The post I didn't see coming... Sixpence Tone!

[RickP]

In another thread, we were discussing picks and their effect on tone. Someone referenced Brian May of Queen, and his longstanding preference for the British sixpence coin as a pick. Of course, as a seeker of tone, I purchased a handful of them and set about playing some May-ish licks to see what this was all about. In the thread referenced in the beginning of this post, I made mention of this short, but interesting, journey.

Lo and behold, someone with a lot more expertise than I in Brit coinage pointed out that I was using the wrong coin! Well, not the wrong coin, the wrong version of the coin... more correctly, the wrong age of coin. I was using coins from the 50s and 60s. I mean, if the Fab Four might have been toting them around in their pockets, surely they must contain the magic tone. But, no. These coins were unacceptable for said task. This coin changed composition in the late 40s, and those made after were not the holy grail of Mayosity.

Well, this must be rectified! So, you guessed it, I quickly found some of the right coins (older than 1947, to be certain it wasn't a "transition" coin). And guess what? They actually DO sound different! The newer coins sound brighter, and the older ones have a bit less tinny sound and are more rounded overall. So, I can see why Mr. May actually prefers one over the other. So I guess if you're a high gainer who wants a lot of edge, go 1949 on up. For the balanced tone of an English gentlemen and classic tone crafter, go 1946 and back. As far as I can tell, 47 and 48 were the years they were transitioning and the coins could be of either metal content. Use those if you're feeling dangerous.

One more bit of totally useless trivia to crowd your mind. For those keeping score, 1959 on the left, 1932 on the right.

 

[jxe]

use a u.s. dime you dang royalist!

 

[RickP]

use a u.s. dime you dang royalist!

Good point! I will have to incorporate pre-64 (I think) dimes to see if we can compete. These were all silver, and made before the British invasion!

 

[Tucson Thump]

Good point! I will have to incorporate pre-64 (I think) dimes to see if we can compete. These were all silver, and made before the British invasion!

What!? No Pesos?

 

[RickP]

What!? No Pesos?

I May. I May not. May doesn't. Maybe.

 

[Tone-y]

If you're playing Queen, it's got to be Royal Mint all the way

 

[bodia]

Off to search for sixpence!

 

[RickP]

Off to search for sixpence!

I'll mail you one of each, you can conduct your own tests!

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

A penny for your thoughts... thanks for sharing!

 

[Casi1]

I thought I avoided this rabbit hole when I couldn’t find a local train track to put pennies on (per a Beatle, I needed some flattened pennies)... but here I go again.

Now I need to find me some proper sixpence coins.

Off to Google I go.

 

[mark cassidy]

I'm old enough (and was raised in the UK) to remember the sixpence. As well as, obviously, the shilling, half-a-crown and so forth. The penny. The halfpenny, which is pronounced "ha'penny". My old man had a saying, which I believe came out of Glasgow where I was born, to reference someone not quite his normal self: He was daft as a ha'penny watch! Think about it

I would have thought that using a tanner (sixpence) would give a very gritty, grainy sound. My two-cents worth. Sorry! My sixpenneth worth!!!

 

[RickP]

I'm old enough (and was raised in the UK) to remember the sixpence. As well as, obviously, the shilling, half-a-crown and so forth. The penny. The halfpenny, which is pronounced "ha'penny". My old man had a saying, which I believe came out of Glasgow where I was born, to reference someone not quite his normal self: He was daft as a ha'penny watch! Think about it

I would have thought that using a tanner (sixpence) would give a very gritty, grainy sound. My two-cents worth. Sorry! My sixpenneth worth!!!

It can, depending on how you turn it. The edge can give a raspier sound. Straight across the string, less so. I was laughing at myself while I went coin to coin, seeing which edge was rougher, and thinking that Brian is probably laughing his butt off at people like me finding this a novel approach. I'm going to find a pound coin for heavy metal. LOL

 

[veinbuster]

I brought my daughters a full set of coins every time I worked in a new country. I’m sure something in there will work.

 

[Tone-y]

I like the sixpence tone, but they are just too small and fiddly to use all the time. I have a Japanese made big West creation titanium pick that I use to get most of the way there with the tone but with normal pick ergonomics

 

[László]

Coin collectors all over the world are reading this thread and weeping.

Anyway, if you’re going for nuance, here’s a nice discussion of May’s tone, gotten from the man himself:

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21168-rig-rundown-queens-brian-may

As I understand it, the treble booster and cocked wah are important, as are the modded AC30s run flat-out for gain, controlled with the guitar’s volume control.

As a guy who records a lot, I read somewhere that a room mic was also used in the recordings; this makes the sound bigger, so you might want to screw around with lots of reverb and/or delay to achieve the sound. I suspect that’s why he goes “wet-dry-wet” with his stage amps.

I suppose it “may” also be important to play very, very well.

 

[RickP]

I suppose it “may” also be important to play very, very well.

Damn, I had a shot at it all the way to that last line! I guess I May need to head to the woodshed for practice.

Good info in the article, and proved that, while he might prefer the all silver coins, he does indeed use the dreaded post-1948 composition coins! Is nothing sacred?

 

[veinbuster]

Almost on topic: years ago my dad bought my mom an old pump organ. It as quite ornate and had tons of stops you could pull to change the sound. He didn’t pay a lot for it because he bought it from a farmer he knew after after the farmer’s wife passed away.

Being the inquisitive type, I opened the back one day to try to figure out how it worked (I was 11 or 12) and found some old coins in it that were worth double what the organ had cost.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

It can, depending on how you turn it. The edge can give a raspier sound. Straight across the string, less so. I was laughing at myself while I went coin to coin, seeing which edge was rougher, and thinking that Brian is probably laughing his butt off at people like me finding this a novel approach. I'm going to find a pound coin for heavy metal. LOL

The new pound coin has a dodecahedron outer shape, so that will give you some unusual tones!

Coin collectors all over the world are reading this thread and weeping.

Anyway, if you’re going for nuance, here’s a nice discussion of May’s tone, gotten from the man himself:

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21168-rig-rundown-queens-brian-may

As I understand it, the treble booster and cocked wah are important, as are the modded AC30s run flat-out for gain, controlled with the guitar’s volume control.

As a guy who records a lot, I read somewhere that a room mic was also used in the recordings; this makes the sound bigger, so you might want to screw around with lots of reverb and/or delay to achieve the sound. I suspect that’s why he goes “wet-dry-wet” with his stage amps.

I suppose it “may” also be important to play very, very well.

I love your insights Mr S!

 

[alantig]

The new pound coin has a dodecahedron outer shape, so that will give you some unusual tones!

I would think that would be tough on your hand for a full gig, though. A typical pick weighs at most about an ounce. I’d think a pound coin would feel like a brick by about the third song.

 

[RickP]

All in all, it’s just another pick in the wall.