who thought of 'the sound'?

[MeBHank]

The backing makes a big difference, yes. I have some tracks of the Shads with Hank taken out of the mix as much as possible, and when using them my guitar sound is incredible. It sounds just like the record and not like someone simply playing a twangy guitar over the Shads. But when I play with produced backing tracks there is definitely something lacking.

Bruce playing Cliff's jangly J200, Jet's dry, flatwound sound and Tony's slick playing on those crisp sounding drums were all just as important as the lead guitar. I'm appreciating that more and more as I listen to the early records. Hank's guitar sound, as much as we love it, was only 25% of the Shadows' sound. And let's not forget Abbey Road's reverb chamber and Malcolm Addey's skill as a sound engineer.

J

[MeBHank]

Without wishing to embarrass Justin, when I heard his new band play at the recent Children In Need concert at Reading, despite the awfully hard accoustics of that sports hall adding unnecessary and conflicting reverberations to the mix, that same early sound was recreated right there and I'm sure that same tingle of nostalgia was felt by many who stayed late to listen to their performance. Aside from Justin's playing skills that so accurately emulate Hank's style, the wonderfully authentic accoustic guitar used for the rhythm section made a huge difference to the overall sound that other bands using strats were't quite able to communicate, excellent though they all were. For me that rhythm guitar was possibly the most significant element of the accompaniment mix.

Martyn, thank you, much appreciated. It's good to know to the hard work and study put into our sound and performance didn't go unnoticed.

J

[Martyn]

Hi Justin - I always say credit where credit's due and your group's sound quality and attention to detail is most impressive. A pleasure to listen.
Regards,
Martyn