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Re: Robert Fripp



<<>>does anyone know what signal chain Robert
Fripp uses to get that tone? I've always liked
that. It sounds like a fuzz box to me, maybe 
with an octave.<< 


I think it's just shit-loads of gain, though you
never hear any buzz or hiss.... the guitar itself
is a major factor; you'd never get sustain like
that from a stratocaster.... it would have a lot
more "character". another thing about fripp's
sustained notes is that he seldom applies
vibrato. this lends his solos a strange
emotionless quality. whereas mr torn will wobble
all over the place. probably the same amount of
sustain, just used differently.

also, mr fripp uses his tone controls very
carefully- it's quite a mellow sound compared to,
say, gary moore playing the same sort of guitar
through the same amp and on the same pickup. but
this would be the famous "skysaw"                
 e-bow-less sound that eno introduced him to, and
therefore probably deeply secret. I think fripp
has a tiny e-bow built into the palm of his hand,
meself. doesn't that sound a bit like him on that
"we are all made of stars" tosh by moby melville?
anyway, no octaver.>>

Well, at least in the early 70's, Fripp used just
a volume pedal, wah wah, and fuzztone, with, I
think, a tape delay of some kind (for regular
echo effects). Fripp did an interview in Guitar
Player back in 73 or 74 (Earthbound is mentioned,
and so if Bruford, so it had to be about that
time frame), and he said he wasn't even sure what
brand wah wah or distortion pedal he was using at
that point, and added "I've been able to get my
sound regardless of what fuzztone I'm using" or
something like that. 

At least the way it appears on records like
Earthbound, I think it's the fuzztone, combined
with the careful use of the wah wah and the tone
controls on the guitar. I remember reading where
Steve Stevens (when he was still playing in Billy
Idol's band) said that he used "an old Robert
Fripp" trick, which revolved around using the
neck pickup and backing off on the tone control.
I think he said that he prefered to use a Rat
pedal, whereas Fripp used a Big Muff (not sure
about the early 70's, but I know I read in other
articles where Fripp mentioned using a Big Muff,
and also that he used to use a Burns Buzzaround
as well, in later articles and one of the boffins
working for him build a switching unit that
allowed him to switch between any distortion
pedal he wanted). 

I also think part of the sound comes with the
playing style, using a lot of hammer ons, pull
offs, and slides. 

Nowadays, of course, Fripp has that Fernades Les
Paul copy (actually, a couple of them, at least,
I think) with the Sustainer built in, so
"infinite" sustain is no problem. 

=====
May you never thirst!
The Scuba Diver Presently Known As Chris

"What do you get when you give a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos?"-James 
Earl Jones

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