In 1968, these were tools to
make music...
Today, they're classics.
In 1968, these were tools to
make music...
Today, they're classics.
In 1968, near the end of the band's busiest period of performing, the equipment lineup was finally where they wanted it, and still compact enough to fit (barely) in their rented Avis van to get to and from the gigs.
|
ORGAN |
Mark played an old Hammond M-1 (serial number 25) with a Leslie 122 Short and an extra booster amp to make it sound like a B-3 for the Rascal's stuff. A wheel dolly was added to make it easier to move around, but it still took four of the guys to get the thing up and down stairs. For more info on classic Hammond and Leslie gear, check out the links at the bottom of the page, or search through the hundreds of great Hammond sites on the net. Several B-3s have come and gone in Mark's collection since the 60s. He still has one Hammond B-3 (which he used on the group's 1995 recordings), his original M-1, a grand piano, electronic keyboards, various guitars, amps and a digital recording setup. Mark enjoys playing music whenever the mood strikes him. |
|
GUITARS |
Karl and Tom played Mosrite Ventures Model guitars. They liked the way they looked, and particularly liked the edgy sound. Thirty years later, due mostly to their popularity with 80s and 90s bands (and the popularity of The Ventures in Japan), these same guitars sell for between $3,500 and $9,500 when you can find them. Japanese reissues of classic Mosrite models are also available. If you are interested, check out the Mosrite links at the bottom of the page. Larry and Don both played Pre-CBS Fender Stratocasters. Don sold his Stratocaster when he started focusing on his photography business. Larry still has his Cherry Red Strat. In 1990 it had the same strings he used in 1967. It still played great, but sounded a little dead. For more on Fender gear, check out their Web Site. Karl's previous guitars included a Gibson Les Paul SG Junior and a Rickenbacker 450 12 String which he sometimes played at the same time. (Sort of a do-it-yourself double-neck.) Both guitars are seen in early pictures on the "GUYS" page. Karl also used a white Mosrite Joe Maphis double-neck (6/12) for several shows in 1966 before deciding on the single neck Mosrite. Tom's first bass was a light blue Hagstrom. Today, Karl plays a Gibson Les Paul Custom, a white '60s reissue Fender Strat with custom gold hardware, a Rickenbacker 360/12V64 reissue 12 String and a 40th Anniversary Hofner Bass. His two acoustic guitars, a Gibson J-45 Rosewood and a Martin D-18S, are both equipped with bridge pickups for use on stage. |
|
DRUMS |
Jeff's first drum set was a simple, blue with silver stripe Ludwig set. Shortly after he joined the band, he got a four drum Ludwig Silver Sparkle kit with a chrome snare. The sparkle and chrome always looked great under the lights. For more on Ludwig Drums, check out the Ludwig (Musser, Selmer, Steinway...) Web Site. Today, Jeff is the only one of the guys who plays regularly with a group. While he has added or changed cymbals several times, and he has removed the front head on his bass drum, he still uses the same basic set he used in 1968. |
|
AMPS |
Tom used a Sunn 200S bass amp which pumped an impressive amount of low end into the room. At the time, this was THE bass amp to have (no pun intended). They were known for their volume and their unique "folded horn" cabinet design. Considering how many groups used the Sunn 200S, it's amazing how few of the cabinets show up in the used market these days. For more Sunn info, chuck out the 1966 Sunn Catalog, or the other links at the bottom of the page. Prior to the Sunn, Tom used a Fender Bassman with two bottoms and then a VOX Westminster Bass amp. The VOX looked nice in the lineup but the 18" speaker sounded sloppy and the amp didn't have the necessary power. The Westminster also had a tendency to wander around the stage while Tom played. |
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Karl used a 1966 VOX Super Beatle once played on stage by Peter Tork of The Monkees. Jeff's sister thought that was pretty cool at the time. It was the Thomas Organ variety VOX, not the English "valve" gear, but it was LOUD! It also had a fancy foot pedal, which was impressive in 1966. (There's a picture of the pedal on the "Guys" page.) The amp used a spring echo system, which produced a remarkably loud explosion when the head was shaken. They used that sound to kick off their version of Jr. Walker's "Shotgun". If you're interested in VOX Amps, check out the 1966 VOX flyer, or the other links at the bottom of the page. Today, Karl uses a Line 6 AX2 (with a multi-function pedal that makes the VOX's look tiny) and a small Roland Cube 40 for practice. For Bass, he uses a 1960s Sunn Sonaro combo bass amp. Not as big as the 200S, but a similar sound, more portable, and powerful enough for inside use. |
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Don used a Pre-CBS Fender Showman amp top and a single Jensen speaker in a plywood box with holes drilled in the front which he left on the floor near Jeff's drums. It was almost as loud as Karl's VOX and a lot smoother sounding. Don was not only the best guitar player who ever played with the band, but a great singer and showman as well. He got involved in building his successful photography business in Cincinnati and stopped playing guitar around 1980. We're glad to report that Don is playing music again after coming out of a fifteen year retirement for our reunion recordings in 1995. |
|
VOCALS |
 Vocals
ran through a solid-state Haynes system, which consisted of a mixer and
two powered sound towers, with four 12" speakers and a 100 watt amp in
each tower. While not "classic" gear, it got the job done.
For echo, they ran their vocals through a Fisher Space Expander spring reverb system. The microphones were all low impedance, and ran through Shure inline transformers before going into the mixer. Two Electro-Voice 635As were usually used by Mark and Don. For years, 635As were popular with television news crews because they could run over them with a truck and they'd keep on working. Mark also used an EV 676 which can be seen in the Christopher Club pictures on the "GUYS" page. Karl used a Shure Unidyne III, 545L, which had a rich low end, but wouldn't pass the truck test. In the early 1970s, the 545L was given new life as the talkback mic in a recording studio in Hamilton, Ohio. (Where are they now?... One column was stolen from storage in San Francisco in 1988. The mixer went to a second hand store in Springfield, New Jersey in 1995, and the second column was rebuilt into a different cabinet and is now a guitar amp for Karl's nephew in Charlotte, North Carolina.) When the band plays today, they use mostly Shure SM-58s for vocals, through a Mackie mixer and more recent vintage power amps and speakers. Today's sound reinforcement systems sound MUCH better than anything available in the 60s, which is to be expected with forty years of research to get it right. On the instrument side though, there is still no substitute for classic Hammond, Leslie, Fender, Mosrite, Sunn and Ludwig gear. |
Equipment Links:
Unofficial Sunn Musical Equipment Site
Complete Sunn Catalog 1966
(500K JPEG File)
T.H.E... Website Content and Images © Karl Sjodahl - All Rights Reserved
The
Vocal King mixer had six microphone inputs with volume, bass, treble and
echo send controls on each input. The system was made by the Amplifier
Corporation of America, and the columns came with gold grille cloth and
brass corners. The guys chrome plated the corners and changed the grille
cloth to silver to make the speakers look more like Fender columns, which
they thought looked cooler. The Fender logos came from Tom's old Bassman
cabinets, which they thought looked cooler WITHOUT the logos... Go figure.
(College kids obviously didn't know much about trademarks and copyrights.)
