Unknown Caller Studio Guitar

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It could be anything. We weren't there so we can't really know. And that video is more like a jam session than the actual recording. They could be working something out there. Anyway I'd like to think UC was recorded on the LP but that's just speculation and all we can really do is speculate. Also there could be more than one guitar used on various parts of the song. He could've used a strat, tele, LP, Gretsch, anything and overdubbed/recorded other parts with anything. I think UC is kind of like what I was doing with Magnificent. I was thinking that was on a tele but E_O pointed out that there could be anything. He could have recorded with a tele for the main riff and used his Gretsch Country Gent for the slide solo, for example. All I know is that Edge, Dallas, the rest of the band, and whoever else was in the space where Edge was recording are the only people who really know what was played on what song.:D
 
I think it was recorded with the tele, Not the LP. What do you guys think?

i saw this video and it shows Edge using his sunburst tele.

YouTube - ‪U2 recording in Morocco (Fez, Unknown Caller, Magnificent)‬‏



I think that was a writing session (the video) and not the actual recording so it is hard to say that the Tele was used for that.

It might be one of the guitars on the song. It might be that was the guitar he had out and was using while they decided to work on songs that day. It might have been that he was experimenting and that was what made it to the video but never was on the track.

Keep in mind, that in "It Might Get Loud", we see Edge playing "...Boots" on various guitars (1966 SG and 1963 Country Gentleman come to mind).

Most songs have more than one guitar part. There are multiple guitar parts and in that, the same guitar isn't used for each part.

Keep in mind that Daniel Lanois plays on the album too. Sometimes he uses The Edge's guitars. Sometimes he uses his own guitars.
 
That is the hardest thing to say for certain and I see the questions in various forums: What guitar was used on (fill in the song title here).

And the fact is, unless Edge says in an interview, it's hard to know for 100% certain. Plus, as mentioned, there is usually more than one guitar on a song.

Another argument I hear is, "well it was used in the video". That means little to nothing.

What is used in the video does not mean it was used on the song. The "Walk On" video shows Edge playing the 1994 (made in Japan) Arctic White finish Telecaster. I'd never seen him use that for "Walk On" live. And the guitar was tuned to C# or D for "Sunday Bloody Sunday"; hence the guitar being set-up for intonation in a far different tuning than that of "Walk On". And, there's no interview footage of Edge saying it was used for "Walk On". So there is little to show me that was used on the studio recording.

Walk On (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwKEdFoUB0o


Another example is Pride. "Edge is seen in the "Making of the Unforgettable Fire" documentary playing his Les Paul Custom". Yep. Is that on the final mix? Uncertain. It's possible but like the "It Might Get Loud" documentary, it's footage of the process but not something that definitively shows it made the mix.

Pride (In The Name Of Love) - You can see Edge playing his Les Paul Custom at about 1:30-ish into the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmPtKsSZkmE&feature=related


I remember speculation about "Beautiful Day". Some insisting that the alternate video showing the band "in the Studio" proved that a Les Paul was used. What it proves is that Edge had one there the day that video was shot. It proved he may have even played "Always" white later became "Beautiful Day" on a Les Paul (Goldtop).

Beautiful Day (Eze Version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFYtJHSI0fY&feature=fvst


And the there the It Might Get Loud documentary that shows Edge playing "Get On Your Boots" on a Country Gent and his SG at another point.

Edge - It Might Get Loud - "Get On Your Boots" (at 1:04)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LPQABI3xHA
We can speculate, based on the sound of the guitars and such. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with trying to figure it out. And that is a fun thing to do; to try to figure out what is what and how the heck did he get 'that' sound.


So... long answer for a short question... but... LOL... Do I think that tobacco Tele was on "Unknown Caller"? I am not so sure. I do think that it may be on "Magnificent" and there was some studio video to suggest that it was at least tried, at some point.
 
We can speculate, based on the sound of the guitars and such

And that is actually the better thing to do: Making educated guesses instead of relying on videos and such. That will also depend on how clean/distorted the song is. It's hard to tell what on earth he was using for GOYB, but things like IALW just have the sound of the guitar all over it (at least the main riff). Unknown Caller is sort of the same, it's not THAT distorted and somewhat clean.

That said, to me it doesn't sound thin enough to be a Tele/Strat, listen to that first 50 seconds (intro) or the solo w/ neck PU, to me that sound can only come from a guitar with some body to it --> LP. Very unlikely that it's a hollow body, cause that would sound vastly different.
 
And that is actually the better thing to do: Making educated guesses instead of relying on videos and such. That will also depend on how clean/distorted the song is. It's hard to tell what on earth he was using for GOYB, but things like IALW just have the sound of the guitar all over it (at least the main riff). Unknown Caller is sort of the same, it's not THAT distorted and somewhat clean.

That said, to me it doesn't sound thin enough to be a Tele/Strat, listen to that first 50 seconds (intro) or the solo w/ neck PU, to me that sound can only come from a guitar with some body to it --> LP. Very unlikely that it's a hollow body, cause that would sound vastly different.


Video can lead the way and/or show what things were 'tried'. But in the end, it isn't as clear cut as "it's in such and such" video.
 
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