Jon Bare
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Jon Bare |
 He
Wrote the Book on Tone |
 The
Effect of Effects |
| Audio
Clips |
The Effect of Effects
RS: You make a big point about how to string the guitar.
JB: The point here is that the way you wrap the strings around the pegs affects whether the strings will stay in tune.
RS: How important is the order of an effects chain?
JB: I’d say it’s as important as everything else. A wah-wah inserted before a delay will sound different than a delay inserted before a wah-wah. You have to use your ears to determine which sound you prefer.
RS: But what about the order of effects “rules” everybody talks about? Are they meant to be broken?
JB: People talk about rules? I didn’t know that! Some things just work better because they sound better. A compressor before a delay will sound better than the other way around. Put a compressor after a delay and the echoes won’t taper off naturally. Personally, I don’t use a pedal board with a bunch of stomp-boxes. To me, they are just tone-suckers. A good sounding guitar and amp, with a hint of delay and no reverb usually works for me. Occasionally, I’ll plug in a wah-wah if the song needs it. But most of the effects I put on recorded guitar tracks occur during mixdown. They are easier to control that way. For example, punching-in and punching-out while recording is easier if your flanger is not sweeping at the time.
RS: What about plugging directly into effects versus putting them in an effects loop?
JB: Effects loops are at line level, many times the voltages of guitar outputs. That makes them less susceptible to hums, buzzes and other noises. But if your effect only takes a guitar input, and that’s the sound you want, then you have no choice. I use a Roland DEP-5 rack mount delay with my guitar rig at line level, even though a stomp box would work as well, to eliminate noises coming from bad plug-to-jack connections. Plus, the DEP-5 sounds great.
RS: Be honest, pedals are just plain noisy! How do you reduce all that hum and noise?
JB: Nothing bothers me more than playing on stage with another guitarist who spends half his time on his hands and knees messing around with the cables connecting his floor boxes. Usually the problem is either the jack or the plug. To clean a dirty jack, take a .25 caliber rifle cleaning brush and spray it with contact cleaner, then ream out the inside of the jack. Clean the plug with a little steel wool. If the box itself is causing noise and hum, trash it.
RS: Have you tried any hum reducing gear like Morley, for example, puts out?
JB: Actually, no. I haven’t had to. My studio is 100% hum-free. The VG-8EX has a built-in noise gate on every preset, which works quite well. Hum at a live gig is another problem. My favorite guitars have single-coil pickups and neon beer signs put out a nasty field. I turn the volume on my guitar off between songs and control it that way.
RS: Have you been playing out much?
JB: Yes! We played 30 dates last year–probably even more this year.
RS: What is your stage rig?
JB: That depends on the gig. In small clubs I’ll usually just bring my ’64 Strat and my ’54 Les Paul re-issue (an early ’70s guitar) along with my early ’60s Fender lap steel mounted on an Invisible keyboard stand. I run it through “Old Fuzzy,” a distortion box I built from a schematic I got off the Internet, along with a few modifications I made. I plug my guitar and the output of the fuzz box into the two inputs of my Fender “Hot Rod” Deville–the one with four 10-inch speakers. That’s a sweet amp. I run the amp’s effects loop to a Roland DEP-5 multi effects box on a short delay setting.
RS: What about larger venues?
JB: For larger gigs, I go a little nuts. I’ll bring a Fender Custom Shop Strat modified with a Roland GK-2 hex pickup plugged into a Roland VG-8EX floor box. The stereo outputs of the VG-8EX go to a Behringer Eurorack mixer and then into two JBL Eon powered speakers. I’ll put one JBL on each side of the stage behind me for an awesome stereo sound. The normal guitar output goes through the VG-8EX and to an input of my Deville amp, which I’ll put behind me in the middle. That way I can get a blend of the lush stereo for rhythm parts and then dial up the Deville for solos. Plus, I bring the lap steel rig. It’s a lot of stuff to set up but I get a wide variety of sounds and have a lot of fun on stage.
RS: I understand you have been busy on a new CD.
JB: Just recently finished recording the demos.
RS: Where was the recording done?
JB: In my home studio.
RS: Tell us about your studio. Analog or digital?
JB: It’s analog–very old-school. I record on an MCI JH-16 24-track with 2-inch tape and mix down to a 3M M79 half-track deck on quarter-inch tape. Drums and guitars sound fantastic recorded that way. Tape hiss is not really a problem if you print a good level and mute things in the mix. You won’t hear any tape hiss on my CD’s. I have the usual assortment of outboard effects–some of them are digital–and a DAT machine, but that’s about it. Recording on digital–especially cheap digital–has shrillness in the top end that can be fatiguing. Electric guitars recorded digitally can be most unpleasant if you are not careful. Running the signal through some analog gear, preferably tube gear during a mix can help to warm things up.
RS: What's next for Jon Bare?
JB: I’ve got a clipboard full of things to do. There is certainly no shortage of opportunities if you have the time to take advantage of them. Truth is, there are more web sites and radio stations than any human can respond to. The trick is to prioritize. Today, you are my top priority.
RS: Thanks! How can someone order your book?
JB: That’s easy. It sells for $29.95, which includes shipping and handling. You can call (303) 516-9118 between 11 AM and 7 PM EST, or you can order online at Music Maker Publications. They accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.
RS: Do you have a web site?
JB: Yes. It is www.jonbare.net.
RS: Thanks for your time, Jon!
JB: You’re welcome, Stuie!!! And thanks for the opportunity.
