by abstamaria » 02 Dec 2019, 15:00
But the analogy was yours, Ian.
“ I suppose it's a bit like buying cars .. yes between a £100 banger and a Rolls Royce there certainly is a stark difference. But for the average man in the street who simply wants to get from A to B, then most makes of cars for much the same budget will do the same thing.”
You are right that the banger will get you there, if that’s your only objective, but, if you have the Rolls sitting in the garage, why not use it? There will be a difference.
You also wrote;
“ How important this is to 'run-of-the-mill' players who are not hell-bent on achieving the perfect replica sound is a different matter .. which was, of course, the purpose of my original question.
I suppose, if you’re not interested in capturing the “Sound,” then it really doesn’t matter which device most closely replicates Hank’s echo. This is probably consistent with simply getting from A yo B, in which case any reasonable echo w ill do. (The Q20 with Charlie’s program is very good, by the way.)
But to respond directly to your question, I agree with the opinions expressed above that, in a live setting with a big audience, there will be littlle difference between the good echoes available to us. The acoustics of the venue will play an important role, there will be people talking, and so on, and 99%+ of the audience won’t know if the echoes sounded really spot-on or were spaced correctly. There may be one person in the audience who might be able to tell, but he would be the exception.
I find that playing at home - I am fortunate to have a nice practice room, a studio - is more satisfying in terms of chasing That Sound. The environment is controlled, and I can hear my (and the band’s) sound more clearly. It is satisfying, and there, yes, equipment makes a difference, I feel. But then, we are not the players in your example, but are rather trying, for our own pleasure, to replicate the Shadows’ early sound.
I have a few echo machines now, including several of Charlie Hall’s excellent units, such as a Q 20 with EFTP, like yours, Ian. Comparing echoes, I found that some to my ears sounded clinical, others, like the TVS3, more analog and richer. i haven’t tried the newer echoes, and will probably stay with the TVS3.
Like you, I have no patience fiddling with a computer or other device and prefer to plug and play. I do use a valve re-issue AC15 (sometimes an AC30) and our rhythm guitarist uses an acoustic (a J200, as Bruce used). We have fun in our quest, chasing (not too successfully) the Holy Grail, and, yes, in our case, using an echo as authentic as possible, makes a difference, or so we think. But, if our goal were different, tthen maybe any reasonable echo will do, and we would be happy as well. I suppose it really depends on what you want to do. We’re all starting from A and trying to get to B, but our Bs are not the same.
Best,
Andy
Last edited by
abstamaria on 03 Dec 2019, 12:19, edited 1 time in total.