John Martyn

Used from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, as known from the following:

• Guitar Player, May 1975, "John Martyn: A fingerpicking Brityn" by Dan Hedges

When did you first hit on that whole echo effect?

I honestly don’t know when it started. Initially, I got into it because I sussed out that if you put enough repeat echo on the thing, and the signal went in strong enough, you had to get incredible sustain. I wanted as much sustain as possible, and that’s really how it started.

What kind of equipment do you use to get the effect?

Just the average stuff: Gibson Boomer pedal, an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, a fuzz box, Fender amp, Echoplex, and a phase-shifter. Nothing exotic, really.

Very few people seem to use it on stage.

Well, most of the people that do don’t use it right. On the other hand, Joe Zawinul doesn’t use it the same way I do, but what he does with it sounds fantastic! [Tenor sax player] Eddie Harris is another guy who really knows how to use it. The thing is, you've got to be so tight with it. I listen to things I recorded two years ago, which I thought were great, and they're just not there now. I wasn't precise enough.

• Three of seven photos taken by Gus Stewart of Martyn performing with Steve Winwood at the Rainbow Theatre on November 21, 1977 (#1, #2, #3)

• Melody Maker, December 24, 1977, "Martyn's Martin" by Anonymous

I SAW John Martyn on Sight And Sound In Concert and was amazed at the sounds he got from his acoustic guitar. What did he use to achieve these effects? If he used a special gadget, how does it work? – Neil Sutherland, Finchley, London N12.

◼ John plays a Martin guitar and, for electric music, he utilises a De Armond pick-up across the sound hole, which goes to a pedal board comprising (in this order) a Big Muff (a kind of fuzz box), boomerang pedal (swell pedal) and MXR Phase-Shifter Mutrone (a variable frequency booster). From there the signal goes to an Echoplex and on into an amplifier. He also uses a Korg rhythm box. For his acoustic sound, he uses the same guitar, but with a Barcus Berry transducer/ pick-up situated just behind the centre of the bridge on the flat of the body. Then the signal is fed into a Barcus Berry studio pre-amplifier and on into the sound-desk. – ISLAND RECORDS LTD, 22 St Peter's Square, London W6 9NW.

• The Old Grey Whistle Test, January 10, 1978 performance at The Collegiate Theatre (visible) (shown up close @ 10:20 of the first third of the broadcast, 5:54 of the last third, and 8:50 of this compilation of the unbroadcasted second half)

• The Man Upstairs - In Concert In Germany 1978, performance at Audimax Hamburg, Rockpalast, March 17, 1978) (visible) (clear views @ 12:00, 20:58, 22:07, 35:19, 35:45, 36:55, 44:19, []50:33](https://youtu.be/bLf0YsnDuS4?si=B0i6C27HmP_juvZn&t=3033), 1:03:50, 1:13:56

• Rock Goes to College, performance at Reading University, October 20, 1978 (visible) (clear views at 20:05, 23:32, 31:03

• The Old Grey Whistle Test (January 1981) (visible) (clear views at 0:09 and 0:18 of "Sweet Little Mystery" excerpt)

• Rock Goes to College, performance at University of Sterling on March 2, 1981 (clear views at 4:25 of "Some People are Crazy" excerpt, 0:21, 0:25, 0:31, 2:05, and 5:45 of "Couldn't Love You More" excerpt, 1:42, 3:46, 3:51 and 5:27 of "Amsterdam" excerpt, and 0:45 of "Johnny Too Bad" excerpt)

• A Little Night Music (August 12, 1981) (visible) (clear views @ 27:51 and 30:52 of In Vision ("Johnny Too Bad") and 6:13 of "Hurt in Your Heart" excerpt (48:21 of In Vision))

• International Musician & Recording World, September 1981, "John Martyn" by Peter Murphy

P.M.: Was there any precedent for what you were doing with the Echoplex?

J.M.: I had heard someone play with the echo, yes, I cannot tell a lie, but not on guitar. Terry Riley, he used to give like five-hour concerts on Hammond organ and electric piano.

P.M.: Was the Echoplex sound something you set out to achieve?

J.M.: No, I bought the Echoplex actually to look for more sustain, I bought it and the fuzz box at the same time. I had the idea of playing one chord and letting it hang a very long time and improvising over it vocally, and I really discovered the rhythmic possibilities by accident, just stumbled across it. It's been done a lot since. I heard a side of a Pink Floyd album, it sounds very like 'Glistening Glyndebourne' to me. Echoplex and guitar have been used by a lot of people since, that's another reason for stopping actually.

• Music UK, No. 18 (June 1983), "John Martyn" by Max Kay

“Pete Cornish, the pedal board man, didn’t build this one, but he does repair it; each time he sees it his hands flap further in the air in horror because it’s extremely outmoded. It’s just very familiar and I like it and decided to bring it back into the fold.”

What’s in there?

“A Big Muff fuzz (to which John dedicated his song Big Muff) which I’m using less and less, and a Gibson Maestro Boomerang (should come in handy on the Australian tour) which is wonderful. It’s a volume/wah pedal and it’s a favourite. There’s a Roland Chorus CE2 and a Mutron Ill which I love. It has a touch of octivide to it and it started Iife as the automatic wah-wah for clarinet, I think. The Echoplex I’m in love with, it’s a wonderful machine, but it’s extremely noisy, I mean it is very much outdated now, and I would, if possible, reduce the noise level. The calibration on it is very accurate, all you have to do is memorise three or four figures and you’re there.”

• International Musician & Recording World, March 1985, "Sapphire and steel strings" by Chris Maillard

"I used to like Electro-Harmonix stuff, too. It was cheap and cheerful but it did the business. I even called a song of mine Big Muff after their fuzz box. And a few other things.

• Kit Rae, Big Muff Pi Page, ""

JOHN MARTYN

[https://www.kitrae.net/music/Images_Secret_Music_Page/John%20Martyn%20Big%20Muff%201978_2sm.jpg]

[https://web.archive.org/web/20221002105329im_/https://www.kitrae.net/music/Images_Secret_Music_Page/John%20Martyn%20Big%20Muff%201978_4sm.jpg] [https://web.archive.org/web/20221002105329im_/https://www.kitrae.net/music/Images_Secret_Music_Page/John%20Martyn%20Big%20Muff%201978_3.jpg]

Shown above, left to right: John Martyn's pedalboard from 1978 showing a V2 Ram;s Head Big Muff. There are a few television performances from the 1977-78 period that appear to show a V3 or V4 Big Muff on his pedalboard.