Early Sonic Youth

[SadFuzz]

I've had Evol and Bad Moon Rising in rotation for the last few weeks. I really love Sonic Youth and especially these two albums, the playing is so free and experimental. Anybody know about their gear at this stage? I know it was pretty much whatever guitars they could get/alternate tunings/loud amps (think it was too early for pedals) but what amps? I've seen Silverface twins in live photos but idk if they would have used these in the studio for distorted parts or whatever.
Thanks.

[zhivago]

Round that time, my understanding is that it was still mostly any junk/cheap guitar they could get their hands on.

The big Jazzmaster/Jaguar push comes round the Daydream Nation time, from what I can remember...I read somewhere that they bought a bunch round that time.

I think the SY sound really is sheer volume, tunings and...ermm...unorthodox technique/approach...they added pedals along the way, but the foundations were set early on.




God, I love Sonic Youth.

[eggwheat]

Yeh everything up till Daydream nation is gold.

Lee had the black face super reverb amp with the jasper johns target on it all through sonic youth.. Thurstons favourite seemed to be the Peavy roadmaster amp.

They had a couple of jaguars early on..the brown wrecked one with no guard etc was a key guitar from Bad Moon on.

[zhivago]

the brown wrecked one with no guard etc was a key guitar from Bad Moon on.

I had forgotten about that one...yes, that was an important guitar for the early stuff for sure.

[wooderson]

The Sonic Youth gear site doesn't have much before the Daydream Nation days.
http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/lee.html
http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/thurston.html

[DeathJag]

I love those two albums too!! I also like Daydream Nation. Great question!

[NickD]

Lee was using the Tele Thinline that got stolen in 99 and later found again, so not all cheap guitars.

[shadowplay]

I saw them for the first time just as Evol was coming out but pretty much remember nothing about the gear, other than they were playing guitars and they all looked wrecked and saw them last round about the close of the decade playing with Mudhoney with the future Lady Shadowplay and I can't remember much about the gear then either. To be honest I generally spent more time looking at girls than gear and was generally fairly well 'refreshed' whenever I was out.

D

[SadFuzz]

So I watched Lee Ranaldo's show us your junk and he said that he used an early 60s Super Reverb pretty much most of the way through sonic youth and that he got it before he joined and brought it initially to the band. So this is interesting...

[dinosaurkale->]

just went to the screening of Lance Bang's SY doc and plenty of old footage with their old guitars and gear

[budda12ax7]

I have been listening to the new Thurston stuff, which sounds like the old Sonic Youth stuff. I guess that's good.

[panoramic]

So I watched Lee Ranaldo's show us your junk and he said that he used an early 60s Super Reverb pretty much most of the way through sonic youth and that he got it before he joined and brought it initially to the band. So this is interesting...

accurate, he also chopped it into a head later. He used mustangs a lot early on. I saw them in 1988 or so and they didn't use a ton of JM's then to my recollection. Kim played a few gibson basses. there was a dead looking duo sonic thing that lead to me having GAS for them for years also.

[eggwheat]

I saw them for the first time just as Evol was coming out but pretty much remember nothing about the gear, other than they were playing guitars and they all looked wrecked and saw them last round about the close of the decade playing with Mudhoney with the future Lady Shadowplay and I can't remember much about the gear then either. To be honest I generally spent more time looking at girls than gear and was generally fairly well 'refreshed' whenever I was out.

D

hah pretty much the same here..1985 by chance..hanging at the Level(Brighton) where we all used to go with our BMX's in the 80's..someone says 'theres a punk band playing down the arches!' So we all scoot down expecting to see Peter and The Test Tube Babies again(my first gig, snuck in back of pub aged 12-13..singer did gig naked! )...and we are met with the cacophony of Sonic Youth playing outside in front of The(awesome) Zap club(rip). I just remember a LOT of confused faces. It went over my head...I couldn't really make out what it was..but I knew it was exciting and I've always been drawn to chaos. I thank having been Red-PiLed by Metal Box at age 10 which led to the Birthday Party etc..and also that Distortion To Deafness EP by Disorder from 1981 really struck me with pauses of feedback and noise..which set me up for the '84 JAMC single

[Danley]

I like those albums- but don't really get big into SY until some place like Sister. I actually really like Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped.

[shadowplay]

I saw them for the first time just as Evol was coming out but pretty much remember nothing about the gear, other than they were playing guitars and they all looked wrecked and saw them last round about the close of the decade playing with Mudhoney with the future Lady Shadowplay and I can't remember much about the gear then either. To be honest I generally spent more time looking at girls than gear and was generally fairly well 'refreshed' whenever I was out.

D

hah pretty much the same here..1985 by chance..hanging at the Level(Brighton) where we all used to go with our BMX's in the 80's..someone says 'theres a punk band playing down the arches!' So we all scoot down expecting to see Peter and The Test Tube Babies again(my first gig, snuck in back of pub aged 12-13..singer did gig naked! )...and we are met with the cacophony of Sonic Youth playing outside in front of The(awesome) Zap club(rip). I just remember a LOT of confused faces. It went over my head...I couldn't really make out what it was..but I knew it was exciting and I've always been drawn to chaos. I thank having been Red-PiLed by Metal Box at age 10 which led to the Birthday Party etc..and also that Distortion To Deafness EP by Disorder from 1981 really struck me with pauses of feedback and noise..which set me up for the '84 JAMC single

There was a growing hype on them in Glasgow, first around Confusion is Sex time it was on the edges of my Goth scene and pretty much attracted folk who liked sorta mewling stuff like MASS (which ties into your PiL thing) or confrontational music like TG. Then I noticed a lot of floopy fringed, 60's worshipping twee proto C86ers were into them and it was putting me off a bit since I found the sight of a grown men in childs anoraks, frayed jumpers and start rite sandals disheartening. They played Splash One which was kinda half folk into the leather end of the VU and half childs anorak with some Venn overlap and little room for Goth me even if I'd largely hung my eyeliner up by then.

Goths would dance to Death Valley 69...having both Death in the title and Lydia Lunch saw to that.

D