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"There are guitars where because of the chording technique and the attack on the G string, when you play a D chord, it'll get out of tune. So I use a Gretsch with the biggest strings, a wound third string. Solves the whole problem. Once they start putting pickups on my 50-year old guitars, rather than using the damn microphone, I don't care if it's the Forum or Yankee Stadium, once they start doing that, I might as well play on the electric guitar, where I know what's going to happen. The difference in sound is not that great. They put an eight-ounce piece of plastic in the sound-hole of my 58-year old Martin D-45 - which is worth about $15,000.-$20,000. - to make is sound good in the hall. And I said, "Hang on. Wait just one minute here. You've got this all wrong. Your job is to reproduce that sound in the hall, the sound of that instrument." I paid $6000. dollars for a guitar that was not really worth it, but they only made 125 before World War II. I have two of the best that they made. It's as simple as that. The sound man's job is not to mess with that. Find a little contact pickup if you want, but use it in conjunction with the microphone. In the studio, I use a Neumann 87 or a Telefunken, or an AKG, or a 546, or all four to reproduce the sound of this particular guitar. There are some other devices used the way I set my limiters. What kind of limiters I use, what kind of equalization, how much Poltec and how much of that, those are my main trade secrets. Where the trick is, which all the engineers and producers lose sight of, is that you have to reproduce a guitar."

" I use Fender Rock ‘n’ Rolls, light gauge or extra-light gauge and bronze Earthworks for my acoustics I have one set of pre-CBS Fender flatwounds for my basses. I use “silk and steels,” and Savarez for my Spanish guitar. When I do use a flat pick, I usually use a thin one and my fingers to play bass. Rotosound bass strings aren’t bad. I keep bass strings on for a year, if not longer, and that’s about all."


DTuna