The Lost City

[John M]

Having a problem with the middle section.
Cant make my mind up whether its a volume pedal, a bit of wah wah or a mix of both.
Any suggestions from more technically knowledgeable members?

[MartcasterJunior]

Hi John

That'll be a DeArmond 610 volume/tone pedal: http://www.led-zeppelin.org/studio-and-live-gear/1109 It's goes up and down for volume and side-to-side to affect tone (for a sort of gentle wah-wah-type effect). Not the easiest thing to master but gives plenty of scope for expression.

They sell for £200+ on eBay now, but Fender did a reasonable copy a few years ago in their Classic pedals series. They're discontinued now but if you can find a second-hand one it'll cost you a lot less (and probably be a lot less crackly) than an original.

Cheers

Matt

[neil2726]

To be honest I think it sounds better played straight without the wah effect!

[AlanMcKillop]

It was the sideways movement (from left to right) on the De Armond 610 on the record, but you can get a reasonable sound with an ordinary volume pedal.

[JimN]

As Alan said, it was the DeArmond 610 tone/volume pedal, which has been discussed here lots of times in the past. Although the pedal was first used in the United States (by various players), its first documented use here in the UK was by Big Jim Sullivan with the KrewKats and also on sessions, eg, on: Samovar, The Bat and The Crying Game (Dave Berry).

Hank seems to have adopted it in late 1964 or early 1965 as a result of exposure to its use by Big Jim and, to some extent, by Chet Atkins (One Mint Julep, for instance).

The first Shadows recordings to feature the DeArmond seem to be Prelude In E Major and Blue Sky, Blue Sea, Blue Me from February and March 1965 respectively. The effect was used on several tracks during 1965 (including The Lost City), but it was more prominent on the Shads' 1966 releases, through into 1967, with the "Jigsaw" LP and the single B-side Somewhere.

Hank continued to use the 610 pedal with the group and as a solo artist. As far as one can easily tell, the last recorded use was for that first note on the "Tasty" track: The Most Beautiful Girl. After that, a straight volume pedal was substituted.

[John M]

Most comprehensive replies.
Thanks guys.

[Moderne]

Further to Jim's message, admirers of the DeArmond tone/volume pedal need to listen to Chet Atkins' Teensville LP (including One Mint Julep)as he uses it on every track. Not sure that he ever used it again though!!

[Iain Purdon]

There is/was also a Burns Shad-o-Tone pedal which I have heard demonstrated by David Martin. I'm sure he can tell you more but to my ears it seemed to do what was needed.

http://www.burnsguitars.com/burnsprototypetonepedal.php

[roger bayliss]

You can approximate the sound with the guitars tone pot by picking and rolling tone up (different from vol pot ) but need to stretch a bit . I understand that part of the Burns sound was from leaving the De armond tone in the right position ie full tone when not in use and on full volume position.

[JimN]

You can approximate the sound with the guitars tone pot by picking and rolling tone up (different from vol pot ) but need to stretch a bit . I understand that part of the Burns sound was from leaving the De armond tone in the right position ie full tone when not in use and on full volume position.

Down is full on for volume.

Over to the right is full treble, but with the bass cut.

Full left is full bass but with the treble cut.

Placing the pedal half-way between right and left is the nearest you can get to no bass cut and no treble cut, but the tone-control arrangements mean that there is always a bit of signal cut (thereby reducing apparent volume). If the player is using an echo unit (or any FX unit with a variable pre-amp front end), the volume cut is easily compensated for.