Wallace BKW45 test
There's a small claim on the Wallaceamps.com site about the BKW45 that says:
"This amp will cover all the sounds from the 60's to the 70's."
Not that I had any doubts, but I decided to put the claim to the test, just to see how far I could get with just one amplifier.
I put original recordings of well-known artists collapsed to mono in the left channel, and tried to duplicate certain instruments in the right channel using only the BKW45 into a Marshall 1960BX as amplification. The goal of this experiment was to spend as little effort as possible in replicating the tone of the original records.
For each part, I attempted to not spend more than 30 minutes figuring out the part, dialing in the tone and recording the track. At this pace, there are some performance mistakes, but the goal was tone more than note-for-note left-to-right accuracy. The measure of success when replicating the tone is the right channel should create a convincing stereo image of the left channel, with regard to the amplified instruments.
To assist in the rapid pace of dialing in tone, I maintained 5 different microphones (U87, C414, MD421, SM57, e609) active at all times on the Marshall 1960BX cabinet and simply chose the microphone track that most closely matched the original recording. In a few cases, it was necessary to add small amounts of either compression, eq or reverb in order to properly match the left channel. The bass tracks, where applicable, were also performed through the exact same BKW45/1960BX and microphone setup.
These are all edits of the songs, roughly 1-2 minutes each. Simply pan to the right to hear more of the BKW45 tracks. (Note: these are 192kbps MP3s and suffer some quality loss compared to the actual recordings.)
1960's
The Beatles
J. Lennon, P. McCartney
From the album: Yesterday And Today
Right channel: Epiphone Elitist Casino (lead part), Rickenbacker 325 (rhythm part), Hofner Violin Bass
| Lead track |
Rhythm track |
Bass track |
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| EQ: 1k +9db Q0.5 |
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Cream
J. Bruce, P. Brown
From the album: Disraeli Gears
Right channel: Gibson SG Standard (rhythm and 'Woman Tone' tracks)
| Rhythm track |
'Woman Tone' track |
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(Three mics mixed together)
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| EQ: 3k +5db Q2.0 |
EQ: 3k +5db Q2.0 |
EQ: 310Hz -8db Q1.0 |
| LP: 6k 6db/8ve |
LP: 6k 6db/8ve |
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Jimi Hendrix
J. Hendrix
From the album: Are You Experienced
Right channel: 1966 Fender Stratocaster (Left-handed, strung right-handed)
Led Zeppelin
J. Page, R. Plant, J.P. Jones, J. Bonham, W. Dixon
From the album: Led Zeppelin II
Right channel: Fender Highway 1 Texas Telecaster, Fender Custom Jazz Bass
| Rhythm track |
Bass track |
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HI: 4k +12db Q1.0
MID: 800 +12db Q1.0
LOW: 50Hz +10db SHELF
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1970's
Aerosmith
S. Tyler, T. Hamilton
From the album: Toys In The Attic
Right channel: Gibson Les Paul Standard, Fender Custom Jazz Bass
Queen
B. May
From the album: Sheer Heart Attack
Right channel: Fender Vintage '62 Stratocaster (doubled)
| Rhythm track |
Double track |
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AC/DC
A. Young, M. Young, B. Scott
From the album: High Voltage
Right channel: Gretsch 6122 (rhythm part), Gibson SG Standard (lead part)
| Rhythm track |
Lead track |
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EQ: 100Hz +4db, 3k +4db Q2.0, 8k +3db
DELAY: 6.69ms, static
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HP: 300Hz 6db/8ve
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Pink Floyd
D. Gilmour, R. Waters
From the album: The Wall
Right channel: Fender Vintage '62 Stratocaster
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REVERB: Large Church,
40ms pre delay,
87% Diffusion,
8.7sec decay
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Cheap Trick
R. Nielsen
From the album: Heaven Tonight
Right channel: Gibson Les Paul Standard
1980's
U2
Written by U2
From the album: October
Right channel: Fender Vintage '62 Stratocaster (through TelRay software delay)
The Smithereens
P. DiNizio
From the album: Especially For You
Right channel: Fender Custom Jazz Bass, Rickenbacker 325
| Bass track |
Rhythm track |
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(Two mics mixed together)
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EQ: 1.5k ∞, 330Hz +9db
LP: 7.5k
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| LP: 8k 6db/8ve |
Mix -7db below the MD421 track |
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1990's
Soundgarden
C. Cornell
From the album: Badmotorfinger
Right channel: Gretsch 6120DSV
| Rhythm track |
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| EQ: 1.8k +5db Q1.0 |
Blink 182
M. Hoppus, T. DeLonge
From the CD: Enema Of The State
Right channel: Fender Standard Stratocaster (clean), Gibson Les Paul Standard (heavy), Fender Custom Jazz Bass
| Clean track |
Heavy track |
Bass track |
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2000+
Evanesence
B. Moody, A. Lee, D. Hodges
From the CD: Fallen
Right channel: Gibson SG Standard
There's a few 'mandatory' artists still missing that I hope to add; e.g. Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, etc.
but based on this experience I have no doubt the BKW45 can replicate those sounds also.
Considering my tracks were done in a small studio, in under 30 minutes each and only allowing 1-2 takes each, and performed on different instruments and different equipment than the original recordings, and considering I was trying to match tracks that were recorded by legendary artists in the world's top studios like Abbey Road, The Record Plant and Ocean Way, and considering the tracks being matched were already produced, mastered and remastered; despite all this I was very impressed just how easy it was to replicate (with reasonable fidelity) the tone of some of the most famous albums of the last 40 years using only the BKW45 amplifier and a Marshall 1960BX "Greenback" cabinet.
I think the BKW45 lived up to the claim, and then some.
Kevin Brown
Dream State RecordingTM
The original recorded works above are copyrighted by the respective authors.
This website is copyright 2008 by Dream State RecordingTM
All rights reserved.
