The gear I have - The tone I want - Need Suggestions!

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soundchaser59

Reluctant Commander
Here is the gear I have to work with:

5.25 Express with alnico speaker.
MIA Strat, Noiseless pickups.
BBE Boosta Grande (20db clean boost).
EHX Black Finger tube compressor.
Boss CS-3 compressor.
Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive.
Boss Chorus and Phaser.
MXR 10 band EQ.
various alnico speaker cabs.




Here is the type of sound/tone I am trying to imitate:

The lead sound I'm after!




The guy in the clip is using a Brown Note amp, among other nice toys.......


Looking for suggestions on how to utilize my gear to get that sound! Any clues?
 
What I'm about to say may come off as smartass, so please don't take it that way:

If you want his tone, you have to use his gear.

Plus, most of a guitarists' tone is in his hands.

Barring all that, get yourself an amp sim and see what you can do.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.
 
That's a classic Joe Satriani type lead guitar sound. Have you tried googling him to find out if there's some articles on the net about the gear he's using.

I did that when I was trying to find out what amp Knopfler was using. Turns out he really likes some boutique amp made in Washington somewhere. Forget the name now, but I remember it was out of my price range.:(
 
Sorry about my previous post. I was going off what you had written because this stupid server that I am on will not let me download or upload anything (gov't pc, middle of the Pacific Ocean; life sucks as a merchant seaman)...

But if it is Satriani-type tone you are looking for, his rig is all effects processors. He plays mostly Ibanez guitars that they build for him, and he only has a volume knob because it's all about the effects. You will need some sort of guitar processor in your rig to comp that. Especially something with auto-wah... I don't know if you can get close with what you have listed.

Check this out:

Jim Dunlop 535Q wah pedal
- Boss DS-1 Distortion
- Fulltone Ultimate Octave
- DigiTech Whammy Pedal
- Boss OC-2 Dual Octave
- PS-5 Super Shifter Pedal
- Boss BF-3 Flanger
- Boss Super Chorus
- Boss DD-2 Delay
- Chandler Digital Delay
- Marshall 6100 Anniversary Head
- Marshall 4x12 (Celestion 25W)

Got this off a site that lists his rig setup.

Here is the link
 
Rokket said:
Sorry about my previous post. I was going off what you had written because this stupid server that I am on will not let me download or upload anything (gov't pc, middle of the Pacific Ocean; life sucks as a merchant seaman)...

But if it is Satriani-type tone you are looking for, his rig is all effects processors. He plays mostly Ibanez guitars that they build for him, and he only has a volume knob because it's all about the effects. You will need some sort of guitar processor in your rig to comp that. Especially something with auto-wah... I don't know if you can get close with what you have listed.

Check this out:

Jim Dunlop 535Q wah pedal
- Boss DS-1 Distortion
- Fulltone Ultimate Octave
- DigiTech Whammy Pedal
- Boss OC-2 Dual Octave
- PS-5 Super Shifter Pedal
- Boss BF-3 Flanger
- Boss Super Chorus
- Boss DD-2 Delay
- Chandler Digital Delay
- Marshall 6100 Anniversary Head
- Marshall 4x12 (Celestion 25W)

Got this off a site that lists his rig setup.

Here is the link
Click to expand...

Your first reply was actually closer to the mark. My post may be misleading because the guy is not really using a bunch of other cool toys.

The guy in the sound clip is playing a guitar plugged directly into the Brown Note amp.......no fx, no pedals, no modelers, no processing, no fx loop, nothing but axe + amp. Their claim to fame is getting that sound directly from the amp. It's kinda hard to decipher the web page, so it's possible a really clean overdrive pedal is involved, but nothing more.

So that is the point of my question, I guess.........do I have to use the same amp? Or can I get close with what I have? Those are $3000-4000 dollar amps. Be a long time before I have that kind of sawbuck....
 
I don't know what Brown Note model he's using, but that, to me, sounds like power tube overdrive --- like a single channel amp being turned up enough so the power tubes are distorting.

I think you could get very close to that kind of a tone with a Deluxe Reverb cranked. I don't know if you're very handy with amp mods, but there are several ways you could get a great-sounding DR that's pretty affordable too.

Method 1: Get a silverface in decent condition, and perform a few simple mods to convert it to blackfaced specs.

