Humbuckers are generally too dark and fat-sounding for surf guitar. The important thing is single-coil pickups with plenty of snap, sparkle, and note definition. In the early 1950s, Fender guitars were at the cutting edge of the rock and roll boom, with their radical shapes and retro-futuristic color options.įor surf guitar, a Fender Stratocaster or Jaguar would probably be best, although the deeper, throatier sound of a Jazzmaster might also lend itself well to the music. While the individual guitars used by surf players varied somewhat, the consensus is very clearly to use a guitar with single-coil pickups. Surf Guitar Gear A guitar fitted with single-coil pickups–such as the Fender Stratocaster–is the go-to axe for surf guitar players. Therefore, all you really need is the equivalent of the gear available to players in the 1950s, namely an electric guitar and an amp (ideally one with a reverb).īelow, we outline the gear and techniques you’ll need in order to play surf guitar. The man himself can be seen showcasing his technique in this video.įortunately for modern players looking to replicate the classic surf guitar sound, this genre of music comes from an era before effects units were as widespread and varied as they are today. This means that his use of many guitar techniques and voicings is inverted, perhaps influencing his choice to use so many non-Western melodic choices in his compositions. Accordingly, Dick Dale’s Stratocasters had the thickest strings at the bottom of the guitar, and the thinnest strings at the top, closest to his face. A left-handed player, Dale simply played right-handed guitars upside down, without even re-stringing them, as Jimi Hendrix did.
The use of the track as a key part of the soundtrack of the Tarantino film “Pulp Fiction” introduced Dick Dale – and the surf guitar sound – to millions of film-goers worldwide.Ī key part of Dick Dale’s thunderous tone was how he played guitar. The Beach Boys recorded a version of “Misirlou” later on, cementing its place as a surf rock classic. His breakout instrumental track, “Let’s Go Trippin”, was one of the first hit surf guitar singles.ĭale actually credited his Lebanese-American relatives with introducing him to the song, which he played up and down a single string, using his jaw-dropping tremolo picking technique. Surf Guitar Players And Classic Surf Guitar Tracks Dick DaleĮasily the best-known surf guitarist is American guitarist Dick Dale, aka the “King of Surf Guitar”.ĭick Dale’s use of non-Western scales in his playing and his aggressive playing style made Dale an instant standout in the rockabilly scene of the early 1950s. Generally, surf guitarists led a small rock and roll ensemble featuring bass and drums playing at a high tempo. Surf guitar players simply had to push their amplifiers as hard as they could with volume and playing ferocity. Surf guitar takes the lead melodic role in a typical surf ensemble, with the notable exception of vocal surf music, where the densely layered harmonies take center stage.Īs a general rule, surf guitar players pushed their amplifiers about as hard as they could go, in terms of both volume and reverb Fender’s spring reverb represented the cutting edge of amplifier innovation at the time.īack in the 1950s and early 1960s, there was no heavy metal, and no high-gain amplifiers to provide feedback. You can get some great eastern sounds using the scales on this page: Arabic Guitar Scale If you check out Dick Dale’s “Misirlou”, you’ll notice his extremely fast picking of a single note within the tune’s main melody.Īnother feature of surf music was the use of Middle Eastern modes, perhaps the first introduction of the Phrygian mode to popular music in the 20th century. Chief among these was rapid tremolo picking. Surf guitar players used a few signature techniques to give surf music its distinctive sound. Dick Dale’s “Misirlou”, one of the most famous surf guitar tracks, featured heavily in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, and was later sampled by the Black-Eyed Peas for their track “Pump It”.
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