Swing sound reference12/18/2023 ![]() Most regular folk would not be able to tell the difference in my opinion as it’s so minute. Personally, I like the middle and bridge pickup combo better.īy the way, great job on the sound you got for both gauges of strings! And without an amp too. Why he used the middle pickup only when he re-recorded his lead parts for the album version is beyond me. The version you’re referring to is the album version. But occasionally they did play the full version of the song with all verses included. ![]() The single also omitted the “Then a crowd of young boys” verse as the song was too long for radio play. The original single released to radio (here in Australia anyway) had Mark using both the bridge and middle pickup for his lead playing. However I would like to point out that there were 2 versions of the song “Sultans Of Swing”. Mostly due to the overall higher tension of the strings. 10s are noticeably harder to play but they do have a bit more body and sustain. Most of my 40+ years of playing I’ve used 9s on my guitars (12s on acoustic). And this is a song that has also inspired me. You can let us all know which you think is better with the poll below, or use the comment option below this blog post to share your thoughts.īeen playing guitar myself since the late 70s. However, when I listen to what I recorded later I am not sure anymore… With the 009 strings I felt it was better during recording. I first recorded with the 010 strings and felt that something was missing. So which string gauge sounds closer to the original sound? – I must admit I am lost a bit here. Of course I cannot get the original sound 100% this way, as it requires a tube amp, some good microphones, a great recording room, a 1961 Strat, and more, but I was hoping to get something close enough to judge the strings. I added these ingredients in the recording software, just for convenience. a vintage Fender or a Jazz Chorus) with a lot of reverb for this sound, plus a little bit of chorus. You normally need a trebly amp setup (e.g. I recorded the guitar straight through a treble booster into the mixing desk. If the 009s sound clearly better, I thought to examine the difference between a 008 and a 009 and a 014 vs. I did not try with 08 strings (008-011-014) as these should be similar to the 009s. I left the bass strings so that I do not have to adjust the trussrod on the guitar and do a complete new setup. Then I changed the three unwound strings to 009-011-015 and recorded it again (with some subtle volume and EQ adjustments to match the differences). I put new Fender ‘regular’ nickel strings (010 -013-017-026-036-046) on the guitar and recorded the solo over the backing track. With the Sultans pickguard I have all these combinations, all normal Strat sounds plus any DiMarzio/DiMarzio or DiMarzio/Fender combination. The same is true for a DiMarzio in the neck position – this is where Mark’s DiMarzio went to in October 1978. This is great as with a DiMarzio in the middle I would get new sounds but at the same time would lose not only the normal middle pickup sound but also certain flavours of the traditional bridge & middle sound. With the ‘Sultans’ pickguard I can switch each of the three VFS-1 pickups individually to the DiMarzio or Fender sound. It seems Mark played a DiMarzio FS-1 (13k!) in the middle position of one of his two Strats in early 1978, combined with a normal Fender pickup at the bridge. I used a 1983 Japanese Squier Strat on which I installed the Sultans pickguard with the VFS-1 pickups. This is why I recorded a video today in which I play the first Sultans solo with heavier and thinner strings for a side by side comparision. After playing thin strings for some time I start to miss something and sooner or later I change to heavier strings, and with heavier strings the same is true so that I go back for thinner strings again. I personally change string gauge periodically. Check this blog post for the earliest info we have, including the possibility that Mark played 008 strings. And the guitar sounds of the first two albums are still the holy grail for many of us. Of course we know a lot about Mark Knopfler’s strings, too, but unfortunately there is almost no information about his strings during the time of the original Dire Straits setup. On the other hand thinner strings are easier to play, and they give you a different kind of attack which can be nice as well.įor most of the big guitarists we know which brand and gauge they played during the different stages in their career. I guess you all have heard about using heavier strings to get a fuller sound. One major component for a guitar sound is the right string gauge. ![]() From this time on I wanted to get that magic guitar sound. Listening to Sultans of Swing in 1979 was one of the reasons I started to learn the guitar.
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