How to heavily color a vocal?

[highway51]

I've been listening to a handful of bands that have a retro sound and their vocals are heavily colored but i can't figure out the effects. One of the main bands i'm thinking of is Dr. Dog. When i hear a vocal with lots of coloration that doesn't seem to be delay reverb what outboard gear am i usually hearing? Are there any tube compressors or outboard gear that color vocals heavily with out that aren't time or echo based? I know mics are important but its seems unbelivable that a mic alone would color vocals all that much.
what are some of your favorite tricks to coloring the vocals?.
I've been mixing in harmonica microphones and fender amps.

[AlexLakis]

I'm not familiar with Dr. Dog, but aside from the voice you're recording, microphone selection and technique, what you're most likely hearing is the involvement of EQ. Tube gear can add some "weight" to the signal, but as long as you're not pushing the levels to the point of distortion, it's not really anything that you can't functionally accomplish with EQ. Many pop records will have the high end boosted a lot, with cuts in the 200-600 range. Try the opposite; Keep the high end natural and let the mids breathe. Also, a weighty plate reverb will most likely get you closer to what you're wanting to hear.

Although it's probably not what you want to hear, it's almost all about the voice and mic selection/technique. If you're looking for that darker sound that's popular these days (an SM7 would be a good place to start,) try having the vocalist sing a little off-axis to the mic. It's amazing how different the singer's voice will sound if they're coming at the mic from just a slightly different angle.

[Nitronick]

I went to their myspace and listened to a couple of tracks....


It's nothing but some eq and heavy reverb