By Mark Grove
A lot of musicians and fans will be taken aback with this article,and I like to read old music industry mags as some of my readers know.Along with that you can see some of the great music equipment and where some players glommed their signature sound from.
But in this case that's a little different in the fact that this little device is more of an effect.I was reading an October 1988 issue of Guitar Player,and came across a little blurb on how two well known players literally made their guitars talk.
The first player is yes, Peter Frampton from his "Frampton Comes Alive" album in 1976.Most players and fans alike had to listen to that record album over and over again to get that talking-guitar sound that was off the track "Do You Feel Like We Do".
Some players are wondering Mark, what kind of device made that amazing talking-guitar sound?
Okay,the device or effect that made that sound was a little box called a (Heil-Talk Box) pictured here.
The Heil Talk Box is a small box with a tube attached to the output of a guitar amp.Then you disconnect the speaker,just by pass it entirely.
I've never actually seen one of these Heil-Talk Boxes,so I don't know if the by pass switch is in the talk box.
Now the Fun Stuff:
You have one end of an open tube that goes in the box,and the other end goes in your mouth believe it or not. Then you mouth the words while playing the guitar,and this will in essence change the sound the guitar makes. The sound becomes very wah pedal like in nature and you can just make out the words.
Mind you,the best players of the 60's and 70's didn't employ this effect until Joe Walsh used one in 1973 on "Rocky Mountain Way"(The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get"),album.
The actual Heil-Talk Box wasn't invented until Bob Heil himself analyzed the one Walsh used and came up with his own.In the 80's the Heil Talk Box went out of production,and Jim Dunlop started making them.
And yes,they are available from Dunlop still.
http://www.jimdunlop.com
If you buy one,email me and I'll do a review on the Heil Talk Box.
Peace and success to all players.
Mark G
