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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → How does Joe get that violin tone?
Eric Johnson goes into depth about this effect in his guitar playing DVD. If you watch this video its amazing how similar the two players are. Eric Johnson is amazing and I am not going to go into who is better... I prefer Joe to eric any day. However, you can draw alot of comparisons between the two in how they construct leads, and their over all tone. Its pretty interesting... I never thought about the two before I watched the video.
When I watch EJ play (I have a couple live DVDs) it almost seems to me that he approaches guitar with a "how difficult of a stretch can I make this lick" approach! He has some of the weirdest intervals and fingerings of anyone on the planet.
I prefer Joe's playing also because I like the fact he uses different guitars, every pickup setting and plays a wider variety of music. That and Joe's a better singer by a few thousand yards. I love EJ's playing and can really appreciate the talent but he's definitely more "artsy" and less emotional in comparison to Joe.
Eric Johnson goes into depth about this effect in his guitar playing DVD. If you watch this video its amazing how similar the two players are. Eric Johnson is amazing and I am not going to go into who is better... I prefer Joe to eric any day. However, you can draw alot of comparisons between the two in how they construct leads, and their over all tone. Its pretty interesting... I never thought about the two before I watched the video.
Apparently there's a story about Walter Trout. I know he can do the technique. I'm sure somebody knows that one and can post it.
yes Walter is amazing at volume swells....saw him perform a whole Bach piece live with nothing but volume swells...
You can do the same thing with a volume pedal or by just hammering on the notes and then turning the volume up especially if your volume knob is out of reach.
He makes the "violin effect" look easy, I can't make it work no matter what I do lol.
As with most of these things.... there is nothing new under the sun, you can nearly always track it back further(x did it before y and so on). Alex Lifeson did/does it using a volume Pedal, I have to add though ..... not sure i've ever heard anyone do it quite as well as Joe.
You really need an ultra-sensitive volume control, my PRS does it nicely but my Strat would need a custom pot replacement i think(its too stiff as it is). I occasionally dabble with this when the mood takes me(or the singer buggers off and leaves me soloing 'till god knows when and I'm running dry on ideas, I swear he's gone for a pint sometimes).
Nightfly
LSD 
Lead Singers Disease...My Drummer keeps pissing in my ear about we need a front man...
Screw that, They're worse than guita...
I mean they're bad.
tee hee
Big Jeff
poor Old Roy RIP pops
I thought this thread was about violin tone, not the violin trick?
As an Ohio old-timer, I'd like to include Phil Keaggy to the list of guitarists that have used this effect. Phil played in a band called Glass Harp based around Kent State University during the late 60's, early 70's. He primarily played a Les Paul Deluxe and if I remember correctly, he lost the ring finger of his picking hand in a childhood accident. This loss of the digit made it easier for him to wrap his pinky around the LP's volume knob and create some beautiful violin sounds. I'm not saying that Phil is the first to do this, I just remember this effect being in his repertoire. If this is new to anyone, it's worth checking out. Trust me.
I'm new to this forum but I'd like to say that I enjoy reading through the posts. What immediately catches my eye is the mutual respect and helpfulness of the participants. I spent the last couple of hours looking through here and I see is passion and a mutual love of music. The participation of Joe makes it obvious why members here as well as music fans elsewhere gravitate towards him and his music. He's able to go to a place musically that few of us will ever get to visit but he's human and down-to-earth enough to take us all along for the ride.
Great forum.
One thing:
You don't need to go all the way down to "0" with the Volume Knob. Down to 6 or 7 is enough. It's not so much starting from a silent note. It's more about the actual Swell. Changing up how far you move the Knob, as well as how fast (very important!), is a key. Also, different speeds and widths of Vibrato will yield vastly different results.
You can also get a little of a "Woodwind" type of tone, by playing on the Neck PU, with the Tone Knob rolled off to about 8 or 9. Kind of a "Breathy" attack, as the Highs are muted.
Yeah, new check, its actually called violining LOL, i been doin it a lot more now y'all brought it up, I reckon it'll come in handy in my competition this monday, so cheers.
Scagey
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → How does Joe get that violin tone?
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