roky erickson guitar tone

mawso · April 20, 2011, 04:23:58 AM

I've always love the raw gritty rhythm tone from Roky & the Aliens etc

Anyone got any idea what sort of amps he uses/used?

wiki and google have failed me.. youtube vids look like they're some kinda fender combos.. but.. well.. thousands of amps look like that

Jake · April 20, 2011, 09:44:16 AM

I'm going to see him next weekend in Austin. I'll make sure to look at his setup.

mawso · April 20, 2011, 09:55:56 AM

cheers dude!

Chovie D · April 20, 2011, 11:46:40 AM

fender tweed i bet. Austin is a fender town it seems like for some reason to me, everyone seems to have beautiful old fender amps and guitars there. now that he's completely loco tho he could be playing a peavey rage for all i know

Woody · April 20, 2011, 01:00:16 PM

Both times I've seen him he's been playing a Gibson ES-135 with humbuckers. Can't remember the amp but would bet it was a Fender.

inductorguitars · April 20, 2011, 02:07:51 PM

http://video.pbs.org/video/1350234586/
starts around 23:00

I don't know those new fangled fender amps. Looks like a new champ/tweed.

Hemisaurus · April 20, 2011, 05:38:07 PM

I always thought his tone came from the fact there are 3 or 4 guitar players on stage at once, and at least one of them is Billy Gibbons

Chovie D · April 21, 2011, 05:28:28 PM

in that vid the amp behind rocky is a gibson ga5. 5 watts. they make reissues and that could be one. Like I said the guy is insane now so i doubt he cares even, a reisssue is proably just as good as a '57 when your mind is gone. one of his guitarists is playing a silverface twin or virbolux, cant tell. Gibbons appears to be playing a newish boutique amp, Dr. Z or Bugera or something? couldnt see the guy far left's amp.

Ive only ever seen one person gig a 5 watt tweed (champ) style amp before.

inductorguitars · April 21, 2011, 07:53:29 PM

Quote from: Chovie D on April 21, 2011, 05:28:28 PM
the guy is insane now so i doubt he cares even,

He has recovered (mostly?). He wasn't getting his meds while his mom was his caretaker. his brother fought and won for legal guardianship. There is a great docu about him called You're Gonna Miss Me.

I won't throw stones at his guitar playing.

Worthless Willie · April 21, 2011, 08:55:05 PM

Yeah, he's actually a lot more level than he was for a long time.

RacerX · April 22, 2011, 12:36:37 AM

He sings a lot flatter.

delysid · April 22, 2011, 12:58:57 AM

mawso, in my opinion, his tones of the past decade aren't really exactly like the old recordings from The Evil One and such. I missed his tour last year but I've watched tons of videos and saw Austin City Limits. His guitar player emulates some of the effects and the solos though. I've always been very intrigued with the tones on The Evil One, it is some raw, insane shit.

The Shocker · April 22, 2011, 07:33:42 AM

I'll have to pull out my book on obscure rockers, but what I remember about the chapter on Roky's work with the Aliens was that he was not that involved with the recordings. I'd be surprised if he played much guitar at all. Stu Cook (from Creedence!) basically said that he was all over the map and they just told him what to do - the lyrics were his of course.

I'm glad he's back to performing, but his voice is shot which really depresses me. His voice was godly in the 60's & 70's.

Jake · May 13, 2011, 10:21:59 PM

I totally forgot to update this until now. Roky was playing a 335 into what looked like a Gibson combo of some sort. Here's an image I managed to grab.

mawso · May 16, 2011, 12:43:36 AM

cool! get a look at what the other dude was running? from some of the more recent clips i've seen of em he seems to use a fair few pedals