Man or Astroman Guitar Sound: A 10 Year Quest

 

Just WHAT IS that Man or Astroman sound anyway?  Am I the only one interested in solving the mystery behind that eerily authentic gurgling reverb astro-crunch?  I mean while most surfy bands seem perfectly content sliding into the easychair of that  Fender Jaguar or simple Gretsch hollowbody sound, these proported "extra-terrestrials" offer a truly stunning one of-a-kind authenticity. 

To date, I have found very little interest in the way of online articles on the subject of the Man or Astroman? guitar setup.  So after years of research & experimentation, I've finally decided to come forward with previously unreleased documentation containing the results of my 10 year quest for the Man or Astroman sound.  This is my story.


I. The Guitar: 

 

What I gather from early videos, Star Crunch used a 1965 Mosrite Mark I re-issue. But after searching online, I was sticker shocked at it's starting pricetag of around $2500! "Ed Roman" is the individual responsible for the website that sells Mosrite's and after viewing all the images of rolls royce's and celebrities it is apparent that the high cost of Mosrite's are obviously needed to support lavish wealth and Keith Urban's endorsement. 

 But as for myself with a limited budget of around $600, I re-adjusted my sights on the seemingly affordable Univox Hi-Flyer, of which I bid on FOUR seperate guitars and lost- each time within the last 5 seconds of bidding.  Apparently Kurt Cobain and some dude from the Ramones played them exclusively so good luck trying to get one. 

Then I considered Eastwood, a manufacturer of cool looking new guitars modeled after classic ones of the 50's & 60's. Their Mosrite copy, called "Sidejack DLX" ($450), did have P-90 pickups, basswood body & tremolo bar but....I just had this lingering bad feeling about buying a NEW guitar claiming to sound vintage when no guitar shop around here carrys them (for me to try out) and the impossibility of judging what it will actually sound like from online videos due to the fact that  EVERY FREAKIN person seems compelled to play the EXACT SAME show-offy generic guitar-center blues riff on every single video no matter what the guitar is. (With the one exception being of course the intermitant attempt at "surf" where you might get a quick-picked downward scale slide followed by a 'walk don't run' mini riff BEFORE the bluesy brag fest begins).  So I kept looking.

 

Next up: SILVERTONE- plenty available on Ebay plus made in the 60's & affordable! Only ONE particular model seemed suitable however, the 1969 model 1445 listed as a "Mosrite copy". Unlike others including the 1968 1440, the 1445 is almost identical to the Mark I,  featuring a THIN body made of "Flamed Maple over Basswood", angled "hound dog" single coil pickups, and "German carved" edges. As a bonus,  no famous guitar player is associated with this baby, so bidding was a cinch and I won it for around $600.
Prologue: At home I was pleasantly surprised. Gambling on the Silvertone paid off BIG TIME- when I hit that low string and heard the tangy gurgling of low-frequency reverb resonate from the cabinet of my 1971 Fender Twin; I knew I was on my way. So please, if you're looking for that genuine Man or astroman sound on a budget and come across a 1445,  don't miss out! 

Here is a summary of the Silvertone's similarities to the Mosrite Mark I that seems to be VERY important in any guitar when searching for that Man or Astroman sound: 

  a) BODY:  must be extremely thin and made from quality material such as Maple, Basswood or  Mahagony. (no "ash")

 b) PICKUP:  Will make or break your sound- they must be single coil, but extremely "hot". There are several P-90 models available for purchase for around $100 and CurtisNovak.com sells thier "JM-Mosrite" pickup ($120) which is wound to the 1963 Mosrite specs of 13.5k (ohms).

c) Neck: Longer than most, the Silvertone 1445 has a 25" scale length, the same as the Mosrite Mark I!  (note: The Eastwood Sidejack is only 24 3/4".)  Also, the Moserite & Silvertone 1445 both have a "zero" fret.

d) Fret Wires: Very thin so that the strings are sitting close to the fretboard. Several people I talked to complained that the Mosrite's thin fretwires wear out quickly, but there is obviously a design reason why this is done as the Silvertone is the same way.

e) Tuners:  Old tuners really suck and I had a big problem with staying in tune. But none of the replacement kits I found matched the existing hole sizes. Foolishly in a hurry, I chose to take my cordless and just carefully drill out new holes in the headstock, myself.  In the end, the holes were too big & not at a perfect 90 degree angle which,  still works I guess but looks rediculous.  I highly recommend just having this done by a pro at your local guitar shop instead.



II. Playing Techniques:

* Use light (bright) or even super light strings, I have had great success with Fender brand.

*When picking the guitar, never stray too far away from the pickup, especially when going nuts with the tremolo. The tremolo should be a Bigsby with a flat arm, the longer the better to allow for the easiest transition from playing to tremolo action.  You know, for some reason alot of bands just barely touch the tremolo, and it's like at the end of a song.  LAZZZYYYY!!!!!  You gotta feel comfortable bending that sucker fast! 

*When playing chords on the bottom 2nd, 3rd, & 4th strings, try playing only strings 2 & 4 instead. You can tell Star Crunch frequently does this like on Miracle of Genuine Pyrex and it's what I feel is a major part of the Man or Astroman sound.

*Detune to lower than normal key for added bass and depth 

*Only use the pickup closest to the bridge, and make sure it is as close to the strings as possible without causing any buzzing. 

*The amp will need to be adjusted for high treble, low bass with some gain boost needed. I set my reverb at about 3/4 but not all the way up as this seems to cause muddling of the sound when recorded with a mic.  



III Amps/Pedals:

This website details a 1999 phone interview with Trace Reading about his guitar, amp & pedal setup. I am unashamed to have a printout of it posted in my studio like a centerfold pinup. 

Though I DID manage to get a 1971 Fender twin reverb amp, Dan Electro Dan-Echo delay (don't expect to get this at guitar center, apparently they think they're too good to stock this brand though you WILL find the pro-co rat there for about $80) and an MXR Analog Delay,  I must say that for $50 bucks  the next best thing has been my Digitech RP50- YES is that crrrazy or what! This very common cheap-o effect pedal actually has an outstanding fender twin modulation that, when tweaked, sounds grrreat going right into your mixer or recording interface!!! 

In fact, micing an amp is such a pain that for all but one track on the Beady Dine album I used the RP50. If you are gonna mic your Fender Twin though, I recommend the Shure SM57 or a pencil shaped condenser mic layed out right ontop of the amp and hanging over the speaker grill upside down (pointed towards the floor).

In Conclusion, there is still much more to discover about the man or astroman guitar sound. I'd ask that anyone with further information on the topic please post a comment. There are still unanswered questions about the specific recording, mixing & mastering processes of each album and I will update this blog with further research findings.