Extreme Tube Compression

[The Dude]

Here's Don Felder getting a very similar tone live... https://youtu.be/4XWxyQVqP-M?t=2m6s

I've always thought that was one of the coolest solos and guitar tones ever. I remember reading somewhere that it was a '59 Les Paul through an old tweed Deluxe dimed.

[guitician]

Maybe he borrowed Neil's Deluxe? I know that it isn't just any Deluxe by the tone it's getting.

[Drewline]

Tweed Deluxe or a Champ dimed possibly with a booster or a mild overdrive.

[guitician]

I've distorted tubes in as many ways as I could possibly think and never got close to sounding like that... I really started this thread to see if anyone has heard of any modern masterpieces that can dial in such a tone. I've seen amps that can memorize the sound it's feed and recreate it with digital sampling technologies. I wonder if they brought it to this guys house and had it analyze the tone if it could cop it. Overdrive/Distortion/Fuzz are all in that tone...but words are just words.

[g1]

I've linked some google search results (not advertisements btw ) for the Felder tone. He seems pretty adamant about it being '59 Les Paul into mid '50's "narrow panel" (I guess 5E3) tweed Deluxe, set on 10. In fact, under the deluxe amp entry in wikipedia, for artists that use this model for their "signature tone", his name is mentioned. He says he has about 6 of them, but one in particular has that sweet spot.
He also mentions never using compression or sustain pedals live.

Dear Guitar Hero: Don Felder Answers Readers' Questions About Gear, Eagles and More | Guitar World

Interview: Don Felder on The Eagles' classic song, Hotel California | MusicRadar

Felderfans | The Don Felder Fan Site | Page 5

[Leo_Gnardo]

He also mentions never using compression or sustain pedals live.

Well maybe not but all that's recorded has been ironed flat as a pancake somewhere between the mic and master, probably several times. Eagles guitar sounds are my go-to example of compression.

[guitician]

Studio compression is about the envelope, and what I'm concerned with is the character of the sound that the amp is getting. One in six, not bad odds, all I need is $30k to pickup some original tweed deluxes. :O

[guitician]

"I have to keep my tone kind of separate and secret."... So, the Mid fifties Deluxe and '59 Burst isnt it....

[g1]

Well maybe not but all that's recorded has been ironed flat as a pancake somewhere between the mic and master, probably several times. Eagles guitar sounds are my go-to example of compression.

Maybe this is the missing element that we're not considering. I had forgotten to consider the historical context of this recording. We're used to modern youtube live recordings often captured with an iphone, close to what the audience is hearing.
This one was probably recorded with a massive mobile studio truck in '77. Live records were huge, with "Frampton comes alive" and "Wings over America" both out in '76 with massive sales.
Hotel California was selling big, and "Eagles live" started recording in '76, though it wouldn't come out til '80. Rolling Stone called it "perhaps the most heavily overdubbed [live album] in history" in their record guide.
We're probably not hearing what the audience was hearing that night, but one of the tracks that didn't make the live album. I'd imagine it was squashed, cleaned up, and enhanced.

[guitician]

Yeah, I was wondering why it looks like a black face Fender behind him in that video...but then there's that modified amp rumor.

[bassistbobby]

Reminds me of Poco. Great song ! and great guitar tone/solo. Who/what band is it ???

I played in a band w/ a guy who got a similar tone using a early '60s Champ, and a hollow body Guild. But this could easily be a hollow body Gibson too.

Couldn't find the video on the internet, or the song.

[guitician]

The bands name is Faux Pas. The album is this V A KDKB Arizona Sounds Volume Two Vol 2 LP 1978 VG The Clones Freeze Band | eBay
You can barely make out track #4 as Whiskey by Faux Pas.

My brother owns a copy and I digitized the song to MP3, you can hear the needle scraping the groove in the recording. The band was short lived. KDKB, a radio station in Phoenix, ran a cover art contest for the albums they did, and I remember sending in an entry, never won though.

[bassistbobby]

Thanks Guitician, is/was it your brother's band? I don't need the entire album, but if that song is on iTunes, I'd buy it...? Love that chorus

BTW,... not to walk on the thread, but do you know anything about testing op amps?

[guitician]

No my brother has never been in a band, just likes guitars/tone/amps. Op Amps usually are either good, or dead, as I have only seen them in those two states.

[bassistbobby]

That's very useful information. Major thanks! That would mean it can't be those op amps, since I get a reply, even though it's weak...?