Jimmy Herring Discussion

[gillvanderlip]

i saw the ARU 2004 line up in asheville and noticed jimmy was using two fender twins(at least i think they were) and a few pedals. not sure what they all were but i did notice a tube screamer and a volumn pedal that may switch between amps. he did use wah wah on some things. played paul reed smith guitar. any one else out there know more about his setup on this tour. got to talk to him briefly and he answered some theory questions i had. real good tone and he played his ass off. take care gill

[gsbe]

In Asheville Jimmy had two blackface Fender Super Reverbs on stage but he was only using one of them.

The second night of the mini-tour in Athens, GA, Jimmy had one Super Reverb and a Twin in front and a Leslie cab behind these powered by a Showman head (I think). He used two Dunlop volume pedals in Athens: one for the Super Reverb / Twin and one for the Leslie. Check the tone on Trondossa from Athens: the combination of the Leslie and clean Super / Twin sounded huge together - miles ahead of any chorus!

Jimmy's Super Reverbs have been modified with a low singal level output on the back so that he can easily daisy-chain the amps together. This mod was performed by his amp guy in the Atlanta area.

If I understood correctly, he commonly uses one for straight clean tone and the other with reverb perhaps going so far as to use an A/B volume pedal to control the wet / dry mix. I know that he has used a A/B volume pedal in the past to mix between two amps although back then it was two amps set differently: clean / distorted. I believe this was how he explained his setup a few years back when he stopped through Nashville's Exit / In with Project Z.

I can't be sure at the Asheville show but I know that in Athens Jimmy started the show with his solid body PRS and then switched to his hollow-body. I assume that this was to get more sustain. As far as I know he was only using a Tube Screamer and the amp for saturation / compression. He also had a wah and Mutron envelope follower on the floor. I can't say for sure if he had the Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor on-stage or not at these shows. It is always important to note that 99% or Jimmy's tone comes from his fingers - not his toys. He will still sound like Jimmy Herring on a $25 Sears guitar and amp set - the mark of a master musician.

The Royer ribbon mics on Jimmy cabs completed the chain for his amazing tone on these two nights. I supplied these and many of the other mics on stage for the benefit of a multi-track recording for the band's archives.

[gillvanderlip]

thanks for the information on the amp set up. i do think he had the tube factor with him in asheville. when i met jimmy years ago he was using a twin for clean and marshall for distortion with a volumn pedal to go between the two. he also used a tube screamer to push the marshall alittle for more sustain. i agree he could probably play through any thing and sound the way he does. .......

[smv929]

You said he "...also had a wah and Mutron envelope follower on the floor...". I never hear any evelope effects from Jimmy, just reverb or delay which I assume the sound man adds. When or what songs does he use the enevelope filter on?