This months interview is with one of the all time greats. If you remember any of my older articles, you will remember the guitarists that influenced me the most were Jimi Hendrix, Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton and six more greats. We are lucky enough to have Dickey Betts sit down and answer some questions. Dickey Betts is known for having great guitar tone and some of the greatest all time licks ever heard. He has also written some of the most memorable Allman Brothers tunes of all time. Most guitarists wish they had just one great memorable lick. Dickey can have several in the same song. He is definitely a Guitar Great Hall of Famer. Great licks, great tone, great jams, great shows, and just some good time
music. You can't ask for more.

Charlie Daniels sang about him and his red guitar. He then immortalized the Les Paul Gold Top, "Goldie" which Gibson has finally made a reissue of and a Marshall amp are his tools of trade. Dickey is the name and music is the game and for over thirty years, no one has done it better. He is now on the road with his own band Dickey Betts and Great Southern. I have seen this band several times and it is great to say that Dickey is playing as good as ever. I always hear people walking out at the end of the show saying it was the best show ever. He is playing like a young rising musician having fun on stage and jamming on even longer and putting more in to the songs than has ever been heard. Dickey Betts and Great Southern is a show that all guitar players must see if they want to see how the guitar is really supposed to be played. Just like all the greats, it's not speed, it's pure tone and perfectly played notes.

BG: What is the history of the guitars you have and why did you choose those guitars?
DB: The History of the guitars I have, let me see, I have about 30. The one that I play is a '57 Les Paul. I bought it back in the '70's in New York and actually Gibson started making this Custom Shop guitar. They can only make 500 of them a year and actually I am playing one of their new ones. Believe it or not it sounds better than my original '57. You know they are all a little different. I've got a Gold Top that they made for me that just sounds beautiful, so my original '57 Gold top I leave at home now.

Then I've got (strums the guitar) this 1929 Gibson L-50 I think they call it. I like to play acoustic slide on it. I have one here (strums theguitar)it's a National Steel body, an O series. I found that one in New York in of all places an antique store and then this one (strums the guitar), Elvin Bishop gave me and it is a National Tri-Cone steel body

BG: Is that what you played on Little Martha?
DB: No actually this guitar here is what Duane played on Little Martha. This one is actually a Dobro. It's got a wooden body with the metal resonator in it and that was Duane's old guitar that he played on Little Martha. I was actually playing a Martin on that and Duane played the Dobro.

BG: Which Martin did you play?
DB: I don't have it anymore, I gave it away. It was a 1970 D-28. I've got guitars all over the house, but you know that I am a Les Paul man for the most part. I've got a 1956 Fender Hardtail, one that's never had a tremolo bar put in it.

BG: Is that the one you were playing slide on?
DB: Yeah, that's the one I am playing slide on. That's a really fine guitar.

BG: Did you do any modifications to the Les Paul at all?
DB: The new ones that Gibson made for me, I didn't do anything to, but my '57, the pickups went bad in it and I put a set of Seymour Duncan copies that they hand wind them just like the Gibsons. They are the copy of the P.A.F. Humbuckers.

BG: When you chose the pickups for your Gold Top that Gibson remade, why did you choose the '57 Classics over the Burstbuckers?
DB: I didn't choose the pickups they just sent it to me with the '57 Classics in it. You know they are selecting the wood and drying the wood in a computerized kiln dryer and they are putting nitro cellulous lacquer on them and that's what makes the difference more than anything else, I think it's the wood and the kind of paint they use on it. Nitro Cellulose is what they put on violins. It's a real crispy sound. It lets the wood vibrate. Gibson has got a deal worked out with the E.P.A. I think they pay them a $10,000.00 fine right off the bat and then the E.P.A. allows them to make I think 550 guitars a year. This is the Custom Shop, not the Historics. The Historics are different. The Custom Shop is something that they just started doing. The reissues do not have the nitro cellulose on them.

BG: I wanted to ask you about Jim Wagner of WCR that is making the Fillmore pickups, have you heard of them yet?
DB: I have heard his name, I haven't heard about the pickups yet. I have heard about him when the techs talk about that guy.

BG: What amps did you use with the Allman Brothers and what are you using now?
DB: I've got two sets of amps. With my band I am using one 50 watt Marshall and it's the vintage Marshall, the reissue and I think they quit making them again already. They make them for a little while and then they stop. I've got four of those. I use one 50 watt Marshall with one Marshall cabinet with JBL Lansing 120's in it and I use an old Ibanez digital echo. I try to get it to sound as close as I can to the tape echo and it seems to work great.

With the Allman Brothers I used two 100 watt vintage Marshalls with two cabinets with the Lansings in them. The Allman Brothers Band is a lot louder band than this band is.

BG: Is that why you dropped down to 50 watts?
DB: Yeah, all I need is like 50 watts and I run it on like four. It's loud. We play loud enough for rock and roll. Even outdoors, I just use one 50 watt head.

BG: One of the things that you are known for is your tone.
DB: Well you know the Lansing speakers have a lot to do with it and I don't use any distortion at all. I just use the natural distortion. If I can overdrive the tubes in the amp that's what I try to do. I put the amp just loud enough to overdrive the tubes in the amp.

BG: How do you set your guitars and your amps to get that tone?
DB: On that Marshall, depending on the room, but on the average, I usually set treble on about two-thirds and the bass and the middle on about one-third. My guitar, I usually play on the front pickup.

BG: Most of your leads are on the front pickup?
DB: Yeah and sometimes I split it between the two pickups, add a little bit of the treble pickup to it. I kind of like a thicker sound than most people do.

Duane used to play all of his stuff on the treble pickup. It was nice playing with Duane. He was one hell of a player and one hell of a person. He was a great guy.

BG: How do you think you influenced Duane's playing?
DB: Duane was more of a real purist blues man and well my dad and all my uncles were fiddle players. I think growing up hearing the melodies and things, I think that with Duane and I, it was the chemistry. I was more of a melody kind of guy. I would just start a melody and Duane would jump on it and play the harmony to it. That doesn't explain the whole thing between me and Duane, but that's basically what we did. I think he picked up the idea of playing melody in rock and roll and I picked up a lot of stuff from him on how to pour your heart in to playing a blues line. We learned a lot from each other.

Don't miss Part II on our upcoming November Issue...Stay Tuned!

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