happening. And I need a bit more harmonic content.

Another vote for very well put.

My take is care less about aping Jerry’s exact gear and settings, more about “sound-scaping” your overall tone to achieve the tonalities that please and work for you under your own real life conditions.

The basic signal path of E72 is really basic:

57 strat > stratoblaster > colorsound wah/swell > stack of Fender Twins with JBL D-120 speakers.

No pedal can re-create a Twin w volume at 7. The closest I got with all of these components and the volume at a bearable level was to use a Pigtronix fat drive. At one point I had three twins daisy chained and that was absolutely the closest I got to "the sound".

As a practical matter a Fender Champ with a JBL D-208 speaker is the solution. Instantly recognizable JBL tone and tube warmth and some grit at like "4" from a 6 watt amp.

I have an original color sound wah/swell for sale in case you need that piece of the puzzle. I also have a bunch of D208 speakers laying around- because they really are that good.

Alligator was a ‘55 Strat (serial #7310) and sported Alnico 3 pickups.

Bill, tgo

NeilG1 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 19, 2021 2:03 pm Personally, I don’t hear much “dirt” at all in ‘72 Jerry.

BIckershaw... Mr Charlie solo for a tease, but the whole show!

If only Jerry was still playing LPs in 72...

https://archive.org/details/gd1972-05-0 ... s1t03.flac

I now have an MXR Timmy and played with it a bit last night. I had the SR set for a flat tone stack - 0, 10, 0, and added a bit of compression. I am getting close to the ballpark, if I'm not quite in yet. With further tweaking I think I can get a little closer - good enough for my purposes. Thanks for all the info and suggestions.