Jerry Jones Sitar
Short Description : Electric Sitar guitar. 6 normal guitar strings and 13 resonator strings.
Production period : Original mid 60´s made by Danelectro and was originally called the Coral Sitar, mine is a reissue style version from the 90´s
Numbers made : Still in production…sort of.
Used by : Beatles, Yes, R.E.M, Santana, Änglagård ( live ), Polar studios.
Sounds : Electric sitar sound, instantly recognizable.
Description : This a electric guitar built a special buzz bridge and resonator strings to try to emulate the sound of the indian string instrument sitar. They were originally made by Danelectro but now Jerry Jones makes a perfect replica that even stays in tune.
I bought mine in 1998 in Los Angeles to celebrate the fact that Pineforest Crunch were getting signed to a major label in the U.S…The deal fell through ( of course ! ) but I have still got an electric sitar and a big credit card receipt lying around somewhere. Åsa actually convinced me to get it. She asked me at a pivotal moment…would you regret not getting it ?
This guitar has productionwise a lot in common with the Mellotron in the sense that If you just add a couple of notes or strum a couple of chords you have instantly changed the whole feel of the song. Needless to say…it sounds amazing backwards with a bit of tape delay on it…
What Steve Howe ( Yes ) has to say on the matter of the Electric Sitar :
” I suppose the electric sitar is the quintessential late ´60s psychedelic sound. I´d heard electric sitar on some records in the 1960´s, such as Green Tambourine by The lemon pipers. I really liked the sound. The Coral was designed by Vinnie bell and came out in 1967. It´s built like a normal guitar, with conventional frets rather than movebale ones you get on a real sitar. It has a special bridge that gives the ” sitar ” sound. There are 13 extra strings, tuned semitones apart that are designed to resonate synpathetically, as on the real thing, and help emulate the sitar sound. The sound´s basic, but still exotic.
The first time I used one on record was on Siberian Khatru from the Yes Lp Close to the edge. I used to record things on my own at home with my revox tape recorder, and a solo I recorded there ended up on the track. Sometimes the studio is the place where everything hapens and that´s defibnitely the case with the electric Star. I my experience you can´t make it sound any good through an Amp ! But plug it directly into the recording board and you are there ”
- Taken from the great Music Magazine, Mojo.June issue 1997.
Sitar moments at Roth Händle :
Nanook of the north : Where will you go ?
Geller : We are one and Smashing riffkin.
Celestine : Sunflower
Blanc : Cést la
Ludvig Andersson : Fallen man
Ludwig Andersson