Guitar_Player__January_2018

FEATURES
>>> TRUE FRIENDS
The Gregg Allman Band and the crew of FAME studios on hallowed ground in Muscle
Shoals, Alabama.
shed in Camden, New Jersey. Luckily,
Gregg and I hit it off immediately over
our mutual obsession with the blues. He
was very happy that I knew Wayne Bennett’s
guitar playing from all those Bobby
“Blue” Bland records. Gregg loved Wayne’s
playing, and he was one of only a handful
of players Gregg would bring up when he
was looking for something specific. His
brother was essentially his father figure, and
he would always speak with overwhelming
reverence for Duane’s artistry on the
guitar and beyond. For tone, his man was
David Gilmour. Gregg was one of the biggest
Floyd fans I’ve ever met.
You were one of the few people who
knew about his advancing liver cancer.
How did that affect the way you went
about making his last album, Southern
Blood?
Making a great record is what you do
while you’re waiting for the barbeque to
arrive. It’s all about chemistry, and being
comfortable to let loose. If we dwelled on
the reality that this was Gregg’s last will
and testament as a musician, we’d have
simply broken down. The vibe starts at
the top. Gregg was having the time of his
life making this record, and Don Was did
a masterful job at keeping the production
moving—making sure it was loose,
but controlled. The vibe at FAME studios
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, was incredible,
and the talented staff there has soul
to burn. How could we lose?
Can you offer some insights about
working at FAME?
FAME is a church of sound, and it was
very significant for us, as Gregg and Duane
started out recording there when they were
kids. Rick Hall has some amazing Allman
Brothers demos, and early Duane Allman
sessions that will blow your mind. Of course,
Duane went on to become a studio player
there on so many great sessions for Aretha
Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and more. They
have a couple of amps that Duane used—
although I’m not sure if they still work.
The Hall family has done an incredible
job restoring and updating the place. It’s
the best place in the world to cut tracks.
How did the sessions go down, and
what did Don Was do to capture great
guitar tones?
The band up in a circle with Don in the
middle to help direct, and we cut live using
isolation booths for everything except drums
and percussion. The guitar amps were in a
storage closet. I requested the specific mic
set up I always use—a stereo ribbon mic out
in the room, and some Cascade Fat Head
Ribbon mics or anything comparable to close
mic the speakers. I detest the sound of an
SM57 pointed at the speaker cone for what
I do. I didn’t spend all this time and money
on guitars and amps to stick an $80 mic on
them! Don and I thought the tone we got
with the room reflections in the closet at
FAME sounded like B.B. King’s sound on
his early Memphis sessions.
What gear did you use?
I used my touring rig. The amp was
either a Fender Super Reverb reissue with
Celestion G-10 Vintage Ceramic speakers
and vintage tubes, or my trusty ’65 Fender
Vibrolux Reverb with the same Celestions.
On a couple of tunes, I also added a Supro
Thunderbolt 1x15 combo running parallel.
My main axe is a Gibson CS-336, circa
2002. Paul Schwartz at Peekamoose Guitars
in New York City heavily modified it
with locking tuners, new frets, a master
volume, and Seymour Duncan Antiquity
pickups. I played all the electric slide stuff
on a 1965 Harmony Bobkat with those
amazing gold-foil pickups. Rhythm guitar
was mostly my trusty mongrel Telecaster
that has a maple neck from an old Danny
Gatton model, and a Warmoth body. It’s as
light as a feather, and the tone is spectacular.
I use La Bella HRS Series nickel-plated
strings, gauged .009-.046 or .010-.050,
depending on the guitar.
What about effects?
I’m not much of a pedal guy, but I would
use the Xotic Effects Soul Driven live with
Gregg because the sound is impeccable, and
it truly delivers the right tone at a lower
stage volume. In the studio, I used a Fuzz
Face on “Blind Bats and Swamp Rats” to
get that squealy feedback. Otherwise, I just
cranked the amp to 7 or 8, and used my
guitar’s volume to clean it up for rhythm.
I also employed the vibrato effect in my
Fender amps on a couple of tunes to get
that “soul glow” rhythm bed.
How did you come up with the hauntingly
beautiful intro melody that kicks
off “My Only True Friend”?
26 GUITARPLAYER.COM/JANUARY2018