What fuzz is on Tommy James & The Shondells 'Hanky Panky

Started by vanessa, September 11, 2005, 03:39:19 PM

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vanessa

During each break between after the chorus the band stops and you hear a very treble type fuzz. If you listen you can also hear it in the background during the verses/chorus.

I read that they originally recorded it in 1963. It was re-released in 1966 but it was still the original recording from 1963.

:?

brian wenz

Hello Hello--
     Hhhmmmm..... well,  if that's true about it being recorded in '63 then it could have been  a Maestro  [or some other Japanese circuit or some custom-made job....]  I was told that it was a Sam Ash Fuzz, which places it around '66 or later..
Brian.

puretube

mighta been the passive "speaker-wire-series-diode" thing...

vanessa

Quote from: puretubemighta been the passive "speaker-wire-series-diode" thing...

I've never heard about that one. How do you do it, and what kind of diode gets you there?

Was this popular back then?

It does sound more like a speaker doing it. It's a lot cleaner than a fuzz pedal or should I say one that would be out around then. The fact that you hear the  guitarist playing chords with it in the background makes me believe it was not a Fuzztone etc.

MartyMart

Perhaps it was the "Kinks" trick of "slicing" up a cheap amps speaker cone !

Marty.
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm"
My Website www.martinlister.com

brian wenz

Hello Hello
    CRAP!!  I just double checked about the Sam Ash Fuzz and it turns out that the guy who I thought had played it in fact DID NOT !   So, scratch that bit of info!   If it was recorded in the early 60's it could have been the Maestro or any one of a bunch of home-made circuits.  There were fuzz circuits being published in electronics magazines in the 50's, so  there was lots of "fuzz" being recorded back then!
Brian.

squidsquad

I may get to hang with Tommy in a few weeks...if so...I'll ask.  No promise he'll remember though!

puretube

Quote from: vanessa
Quote from: puretubemighta been the passive "speaker-wire-series-diode" thing...

I've never heard about that one. How do you do it, and what kind of diode gets you there?

Was this popular back then?

see Anderton here:

I used several selenium stacks and power-germaniums back then
on the output of low-watt tube-radios & "Magnetophones".

DO THIS ONLY with output-transformer amps!
use a "fat" rectifier (>50V; >3A).

BTW: those Fuzzes at the time didn`t intend to "emulate", "simulate", or
"copy" a cranked tube-amp,
but to sound mean/dirty/nasty! (& loud, saw-ish).
:P

puretube

Quote from: squidsquadI may get to hang with Tommy in a few weeks...if so...I'll ask.  No promise he'll remember though!

Wow!
maybe you could also ask him how they did the "Crimson & Clover" stutter?
I always had the eye-irritating lable (Roulette) of that single in my mind,
while I was developing the new "PULSAR" for E-H...

actually, that was the song that got me interested in tremolo-effects.
:D

squidsquad

Not sure if I'll see him this weekend (WA State Fair) or on Oct 1'st (private party)...but if our paths cross...I'll ask him.  He's a super nice guy.

BD13UK

I can only hazzard a guess that it was a Maestro around that time however the first record to enter the UK charts using what I believe was also a Maestro was Hold Me P J Proby 1964, solo played as I recall by Big Jim Sullivan.
Brian

squidsquad

Forum's back...I was *Jones'n*.  
Got to talk to Tommy James this weekend.  He's a gem.  5 minutes before he hits the stage...he's got nothin more important than to gimme a hug & all the info I desire.  So here's the answer to the trivia questions...straight from the horse's mouth:  The fuzz on Hanky Panky ain't a fuzz...but a Fender Jaguar guitar thru an old...tiny Gibson amp with a crapped out speaker.  The voices on Crimson & Clover was a mike put thru an Amper Genesis Amplifier w/vibrato.  Oh...& I had a blast...it was The Grass Roots, Turtles, Hermin's Hermits (Peter is great), and Tommy at the West WA Fair.
Flew home this mornin...did a Red Cross benefit w/my surf band this afternoon...& STILL partying...(pant pant)...HA!

puretube

Thank You, Sir!
:D
I`d surely loved to attend that party,
having grown up with all of them (on the radio...).

I`ll have to try mike through Wiggler...
:wink:

vanessa

That's what I love about this forum, ask and you shall recieve.

Thank you