He lost twenty guitars in record time. All stolen.
His solution: “A Stratocaster. I try to buy a stock guitar so if it gets stolen I can replace it easily.”
This is the complete Lowell George guitar philosophy in two sentences. The guitar is a tool. If someone takes it, you buy another one just like it. He deliberately bought production Stratocasters — not vintage, not modified, not special — so that the replacement process was simple and the loss was bearable. The music was the point. The guitar was replaceable.
The slide he used was a Sears Craftsman 11/16 socket wrench. A socket wrench. He said: “I use a Sears Craftsman 11/16 socket. I’ve used glass, but kept breaking them everywhere I went.” Equally replaceable. A few dollars at any hardware store. One of the most distinctive and influential slide tones in the history of recorded guitar music, produced by a socket wrench that costs about $4.
He ran the Stratocaster through two compressors — initially a Carangella Electronics unit designed for radio stations, later two MXR Dyna Comp pedals run simultaneously — and into a Dumble Steel String Singer amplifier that cost about the same as a new Marshall with four 10-inch speakers. The Dumble’s specific quality: “It’s like a Fender made right.” Clean, extended, responsive to the specific touch that the slide technique required.
Jimmy Page called Little Feat his favorite American band. Jackson Browne called George “the Orson Welles of rock.” Eric Clapton covered his songs for an entire world tour.
He died June 29, 1979, at thirty-four years old, of a heart attack related to drug overdose, in a hotel room in Arlington, Virginia. He had just turned thirty-four. He left seven Little Feat albums and one solo record. The slide guitar sound he created — the clean, compressed, infinitely sustained tone produced by a socket wrench through a Dumble — has never been replicated with the same authority by anyone who came after him.
Background: Hollywood, Zappa, and the Band That Was Nobody’s Second Choice
Lowell Thomas George was born April 13, 1945, in Hollywood, California. His father was an actor and furrier; his mother was a dancer. He grew up in a show-business household but went in his own direction: guitar, flute (he was an accomplished flautist), and the specific synthesis of American musical genres that would define Little Feat.
He started playing guitar seriously as a teenager, beginning with a Fender Mustang and a Champ amp before moving to Stratocasters. He was briefly a member of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention — the circumstances of his departure variously attributed to Zappa being so impressed by “Willin'” that he told George he needed his own band, or Zappa firing him for the drug references in the lyrics, or George playing a fifteen-minute guitar solo without ever plugging in his amplifier. All three accounts have been cited; all three are consistent with what we know of both men.
Little Feat formed in 1969. The lineup over the years included Paul Barrere, Bill Payne, Sam Clayton, Kenny Gradney, and Richie Hayward — a band that George described as his best instrument. The music: a synthesis of rock, blues, country, New Orleans funk, and R&B that defied easy categorization and resisted the commercial packaging that would have made them more successful. Jimmy Page called them the best American rock band. Van Halen recorded a cover of their song years after they had stopped covering other artists. Bonnie Raitt, Robert Palmer, Emmylou Harris, and Ry Cooder have all acknowledged the George influence on their careers.
He started playing slide because of a model airplane accident as a teenager that injured his hand. The slide compensated for the reduced finger dexterity — and opened a tonal vocabulary that he proceeded to master completely.
Tone note: He started playing slide because of a model airplane accident. The injury that forced the adaptation produced the specific technique that defined his career. This is the “accident as origin” story in its purest form: a childhood injury with a model airplane led, through compensation, to one of the most distinctive slide guitar styles in rock history. The technique that was initially a workaround became the world-class achievement.
The Rig: Lowell George’s Guitars, Amps & Gear
Guitars: Stratocasters (Stock, Replaceable)
Fender Stratocaster — The Primary (Many of Them, Always Stock)
Lowell George’s approach to guitars was the most pragmatic in this series: he bought stock production Stratocasters specifically because they were easy to replace. His 1976 Guitar Player interview statement is one of the most anti-vintage-fetishism positions in this entire series: “A Stratocaster. I try to buy a stock guitar so if it gets stolen I can replace it easily.”
