Surf music anyone?

[Jim Feeley]

You all are probably way ahead of me, but have you seen and heard Surfy Industries SurfyBear reverbs? They have both classic and modern style tank reverbs. And a couple pedals I know there are lots of tank reverbs out there, but it's neat that they're so into the surf thing. And from Sweden, where thoughts of warm beaches and waves probably help get them through the cold months...

 

https://www.surfyindustries.com

 

A demo (which I stumbled upon because one of the guitars played is made by Grez Guitars, a local(ish) to me builder I like):

 

 

[Izen Ears]

I’ve got two of the pre-made ones.  Some folks got really crazy with building the kit version.  They use MosFET and sound good, but once I got the tube tanks those are loaned to pals!  The tube tanks just have more bass and warmth.  Many surf folk use these + Quilters and a small cab...

[Werner Althaus]

13 minutes ago, Izen Ears said:

I’ve got two of the pre-made ones.  Some folks got really crazy with building the kit version.  They use MosFET and sound good, but once I got the tube tanks those are loaned to pals!  The tube tanks just have more bass and warmth.  Many surf folk use these + Quilters and a small cab...

Interesting. In that video those sound really close but in my experience that doesn't tell the whole story. Reminds me of the Strymon Flint reverb/ trem pedal, in videos it really seems to nail that tone but in real life when compared directly with the real thing it sounds small and cheap.

[Izen Ears]

14 minutes ago, Werner Althaus said:

Interesting. In that video those sound really close but in my experience that doesn't tell the whole story. Reminds me of the Strymon Flint reverb/ trem pedal, in videos it really seems to nail that tone but in real life when compared directly with the real thing it sounds small and cheap.

 

I mean it does sound great, but there’s a warmness to the tanks.  I bring one to shows as a backup! 

 

Hey I forgot to say I enjoyed your tune way upstream!  One of the phrases is very similar to something in one of my recent tunes.  The tone reminds me of 1991 where me and a pal played surf through a JCM-900!

 

Dan Izen

[old school]

Fun topic Dan. Glad you’re a fan of the genre. Surf musics glory days were short lived in SoCal (Surf music is a 2 headed beast in that instrumental and vocal songs are very different).  The Beatles and Stones et al killed the scene locally. Only The Beach Boys carried on but mostly as American versions of the Beatles and their favorite inspirations (Think Chuck Berry). The biggest difference pre and post Beatles is Pre it was a singers game and their name was on all the songs (like Richie Vallens and Elvis Presley and Fats Domino) they had bands but who cared who the Crickets were, everyone wanted Buddy Holly. After the Beatles everyone wanted to be in a band (a gang or family really) and LA/SoCal had them by the boatload. Buffalo Springfield, Love, Byrds, Seeds, Steppenwolf, etc and all the unknown garage bands like mine who wanted to be like the Beatles and be a unit. Thanks to the Recording Industry and pros like the Wrecking Crew, the region had an incredible modern sound. All regions of the US had a unique sound like San Francisco, Detroit, NYC, the South...., but locally Surfing and Cars and Girls were the setting for the stories/songs until Vietnam and Psychedelics became the story. Another factor is that besides Fender, Richenbacker was formed in Orange County and played a huge part in the sound of Surf, Country, and Rock music in its many forms.

I’ve seen many shows in my time. I’ve been to the Rendezvous Ballroom (Dick Dale, Hoyt Axton, Tim Hardin) in Newport Beach. In Huntington Beach there was a fantastic club called The Golden Bear, (the Byrds, Paul Butterfield Band, Chambers Brothers, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Hoyt, Honk, Steve Martin, Dick Dale, and many others). The Anaheim Convention Center was an early big venue in the mid 60’s. I saw the Ike and Tina Turner Review at a car show there. I saw The Airplane, Doors, Steppenwolfe, Blue Cheer, at the Convention Center. In 68 the Fabulous Forum opened in LA and I saw Deep Purple open for The Cream on their farewell tour that year, it was also the first time i took LSD). I saw CSN&Y there (twice) and Juthro Tull all before 1970. I love music and have seen many acts over the decades and plan to see many more. The thing I miss most is the smaller scale of shows then as compared to now. I saw Van Halen in 75 in Pasadena at a wet T Shirt contest at The Ice House before they broke out of the hometown hero stage and became a name. Crazy to remember there was ever such a time, Ididn’t even pay a cover charge. Now days it takes a whole lot of money to see average bands. 

