Help me Take Care of Business -- BTO in a box?

[bipedal]

Seriously.

I'll admit it -- I love the 4-chord shuffle groove of BTO's "Taking Care of Business".  Nothing fancy or subtle about that song, but it's still fun and it's got some cool guitar tones too.  (Let us not forget that it's one of Homer Simpson's favorite songs.)

Here's a rough live clip of the song; you can probably find the original recording fairly easily...

I can't resist asking:
What are your suggestions for circuits that might get close to capturing the chugging riff tone and the lead sound?   

Cheers,

- Jay

[jayp5150]

http://www.tech21nyc.com/american_woman.html

Maybe that? lol 

I have no idea what that is based off of--if anything. Might be able to find something out about it, though.

Good luck.

[Joe Hart]

A few years ago, there was a distortion pedal called (I think) "American Woman" which was designed by Randy Bachman. I have no idea what it sounds like, but this may be something to look into?
-Joe Hart

[Joe Hart]

Dang. I type too slow!!
-Joe Hart

[teletroy]

garnet herzog!  build and rock

[seibertdr]

http://www.tech21nyc.com/american_woman.html

Maybe that? lol 

I have no idea what that is based off of--if anything. Might be able to find something out about it, though.

Good luck.

Does'nt say how much it is. Any idea?

Don

[Joe Hart]

A quick Google search shows me $99.00-109.00.
-Joe Hart

[Alman]

Hey there, the Garnet Herzog can be heard mostly on the "American Woman" solos along with several others. The Tech 21 'American Woman' was made to creat a similar smooth violin like lead tone. Not sure if Randy even uses it though.

For 'Taking care of business' I don't think there was anything special used for his sound. The rhythm guitar sounds like the neck pickup of a strat with a cranked amp. He used Garnet amps way back because he lived near the owner/builder. When I saw him in my town back in the early '90's he was using a Mesa Boogie.

[Mark Hammer]

Ask him yourself: http://www.randysvinyltap.com/

Personally, I don't hear anything particularly distinctive in TCB.  I concur with Alman.  We used to do it in my old band and the song never really required anything other than cranking up and keeping the treble under control.

But like I say, you can always go to the source and verify.

[bipedal]

Thanks to all.  Yeah, it doesn't really strike as an especially "shaped" guitar tone -- maybe that's part of why I think it's kind of cool.  Not the best sound for everything, but it just 'fits' that tune.

Mark, thanks for the tip about Randy's radio show -- I didn't know about this.  I just sent off a short query on this very question.  Dunno if I'll get a response, but it never hurts to ask...

- Jay

[bipedal]

Wow!  Ask and ye shall receive.  For anyone interested, here's the response I got:

"Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins single cut  with DeArmond Pickups.
Small 15 watt Garnet Bass Amp with 15 inch speaker placed on a chair facing me and the guitar.
No footpedals but amp turned up to distortion level.  Gretsch has floating bridge and when bending the strings, the whole guitar gets pitchy and unpitchy as the strings are bent and the bridge moves.  Hence the Keith Richards sourness in the tuning which I'm told adds charm to the track.
The strings were Gretsch Electromatic strings with the extra B put on as a plain G.

Thats the guitar-amp set up.

RB"

Pretty cool!

- Jay

[teletroy]

wow, that's seriously cool that he responded.

[Mark Hammer]

And equally impressive that he remembered those details.  I listen to his show occasionally (he tends to repeat himself a lot), and there are plenty of times his knowledge of technical details is a little sloppy.  Happily, they are bang on for your needs.  Congrats!  I know how happy you feel.  Last year I was thrilled to get a reply from Elliot "Reeling in the Years" Randall about something.  It's a neat feeling to connect with one's idols.

[Joe Hart]

Way cool!! Great response!!
-Joe Hart

[sockeye]

I think you could get pretty close with a Blues Driver or other TS-inspired pedal.

[Ben N]

Not a TS--you need full bass response for that solo. But I agree with all of the above--it just doesn't sound "pedally" to me.

[Caferacernoc]

Speaking of copping a tone:

    In an article in Guitar Player Magazine (July 2007) Randall was asked what rig he used to record the solo on Reelin In The Years. He states, "That was my '63 Fender Stratocaster with a PAF humbucker in the neck position, straight into an Ampeg SVT bass amp. The SVT wouldn't have ben my first choice for an amp--or even my fifth choice--but that Strat is still my go-to guitar that I use about 98 percent of the time."



Never would have guessed that!