Unichord SuperFuzz, DigiTech Hot Head, and Danelectro Tuna Melt: Three Drives That Drive VieTNam
From his spot sitting on the stage underneath an incredible hat, Ken Schenck showed us the guitar effects he used. Three different distortion pedals [Unichord SuperFuzz, Danelectro Tuna Melt, and DigiTech Hot Head] fuel different distorted tones for the VieTNam guitarist.
The Ibanez AD202 analog delay, however, was an eye and ear catcher. Ken has two of these units that were built in the 80's in case one of them goes out.
[VIETNAM PERFORMING]
KEN SCHENCK: My name is Ken Schenck, and the band is VieTNam. This is from the '70s. It's made by Unichord and it used to have a big rubber treadle on it that said SuperFuzz, somewhere black with a broad gray treadle. I've got a gray one with a black treadle, and a friend -- I've seen a lot of them that were orange with a blue treadle but they're early '70s and to me this gives the most excellent feedback and freak-out distortion possible.
This is for sort of the buzz tone during a song where you want a fuzzy guitar tone.
PATRICK OGLE: Well, it's not --
KEN SCHENCK: It is a DigiTech Hot Head
PATRICK OGLE: So that's a newer pedal?
KEN SCHENCK: Yes, a new pedal. This is the only really old one, and this is a really cheap...
PATRICK OGLE: Yeah. That's the Danelectro Tuna Melt.
KEN SCHENCK: ...25 bucks Tuna Melt but I use it on one song and it does what it needs to do.
PATRICK OGLE: Well yeah. The Danelectro...
KEN SCHENCK: [OVERLAPPING]
PATRICK OGLE: ...has the big kind of heavy duty ones that were a little bit more expensive...
KEN SCHENCK: Yeah.
PATRICK OGLE: ...then they have like a Pastrami one and that one.
KEN SCHENCK: Right. [OVERLAPPING]
PATRICK OGLE: They're pretty much one-trick ponies but they are what they are.
KEN SCHENCK: Yeah. It's not bad as long as no one steps on it.
PATRICK OGLE: Which is a good thing for a foot pedal. No one [OVERLAPPING] [LAUGHING]
KEN SCHENCK: [LAUGHING] [OVERLAPPING] step on your foot pedal. Okay. This is an Ibanez AD202 analog delay which does delay doubling flanging and chorus from the early '80s. I bought a couple of them because I used to have an Echoplex, and the very first song that this group here, [SOUNDS LIKE] 86.8, the Echoplex went out and everything that I did was based on it, so I bought one of these and then I got two of them but the analog is really nice. It's dependable, it's warm. And this is a Casiotone that I play sometimes on it and --
PATRICK OGLE: That's a piece of high-tech gear though. They're --
KEN SCHENCK: Yeah, and then this is the effects and channel switching for this. My favorite amp is a MusicMan 112 RD but it's been through a lot of wear and tear, and years and some nights it sounds really good and some nights --
PATRICK OGLE: It catches on fire?
KEN SCHENCK: No. It didn't catch on fire. It just sort of is like, um [KEN SCHENCK IMITATING A PERSON WITH LABORED BREATHING]. It can't keep up.
anyone else wondering why
anyone else wondering why they are covering this band... none of them seem to know what the hell they are doing lol. I dunno im a jerk i guess But they sound horrible in the live clips and sound like a begginer garage band... so why are we learning about how they attain their tones that they likley dont undertand well?
I thought that they knew
I thought that they knew what they were talking about, though the bassist knew the least, and I thought the guitarist was the most knowledgeable. They sound like a garage band because they're playing a small venue, and they're likely being recorded with a camcorder and it's mic.
jealous?
Did someone get him little feelings hurt? This band was one of the seminal and influential punk/new wave bands in Atlanta, and is a hell of a live act. These segments are shot at sound checks with a camcorder for sound and video. "I'm a negative creep-I'm a negative creep-I'm a negative creep when I'm stoned"-KC
well...
Thanks for the suggestion. I will endeavor to likely understand my tones well in the future. I had formerly believed that randomly thoughtless tone attainment was zen.
Danelectro Tuna Melt is a
Danelectro Tuna Melt is a tremolo pedal, not distortion.
Post new comment