The Blue Album Tone

[Bricksnbeatles]

Just saw Weezer at Madison Square Garden last night, where they played the blue album in full for its 30th anniversary. What a show!




Got me thinking again about the sonics of that debut album, and how incredible the guitars sound. It’s well established at this point that Rivers was feeding an 8x10-sized Marshall 4x12 cab with a 60W Mesa Mark I that was modded with an effects loop, rear panel master volume, and pull-knob gain boost and bright switches. Between that amp sound, Rivers’ straightforward but intensely unique rhythm guitar approach, and Matt Sharp’s monstrous bass tone, we’ve got a juggernaut power pop rhythm section that can’t be beat. Tracks like ‘No One Else,’ ‘Holliday,’ and ‘The World Has Turned and Left Me Here’ are just incredible in that regard.

At this point PPCB has an ungodly number of amp-in-a-box boards. Any that attempt to mimic a Mesa Mark I? Any that capture that Weezeresque bliss for you, and if so what’s the rest of the rig like for you?

What do y’all think of the blue album tone? Favorite track from the album (or other B-sides, dusty gems, or raw nuggets)? Anyone else catch this tour? Let’s talk all things blue!

To leave this off, here’s a pic from when I built a cuomocaster back in my early teens–

 

[jcpst]

Last year I took my daughter to her first concert- it was Weezer. Great show, the entire stage was the dashboard of a car.

I’m not really one to seek out what kind of gear a musician is using. I take more of a “what would I do to get towards that sound” approach.

The first thing that comes to mind is a muff-style tone. I’d probably use this PPCB Kewpie I just finished an hour ago. Thick and gainy!

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Last year I took my daughter to her first concert- it was Weezer. Great show, the entire stage was the dashboard of a car.

I’m not really one to seek out what kind of gear a musician is using. I take more of a “what would I do to get towards that sound” approach.

The first thing that comes to mind is a muff-style tone. I’d probably use this PPCB Kewpie I just finished an hour ago. Thick and gainy!

that's awesome! sounds like a great first concert experience!

I'm not much for exactly emulating the sounds of other musicians (with a few exceptions), but I do like experimenting with similar gear to take it in different directions. I've never been much of a Mesa Boogie fan, but the blue album, my favorite Rush song, and some of the best jazz fusion albums all feature a Mark I, so I guess I can't be that much of a hater– granted, the Mark I is very different from most of the later amps that followed it.

Good call on the muff– I've never gotten a blue-type sound from one, but a muff with the sustain fairly low is great for copping Pinkerton tones.

 

[Hal Harvey]

All of the Mark amps are pretty versatile.

Maladroit has a great guitar sound too imo. I think that one is mostly a Marshall DSL 100 dimed.

 

[ICTRock]

I'd probably go with the mesa mark v 25 ... I don't recommend jumping into vintage Mesa ownership if you're in a relationship you want to keep.