He lost approximately twenty guitars to theft over his career. His solution was not to buy less-attractive instruments or to keep them more secure, but to ensure that any specific guitar was replaceable by buying the same model without modification.
His specific preferences within the Stratocaster family:
- Fender bridges: “I like Fender bridges because they’re more tunable. You can really get the tuning adjusted way up the neck, and that makes a big difference.” For slide guitar, intonation accuracy across the entire neck is critical — notes played with the slide must be in tune at every position, not just the standard fret positions
- Stratocaster scale length: The 25.5-inch scale provides the string tension appropriate to slide technique with his preferred open tuning and string gauge
- Stock pickups: The original Stratocaster single-coil pickups — brighter and more present than humbuckers — suited the compressed, sustained tone he was building through the compressors and Dumble
One modification he sometimes made: adding a Telecaster bridge pickup to the Stratocaster. He confirmed this in the Guitar Player interview: his Gibson ES-345 had a Telecaster pickup added “because sometimes for studio work, and for the group, I may need a real bright sound.” He applied the same logic to some Stratocasters — adding the Telecaster bridge’s specific crisp, glassy character to the Stratocaster’s overall architecture.
The Alembic Blaster: Equipboard documented a photo of his personal Stratocaster at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame showing a plate over the output jack with an Alembic logo and a toggle switch — indicating the use of an Alembic Stratoblaster mid-boost preamp built into the guitar. The Stratoblaster is an active mid-boost circuit that increases the guitar’s output and shifts the frequency response toward a brighter, more present character.
Specific models documented:
- “Buttercream” Stratocaster — The Guitar World article about his 1977 Rockpalast performance described him “dialing in his Buttercream Stratocaster for an unaccompanied version of Little Feat’s China White.” The cream/white finish Stratocaster is one of the most documented specific examples
- 3-bolt 1970s Stratocasters — The TDPRI forum confirmed that “LG had problems with his guitars being stolen, so he would simply buy current production Strats and install a tele bridge pickup” — confirming the 1970s Norlin-era Stratocasters as the primary instruments of his career peak
Gibson ES-345 Custom — The Secondary Electric
Lowell George mentioned owning a Gibson ES-345 Custom in the 1976 Guitar Player interview: “I also have a Gibson ES-345 Custom that’s sort of okay. I had some work done on it. I asked the repair guy to put a Telecaster pickup on it because sometimes for studio work, and for the group, I may need a real bright sound.”
The ES-345 is Gibson’s mid-level ES-335 variant with a Varitone circuit and stereo wiring. George’s specific modification — adding a Telecaster bridge pickup — reflects the same practical, functionality-first approach as his stock Stratocaster philosophy: use what’s available, modify it only when necessary for a specific tonal purpose, don’t fetishize the instrument’s originality.
Other Guitars
- Acoustic Black Widow (Acoustic Control Corp guitar) — Equipboard documented George using this guitar onstage with the Mothers of Invention, confirming his pre-Little Feat years included instruments beyond Fenders
- Fender Mustang (very early period) — His first proper guitar; “I got a Fender Mustang and a Champ amp, but I didn’t like the sound so I started playing Stratocasters.” He moved to Stratocasters immediately
- Gibson ES-335s (brief period) — “I went through a couple of ES-335s, but eventually I went back to Strats because I liked them too much.” The ES-335’s semi-hollow character didn’t suit his specific approach
Complete Guitar List (Key Instruments)
- Fender Stratocasters (multiple, stock, 1970s production) — Primary throughout career; bought stock for replaceability; Alembic Stratoblaster mid-boost on primary; sometimes Telecaster bridge pickup added; “Buttercream” model documented at Rockpalast 1977
- Gibson ES-345 Custom (Telecaster pickup added) — Secondary electric; bright studio sound application
- Fender Mustang (early) — First guitar; quickly replaced by Stratocasters
The Slide: An 11/16 Craftsman Socket Wrench
The most specific and most discussed piece of “gear” in Lowell George’s setup is not a guitar or an amplifier — it is the slide itself. In a 1976 Guitar Player interview he confirmed: “I use a Sears Craftsman 11/16 socket. I’ve used glass, but kept breaking them everywhere I went.”
