Ska Guitar Tone

[swift]

Hey Roddy, I'm a semi-new guitarist and I love ska but I still don't know all the ins and outs of it. I still haven't been able to get a guitar tone that I'm happy with. I've tried google, forums, everything to no avail. I decided that there was no better place to learn than from here! ;D

So I'm wondering what kind of things you to do get a solid ska guitar tone? As in, what equipment, chord shapes, EQ, effects, etc. I'm talking mainly about the rhythm guitar with the offbeat chops and such. I've only been able to get an obnoxious, over-trebly tone so far.

Right now I'm using a cheap semi-hollow Epiphone and a cheaper Vox amp. I'm using "half" barre chords on the top 4 strings. Maybe it's better to use full barres?

Anyway, any insight you can give me is much appreciated. Thanks!

[roddy byers]

Hi Swift, well i didnt play much Ska in the Specials that was Lynval Goldings job-but ive learnt alot from him over the years and can nearly play it as good as him-well nearly..
It depends on the kinda Ska you want to play-Trad,Ska Punk etc..
But alot of people like the Fender Type guitar (Telecaster-or Strat) for the chops/Skank sound but you can get that sharp cut out of most guitars its down to personel taste and alot of pratice to get it right.
Semis give you the old Trad sound i.e. Earnest Ranklin.
Fender amps are what Lynval swears by but hes used all sorts over the years.
Reverb+ delay can help also tremeleo can give you a more studio sound, me and Lynval use more effects now,a,days in the past we relied on the out front sound engineer but for Dub sections its nice to do your own crazy Lee Perry type effects.
But its mainly a feel thing which alot of white rock players find very hard to play as its a differant kettle of fish altogether.
Pratice,pratice ,pratice theres no short cuts its taken me 20 yrs to get the feel right*

[swift]

Thanks Roddy, that helps a lot. I knew that Lynval played most of the ska with the Specials, but I didn't doubt that you had picked up a few things from him. ;D

Thanks again, I'll keep working at it!

[roddy byers]

Also make sure you look sharp!
People wont notice the mistakes if you look the part*

[mrclaypole]

Jun 21, 2008 21:28:26 GMT swift said:

Hey Roddy, I'm a semi-new guitarist and I love ska but I still don't know all the ins and outs of it. I still haven't been able to get a guitar tone that I'm happy with. I've tried google, forums, everything to no avail. I decided that there was no better place to learn than from here! ;D

So I'm wondering what kind of things you to do get a solid ska guitar tone? As in, what equipment, chord shapes, EQ, effects, etc. I'm talking mainly about the rhythm guitar with the offbeat chops and such. I've only been able to get an obnoxious, over-trebly tone so far.

Right now I'm using a cheap semi-hollow Epiphone and a cheaper Vox amp. I'm using "half" barre chords on the top 4 strings. Maybe it's better to use full barres?

Anyway, any insight you can give me is much appreciated. Thanks!

I had the same problem mate, I got a guitar about 3 years ago with some money my Nan left me when she died and I decided to take it up again after having given up. I needed a new hobby so I decided to play again as a mate wanted me to be in a band with him, but that fell apart after writing 3 songs and himself having afew minor hits in the indie charts (he became the big "I am") and we fell out.
So having picked it up again I asked afew guitarists how to progress re learning, I got the same response that was too play along to the records you like, I did....I then got hold of a book on reggae playing as I really love the music (I find it abit boring now to play on the guitar but still play along to some tunes) it was called "how to play reggae guitar by Ray Hutchins" which I htought was an original Strawberry Saucele. It had a bit on styles before reggae at the end of the book, one was rocksteady (ehich I prefer playing now) and one was SKA.
Mainly the advice was the timing issue which at 1st was hard to master, but it becomes easier with the false downstroke.
Tone wise it says the original SKA bands played with a clean tone and very few effects so it sounds abit liek a classical guitar tone.

That was good advice, I needed more info on the various styles so I tracked down a book called SKA GUITAR by Dale Turner, hes an amercian guy whos knowledge of technique far out ways his knowledge of the bands hes emulating, on th e2 tone bit he says that Madness were from Coventry and that their lead guitarist was Chris Foreman. He also said that the 2 tone label was started by the beat and the Selecter (which would Give the general nightmares) but thats by the by, I just needed to know how to play.

The book is hard to get but covers all the different variations of SKA from the beginning through to NuSKA and californian. The latter 2 Im not that interested in but the sections on the original and 70s revival are good, plus you get backing tracks to play along with.

Tone wise he says the same about the original - KEEP IT CLEAN!!!.
The 70s revival he says add abit of drive (not too much) and abit of echo and reverb is always good.
Ive got a line 6 guitar pod which is pre prgrammed with some classic sounds more geared to rock but with a bit of jiggling I can acheive good sounds for both. Chrissy boy from Madness said that a nice crunchy sound can be nice as you can hear in live versions of Take it or leave it, especially the piano solo.

I tend to find myself at gigs now watching the rhythm guitarists now trying to remember chord chnages and watching how their hands damp the strings down, Prince Busters guitarist at the Croydon fairfield halls gig in 2007 was a revelation, never did I see such minimal amount of chords sound so Scooby Doo amazing.

Keep playing about, when you find a tone, write down all the nob positions and you can easily come back too them again.

[roddy byers]

Alot of good rock guitarests have real problems trying to play reggae/Ska - took me a long time to master it.
You have to feel it*