#1
|
|||
|
|||
Springsteen’s Nebraska album
I went back and listened to this Springsteen masterpiece recently after quite a number of years. While I like a number of Bruce’s records (particularly the earlier stuff) Nebraska I’ve always felt like Nebraska was his biggest achievement from a song-writing standpoint. His acoustic guitar playing is laid back in the mix for much of the record, but his hypnotic fingerpicking really complements the haunting nature of many of the cuts. I’m wondering if anyone knows what acoustic guitars Bruce played on Nebraska? I have read that he is a real collector, though I’ve recently seen him playing Takamine live for the most part. Anyway, would be interesting to know what he was playing on Nebraska....
|
#2
|
||||
|
||||
Apparently a J-200
__________________
"One small heart, and a great big soul that's driving" |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
I don't know the answer about the guitar, but I agree with you about the album. It was a good one... very different from anything that came before.
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Nebraska has been my favorite Springsteen album since the first time I heard it all the way through — was actually my first Springsteen album. At the time it was very laid back compared to his first decade, but later that acoustic focus seemed to be more prominent (especially after getting Tunnel of Love out of his system:-).
But, it was a J200 I am pretty sure ... he talks about this in his biography from a couple of years ago. He recorded the whole album solo on his Gibson as a demo recorded either in his garage, workshop or barn (something like that, forgive my memory experts). But point being it was demo quality, and they then re-recorded the whole thing in a real studio (maybe with other guitarists?). BUT, Springsteen liked his demo fingerpicking better and they cleaned that up as the final album. The whole thing was recorded in a portable 4-track recorder I think. Which totally fits the raw vibe of the album.
__________________
martin D-28A '37 | D-18 | SCGC H13 | gibson SJ-200 taylor 814ce | 855 | GS Mini H.V. | goodall RP14 | Halcyon SJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Back when I was doing a song of the day series I did a little write up on Stringsteen's J-45 http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=435235
__________________
Wayne J-45 song of the day archive https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis..._Zmxz51NAwG1UJ My music https://soundcloud.com/waynedeats76 https://www.facebook.com/waynedeatsmusic My guitars Gibson, Martin, Blueridge, Alvarez, Takamine |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Yes! I'd had this album forever and liked it, but it happened to be in my CD player when I got in the car to drive home from Guitar Camp a few years ago. Heard it like I'd never heard it before. Masterful.
|
#7
|
|||
|
|||
For me, this was the last great Springsteen album (The River is my other fave). Little Steven's "Men Without Women" was another great one. After these... Springsteen and the band, to my ears, drifted into pop/political "stuff" and lost me. But I just listened to "Nebraska" recently, and had the same question - what guitar is that?
__________________
1978 Yamaha FG-331 2020 Recording King ROS-09-TS 2007 Alvarez RF20SM 1936 Supertone 233 "Hawaiian Belle" 1930s Harmony Mandolin Instagram: new_york_albertan |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Two great albums...I think “men...” was the album many of us were expecting from Bruce at that time.... |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
I happen to know, after asking Bruce at a gig in Vegas, where he and his wife showed up backstage to hang out with Tim and Faith, after one of their shows at the Venetian in 2014. He told me it was his old beat up 1950s Southern Jumbo.
__________________
Dump The Bucket On It! |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Hmmm, so it was a Gibson almost certainly (either the Southern Jumbo or J-200), sounds like you heard it directly from the source. Very cool that you were able to meet him and ask him directly.
|
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Don't mean to be overly smart about this, but: That was true until quite a while ago. On more recent live appearances, he can be seen more often with a P6N sunburst model. The EF341SC nowadays appears mostly as a 12-string played by Little Steven.
For what it's worth, Bon Jovi sticks to his EF341SC. EDIT: A little comment on the record. I'm actually way to young to have witnessed Bruces first one or two decades, but this one stuck with me ever since I've first heard it. Mansion on the Hill in particular. What a song! That was about 5 years ago, I was 27 then. Two years ago, I was even lucky enough to have a chat about this record with a favourite fiction author of mine. So, Nebraska will always be one of my favourites.
__________________
Maton Mini EMD 6 (2022) Atkin Essential 000 (2019) Furch OOM 34 SR (2017) Taylor 314ce (2012) Fender American Series Stratocaster (2000) Boss RC500 Loop Station Last edited by Kerbie; 06-01-2018 at 06:24 PM. Reason: Removed language |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
The J-200 Springsteen used on that LP was on loan to the Rock & Roll HOF for an exhibit they had up for a bit. Nebraska remains my favorite Springsteen LP. I also have an old vinyl boot which has all of the songs in the order they appear on the original LP but performed live.
__________________
"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard |
#13
|
||||
|
||||
I played Reason To Believe on last week's radio show. Nebraska is the Bruce record that has aged most gracefully.
__________________
Goodall, Martin, Wingert |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
It’s such a great record. It makes you feel like anything is possible with an acoustic guitar and a 4-track recorder (and a generous helping of songwriting genius).
__________________
Martin CS-00-18 (2015) Martin OM-28V (2011) Northfield Model M mandolin |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
I recently saw Bruce on Broadway. He played two Takamine guitars for that performance. It's interesting that he has Gibsons and is using Takamines for the show. Even Patti who was on stage for a few songs played a Takamine. Another interesting observation was that it appeared that he didn't have a sound tech. He controlled guitar volume from his pre-amp and when he walked away from his stand mounted mike the sound fell off.
__________________
Taylor V-Class 814ce, 717e BE WHB, 520ce, 454ce, 420 Cedar\Maple, T5z Classic Martin D18E Retro Cordoba C10 Crossover Emerald X20 Rainsong H-OM1000N2 Voyage-Air VAD-04 Custom Les Paul Hot Rod Deville 410, Fishman Loudbox Performer |