The Sears Craftsman 11/16 socket wrench — a standard chrome-plated steel socket from a standard socket wrench set, available at any hardware store for a few dollars — produces the specific tone that defines his sound. The characteristics of a metal socket compared to glass or ceramic slides:
- Weight: A socket wrench is heavier than a glass slide — this weight provides more momentum through the string contact, producing a smoother, more sustained glide
- Chrome plating: The smooth, hard chrome surface produces a specific brightness and sustain character different from raw steel or glass
- Diameter: 11/16 inches is a specific size that fits Lowell George’s finger — larger than many commercially available guitar slides, allowing full coverage of all six strings without pressure
- Cost: A few dollars. Replaceable anywhere a hardware store exists
This is the consistent Lowell George philosophy applied to the most fundamental component: the slide that defines his sound is as replaceable and as affordable as the guitars he used. The tone is not in the expense; it is in the specific physical characteristics of the object and the specific technique applied to it.
Paul Barrere (Little Feat co-guitarist) described George’s slide as making the guitar “conjure up Hawaiian melodies or pedal steel.” The socket’s specific character — its weight, its diameter, its smoothness — contributed to the pedal-steel-like quality of the sustained notes.
Amps: The Dumble Steel String Singer
Howard Dumble Steel String Singer — The Definitive Amp
Lowell George was one of the earliest and most committed users of Howard Dumble’s amplifiers — the handmade, custom-built tube amps that became the most expensive and most sought-after guitar amplifiers in the world. He acquired his Dumble Steel String Singer around 1976, and it became his definitive amplification voice for the remainder of his career.
His description of the Dumble in the 1976 Guitar Player interview: “I’m using a custom-made Howard Dumble amp which is the best one that I’ve ever played through — it’s like a Fender made right. If you want a screaming Twin sound but don’t want it too loud, you can do it. That amp has an overdrive section, somewhat similar to that of the Music Man amp. With the reverb on a Fender you have only two choices: on or off. But this reverb has a send and return so you can vary the amount of each.”
“Like a Fender made right” — this is one of the most quoted Dumble descriptions in the literature. The Fender Twin’s crystalline clean tone, enormous headroom, and specific frequency response, combined with better reverb control and an overdrive section, is exactly what the Dumble Steel String Singer provides. George had been using Fender Twin and Music Man amps before the Dumble; the Dumble was the natural evolutionary endpoint of that tradition.
The cost: “It costs about the same as a new Marshall with four 10″ speakers in the bayonet cabinet.” At 1976 prices, this was several hundred dollars. Today, Dumble amplifiers sell for $30,000-$100,000+ on the rare occasions they appear for sale. George’s description of it as comparable in cost to a new Marshall is one of the more remarkable examples of gear inflation in rock history.
Earlier Amplifiers
Before the Dumble:
- Fender Champ — The first amp; “I got a Fender Mustang and a Champ amp, but I didn’t like the sound”
- Fender Twin Reverb — Blues Guitar Insider confirmed: “Lowell used a combination of Fender Twin and Music Man amps in the early ’70s”
- Music Man combo amp — Used in the early 1970s Little Feat period; Music Man amps were partly designed by Leo Fender and shared the Fender clean-and-headroom philosophy
The Compressor System — The Secret to the Sound
The most distinctive element of Lowell George’s tone — the component that most distinguishes his slide sound from every other slide guitarist’s — is his use of compression. Aggressive compression, run before the amplifier, produces the specific “clean sustain” quality that Blues Guitar Insider described: “a smooth tone with almost infinite sustain.”
The Carangella Electronics Radio Compressor (Early Period)
Initially, George used a compressor from Carangella Electronics that was designed for radio stations — a broadcast-grade compressor/limiter circuit originally intended for use in professional radio broadcasting. This type of circuit is designed to maintain a consistent output level regardless of input dynamics — exactly what a slide guitarist needs for the smooth, even sustain of his style.
The specific character of a broadcast compressor applied to guitar: the radio compressor’s fast attack and program-dependent release produces a specific “pumping” character that contributes to the musical rhythm of the sustained notes. Unlike guitar-oriented compressors, it was not designed for the guitar’s specific frequency and dynamic range — the mismatch between the circuit’s design specification and its actual application produced the specific character that George identified as his sound.
Double MXR Dyna Comp — The Live Reproduction System
For live use and later recordings, George used two MXR Dyna Comp pedals run simultaneously, each set to a different compression level. The TDPRI forum documented the specific configuration: “Lowell was also known to use two Dyna-Comp compressors on at the same time. One would be set for high sustain (about 3 o’clock) and the other at low (9 o’clock).”
The dual-compressor approach — one unit providing high compression for sustain, the other providing lower compression for dynamic shaping — creates a more complex compression character than either unit alone. The combination of a heavily compressed signal with a lightly compressed signal produces a specific envelope shape: the fast attack of the high-compression unit captures the initial transient while the lower-compression unit maintains the natural dynamic character of the slower attack.
Two Universal Audio 1176LN compressors chained together were used in the studio. The 1176LN is one of the most respected studio compressors ever made — the same unit that has been used on recordings ranging from the Beatles to virtually every major studio recording of the last fifty years. George specifically chained two of them for the studio slide tone.
Tone note: The compressor is the secret. Robbie McIntosh described it to Origin Effects: George used a pair of Universal Audio 1176LN compressors chained together in the studio to craft his distinctive tone, characterized by “a clean and shimmering sound with full, fat, and sustained qualities.” Two 1176LN compressors in a chain produce a specific effect that no single compressor can replicate — the interaction between the two units’ attack and release characteristics creates a sustain profile that is uniquely musical. The socket wrench is the slide. The compressor chain is the sustain. The Dumble is the voice.
Strings, Tuning & Setup
Open G tuning: Lowell George used open G (D G D G B D, also called “Spanish” tuning) for much of his slide work — the same open tuning that Keith Richards uses and that is standard in the Delta blues tradition. The open G tuning allows single-stroke slide notes across open strings, major chords with a single straight slide position, and the specific resonant drone quality of open-string notes against fretted or slid notes.
His Guitar Player interview described the tuning’s specific qualities: “The tuning I use makes it sound even higher. It’s real hard to get a lot of those notes on a guitar that isn’t tuned that way. Both sides of the string from the slide or bottleneck vibrate along with the tone that you want, giving off some very interesting chord inversions.”
The capo technique: He used capos alongside the slide to manage the sympathetic vibration of open strings: “that’s another reason why I’ll use a capo — to get rid of that. I finally figured that one out.”
String damping: One of the most important technical elements of his playing was string damping — muting the strings that weren’t being played to prevent unwanted sympathetic vibration: “The damping of those strings is real important, and palming it is the easiest way to do it.” He damped with the palm of the picking hand, in the manner of a pedal steel player — the connection between his technique and the pedal steel aesthetic is audible in the controlled, clean quality of his slide lines.
High action: Slide guitar requires higher string action than fretted playing — the slide needs clearance to move across the fret tops without touching them, and higher action increases the distance between string and fretboard. George’s Stratocasters were set up with higher action appropriate to his style.
Playing Style & Tone Philosophy: The Horn Part as Guitar Solo
Lowell George’s slide guitar philosophy is the most compositionally sophisticated in the slide tradition. Blues Guitar Insider captured the key distinction: “His ‘clean sustain’ style and long, lazy legato lines, that were intimately woven into the arrangements of the songs, were brand new and totally his own. He never went for ‘over the top’ leads just for the sake of playing a lead. They seemed to be more like horn parts that fit perfectly in the song and never overwhelmed the songs themselves.”
Horn parts. This is the crucial insight: George thought of his slide guitar lines as horn parts — lines that serve the song’s harmonic and rhythmic structure, that answer and respond to the vocal, that contribute to the arrangement without claiming more than their appropriate space. This is the opposite of the rock guitar solo tradition that dominates much of this series, where the solo is the moment when the guitarist takes center stage. George’s slide lines are supporting voices in an ensemble conversation.
The Technical Approach
The Guitar World article about his 1977 Rockpalast performance documented his technique in detail: “his right hand is typically playing just two notes: bass notes and ‘top’ notes, the latter of which, thanks to his deft slide touch, curdle and cry beautifully, showing how much flavor the guitarist was able to get out of the simplest of ingredients.” Two notes: bass and melody. The middle strings between them sustain as drones. The specific interval relationships between bass and melody, filtered through the compressor’s sustain, produce the harmonically complex sound that his playing is famous for.
He also said: “I don’t use a bottleneck” — distinguishing his socket wrench from the traditional bottleneck slide and emphasizing the specific physical character of his chosen slide.
The Influences
George’s playing was rooted in the Delta blues tradition — Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters are specifically cited in the Blues Guitar Insider profile — while extending into New Orleans funk, country, and the pedal-steel aesthetic. Early Little Feat material explicitly channels these blues roots; “Apolitical Blues,” “44 Blues,” and “Cat Fever” demonstrate direct Delta influence. The later material — “Dixie Chicken,” “Rock and Roll Doctor,” “Sailing Shoes” — synthesizes these blues roots with the New Orleans groove that became Little Feat’s most distinctive musical environment.
How to Sound Like Lowell George: The Slide Tone
The Guitar
Any stock Fender Stratocaster. Open G tuning (D G D G B D). High action for slide clearance.
- Any Fender Stratocaster — Stock or with Telecaster bridge pickup added; the specific model matters less than the single-coil character
- Open G tuning: Tune to D G D G B D from low to high
- High action: Set action higher than standard for slide clearance
The Slide
An 11/16 Sears Craftsman socket wrench. If unavailable, any chrome-plated steel socket of similar diameter (11/16 inches = approximately 17.5mm). A steel slide of similar weight and diameter will approximate the character. This is the most affordable piece of gear in this entire series.
The Amp
Dumble Steel String Singer for the authentic experience (budget: $30,000-$100,000+ if one becomes available). Fender Twin Reverb as the accessible equivalent — which George himself described as the Dumble’s conceptual predecessor.
| Control | Setting | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | 6–8 (moderate-high) | Clean headroom; the compressors before the amp handle the dynamic shaping |
| Treble | 6–7 | Present — the slide’s metal character needs treble extension to cut through |
| Bass | 5–6 | Moderate; the compressor adds apparent low-end fullness |
| Reverb | Light spring reverb | The Dumble’s specific reverb control; the Twin’s spring reverb on light setting |
The Compressor — The Most Important Effect
Two compressors in series. Budget option: two MXR Dyna Comp pedals. Set the first to high compression (sustain knob at approximately 3 o’clock); set the second to low compression (sustain at approximately 9 o’clock). Run both before the amp, in series.
Authentic option: two Universal Audio 1176LN compressors in series (for studio recording). No other setup produces the exact Lowell George tone; the double-compressor approach is essential.
Budget vs Authentic
Budget:
- Guitar: Any Fender Stratocaster in open G tuning
- Slide: Sears Craftsman 11/16 socket (under $10 at any hardware store)
- Compressors: Two MXR Dyna Comp pedals ($100 each, new production)
- Amp: Fender Twin Reverb (reissue or used)
Authentic:
- Guitar: 1970s Fender Stratocaster (stock, or with Telecaster bridge pickup) with Alembic Stratoblaster mid-boost; open G tuning; high action
- Slide: Sears Craftsman 11/16 socket wrench
- Compressors (studio): Two Universal Audio 1176LN in series
- Compressors (live): Two MXR Dyna Comp in series at documented settings
- Amp: Howard Dumble Steel String Singer (if available and financially feasible)
The Technical Foundation
Two notes: bass and melody. Study the pedal-steel tradition for the damping approach — the palm muting that prevents sympathetic string vibration is the fundamental technique. The melodic lines are horn parts: serve the song, respond to the vocal, never overwhelm the arrangement. Practice the open G scale slowly, focusing on intonation accuracy — the slide must be directly over each fret position, not behind it. The compression will sustain the note; let it sustain without rushing to the next note.
Influence & Legacy: The Orson Welles of Rock
Lowell George’s influence on guitar playing and American music is exactly as Jackson Browne described it — “the Orson Welles of rock” implies both the genius and the underrecognition. An artist whose work was more respected by other musicians than by the general public; whose catalog was smaller than his talent warranted; whose death was premature and left the work unfinished.
The documented connections:
- Bonnie Raitt — “Bonnie Raitt is closest to that style” (Blues Guitar Insider); Raitt has specifically cited George’s influence on her slide approach; the clean, compressed, sustained quality of her slide tone is the nearest living equivalent
- Jimmy Page — Called Little Feat “the best American rock band” and “his favorite American band”; Page’s appreciation for the synthesis of blues, country, and rock that George achieved reflects a specific understanding of the tradition George inhabited
- Van Halen — Covered “Apolitical Blues” on OU812, years after having stopped including covers in their albums; the specific recognition of George’s songwriting by musicians of that commercial stature is significant
- Eric Clapton — Covered George’s “Honest Man” during his 2014 world tour; a sustained engagement with George’s songwriting from one of the most respected guitarists of the era
- Robert Palmer — George produced Palmer’s first two solo albums; the specific studio sensibility George brought to Palmer’s work influenced how Palmer’s career developed
- The slide guitar tradition — His specific combination of the socket wrench, double compressors, and Dumble produced a tone so distinctive that no subsequent slide guitarist has fully replicated it; the Blues Guitar Insider assessment — “to this day, there are no slide guitarists that can do what he did” — is not hyperbole
He bought stock Stratocasters so they were easy to replace when stolen. He used a socket wrench from the hardware store. He ran through two compressors and a Dumble. He played horn parts on the guitar, never leads for their own sake. He died at thirty-four.
Jimmy Page called him the best. Jackson Browne called him the Orson Welles of rock. The Blues Guitar Insider said nobody has done what he did since. All three assessments are accurate.
Tone note: “It’s like a Fender made right.” This is Lowell George’s description of the Dumble Steel String Singer, and it might be the most useful three-word amplifier description in the history of guitar gear. What he wanted was a Fender — clean, big, responsive, warm. What he wanted was the Fender done correctly — better reverb control, an overdrive section, the specific responsiveness to the compressed slide guitar signal that the standard Fender provided but imperfectly. The Dumble was the Fender he had always wanted. He found it in 1976. He used it for the remaining three years of his life.
He lost twenty guitars in record time. He bought stock Stratocasters so they were easy to replace. He used an 11/16 Craftsman socket wrench as a slide because glass ones kept breaking. He ran through two compressors — initially a Carangella radio compressor, later two MXR Dyna Comps simultaneously — into a Dumble Steel String Singer that was “like a Fender made right.”
He played horn parts on the guitar. He never went for over-the-top leads just for the sake of playing leads. His lines were intimately woven into the arrangements, responding to the vocal, serving the song.
Jimmy Page called Little Feat his favorite American band. Jackson Browne called George the Orson Welles of rock. He died at thirty-four. The tone has never been replicated.
A socket wrench from Sears. That’s the slide.
If Lowell George’s compressed slide guitar approach — the socket wrench, the double compressors, the Dumble, the horn-part philosophy — has you exploring the American roots rock tradition he inhabited, check our complete guide to Eddie Hazel’s guitars and gear — the P-Funk guitarist whose emotional approach to the single sustained guitar note is the closest spiritual parallel to George’s slide work, even though they inhabited completely different musical worlds.
And for the next guitarist in this series — whose jazz guitar vocabulary is the complete technical and aesthetic opposite of George’s slide approach but equally influential in their specific tradition — don’t miss our breakdown of Charlie Christian’s complete gear guide.
FAQ: Lowell George Guitars & Gear
- What slide did Lowell George use?
- A Sears Craftsman 11/16 socket wrench — a standard chrome-plated steel socket from a socket wrench set. He confirmed in the 1976 Guitar Player interview: “I use a Sears Craftsman 11/16 socket. I’ve used glass, but kept breaking them everywhere I went.” The socket wrench costs a few dollars at any hardware store. The 11/16 inch diameter (approximately 17.5mm) is larger than most commercial guitar slides, allowing full coverage of all six strings. The chrome-plated steel produces a specific brightness and weight that contributes to the smooth, sustained quality of his slide tone. He said: “I don’t use a bottleneck” — distinguishing his approach from traditional bottleneck players.
- Why did Lowell George buy stock Stratocasters?
- Because he lost approximately twenty guitars to theft over his career and wanted instruments that were easy to replace. His 1976 Guitar Player interview statement: “A Stratocaster. I try to buy a stock guitar so if it gets stolen I can replace it easily.” He deliberately bought production Stratocasters without modifications specifically so that any replacement was straightforward. The guitar was a tool; the music was the point. He did sometimes add a Telecaster bridge pickup for a brighter sound, and his primary Stratocaster had an Alembic Stratoblaster mid-boost preamp installed (visible in a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame photo), but his general philosophy was to keep guitars stock and replaceable.
- What compressors did Lowell George use?
- Two different systems at different stages: early period, a Carangella Electronics unit designed for radio broadcasting (a broadcast-grade compressor/limiter not originally intended for guitar use). Later, two MXR Dyna Comp pedals run simultaneously — one set to high compression (sustain at approximately 3 o’clock) and one at low compression (sustain at approximately 9 o’clock). In the studio, he used two Universal Audio 1176LN compressors chained together. The double-compressor approach — whether two Dyna Comps live or two 1176LNs in the studio — is the essential element of his distinctive “clean sustain” tone: a smooth sound with almost infinite sustain that no single compressor produces.
- What amplifier did Lowell George use?
- A Howard Dumble Steel String Singer, which he acquired around 1976. He described it: “I’m using a custom-made Howard Dumble amp which is the best one that I’ve ever played through — it’s like a Fender made right.” He noted: “If you want a screaming Twin sound but don’t want it too loud, you can do it.” Before the Dumble, he used Fender Twin Reverb and Music Man combo amps in the early 1970s. At the time of the 1976 interview, the Dumble cost about the same as a new Marshall with 4×10 speakers; today, Dumble amplifiers sell for $30,000-$100,000+ when they appear on the market.
- What tuning did Lowell George use?
- Open G (D G D G B D, low to high) — the same open tuning used in the Delta blues tradition and by Keith Richards. This tuning allows single-stroke slide notes across open strings, major chords with a single straight slide position, and the resonant drone quality of open-string notes. He described the tuning: “The tuning I use makes it sound even higher. It’s real hard to get a lot of those notes on a guitar that isn’t tuned that way. Both sides of the string from the slide or bottleneck vibrate along with the tone that you want, giving off some very interesting chord inversions.”
- What is the key to Lowell George’s slide technique?
- Three elements: the socket wrench slide (for the specific weight and chrome-plated smoothness), the double compressor (for the “almost infinite sustain”), and the horn-part philosophy (never playing leads for their own sake, always serving the song’s arrangement). Guitar World described his technique as playing “just two notes: bass notes and ‘top’ notes” — the middle strings sustaining as drones between them. Critical technical skills: string damping with the palm of the picking hand (preventing sympathetic vibration), slide intonation directly over the fret positions, and the use of a capo to manage unwanted open-string resonance. The sustained note philosophy — letting the compressor-enhanced slide note sustain without rushing to the next note — is the defining characteristic of his style.
- How do I get Lowell George’s slide guitar sound?
- Fender Stratocaster in open G tuning (D G D G B D) with high action. 11/16 Sears Craftsman socket wrench as slide (or similar diameter chrome-plated steel socket). Two compressors in series: two MXR Dyna Comp pedals (first at ~3 o’clock for high compression, second at ~9 o’clock for light compression). Into Fender Twin Reverb or Dumble equivalent, set clean with light spring reverb. The double compressor is the most critical element — without it, the “almost infinite sustain” quality is not achievable. Set the compressors before any drive or dirt; the compressors work on the guitar signal, not on an already-distorted signal. Then study the horn-part philosophy: slide lines that serve the song, answer the vocal, and never overwhelm the arrangement. Two notes — bass and melody.
