HOW TO SOUND LIKE CHET ATKINS, (tips from Steve Wariner)

On the Gibson site, Steve Wariner offered these tips on how to sound like Chet Atkins. Stay pure: “Chet did not use a lot of processing. When I was touring with him he used a Lexicon rack mounted delay and the only other thing between his guitar and amp was a distortion pedal, like a Tube Screamer. Earlier I guess he used an Echo-Plex type of tape delay. And he rarely used that fuzz pedal. He would use it when we’d play a funky piece and he’d play one solo with it turned on. He also used a Music Man amp on tour. In the studio he had a vintage Standel amp that was once owned by the great steel guitar player Jimmy Day. It had a plaque with Jimmy’s name on the back.”

Master vibrato: Atkins used heavy strings on the bass side of his guitar neck and light gauge strings for his top three notes. “He used those heavier strings to pick his bass lines with his thumb, so he could play bass and melody at the same time. He kept his vibrato arm set where he could lay his pinky over it, so he could dip it with his little finger. He was also a master of creating vibrato with the fingers of his left hand.”

Pick clean: “So much of what Chet did was with his hands. He had amazing articulation on the guitar.

His notes were always pure and clean and gorgeous. Chet had a reach and tone that was unreal. He had enormous hands, so he could play a chord by wrapping his left hand around the back of his guitar’s neck and pinning down a note with his thumb. He did that on his intro to ‘Mr. Sandman,’ and he’d tell me ‘Steve, why don’t you try it this way?’ And I’d say, ‘With my pudgy little hands? I can’t!’ ”

Think old school: “For Chet, everything was in service of the melody. He could have played a lot of flashy licks, but he was really interested in playing music that everybody could enjoy, not just guitar players. So he would make sure the melody was always at the front of whatever he played.

“He also liked to record with super clean amplifiers and ribbon mikes. One of his favorites was the RCA-77. If you’re really looking for authentic vintage tones, you’re going to need the vintage gear.”