Looking for that Billy Preston Clav Sound

[gb7reporter7]

I am trying to find a clav sound that is similar to what Billy Present used on the The Rolling Stones song 100 Years Ago...can anyone help?


[youtube][/youtube]

[pianokey88]

For starters, it sounds to me like he has the Clavinet tone switches on the following settings: left switch "C" depressed, right switch A depressed. This configuration turns on the lower Clavinet pickup only and results in a more bass sounding warm tone. The rest of the sound comes from what ever studio effects and EQ were used.
dTb

[pianokey88]

The Electro 3HP is what I have. The information for adjusting the Clavinet model pickups and EQ start on page 13 in the Electro 3HP manual. I listened to the song again and have a couple more suggestions. Nord has done a pretty good job emulating the Pickup selectors and EQ choices of a real Clavinet.

Start with Clav Model 1 (CA) as I wrote above. This is the one with only the lower clavinet pickup modeled ... called the "neck" pickup in the manual. A real clavinet can be thought of like an electric guitar with a keyboard attached. It has two pickups analogous to an electric guitar with two pickups: one near the bridge and one near the neck. In a real Clavinet the upper pickup is analogous to the bridge pickup in a guitar and gives a bright sound. The lower Clavinet pickup is like the neck pickup on an electric guitar and gives a warmer more mellow sound.

Next is the Clav EQ. I liked the setting with both the Med and Soft on together.

Effects section. I turned on the Equalizer and had Bass set between 5 & 10, Freq at about 2K and Gain 10, Treble at about 8.

SPKR/COMP effect is a little tricky because I liked the sound I got best using the Rotary speaker model set to STOP and the DRIVE/COMP knob set to about 4 or 5. The problem with using the Rotary speaker amp simulation like this is that if every time you turn the STOP MODE switch off and back on (red LED lit) you get a fairly significant difference in the tone depending on where in the cycle it stops. So you have to keep pressing and pressing the STOP MODE switch until you find something you like. It is random.

I couldn't find a good copy of the type of reverb Billy used on his Clavinet in the Nords DELAY/REVERB effect. I liked it best set on reverb with the short DLY1 ROOM delay but it's not as long as a delay as on the record.

Anyway that's what I came up with. It's not an exact match but I think it is close.
David

[jazzystu]

I've got a stage. One thing I do is run the clav through the leslie sim with the leslie on stop. Another is to use the wah as a filter with it set at a position and an amount.

[zoooombiex]

I'd say the DA or CA pickups. Soft, med, maybe treb tone switches.

Otherwise, it sounds like a pretty regular clav > overdrive sound to me (wah at the end). The real issue though is probably the amp. IMO a clav will never sound right through a flat/PA type setup (unless you are playing it very clean and harpsichord-ish), and really needs a guitar amp. That doesn't mean it has to be a super-distorted sound, but a guitar & amp speakers give it that upper mid emphasis and clarity and bark.

[pianokey88]

I agree with what zooombiex said about the amp being important. A tube amp sounds best with a real Clavinet.
dTb

[Dorfenator]

I'd like to get the Preston Clav sound used on Heartbreaker.