Gearbox
January 1996
EQUIPMENT PICKS FROM PETER CASE, PAT
SIMMONS, AND SEVEN WEISSENBORN FANATICS
NEW GEAR
has a thing for Gibsons. "I got a Hummingbird when I was in the Plimsouls, and that was sort of a turning point for me," he says. "I ended up giving it to my oldest son, Josh. I play a lot of old Gibsons. I write songs on them. I have an L-1 and a remake that someone gave me that's sort of like the Robert Johnson guitar. Another old Gibson is on the cover of Torn Again. It's a great old guitar that really sings. I don't even know what number it is. I'm not that much of a number collector." Case's main guitar is a Gibson J-45E equipped with an L.R. Baggs pickup, which he happened upon ten or 11 years ago. "I also have a jumbo and a maple 12-string Taylor made for me that I take on the road," he says.
Case uses medium-gauge strings on the Gibson and heavies on the Taylor. "I tune the 12 down real low and put real heavy strings on it," he says. He likes medium picks--"as long as they're colorful, it doesn't matter what kind"--and Marine Band harmonicas "because they're the best."
--Denise Sullivan
Pat Simmons
has played the same mid-'60s Epiphone Texan on every album by the Doobie Brothers; that guitar can be heard leading the ensemble on "Black Water," overlaying the electric guitar part on "Long Train Running," and going solo on "Larry the Logger Two-Step" and other instrumentals. Over the years he has also played two Martins--a D-35 and a D-28--as well as a Gibson Hummingbird and some Ovations (on "Sweet Feeling" from One Step Closer, he says, he used the Ovation's stereo pickup to create unique electronic effects). Nowadays, on stage with the Doobie Brothers, Simmons plays his acoustic parts on a Gibson Chet Atkins acoustic-electric.
--Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
and related Hawaiian guitars can be found in the hands of a variety of contemporary musicians. Here's a rundown on the instruments, strings, and tunings used by seven prominent players.
Mike Auldridge plays a Weissenborn Style 1 and strings it with D'Addario phosphor bronze single gauges (a custom set, "somewhere between medium and light," with a .014 on the first string). He tunes to open E (E B E G# B E).
Bob Brozman's Hawaiian instruments include all four styles of Weissenborns (his Style 2 is a Mellotone brand, with a thin body), as well as a Hilo. He tunes to C (C G C G C E), B (B F# B F# B D#), G (D G D G B D), and D sus (D A D G A D). As for string gauge, he comments, "I don't want to say what I use because it might be misused. People will tear up their guitars if they use the strings I use. Let's preserve the instruments."
Jerry Douglas plays a Weissenborn Style 1, a wall-hanger in its previous life, and tunes it to open D (D A D F# A D). He uses D'Addario phosphor bronze strings with gauges of .014, .016. .026, .036, .044, and .060.
Ben Harper's road instruments are a Weissenborn Style 4, Style 2, and teardrop, and a Kona "Style 4." He uses D'Addario phosphor bronze lights on instruments tuned with a D or higher on bottom and mediums for tunings with a C (or lower) on the bottom. His tunings include low G (D G D G B D) and a secret tuning that he uses in three different keys--one for each of three instruments.
Greg Leisz plays a Weissenborn Style 2, Style 1, and teardrop model with an original metal tailpiece (anyone seen another?). He uses phosphor bronze light strings and tunes to open D (D A D F# A D).
David Lindley's "A-Team" Hawaiians are two Weissenborn Style 2's, one Style 1, a thin maple and spruce Style 2, and a Kona Style 3. A Bronson Brazilian rosewood square-neck sometimes substitutes for the Kona. For strings, he uses Guild bronze lights or mediums, depending on the tuning. Instruments tuned with the sixth string lower than D have .059 Darcos ("I have a nice stash of these," he says) on the sixth string. Lindley's tunings include F (F C F A C F); G (D G D G B D); an open-G variant, G G D G B D (used on "The Jimmy Hoffa Memorial Building Blues"), with a mandocello sixth string tuned an octave below the fifth string; C6 (C G C G C A); and D6 (D A D A D B).
Sally Van Meter has a Weissenborn Style 1, a Kona Style 4, and a Hilo Model 640. She uses phosphor bronze strings with gauges of .014 ("maybe a .015 or .016 on the Weissenborn, depending on the tuning," she says), .016, .026, .036, .046, and .056. She plays in open D (D A D F# A D) but says, "My Weissenborn seems to have a preference for Eb [Eb Bb Eb G Bb Eb]." She also experiments with modal tunings and high G: G D G B D G.
For amplification and recording, almost all the players interviewed use the Sunrise soundhole pickup (Sunrise Pickup Systems, 8101 Orion Ave. #19, Van Nuys, CA 91406). Much of the Sunrise's mystique follows David Lindley's sound and his declaration, "It's got magic stuff in it!" Manufacturer Jim
Kaufman identifies the Sunrise's "magic stuff" as its quick response, sonic imaging, pole pieces that make an audible difference when adjusted, and ability to move with the guitar's top.
For microphones, Lindley and Harper favor vintage tube mikes like the AKG C-12 and M-50, while other players mention high-end Neumanns, like the U-67 and U-87. For live performances, Bob Brozman mixes a Sunrise with workhorse Shure SM-57 mikes "because that's what everybody has, so I adapt."
--Ben Elder