The Sound

[OldStrummer]

I'm about to make a fool of myself again. No surprise, for those who've tolerated me these years.

The latest song I'm undertaking is Nils Lofgren's "Black Books." You may know this song as one of the pieces used for an outro on an episode of the television series, The Sopranos. There are several versions available on YouTube, but I kind of like the live rendition, shot locally. I had the pleasure of sitting at the Lofgren family table (lovely people, all of them!) as a guest of Tom Lofgren, Nils' brother (that's him tapping rhythm on the other guitar).

Nils doesn't play guitar during the song, but only on the ending solo. I'm already screwing things up because I'm trying to play the whole thing without accompaniment. The chords are easy, but the solo is impossible. If I try to emulate Nils, I'll simply embarrass myself. Still...

He plays a Takamine acoustic with cutaway. I don't know the model. It doesn't matter. What I've heard is that Takamines are okay as acoustics, but no Martin or Taylor. But plugged in, they grow a set. Nils certainly is playing plugged in.

What I can't figure out is what effect(s) he's using to get that ringy-chimey sound. Jerry Garcia used to get this kind of effect on electric, but how is Nils Lofgren doing it? I figure if I can get close to that sound, I can play a passable solo (certainly not as good as his). Any idea how he gets this tone?


Edited to add: I watched several different live versions of this, and saw Nils make adjustments to a pedal (?). Since the keyboard is using a chorus effect, I wonder if this is also what he is using? Thoughts?

[tugboat]

Definitely delay in there to my ears. You can hear the trailing off beating echos when he stops playing. No idea about the rest of what gets him there.

[OldStrummer]

Thanks for that! I found a YouTube video by Nils giving very basic beginner lessons. One thing that he mentioned that I also detect in his soloing is the use of palm muting on the strumming hand. I've already incorporated that into the solo I'm building for my interpretation of it, but I still haven't gotten the "crystaline" tones.

[ch willie]

My. Vision is Mr Magoo-ish but is he using a metal thumb pic? Def sounds like a chorus pedal too.

[OldStrummer]

He does use a thumb pick. But I can't tell if it's metal or not. Thanks for thinking like me it's a chorus pedal. Of course, that's a pedal I don't have, so...

[Offshore Angler]

Sounds to me like piezo pickup, compression and chorus. Piezo's into a compressor is an unmistakable sound.