DIgital Modeling Beatles "Bad Boy" Tone

Alan B. Go.

Alan B. Go.

Blues Explorer
"Bad Boy" might not be blues but it is a 12-bar I-IV-V tune. It's a song my band performs. I've been trying to emulate the lead guitar tone with not much success. I'm using a Fender Mustang GTX-100 modeling amp set to the "British 60s Pop" preset, which is 'inspired' by the Vox AC-30. I've tried various compressors, flangers, vibratos, choruses, and so forth. I've experimented using my Les Paul, an SG and a Ibanez semi-hollow body AM300, with no luck. Maybe I need a Rickenbacker. Any ideas or suggestions?

Here's a link to the song in case your memory needs refreshing:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7bftrg8373rsel1/Bad Boy - C - Beatles.mp3?dl=0

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Alan B.
 
J

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
Well to start with, it sounds like the Beatles double tracked the lead guitar. Are you double tracking in a model? I don't use modeling so I'm not sure if that's actually an option. That's actually been said to how flanging was invented by accidentally slowing down one of the double tracked reels. :)

Maybe post your guitar so we can hear it and compare so we figure out what you need to do to tweak it. There are a few spots in that recording where there is only a single guitar and the tone is thinner. I think the double tracking is what gives it that sound. That's what I hear, at least.

Eric
 
Alan B. Go.

Alan B. Go.

Blues Explorer
Thanks for the suggestion. I think I can emulate double-tracking. I've tried a flanger without much luck. Listening to it again I'm wondering if its an out-of-phase effect. I'll report back and perhaps make a recording.

Thanks,
Alan B.
 
Alan B. Go.

Alan B. Go.

Blues Explorer
Thanks for the suggestion but as I just spent money on a new amp so getting another guitar isn't in the cards - I already own 14. My Ibanez AM300 approaches the sound of a ES335.
 
J

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
another thought, George probably used his Casino with the P-90 pickups. Your Les Paul and SG probably have humbuckers. GibsonGirl has a Les Paul with p-90's and her guitar had much more "bite" and "thickness" than my Les Paul which has the humbuckers.

just a thought.

Eric
 
Alan B. Go.

Alan B. Go.

Blues Explorer
Jalapeno said:
another thought, George probably used his Casino with the P-90 pickups. Your Les Paul and SG probably have humbuckers. GibsonGirl has a Les Paul with p-90's and her guitar had much more "bite" and "thickness" than my Les Paul which has the humbuckers.

just a thought.

Eric
Click to expand...

Hmmmm.... Good thought. I can split the coils on the Les Paul. I'll give that a try.

Thanks
 
brent

brent

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
It sounded double tracked to me as well. And maybe the second track the guitar was not quite in tune with the first? Not sure if back then they would have had to play the part twice. That was before Pro Tools. That was just listening through my computer speakers, not good headphones.
 
PapaBear

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
I'd be interested as to how they played it live, it's a cover they'd been doing for years, it's not like they had a lot of pedal choices at that time
 
Alan B. Go.

Alan B. Go.

Blues Explorer
"Bad Boy" was recorded Monday, May 10, 1965 during the "Help!" sessions. For reference they recorded "Ticket To Ride" the previous Friday. The studio logs don't list any of the gear they were using. Curiously the tune was originally released just in the USA. It was finally released in the UK on a compilation album. George was using his Rick 360/12 a lot at that point, which gets me wondering if it was used on "Bad Boy". I have a Danelectro 12 string that I'll try later after my girl friend is soundly asleep. Here are the Lads playing at the 1964 NME Show: https://youtu.be/MG-DXGKDBcA where George is using the Ric and again at the '65 show: https://youtu.be/JlkffxQ7ztM where he's playing his Gretsch Country Gentleman (or similar model). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_Beatles'_instruments
George used a Gibson 355 in the promo video for "Ticket To Ride" https://youtu.be/SyNt5zm3U_M

I can't find any performances of "Bad Boy".

So where does that leave me? Still chasing a tone that was probably created in the studio and no matter how much fiddling I do I probably won't be able to recreate.

Thanks for all the input. When I get close to nailing the sound I'll report back and probably upload the preset to Fender Tone.

Alan B.
 
ChrisGSP

ChrisGSP

Blues Journeyman
Coming from left-field, down in the Convict colony, I went back to the Beatles boxed set to listen again. I was suspicious that Alan may have picked up a version of the British release that had been re-mixed by Capitol in the States (as they did with most of the early Beatles stuff) with additional reverb and top-end. But the version that I've got is the same as Alan's. I think George has double-tracked himself - listen closely and the two lead guitar parts are not identical.
It was recorded during the Help! sessions in '65, so if you're looking for comparison sounds, listen to that album - maybe "Ticket to Ride" or "Dizzy Miss Lizzy". I think they still only had 4-track at that time, so the boys used to mix-down during the sessions and then re-use the "extra" tracks that they created that way.
I'd also suggest that it's unlikely to have Wah-Wah. I don't think that started appearing until a couple of years later.
I will check the "Beatles Album by Album" book that's in my local Public Library and see if there's any info on the gear they used in those sessions.
And a big, loud shout-out to my sons and daughter-in-law who gave me The Beatles Boxed Set for my 60th (10 years ago now). It's beyond priceless.
I just hit the "Post" button, and Alan's latest appeared above, with some of what I just said. Apologies for repetition.
Chris G in Sunny Australia.
 
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