Keith Richards' sound

[lonestarparis]

I have to record a 3 piece band that plays only Stones-covers. On stage the guitarist sounds pretty close to what Keith Richards sounds like on the Stones song "Monkey man". Listening to what the Stones sound like today I doubt if even Richards remembers how he tracked his Monkey man licks. Has any one a tip for me how to track this guitar in a way that it sounds convincing?

[Randirainbow]

Yes! Make sure that the guitar player has the same skills as Keith Richards. That way he will sound the same.

[rgriff]

A 58 high powered twweed twin will help

[lonestarparis]

I'm a big admirer of Keith and he created many wonderful licks. But I'm a guitarplayer and it really doesn't take very much to imitate his licks. They're simple enough. As I said, the guitarplayer is good and on stage he's close to the real thing. But I'm sure it'll sound less powerful and massive when we record it. So if any one can help me with good tips, I'd feel a lot better about this project.

[·[-_-]· Richon]

use many mic.... a near SM57.... or a SM58.... in the back you can use a MD421 (Sennheizer).. maybe a Big Condenser Mic a little far from Speaker... with the pad -10Db ... and mix the hole 4 mics to get the sound you like....

If he sounds exactly like Keith on stage.... record him like on stage....

[helios69]

... I'm a guitarplayer and it really doesn't take very much to imitate his licks. They're simple enough...

remember mick jaggers solo tour with joe satriani in his band? They also did some stones songs. i wouldn´t rate satriani as an average guitar player and that was miles from any stones feel. of course it´s also hard to get the charlie watts beat in all its simplicity. but even with the real mick jagger as the singer in the band the stones songs didn´t really work. i wasn´t there but i have heard some radio shows they recorded from the shows and didn´t even come close.

keith richards feeling is very hard to imitate. and yes, the riffs are "easy" to get if you did your homework in open tunings but if somebody tells me it´s easy to nail them...mh...i have my doubts.

[lonestarparis]

Helios69
You seem surprized that Joe was 'Joe playing Keith'? Joe will always be Joe when he plays his guitar. And so will you and I, as will everybody else who is an experienced guitarplayer.
And I'm absolutely sure Jagger knew who Joe is, allthough I don't understand why he chose him. The combination is not compatible imo. Commercial motives? I doubt it.
But this is not really what this post is about. I want to help this young Stones-coverband making some money and I need some help. This great forum is the place for advice en helpful tips when it comes to recording.

{..} Richon. Thanks for your tip. I'll try this.

[·[-_-]· Richon]

You Welcome!!!

hey...always try as much of Mic's you can... in every position (caution o cancelations!!) and after you record some bars of the song... hear it and mix the hole mics to get the sound you like... o try another way....

[ajazzie]

"Five strings, two fingers, one [bleep]..."




Here goes nothing:

In the studio Keith plays with amps & mikes-Fenders, Marshalls, Vox. He always has a Fender Twin.

This amp is a 1957 model originally tweed, . It has 4 6L6 tubes. Other road amps include a Marshall head & a Fender 4x10 Bassman from 1956. Fenders for clean sounds, Marshalls for dirty sounds. Keith almost always plays through 2 amps at once.


KEITH'S BRIDGES TO BABYLON SET-UP

Keith is on the road during the Bridges To Babylon Tour with 80 guitars. Most of them are Fender Teles, built in the 50's, with a removed 6th string, tuned in open G. He also has some sunburst Teles, built in the late 60's (with 6 strings), and a blonde strat from 1958. Some songs he plays with a Gibson Les Paul Junior, and for the real rock 'n roll stuff come some Gibson ES 335 semi-acoustics on stage. The Amps Keith uses are 3 Fender Twin Combos, built in the late 50's through Mesa Boogie 4x 12" cabinets. On acoustic parts he plays a 1949 Martin D-18 and a 1954 Martin D-18. Keith plays only Ernie Ball Strings in special sample. Keith does not use many effects except a bit of delays and parametric equalizing. "He makes his effects by his style of playing", says his Backliner Pierre de Beauport. This info courtesy of Manfred Mletzko, who was kind enough to translate the article for me.
The information below is courtesy of Marcus Hierl May 2001



Should give you a guide, hope this helps.

I play a tele myself, I get a great stones sound with a 100w marshall jcm 900 , 1 x 300w 4x12 cab and a 4x10 cab,

no effects, straight through, plain, dry and simple.

Good luck!

[lonestarparis]

Thanks
Great info, Ajazzie. But I'm actually hoping for tips how to get that sound on tape.
When I listen to the original 'Monkey man' I try to figure out what fx/trics they used to make that guitar sound so expressive.
I heard the Stones perform 'Monkey man' live. These riffs were all there but the sound was awfull. So it seems logical to suspect there must have been some studiotechnique/tric used when they recorded the song.
BTW, you may like this site http://guitargeek.com/toprigs.php
Unfortunately Keith Richards isn't in their list.