'Fool in the Rain' Octaver?

[BDuguay]

Which one of you pedal purists can tell me what effect Jimmy Page used to record the solo on this song?
B.

[Melanhead]

MXR Blue Box ... Have 2 at home that are on my to-do list to fix ...

a friends of mine wants one so he can finally play that solo ...

Of course he's the one that told me it was a blue box on that solo ... so blame him if I'm wrong

[BDuguay]

Thanks Bob
It's always nice to get a quick reply, and from a fellow Canadian to boot!.
B.

[tungngruv]

I'm pretty sure he (Page) was using an "Arp Avatar" guitar synth around that time. I'm thinking that was what made that effect. If you want MXR Blue box tones, listen to about any of Pat Travers's first 5 albums.

[Melanhead]

Thanks Bob
It's always nice to get a quick reply, and from a fellow Canadian to boot!.
B.

No Prob ....

@ tungngruv

check this out:

http://www.led-zeppelin.org/reference/gear.html

Jimmy's gear from Extreme musician:

http://www.xtrememusician.com/info/artists/profiles/44.html

"Some effects, like the Uni-vibe, are somewhat subtle to the ear. But that is certainly not the case with the MXR Blue Box. The Blue Box takes your input signal, adds fuzz and then generates a tone one octave below the original note. The result is a horrifying unique, almost synth-like sound which can be heard on such recordings as the guitar solo of Led Zeppelin's Fool In The Rain."

but probably only Jimmy himself knows for certain

[tungngruv]

Thanks Melanhead
It's a good day when I learn something!!! :lol:

[RDV]

Hi!
Not trying to detour this thread or anything but I just downloaded the Zep Bootleg "Listen To This Eddie" which has a 16 minute guitar solo which I swear sounds just like a whammy pedal thing with a footpedal taking the pitch up and down. I'm assuming it was an early Eventide Harmonizer or something. This was 1977.

RDV

[BDuguay]

Thanks for all the input folks!
Now, does anyone know if there is a blue box layout available anywhere?
B.

[Melanhead]

there's one at tonepad ...

http://www.tonepad.com/project.asp?id=33

[Melanhead]

Thanks Melanhead
It's a good day when I learn something!!! :lol:

Yahoo! ... no prob

Glad I could help.

[RedHouse]

IMHO, it's Jimmy's synth-Paul.

He's got a Roland setup embeded into a Les Paul, I believe that's what he used on Fool In The Rain and some others.
(you can get a good look at it on the "No Quarter" DVD)

The reason I don't think it's a Blue Box is during the solo you can hear the envelope shifting sometimes when a note is sustained (but not every time) and besides to me, a Blue Box doesn;t sound like Fool, similar but not the same (IMO)

[Mark Hammer]

I always thought it was one of the early E-H Microsynths, though I'm not enough of a LZ fan to know if the pedal preceded or followed the recording of the song.

[Pedal love]

The reason I don't think it's a Blue Box is during the solo you can hear the envelope shifting sometimes when a note is sustained (but not every time)

Which also happens with a two octave down and fuzzed out fundamental like with the blue box.pl

[Ben N]

This is funny.  The same question comes up at intervals of, what?, 18 months or so?  And the answers are always the same:  Blue Box, Microsynth, or Avatar.  All I can tell you is that if you try it with a Blue Box and a Paul you will get your sound--in fact the first time I ever used a Blue Box--around 1980 or so--my first response was, Holy S*&t--that is the Fool in the Rain sound!  And if you are DIYing, it is a lot easier to pull off than either of the other choices.

Ben

[dadude]

I'm a total Zep-Head. I guess I could say a bit obsessed. I have read several interviews with Jimmy Page where he speaks of using the MXR Blue Box on Fool in the Rain. Page is not really guarded about the equipment he uses, the thing he won't tell you is the tunings he used. Those are his trade secrets not the pedals, guitars, amps.

[Dirk_Hendrik]

Thanks! Finally a reason to commit myself to building a bluebox

[Skreddy]

I'm a total Zep-Head. I guess I could say a bit obsessed. I have read several interviews with Jimmy Page where he speaks of using the MXR Blue Box on Fool in the Rain. Page is not really guarded about the equipment he uses, the thing he won't tell you is the tunings he used. Those are his trade secrets not the pedals, guitars, amps.

He's not even terribly worried about keeping those a secret.  I've read interviews where he tells a lot of them and even corrects the interviewer about tunings, e.g. on The Rain Song.

Here's a nice list of them (which you probably know, since you're a Zep-Head, but for others' enjoyment)...
http://www.led-zeppelin.org/reference/assorted18.html

I wanna make a Blue Box now, too.  

[dadude]

Skreddy I've seen that site before in my travels but I did not see the tunings part of the site, way cool thank you for the heads up.

I came across that site recently doing a search. I've putting together all the info I need to build those old Helios Mic-Preamps and E.Q.s from the Rolling Stones mobile studio.

The Helios console is the same console that all great Zep stuff was recorded on. They used the Olympic Studios Helios console and the Stones mobile (had the same console in it). Zep recorded most of their stuff with both. The album (not just because I'm a Zep-Head) 'Houses of the Holy' to me is one of the best sounding rock albums of all time. The tone of the recordings and the warm clean mix/master... wow. To me it sounds more open than a Neve console can get you.

If anyone is interested in undertaking a fairly large project (and working with some high voltage), I have some schematics of those consoles. I searched the ends of the earth and the dark side of the internet to get them. Just PM me.

Peace

[Skreddy]

Finding all the correct NOS parts to put those together?  Sounds daunting!

[dadude]

Well I might find some of it. I still have yet to find what kind of transformers they used in that console. I have read so many reports from people who tried both the clones and built their own and it's total hit or miss. The guy who built the two consoles for the Stones and Olympic made them within a few months of the other. He mostly went with parts he had on hand or could easily get.

It's the reason each Helios console sounds uniquely different from the rest. It's also the reason the clones don't sound like the originals or each other for that matter.

I'm just hoping to build a great mic-pre that can get me some of that 'Houses of the Holy' 'Big Air'.


 :lol: