Explorer used for Bad
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silkensky
War Child
Most everything on that site is pure speculation, so probably not, but then again who knows? To my ears a Telecaster comes closest to the album tone.
theedgeu2
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Could be anything. All we can do is speculate since we were not there. I've used a Les Paul for Bad and it comes really close:
U2 - Bad (sound check w/ Line 6 M13) - YouTube
U2 - Bad (sound check w/ Line 6 M13) - YouTube
Edge_Orchestra
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Chill Mike D
War Child
Yeah I'd say a Telecaster in the middle position is by far the closest I've heard to the studio recording.
breathe
Refugee
Today when i get my explorer i will try it! 
Edge_Orchestra
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
I think the Telecaster was more likely for "Bad" than the "Explorer"
While possible, I do not think it was the Explorer. The Telecaster seems a liklier suspect.
From: Guitar Player magazine. June 1985
GUITAR PLAYER: Is the Gibson Explorer your favorite guitar?
EDGE: I go through phases. I really like the Fender Telecaster at the moment. Sometimes you pick up an instrument and find that it has a natural balance and feel, and the Tele is one of those guitars. It's not a very old one -- I think it's a 1970 or something -- but it has that great quality that a good instrument should always have, which is that it inspires you. You pick it up, and you just know that you're going to do something good with it. The Explorer is like that, too, but I find I'm moving away from its sound as time goes on. It's great if you want a sound that is aggressive and yet not a cliché. It has a very individual quality, yet at the same time it has stock Gibson humbucking pickups, which give you that pleasant overdrive -- not that awful heavy metal whine that so many new guitars have, which I think is so cheap. I also prefer wide fingerboards, and the Explorer's is really wide. I've bought a few guitars that I haven't really gotten into yet. I have an old Gretsch White Falcon that I've used a little bit in the studio. I've never felt confident enough to bring it out live, because it's such a different instrument than the rest of the things I play. It demands a different approach to amplification, and things like feedback became more of a problem.
GUITAR PLAYER: Has it appeared on any recordings?
Has it appeared on any recordings?
EDGE: Yeah, I used it on The Unforgettable Fire sessions for "Indian Summer Sky" and stuff like that, as well as on a couple of songs that we didn’t put on the record. It's a very versatile guitar with a really nice selection of sounds. It has the advantage of split pickups between the top and bottom strings, so you can change the overall emphasis of chords by tuning down, say, the bass or treble strings.
The question then could be: "Why did he not use a Telecaster live? At the time he had the ash 1975 Telecaster (seen in the making of the Unforgettable Fire documentary). But that Telecaster was kept in the tuning that The Edge made up for "The Unforgettable Fire" (the song). So the thought at that time might have been: The Stratocaster will be close enough. (Perhaps)
Before we suggest, 'get another Telecaster', keep in mind (at the time) Edge seemed more than happy to tour with minimal (6) show guitars. (With perhapas a backup or two)
While possible, I do not think it was the Explorer. The Telecaster seems a liklier suspect.
From: Guitar Player magazine. June 1985
GUITAR PLAYER: Is the Gibson Explorer your favorite guitar?
EDGE: I go through phases. I really like the Fender Telecaster at the moment. Sometimes you pick up an instrument and find that it has a natural balance and feel, and the Tele is one of those guitars. It's not a very old one -- I think it's a 1970 or something -- but it has that great quality that a good instrument should always have, which is that it inspires you. You pick it up, and you just know that you're going to do something good with it. The Explorer is like that, too, but I find I'm moving away from its sound as time goes on. It's great if you want a sound that is aggressive and yet not a cliché. It has a very individual quality, yet at the same time it has stock Gibson humbucking pickups, which give you that pleasant overdrive -- not that awful heavy metal whine that so many new guitars have, which I think is so cheap. I also prefer wide fingerboards, and the Explorer's is really wide. I've bought a few guitars that I haven't really gotten into yet. I have an old Gretsch White Falcon that I've used a little bit in the studio. I've never felt confident enough to bring it out live, because it's such a different instrument than the rest of the things I play. It demands a different approach to amplification, and things like feedback became more of a problem.
GUITAR PLAYER: Has it appeared on any recordings?
Has it appeared on any recordings?
EDGE: Yeah, I used it on The Unforgettable Fire sessions for "Indian Summer Sky" and stuff like that, as well as on a couple of songs that we didn’t put on the record. It's a very versatile guitar with a really nice selection of sounds. It has the advantage of split pickups between the top and bottom strings, so you can change the overall emphasis of chords by tuning down, say, the bass or treble strings.
The question then could be: "Why did he not use a Telecaster live? At the time he had the ash 1975 Telecaster (seen in the making of the Unforgettable Fire documentary). But that Telecaster was kept in the tuning that The Edge made up for "The Unforgettable Fire" (the song). So the thought at that time might have been: The Stratocaster will be close enough. (Perhaps)
Before we suggest, 'get another Telecaster', keep in mind (at the time) Edge seemed more than happy to tour with minimal (6) show guitars. (With perhapas a backup or two)
- 1973 Fender Stratocaster (black)
- 1975 Fender Telecaster (natural Ash)
- 1976 Gibson Explorer (natural mahogany)
- 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom (white)
- 1939 (listed as 1945 in some other articles) Epiphone Elektar (Lap Steel)
- Washburn Woodstock Festival acoustic (tobacco)
breathe
Refugee
E_O Do you have the rest of that interview? What other Interviews has edge done for guitar player magazine? 
Edge_Orchestra
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
E_O Do you have the rest of that interview? What other Interviews has edge done for guitar player magazine?
Yes. And lots.
Chill Mike D
War Child
[youtube]cUhpkxkYZHg[/youtube]
Edge_Orchestra
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Chill Mike D
War Child
Right, and you can see how this Strat video sounds like the live version since that's what he uses live:
[youtube]Nj5sfnaX6fQ[/youtube]
[youtube]Nj5sfnaX6fQ[/youtube]
Edge_Orchestra
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
mirrorballman
Refugee
We'll never get these sort of questions right, we can only assume. I've heard from tons of people that they swear it must be a strat, I've had one guy who apparently was told even by Dallas that it was a strat (not to say that he might just talk BS)...and I myself get closest to the sound with my Les Paul!
The Tele IMHO sounds a bit too thin for the album version, this gets especially clear once you hit the parts before the solo, but also the intro riff just sounds way too lush with a Tele. With the Les Paul in middle (or sometimes treble, depending on how you set up your amps and effects) there is a certain ring to it that to me sounds like the album version.
Short: We'll never really know.
The Tele IMHO sounds a bit too thin for the album version, this gets especially clear once you hit the parts before the solo, but also the intro riff just sounds way too lush with a Tele. With the Les Paul in middle (or sometimes treble, depending on how you set up your amps and effects) there is a certain ring to it that to me sounds like the album version.
Short: We'll never really know.
Edge_Orchestra
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Certainly it's speculation.
Fair to point out, Dallas didn't work for Edge in 1984. So he wasn't there. Dallas may have assumed, that as the Strat has been used for "Bad" during shows all these years...
Maybe that is what Edge told Dallas? Possible. Maybe Edge remembered it wrong? Possible.
To my ears, I thought that the two Telecaster clips sounded the closest to the album. I've heard some speculate that it was the Les Paul.
The good news being that with a bit of tweaking of setting of the other elements (effects / amp), it's good to see that one might be able to get the sounds with more than one guitar.
We know what we've seen him use live. That is usually a good starting point. And through experimenting, and with some knowledge of what guitars he had at a particular time, we can try other ideas to see what might have been used.
And last, although probably not as much the case with "Bad", most song have multiple guitar tracks. In that, multiple guitars can can be used on a song.
Fair to point out, Dallas didn't work for Edge in 1984. So he wasn't there. Dallas may have assumed, that as the Strat has been used for "Bad" during shows all these years...
Maybe that is what Edge told Dallas? Possible. Maybe Edge remembered it wrong? Possible.
To my ears, I thought that the two Telecaster clips sounded the closest to the album. I've heard some speculate that it was the Les Paul.
The good news being that with a bit of tweaking of setting of the other elements (effects / amp), it's good to see that one might be able to get the sounds with more than one guitar.
We know what we've seen him use live. That is usually a good starting point. And through experimenting, and with some knowledge of what guitars he had at a particular time, we can try other ideas to see what might have been used.
And last, although probably not as much the case with "Bad", most song have multiple guitar tracks. In that, multiple guitars can can be used on a song.
gvox
Ghost of Love
Hmm interesting. No expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I would never have imagined the Bad tone to be made by any guitar with Humbucker pickups..
Edge_Orchestra
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
While I've only seen Edge use a Strat to play the tune on stage, it seems most believe it was either a Telecaster or Les Paul in the studio (With a few thinking Explorer).
I've seen some pretty convincing clips of fans playing "Bad" using a Tele and some convincing clips using a Les Paul.
If it wasn't a Stratocaster used (in the studio), I wonder what was used and why he's opted for a Strat for most (if not all) performances of the tune.
gvox
Ghost of Love
Well I agree..are there any other prominent examples where he recorded with a guitar that uses one type of p/u..but then live goes with a guitar with a completely different type?
Edge_Orchestra
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
..."Magnificent" appears to be another.
I remember seeing him working on that at Hanover Quay; playing a tobacco finish Telecaster.
He played it on the walnut `75 Telecaster Custom during sound check bits on the Pasadena DVD extras (showing the Spain tour start rehearsals). And he used the Telecaster Custom at the BBC rooftop promo gig.
Could be that the tobacco Tele was used for much of the album track but following his past use of the Country Gent for slide solos ("Kite" being a prime example: Gent and slide used for the solo in studio -- other guitar for other bits).
The Tele Custom seem to work great at BBC. Surprised he doesn't use that guitar more - for other things.
BBC Magnificent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0FIN7tMEIA
ededmc3
Babyface
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2011
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gvox said:
For my money I would bet the bad studio version was a LP. However, I've always preferred the sound of the strat sound in the live versions. Just more character to the tone imo. If true though, it makes you wonder why he's never brought the studio tone in a live setting?
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