Sorry to ramble on (going with old age).  

As for amps (remember I’m a drummer and a Uke player) I love the late 50’s early 60’s Fender Tremolux amp for “the sound” you and others seek.

CrewC

PS, sorry about the cats.

 

[Werner Althaus]

21 hours ago, Izen Ears said:

 ...The tone reminds me of 1991 where me and a pal played surf through a JCM-900!

 

Dan Izen

The cleans are Tele through a Fender Concert and 6G15 Reverb, dirty is Les Paul jr through a RealTube dirt pedal and the WEM Dominator. This was recorded a long time ago and I didn't own a bass then so I tuned the strings of my ES-5 Hollowbody down a full octave and played the bass lines. The strings were hanging off the fretboard like overcooked spaghetti and intonating the notes was very difficult but I like the results. Everything sounds trashy, definitely not a pro recording, haha.

[old school]

I forgot to mention we did go by the backdoor of the Fender company (pre CBS) when it was on Harbor Blvd in Fullerton and got free grill cloth out of the trash. Never found any treasure but the guys were friendly and it was a trip to see the guitars and amps in various stages of completion. 

CrewC

[Jim Feeley]

CrewC, is it true you're in this film. 🙂

There are several versions of this posted, but IIRC, the comments by Richard Smith in this one are kinda helpful in figuring out what's being built:

 

 

 

[old school]

Hey Jim, great video.  Richard Smith is the man when it comes to Fender and its history. I’ve known him forever. He is a year older than me and lives 2 blocks away these days. He was the best guitar player in our era in Fullerton. His band was called Garfish Soup. He has a great coffee table book called “Fender: The Sound Heard ‘Round the World”...  Check it out. He also curated the Fullerton Museum exhibit about Leo Fender. And if that isn’t enough, he has Leo’s work bench at his house/garage. Very cool dude. He found his calling.

CrewC

[old school]

Here is a picture of Richard (far right in shades). Check out the amps. 1964 is my guess. This is a Jr High Dance at Fern Drive Grade School for Thursday Night Dance which was once a month as I recall (I could be wrong). This wasn’t Garfish Soup, I think this is Young Generation (an earlier band). Every band in Fullerton had this gear more or less. Sometime the Bass amp wasn’t a Fender Bassman but an Ampeg B15 instead. A Farfissa organ was found in most of the bands too. The guy to the left of the drummer is playing one. Singers all had a tambourine to bash. Most bands didn’t have that many mics because getting even one good singer was hard. Probably still the case.  

CrewC

[old school]

And to show before I go, Surf Music is alive and well and WorldWide.

CrewC

 

 

[Jim Feeley]

2 hours ago, old school said:

Fender: The Sound Heard ‘Round the World

 

I had a copy of that book and was lightly acquainted with his editor, Tom Wheeler. (My boss was best friends with Tom; I worked upstairs from Guitar Player and Keyboard magazines). I ended up giving my copy to a total Fender fan friend; It is a great book, but I'm glad it's in a fan's hands. And your friend Richard appears in a story in an issue of Fretboard Journal about a guy who bought an amp and guitar from a guy who bought it from Leo Fender in 1942. Out of print, but you may already have it. 🙂 https://shop.fretboardjournal.com/products/fretboard-journal-electric-annual

 

 

 

[Izen Ears]

On 8/15/2019 at 11:50 AM, old school said:

I forgot to mention we did go by the backdoor of the Fender company (pre CBS) when it was on Harbor Blvd in Fullerton and got free grill cloth out of the trash. Never found any treasure but the guys were friendly and it was a trip to see the guitars and amps in various stages of completion. 

