SY Guitar Sounds
 

I've been trying to figure out how SY make their guitars sound so shrieky (if you know what i mean) in their earlier songs such as brave men run and starpower. I think I came close by turning down the bass and keeping the treble up, but if anybody has any tips that would be good. Also, do they use distortion at all?

Haha, yeah, of course they use distortion, if it sounded like that clean, that'd be amazing!!! :)

I think a lot of the ... shrieking .. you hear is the cheapness of the guitars and amps coupled with the lo-fi production. Seems obvious but it's true.

I thought so, must be somebody talking rubbish.

on the early stuff though, i think its natural amp distortion rather than from fuzz pedals...

thats right they didn't really utilize fuzz/distortion effects pedals until around the late 80's (at least i think Lee used a Rat around Sister/Daydream era), up until then i think they relied on tube amp break up for their signature sound and perhaps maxing out the gain section of an amp. i think they were known for being incredibly loud early on because of this... if anything they may have tried booster pedals that help achieve tube breakup without high volume.

I think it might be kind of like the same thing bb king does but to a lesser degree. Or maybe not. It could have something to do with the piano wire they use as guitar strings also. But thats just a guess. Have you ever used a chorus pedal?

tasteinmen,

their sound is a combination of a number of factors including vintage guitars, heavy modifications & alt tunings...

I would guess many early recordings are one-off and would be hard for the band to replicate now. Not to mention highly unique gear. The best thing would to buy similar gear and do approximations....

I don't know what the fuck they did to their guitars for 'washing machine', but its the most digusting fuzz i've ever heard....amazing.

washing fuzz

thats some complicated shit.

ITS ALL IN THE TUNINGS!

seriously... try CGGGBE

Bar those gs baby, not too much fuzz but enough for it to cut...

Also, drumstick it under the 12th fret and give it enough gain so it just tries to feed back when you scrape that drumstick with another... twiddle it round a bit

or just really slackly tune yr guitar and play random chords till sumthin sounds good.

Once you re-tune your guitar you will realize what you have been missing. Thats why SY sound so unique. And of course they kick serious standard tuing ass.

What tracks on Washing Machine can you hear that Fuzz?

I know alt tunings play a huge part, and I totally agree that making up a tuning is better than using standard tuning because standard tuning is sooo boring, i use my own tunings for my music.

Any kind of tuning is overrated.

Just come up with some good riffs, it'll sound fine.

that is true. i probably think that because i don't know how to tune a guitar.

I think to answer your specific question regarding those tracks, yes alternate tuned guitars, but also the screwdriver in the frets was a common trick at that point. Somebody already mentioned the drumsticks, which is what I seem to recall Thurston doing on "Starpower", but I think "Brave Men Run" was Lee with the screwdriver that got the screeches. No distortion pedals on either of those. The bulk of "Brave Men Run" is actually open tunings, but the noisy part is a bit different. I also think "Starpower" was the EVOL song that Lee played some sitar on, but it didn't sound anything like that, just another weird noisy guitar sound.

I don't know, I mean, why not try to figure it out using your own creations? Rather than "replicating" something that SY created, make something under their influence by your own means. Isn't that the idea behind experimental music?...

That's only a debate, not an argument.