Robben Ford Discussion

[cosmicspoon]

Listening to "Handfull of Blues" and i really want to get the tone he has on there. Im using a Pod XT, but it gets great tones.
On listening to the tracks on said album, Robbens sound is quite unique. The presence and some other sound that is almost like the string slapping off the fretboard (is that what it is, anyone?) are amazing. Anyone have any lessons or settings of his amps?

Cheers again and again!

Matt
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SRV/Ford/Green - Oh yeah!

[frank0936]

Matt,
Do a search on tone on this site and you'll come up with enough articles about Robben's tone to keep you busy for a while. Unfortunately, we've about decided that the short answer is that it's in the man's hands and heart and soul. Still, there's a lot of info on Robben's technique and chord voicings on the videos that he has done. Click on the Amazon link at the top of this page and you can find Robben's books and videos.
Good luck!
Frank

[JohnnyZ]

Matt,

Be really really careful of certain seedy types in here who'll try to sell you a can of Robben Tone...

[roadwarriorfortheblues]

Have you ever cursed at your car when it wouldn't turn over ? Then you give the keys to someone else and it starts right up for them ? This happens to me all the time ! Light bulbs won't turn on, the phone stops working, networking connections become unconnected. I leave the room and everything works again. I'm writing an e-mail and the computer crashes and deletes my e-mail as soon as I hit "send." Or worse, the computer has a fatal crash and everything inside has to get replaced.

Strange as it may seem, I believe inanimate objects are mysteriously affected by some people's human energy field. That's my newest theory on Robben tone.
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Travelling by train of thought

[sidneystreet]

The slapping of the strings on the fretboard thing is Robben's right hand technique. He uses bare fingers quite often to create greater tone and touch variety then can be obtained with just a flatpick.

The PodXT is pretty darn good. No, it isn't a Dumble or a classic Fender Super Reverb, not by a long shot. But, I am positive that Robben could get the job done with nothing but a PodXT, no problem. His tone is mostly in his heart and hands.

[Aeolian]

[henkholland]

There is a French RF cover band called Jaywalkerblues. The guitarist of that band almost nails the way Robben played his solo's on his CDs. It was already a subject on this Forum. Since a couple of days there some live videos of this band on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=jaywalkerBlues
Henk

[edpesco]

[fig]

There is a difference between SOUNDING like Robben and PLAYING like Robben. If you want to SOUND like Robben, then you would concentrate more on the tone he's getting from his amp.

If you want to PLAY like Robben, then you would focus more on note choice. And of course, there are other subtle things, but there is a difference between the two.

Personally, I wouldn't assume what a person is trying to home in on regarding Robben's playing more than another just by listening to him/her play, since I don't know what that person is thinking or trying to accomplish.

I know there are things that I do that are trying to be more like Robben, and other people don't hear it. And there are times when I'm not trying to sound like him, and someone will say it sounds like him.

So we all hear different things. And all we can do is go for the tone and playing style that best suites us, regardless of who our influences are. Everyone is going to hear something different.

[Daved]

Well put, Fig.

I think this is an element of my tone question thread elsewhere... in that it seems to me that some folk consider tone to be the SOUND and some folk seem to consider tone to be the PLAYING, thus the confusion when people say they are trying to duplicate Robben's "perfect tone".
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( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)

[diatonicdude]

Interesting stuff, this tone topic. I also agree with fig.

For me, and the guitar players amongst us will all have subtle or even great difference of opinions, it is the chiming, horn like tone I crave for. Robben's "sound" just nails this, especially the mid 90's recordings.

I don't pretend for one minute that I want to play like Robben (although I must confess I have stolen a few licks, and would also love to be as accomplished musician as he), but the tone he achieves, however he achieves it, is something special to my ears.

DD
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Music is the universal language; speak it with emotion, listen with a passion.

[Sweet_emotion16]

if youre only just starting to dive into RF land let me give a breif synopsis on mine so far, be prepared to punch some hours of fiddling with gear and lots of reading and lots of playing , it could take a while!!!..

tone wise robbens is not to difficult to get, i think in this case it is the hands and the heart and imagination behind it! which sometimes with enough work its not difficult to understand..
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[Aeolian]

There's a thread over on the gear page about "tone" vs. "timbre". Many folks use these interchangably, or confuse one with the other. There are several dictionary definitions there as well. It seems for the most part than "timbre" is a way of describing the static sound of something at a slice in time. While tone refers (besides pitch in one definition) to a more dynamic aspect of the playing. That is the complete envelope of the timbre and it's place in a musical phrase.

I believe in that other discussion, Robben largely uses the term tone in this sense, although when he refers to musicians who's "tone" is too offensive to bear, he's kind of amalgamating both aspects of tone and timbre.

Mimicing one aspect of Robben's timbre (especially the smooth overdrive timbre) is nowdays simply a matter of money. You can get something that you can dial in to reproduce that timbre.

Mimicing Robben's "tone" is a much more involved prospect. Finding ways to mimic the dynamic timbral variations that he achieves, and getting adept enough at them to be able to play musical phrases while invoking them.

Mimicing Robben's "sound" is a whole 'nother matter. That involves getting the musical qualities that Robben brings forth from his heart, using the techniques he has developed and the gear he has selected over the years to support the musical constructions he has developed over many years.

There is much to learn from in all of it. A good fundamental timbre (like Robben's) makes the playing enjoyable for many people. Outstanding tone production adds color and life to your playing. There is much to learn from Robben in this respect. Musical presentation, putting the right notes in the right places, the thing that really sets Robben apart, is another desireable goal. Not that the object is to sound like Robben, or anyone else, but to add to your vocabulary all that you can learn from him, as part of making your own sound. Robben's influences, from Bloomfield to Pass and the unique way he heard them and melded them into his music, are part of what makes his playing special.

I think that trying to mimic Robben's "tone" is an admirable goal. It is a tremendous way to improve one's technique. I also think one should put in effort to mimic Jeff Beck's tone, and John Scofield's, and Eddie Van Halen's, and so on. Having all these voices under your fingers gives you the opportunity for the kind of musical expressiveness that we love Robben for.

It was trying to achieve Beck's tone on some records (without realizing that he used his thumb) that led me to develop the technique that made people think I was way into Robben (even though I'd never heard him). And when I heard how expressive Robben was with the way he played, I endeavored to use the technique I had developed to achieve more of that kind of expressiveness. To me, that is more of what Robben's tone is about than the timbre on any particular song. Especially since most every song on every different album has a tone that is unique in some way.

I also think you should steal any lick of Robben's (Jeff's, John's, Scott Henderson's, ...) that appeals to you. Bring them all together to make music that appeals to you. Figure out what it is about that lick that appeals to you, and find variations that appeal to you as well. That's what Robben did.
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[jconstant]

[Cheebatone]

It's easy. Buy a Zendrive.

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I first started to play guitar 35 years ago... Trouble is, I had 20 years off in the middle.