Junior Barnard tone
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This is a question for Tommy and I thought a couple of others might be wondering the same question. On the Junior Barnard lesson I’m wondering about the amp settings on a solid state amp to get that good broken up tone with p90s. I’m thinking about getting a Quilter and can actually stick with that tone or something a little more subdued for most of the stuff I’m working on for learning and practice. Are there any pedals in the chain for that tone? I saw the Beatnik Bandito workshop video where there was some discussion about how that tone came into play and how they just cranked the heck out of those old amps just to be heard and that sound just developed as a matter of necessity. As a side note I’m curious about the new mini 101 amp that Quilter just came out with. I’d love to try it with a 15″ speaker. Anyone try it yet?
Can’t comment on the quilter, but Jr often used a volume pedal to boost volume on his solos. Pretty sure he got the idea from steel players. He also had two pickups on his guitar and ran two chords into his amp. I don’t know what it is, but there is a slight change in amp gain (lower) when two guitars are plugged into it at the same time–at least for those old tweeds. (I’ve experienced it at Tommys house through his bandmaster and his pro.)
So Jr was quite unique: volume pedal, two pickups (DeArmond and lap steel) individually plugged into the same amp.
There is also some phase thing going on with those old amps. Tommy can talk about that more, but somehow on the moonshine amp the phase of the guitar changes when both inputs are being used.
Of course you here Jr play with an out of phase tone, but I’m now uncertain what was the cause of that: the two pickups, or the two pickups into both channels of the same amp causing the amp to be out of phase with the guitar.
Hey Mike! The Quilters are awesome amplifiers. They do a lot of things really well, and one thing that is cool is the way they break up. For the video I was using an 8″ aviator. Personally it is the best amp for me. The 8 offers plenty of dispersion and is really loud. I didn’t have any pedals on during that video shoot. I think i had the out of phase engaged on the Grez. I think the magic grind sound comes from the double stops being played on the second and 3rd strings. Jeff Ross told me the B string has the greatest magnetic mass of all the strings and therefore has the highest gain. I’m assuming this is true if the 3rd string is wound. I believe this since guys like Barney Kessel suggest filing under the b of the blade of a Charlie Christian pickup to get the strings to balance. I also think this was also the trick with Teddy Bunn who had some wicked double stops. I do think the Quilters are as responsive as our tube amps. I would suggest buying a head or their new series. and design your own cab or speaker configuration. Honestly I think you can design your tone better.
Thanks Tommy, I think that’s right about the B string notch on the CC pickup. Someone (I’ve forgotten who) offers a notched version to order. I’ll probably stick with the Aviator 8 for now as I’m sure it’ll cover most bases for me. Wish I could find one used. They must be good. People seem to hang on to them. I found a short article about his gear setup and it has a little history on Junior and also some good licks to fool around with. Craner was right about the volume pedal which he used so that he could react quickly when called on to solo. I guess Tavo, with Nocturne, has a “Junior Barnyard” pedal in the works. Should be interesting to hear what that’s about when he introduces it.
http://rubbercityreview.com/2011/08/junior-barnard-and-the-tiffany-transcriptions/Yeah Tavo does some pretty amazing stuff with his pedals. He is really into the Junior Barnard sound. He says the pedal will capture that sound. Even if the sound comes close I will be a happy camper. I hope the pedal will have other applications. My personal hope is that it will sound good the Willie Johnson Sun sound.
Yeah I like Pat Hare tone on Sun Records too. Looking forward to his demo coming out but it may focus on Gretsch guitars. He’s a huge fan. I like to hear them, just don’t play them. Hope he gets some fender single coil and P-90 examples in there. Seems like everybody from the Junior Barnard era favored Charlie Christian pickups so it would be interesting to hear some of that too using this pedal. I messaged him about price. Not cheap but it’s handmade and developed. Come to think of it, it would be nice if you did a review Tommy, lol.
Hi Tommy, how did you like the Jr Barnyard Pedal by Tavo? Watched the videos and I am not sure if it is actually just a generic low gain pedal or actually sculpting the base tone in the direction of an eh185. I currently use a clark gainster, which is quite a nice low gain pedal, so I am not sure if I ‘need’ another pedal.
Did you try with a CC pickup? Did you like it?Hey Man!!! The pedal is pretty cool. I would like to try it at a gig I would also love to use it on a generic amp like a hot rod deluxe. I should have one to mess around with here in a couple weeks. I was really impressed when I heard the demo video back. I really thought it had that Junior Tone. I used my 295. I would like to see what it does with solid body guitars and other pickups.
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