CrewC

 

YESSSSS!  You went to the Rendevous Ballroom that’s AWESOME!!!  I am super jealous.  Any recordings of that garage band?  I am so grateful for your posts, thanks a lot!  So great to read.

 

Btw here’s the rig, but just this past weekend I picked up a 2x15 JBL cab that I’m going to replace that 15” tone ring cab with.  The reverb is a 1963 tank with a new cab, and the showman is a 1962 but it also has a new cab.  The only original cab is the 15” tone ring.

[old school]

WoW!!!  That’s a hell of a rig you’re playing Dan. Beautiful. It must sound fantastic.

  I wish we had a recording of us but no one I knew had a recorder. It never entered our minds to record our selves. Just didn’t seem a possibility or a thing to us. No band in our sphere did a recording. Looking back I’m not really sure why some kid in our town wasn’t a recording hobbyist. To busy surfing or looking for “chicks”, or cruising with our older siblings to do that? I’ll never know.

Does your band rock any vintage mics from the era? An often overlooked component of the “Surf Sound”.

CrewC

[Werner Althaus]

22 hours ago, Izen Ears said:

 

YESSSSS!  You went to the Rendevous Ballroom that’s AWESOME!!!  I am super jealous.  Any recordings of that garage band?  I am so grateful for your posts, thanks a lot!  So great to read.

 

Btw here’s the rig, but just this past weekend I picked up a 2x15 JBL cab that I’m going to replace that 15” tone ring cab with.  The reverb is a 1963 tank with a new cab, and the showman is a 1962 but it also has a new cab.  The only original cab is the 15” tone ring.

That's indeed a beautiful rig. White tolex always gets my attention going back to seeing some guy rockin' a MusicMan combo in white.  I wish I had pictures of all the cool rigs I've seen with all kinds of color variations that don't show up in any books. A good friend of mine used to have a white Tolex 5F6A  Bassman four 10" combo and a brown Tolex Bassman head with a matching brown single 12" cab with tone-ring. Both were definitely stock. never seen another one like it.

But I do have to ask: Where do you perform and how loud can you play your amps? I used to gig with my old  Bassman on 6 ( halfway up) and my Concert around 5 and it was loud, very loud but very pleasant sounding. These days I play that 18 watter barely on 0.5 and my bandmates in their 20s and 30s are already complaining, leave alone the FOH sound guys., different times I guess. It's that stupid idea that the PA guy needs control, blahblah,

I much prefer a proper backline with bigger amps that don't need to be miced. The result sounds much better if the band knows how to balance themselves. leave the PA for Vocals.

15 hours ago, old school said:

Does your band rock any vintage mics from the era? An often overlooked component of the “Surf Sound”.

CrewC

That is a great question, care to elaborate on how mics play a role in achieving the "Surf sound"?

Live? Studio?

 

[old school]

I was thinking vocal mics in live situations. We mostly used a variety of Shure dynamic mics way back when. Like those in my posted pic. Many through the amps which posed a host of problems. (Feedback) but we had little choice as PA’s were few and far between. All punchy mid range vocals. Like Surfer Joe.

CrewC

 

[Werner Althaus]

I have to ask:

Is this in the style of surf music? Note: Nothing Fender on that stage.

 

 

[old school]

Good question. Seems more Rockabilly or Santo and Johnny than surf to me but they all share elements.

CrewC

[Izen Ears]

On 8/20/2019 at 7:08 AM, Werner Althaus said:

I do have to ask: Where do you perform and how loud can you play your amps?

 

 

Hey it’s New Orleans everyone’s deaf!  But seriously, we practice in my basement super super loud, and play out super loud.  Possibly quieter than practice!  I leave a big bag of earplugs at the door for patrons.  I’ll post a practice recording at some point.  The drummer pounds the crap out of the skins and we all dial up to where we can still hear him.  Sometimes during practice I suddenly realize I can’t hear the drums at all haha!  That beautiful clean tone had me in a spell.

