Robin Trower - Little Bit of Sympathy (Live 1974)

[Mousetoescamper]

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Such A Good Album

Really love Dewar's voice.
Robin is really a face-maker when he played. Hadn't noticed that before.
I always thought Robin's Strat was pretty much glued with the muddle pickup selected, but he's clearly using position 4 here. That's when both the middle & neck pickup are on.
This song is so Hendrix-y!

[Mousetoescamper]

2. This is one of the few RT live videos I found where Dewar's voice was mixed fairly well

The subtleties of his voice tend to get buried under Trower's wall of sound. He was one of my favorite singers and a big part of the appeal of the early Trower albums.

A lot of early Trower sounds Hendrix-y. Trower says that he didn't own any Hendrix albums when Procol Harum lyricist Keith Reid wrote "Song for a Dreamer" as a tribute to Hendrix and asked him to write the music. He went to a friend's house and listened to some of Hendrix's albums all the way through. Trower says the experience was inspiring. To me, it sounds like he's channeling Hendrix on the early songs, especially on Bridge of Sighs, Too Rolling Stoned, Day of the Eagle and Little Bit of Sympathy. Along with the Strat, his use of a Uni-Vibe also gave him a Hendrix-y sound.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. I Buy All That

He certainly has that smoothness one needs.
I was surprised at his pickup position because I've been reading for over 55 years that he used the middle pickup.
But, at least on this song, we do hear the out-of-phase quality. It's ideal for the tune.
Were you able to tell what amp he used. I don't recall seeing the amp well enough. Marshall?

[Mousetoescamper]

4. A Marshall head with what looks to be a Fender Bassman 2x15 cab. Here's a screenshot

from the same live TV recording.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Thanks

I'm surprised about the choice of a Fender cabinet. In those days, the resonance of their closed back cabinets weren't right for distortion. Too boomy. Maybe it's open back.

[Mousetoescamper]

6. I always thought Trower used the in between 2 and 3 spot

I've never owned a Strat but have played a few. One of the tricks I learned from a Strat player a long time ago was the in between position to get the out-of phase sound. I think the same trick can be used on 3-way switch Telecasters.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Doesn't Make Sense On A Tele

There's already a middle position on a Tele. Both pickups on. As there is no resonant circuit in the swtch, there can be no "sort of" on pickup. It's either on or off. Right?
The "out of phase" effect happens because the harmonic set hitting two pickups are different, so some frequencies are reinforced others canceled. On a Tele, tge middle position provides that. Half-way between back and middle is either one pickup or both. Same as the middle position. There'd be no effect on finding a "sort of" position on a Teke.
The original Strat however, did not have a 5 way switch. So, there was always a sliver of space where both pickups (bridge/middle, or middle/neck) were making contact. Realizing that was desirable, they advertised that way, but it wasn't until 1977 that they issued their guitars with a 5 way switch. My first Stear was a '78, so it cane with it.
Truth be known, the high quality copies by Ibanez & Ventura had 5 way switches from the time they started shipping to the US. Fender was forced to keep up.
5 way switches were available after market, and it was a really easy DIY, so lots of guys refit their Strats. Erie Ball sold those 5 way switches. Robin probably did that, because that "dual contact" spot was really narrow.
Now that we've had this conversation, I'd guess he was a middle pickup guy until those after market switches were readily available. After changing the switch he knew he could count on hitting that tone every time. Obviously, this video has him playing a pre-76, unless he owns a time machine.
Mark Knopfler was one who was famous for the bridge/middle sound. David Gilmore used middle-neck. Until I saw this video, I wasn't aware Robin was, too.

[Mousetoescamper]

9. Right, that only works on a rewired Telecaster, of which there are apparently quite a few

[Mousetoescamper]

10. Not in between, but the middle position is wired to sound out of phase.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. A Guy I Knew....

...rewired a Strat.
He put an extra 3 way toggle (like on a Les Paul)
If that switch was in the down spot, the Strat switch worked normally.
If the Strat switch was on the bridge, and that toggle was in the middle, the bridge & neck pickups were on.
If the toggle was up, all three pickups were on, no matter where the Strat switch was.
So he got 7 combinations instead of 5.
Thing is, he used the bridge pickup alone over 90% of the time!