think i accidently recreated the 'spirit in the sky' greenbaum tone

[joegagan]

did a little video recording the other day, when listening back the opening note sounded an awful lot like the old 'spirit in the sky' tone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBmG1A8EJKs

it is a very short sample, so i looped it repeatedly

a prototype fuzz i just dug out of the junk drawer, i will have to dig out the schem.


basically a si/ge fuzzface w an extra si gainstage after, some diode clipping to ground, and some weird biasing and feedback(maybe some diodes in the feedback loop)

the closest circuit to this would be the tarpit meltdown

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/v/tungngruv/J-Gagan-NVN-Schematics/TarpitMeltdownv3.gif.html

tungngruv posted a brilliant clip of the tarpit here:
http://www.mrdwab.com/john/TarpitMeltdownBothDiodeStages.mp3

[gez]

Steve Reich eat your heat our! 

Yeah, I'm hearing some (Christmas) 'Spirit' there!

[joegagan]

i guess i have to google steve reich   oops

[joegagan]

ohhh i get it

tape loops   heh   heh

[gez]

Yes, his early works repeated endlessly Yes, his early works repeated endlessly Yes, his early...

Actually (once he got past his tape loop stage of the 1960s), his music is pretty cool.  He went on 'write' loops for instuments to be played live. 

I love the fuzz sound of Spirit, a real classic.

[gez]

Steve Reich eat your heat our! 

Bleedin' hell, how dyslexic am I?!

[joegagan]

thanks gez, i knew i had heard the name(reich) many times

[doug deeper]

isnt the spirit sound actually a rhodes?
well the main riff at least.

[joegagan]

rhodes?
deodato?
i didn't hear any lectric piano in that song

but it's been a while since i heard it

[RedHouse]

Not to be a buzz-kill or anything but the clip doesn't sound (to me) very close, more work to be done? 

One can go to his website to hear it: http://www.spiritinthesky.com/

Here is a (very old) pic of him with his Tele that had the built-in fuzz circuit:

[doug deeper]

yeah, i think the min riff is a rhodes w/ fuzz.
then the little staccato bendy deal is the guitar.
give it a listen.

[gez]

Thank heavens for 'contact' icons:

"Hi Norman.  Is the very first bit of fuzz on Spirit in the Sky a Rhodes through a fuzz box, or a guitar? Myself and a few other sad techie nerds were wondering. 

Also, I appreciate that if you remember the 60s you weren't there, but can you recall the fuzz box you used?  It's one of, if not the, best fuzz sounds ever. Thanks.

Gerry"

I'll let you know if he replies.

[blanik]

i already wrote to him and he awnsered! lol  i asked him what kind of devices he used and it turns out it's a regular fuzz a friend made for him... plus, i guess is it's a Ge fuzz with a low battery, combine those with the fact that he's finger picking and you're pretty much there...

[joegagan]

yeah, not sure how close i got, it just reminded me of the tone.

let's review:

-telecaster.  check


-spuzzy fuzz with a bias control (dying battery sound)       check

-played w no pick.        check

-lots of reverb like the 60s        check

[gez]

"Thanks for writing.
I played a Telecaster through a Twin Reverb amp, using a custom built fuzz box, details unknown to me, so I'm unable to pass that info on, plus I don't have it anymore, which is a bummer.

Norman Greenbaum"

[drewl]

Funny, I always did it with one pickup turned off and toggled the pickup switch...

[DougH]

The main riff is sort of like the La Grange riff done in E instead of A. The syncopated repeating part is E on the D string, 2nd fret. Alternate that with the open E (6th) string and walk up to G and A (and walk down A, G, E too). Use your finger and thumb, it's pretty easy to get the feel of it. (La Grange is the same thing in A, a little faster, and the syncopated part is A and E together done on the 2nd fret G and D strings.)

The lead pseudo-echo part is done by bending the G and B strings in unison at the 14th fret and manually toggling the pickup selector to the neck pup which is turned all the way down.

[joegagan]

yeah, interesting, thanks for the posts.

i wasn't trying to recreate the riff or tone, i just noticed after making a video that the tone reminded me of that.
i'm not too big on doing reproductions, but that would be a good one.
maybe i should use the same setup & really TRY to cop the feel and tone....

[petemoore]

The lead pseudo-echo part is done by bending the G and B strings in unison at the 14th fret and manually toggling the pickup selector to the neck pup which is turned all the way down.
  That'll work, but as much as I like the center PU selector position on the guitar switch, I put a short to ground switch on, for faster 'echoes' [repeated signal to ground lifts sounds like echo with sustainey fuzz], even doing slow 'shunt repeats' I find it's easier to accurately hit the timing marks, and it's a bit less 'clunky' sounding that my PU switch, I also don't like leaving  0.0 setting on a guitar volume because I forget, then switch to that grounded volume control instead of the other pickup...no sound/not good.
  ...caveats: AFAIK you have to put a hole in the guitar to do it...
  Unless some fancier way to implement a momentary switch can be found [there might be some kind of pot which has this feature? ]
Yupp, cool electric guitar tone comes off that recording.

[mac]

IIRC there was an 80s version by Doctor & medics or something that sounded like a rhodes through a fuzz box.
I did not hear the original version in many years but it seemed like unbiased FF. Got to hear it again.

mac