WHERE IS LITTLE ALBERT COLLINS?
Mr. Collins, Mr. Collins passed back in 1993, and his unique style seems to have gone with him. He played in an open tuning (F-C-F-Ab-C-F) which allowed him to start and end his runs with notes that seem unusual to a guitar player playing in standard tuning. The open tuning meant he had to use a capo up and down the neck to play in different keys, and it allowed a lot of open string ringing in his playing. His unusual style and tone earned him a pile of nicknames...The Master of The Telecaster, The Ice Man, Razor Blade, etc.
Now, it's this writer's belief that 90% of tone is in the fingers...and since nobody but Albert had his hands, it'll be VERY difficult to duplicate his tone, but we CAN look at his equipment to find the other 10%. He played through a 70's Fender Quad Reverb, which is the same 100 watt amp as a Fender Twin but in a larger cabinet using four 12" speakers instead of two. His Quad had the Master switch pull out preamp disabled, so that his amplified sound was volume dependent...to get the breakup and snarl he had to crank the volume. In a late 80's interview he stated that his amp settings are: Volume-10, Treble-10, Mid-10, Bass-0, Reverb-4, and Master-10. Another unusual thing is that on the inside of the speaker baffle there is duct tape in the shape of X's in front of the speakers acting as sound diffusers. If you want to see one of his amps up close and try for that Ice Pickin tone, Austin Amplifier has one. Allegedly Eric Johnson got it from Albert's widow Gwen, and Austin Amplifier got it from the guy who bought it from Johnson.
His guitar was a 66 Telecaster with a Humbucker in the neck position and an ash tray cover over the bridge. The neat thing about the ash tray bridge cover is that he couldn't mute the strings with the palm of his picking hand, any muting had to be done with either his picking fingers or his left hand ala John Lee Hooker. Another odd thing about the way he used his hands is that Albert used his left index finger a lot more than folks who play standard tuning, because he didn't have to use it as a barre because of the capo. And finally, there is a huge debate among Collins tone chasers whether or not he ever used the humbucker, whether there were any unusual wiring or pots under the switch plate, or what sort of pickup was hiding under that bridge cover. Only one guy can really answer those questions, and unfortunately he has been gone for a long while.
So with his combination of unusual tuning, unusual amplifier, unusual Telecaster and unprecedented talent...it's not surprising that his songs aren't played as often as his contemporaries' or even as often as the songs of people he influenced. To play Albert Collins' songs in HIS style requires a commitment. The commitment of setting aside a guitar for his tuning, a commitment to relearning the fretboard, a commitment to acquiring a different sense of timing and dynamics, buying a Fender Quad and playing through a 100' guitar cable! So with all those obstacles, I fear we may never hear a Little Albert Collins play.