 

Those cabs are actually blonde tolex - those white ones you speak of could have been originals that faded into white!  I’ve seen the 12” tone ring, but not in real life.  I read they’re exceedingly rare.  But they readily make them now, including 10” tone ring cabs!

 

I just got back the 1963 Oxford 12T6 12” speakers for the blonde Twin.  Dang job means I haven’t had the chance to install and hear them yet.  I’m super excited because I’ve only heard JBLs (and Weber Californias) and some people rave about the Oxfords.

 

On 8/19/2019 at 3:31 PM, old school said:

Does your band rock any vintage mics from the era? An often overlooked component of the “Surf Sound”.

CrewC

 

Aw!  Bummer about no recordings!  Can you imagine hearing yourself back then?  I mean talking between songs, hearing your young man voice in there.  The music too or course!  Do you still play?

 

I absolutely *love* your question about vintage mics!!!!  Somehow in all this tonequesting I forgot all about that!  I have an original 55s and a couple of those bullet looking mics from the 60s.  I feel like a lot of those old records were ribbon mics on the drums, very awesome warm.  This opens up another giant can of worms!  I’ve been using most dynamic mics, the AKG D112 sounds really nice on the brownface cab, pointed between the doping and the cone.  Drum mics seem to sound really good on these guitar amps!

 

I wonder if there are studios that record the “old way” of just a handful of ribbon mics for drums and such?

[old school]

I can’t remember the name of the studio but I saw one online where they did it all old school with few mics and straight to tape. All ribbon mics. Players placed to get their sound. Be fun to try it that way. Dan Auerbach does it this way at his studio in Nashville.  Please post a song or two Dan. Love to hear your band.

CrewC

[Jim Feeley]

On 8/20/2019 at 9:53 PM, Werner Althaus said:

I have to ask:

Is this in the style of surf music? Note: Nothing Fender on that stage.

 

I hadn't heard of the Tielman Brothers until seeing your post, but that's great stuff! Feels maybe more in the Link Wray and Sandy Nelson vibe (maybe?), but I'm cool with that! Anyway, Wikipedia says about the Tielman Brothers:

 

=====

The Tielman Brothers was the first Indonesian band to successfully venture into the international music scene in the 1950s. They were one of the pioneers of rock and roll in The Netherlands, and are credited with releasing the first Dutch rock and roll single, Rock Little Baby of Mine in 1958. The band became famous in Europe for playing a kind of rock and roll later called Indorock, a fusion of Indonesian and Western music with roots in Kroncong. At the height of their career, in the 1950s and early 1960s, the band was hailed as one of the greatest live-acts in Europe.

=====

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tielman_Brothers

 

I'll dig into them this weekend. Thanks Werner!

[Izen Ears]

Heh heh.  Sounded AWESOME the other weekend.  Played a “Rock For Reproductive Rights” benefit.

 

Many strangers were bowled over by the tone from that stack!

 

Dan Izen

[Jim Feeley]

Cool picture Dan!

[hobbiesodd]

For a raucous and raunchy surf/garage/punk/rockabilly hybrid, I adore the sound of Poison Ivy and her 1958 Gretsch (6120?) weighed down with heavy strings. When I saw them live she had blackface amps on stage but I remember her saying somewhere that she uses smaller rigs for recording sessions.

Anyways here’s some of that original Psychobilly sound:

 

 

Cheers,

Evan

[Sam Mikelic]

This is one of the most unexpected and best threads I have ever read! haha!  Living in Huntington Beach today, it's truly great to hear some of the history of the era as it pertains to that genre of music. Very cool, thank you all for sharing your stories!  The topic of "sound" certainly goes far far beyond the more boring conversations of freq scanning and which are the best lav expendables, right?

 

Sam M.

Orange County, CA