Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

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ODwan
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Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by ODwan »

Hi, all!
Lurking on this forum I've heard many of you refer to Larry Carlton's and/or Robben Ford's tone as the Dumble sound your striving for. Being somewhat of a stranger to this artists I would really like to know which recordings nail this tone best for you. I would take this as a starting point to add to my collection of records with great guitar sounds.

Thanks in advance,

Timo
pedro
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by pedro »

Hi

for Larry Carlton I'd recommend "Last Nite - Live at the Baked Potato".
Its got some of the best Carlton tones IMHO.

For Robben I'd recommend just about any of his albums. Talk to your Daughter, Handful of Blues, Mystic Mile and Robben Ford & the Blue Line are my personal favourites.

There are also a couple of fantastic Robben DVDs around with excellent playing and tone.

Rgds
Pete C
Robert
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by Robert »

I would add Larry Carlton's "Sapphire Blue". My ODS clone, Hybrid A/1997 PS with 100 watt Plexi OT, absolutely nails the tone on that one.
Normster
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by Normster »

Here's a clip of Carlton that IMHO really shows off the dynamic range of the Dumble (and Larry).

http://bad-domain/MP3/BPbluesLCclip.mp3

The things that stand out for me are the very controlled harmonic feedback, rich low end growl, sweet top end, and just the right amount of bite when he digs in. Unfortunately, my amp doesn't sound quite as good as this. :(
On the bright side, my amp does get pretty close to Larry's earlier tone, ala "Don't Give It Up." :D
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fabiomayo
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by fabiomayo »

Robert wrote:I would add Larry Carlton's "Sapphire Blue". My ODS clone, Hybrid A/1997 PS with 100 watt Plexi OT, absolutely nails the tone on that one.
Just love the 'Sapphire Blue' tone (and playing too :D ). Unfortunately my amp still doesn't come as close... Any tips?

'Last Nite' is in my opinion a highlight in Carlton's discography. Wonderful tones, marvelous playing... This BP Blues is how I'd like to sound in most blues I play... Oooohhhh, I gotta practice....

I find Robben's tone very different from Carlton's. I like Robben's tone all around, from most of his albuns especially 'Handful of Blues'. Carlton? I gotta go back to those two records and one or another, like 'Sleepwalk'.
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MarkB
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by MarkB »

Great minds think alike! Check out this thread:


http://ax84.com/bbs/dm2.php?id=185519
Pete
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by Pete »

for Larry Carlton I'd recommend "Last Nite - Live at the Baked Potato".
Its got some of the best Carlton tones IMHO.

For Robben I'd recommend just about any of his albums. Talk to your Daughter, Handful of Blues, Mystic Mile and Robben Ford & the Blue Line are my personal favourites.

There are also a couple of fantastic Robben DVDs around with excellent playing and tone.

Rgds
Pete C
+1
If you are doing a bit of amp tweaking/compairing etc., some experience with the EVM-12L as a reference point is helpful for the Carlton tone IMHO.
I'm pretty sure that close to 100% of the examples of Carlton sounds you come across will be that speaker.
I believe that the "Talk To Your Daughter" (R. Ford) recording is also that speaker.
Pete T
dinamanu
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by dinamanu »

Hi
For Robben I'd recommend the live "Ain't nothing new about the blues" ,
with jimmy witherspoon

best blues disk HIMO
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skyboltone
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by skyboltone »

Normster wrote:Here's a clip of Carlton that IMHO really shows off the dynamic range of the Dumble (and Larry).

http://bad-domain/MP3/BPbluesLCclip.mp3

The things that stand out for me are the very controlled harmonic feedback, rich low end growl, sweet top end, and just the right amount of bite when he digs in. Unfortunately, my amp doesn't sound quite as good as this. :(
On the bright side, my amp does get pretty close to Larry's earlier tone, ala "Don't Give It Up." :D
Norm, what album is that from?

Thanks :mrgreen:
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mlp-mx6
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by mlp-mx6 »

That is from "Last Nite", as mentioned above by Pedro. - Larry's live album. EVERYTHING about that album is excellent.
Last edited by mlp-mx6 on Fri May 12, 2006 11:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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skyboltone
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by skyboltone »

Wow, that was quick. I'll have it ordered in a jiffy!
The Last of the World's Great Human Beings
Seek immediate medical attention if you suddenly go either deaf or blind.
If you put the Federal Government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years time there would be a shortage of sand.
les_guitar
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by les_guitar »

Normster wrote:Here's a clip of Carlton that IMHO really shows off the dynamic range of the Dumble (and Larry).

http://bad-domain/MP3/BPbluesLCclip.mp3

The things that stand out for me are the very controlled harmonic feedback, rich low end growl, sweet top end, and just the right amount of bite when he digs in. Unfortunately, my amp doesn't sound quite as good as this. :(
On the bright side, my amp does get pretty close to Larry's earlier tone, ala "Don't Give It Up." :D
That tone is killer!

For my ears, it doesn't get any better than that!

How would you categorized that tone

1) HRM
2) Non-HRM
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Bob-I
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by Bob-I »

les_guitar wrote: That tone is killer!

For my ears, it doesn't get any better than that!

How would you categorized that tone

1) HRM
2) Non-HRM
Yes it is. This is the reason I build Dumble's.

Larry Carlton has been quoted as saying he never uses the OD side of the Dumble, prefering to simply crank up the clean side. I'm not so sure on that, this tone sound like the OD side with the gain fairly low. I'd say it's most likely an HRM amp.
tictac
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by tictac »

Robben Ford "Handful of Blues" - Rugged Road
Jing Chi - the Hong Kong incident
(Blue Line or Mystic Mile?) - Political Man (a Cream cover tune)
les_guitar
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Re: Reference for the Carlton/Ford tone?!

Post by les_guitar »

Bob-I wrote:
les_guitar wrote: That tone is killer!

For my ears, it doesn't get any better than that!

How would you categorized that tone

1) HRM
2) Non-HRM
Yes it is. This is the reason I build Dumble's.

Larry Carlton has been quoted as saying he never uses the OD side of the Dumble, prefering to simply crank up the clean side. I'm not so sure on that, this tone sound like the OD side with the gain fairly low. I'd say it's most likely an HRM amp.
The tone is so, harmonically grainy... I love it... That is the tone I am after. My Glaswerks can get close, but I haven't been able to nail it yet.

BTW, I have read the same thing from Larry, but I am assuming his clean stack must have been tweaked considerably by HAD...

And, doesn't his volume pedal have a PAB on it (or something???)
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