Method 2: Get a used Deluxe Reverb reissue, and perform a few mods to get it sounding really good, such as a a new transformer, new speaker, and new caps.


Either method shouldn't run you too much over a grand, if that.

Robben Ford plays Dumbles, which are pretty much the "holy grail" amp, and even he's said in an interview that the best tone he usually gets is a Tele through a dimed BF Deluxe Reverb.

Lower wattage tube amps (like, 25 and below) make it pretty easy to get really close to that Larry Carlton, Robben Ford type of tone, and they're not deafening either, yet they're plenty loud enough to gig with.

Now ... regarding your original question on how to use the gear you have to get that tone, I'm afraid I'm not at all familiar with that Boogie model. But the tone on that clip sounds to me just like a cranked single-channel amp.

(I don't think it sounds much like Joe Satriani at all. It sounds much closer to the Carlton/Ford type of tone, except maybe with a little less top-end sparkle and bite.)
 
famous beagle said:
(I don't think it sounds much like Joe Satriani at all. It sounds much closer to the Carlton/Ford type of tone, except maybe with a little less top-end sparkle and bite.)
Click to expand...

Yeah, most of Satriani's stuff is more distorted, but some like 'Starry Night' come pretty close to the sound on the clip. I agree, Larry Carlton may be a better example.
 
What kind of guitar is being played on the clip? It doesn't sound like a strat.
 
JCH said:
What kind of guitar is being played on the clip? It doesn't sound like a strat.
Click to expand...

Yep.... sounds like double coils. And don't forget the sound you are hearing is miced, and in a mix with processing etc.... it's not just a guitar and amp you are hearing... so really, the only way to compare his rig to yours is to play them side by side.... I think you should be able to get a great sound out of that gear you have!! Actually, a better sound probably. You have sweet sweet gear, my friend. What's your address?? I'll come twist knobs while you play!! :D

Peace!

~Shawn
 
eyema_believer said:
it's not just a guitar and amp you are hearing...
Click to expand...

They claim it is.....guitar plugged into the Brown Note amp, no pedals, no fx, no processing, but yes it is "in the mix".....

But they claim that is the sound you get with just the guitar and the amp.
 
soundchaser59 said:
They claim it is.....guitar plugged into the Brown Note amp, no pedals, no fx, no processing, but yes it is "in the mix".....

But they claim that is the sound you get with just the guitar and the amp.
Click to expand...

The advice I'll give to any guitar player is to dump the effects pedals into storage for six months. Figure out just what you CAN do with nothing but the volume and tone knobs on your guitar and amp.

Most people get so caught up with what they CAN'T do without effects pedals that they never take the time to explore what they CAN do without them.
 
soundchaser59 said:
Hofner V is all I have to go on.......
Click to expand...

Hofner used some pretty bizzare pickups on many of those guitars at that time. None of them had any similarity to a stratocaster pickup. Due to design most of them would have a rather unique tone. Trying to emulate that with a strat could be pretty difficult.

You've got some nice gear. Getting an acceptable tone for that style shouldn't be too hard. Personally I didn't care much for the tone on the clip. I like a little more presence in the upper range, and there's not much bottom end at all.

If you like your Fender noiseless pickups thats great, but they aren't very high on my list. Sure they're quiet, but you give up a lot of the character, and vibe that make a strat sound like a strat. If you ditch all, or most of the effects in your signal chain like Moonrider suggested, and add some good shielding you'll probably discover that the original strat pickups aren't all that noisy. The first thing I want my guitar signal to see is the grid of 12AX7.

beagle's right about the amp tone. That sounds like power tube saturation. Check into an attenuator.
 
JCH said:
beagle's right about the amp tone. That sounds like power tube saturation. Check into an attenuator.
Click to expand...

I agree also. I got really close to that type of tone and feel when I had a Subway Rocket. I dimed the clean channel, and there it was, sounded just like Duane Allman. (the amp had issues and had to go)

Done the attenuator thing already, it ruined my tone all the way around. You dont realize what it's doing to the tone until you use it for 6 months, then one day take it out and crank up the amp. Cant do that again, sold the thing.......then I bought the Mesa! :D
 
soundchaser59 said:
I agree also. I got really close to that type of tone and feel when I had a Subway Rocket. I dimed the clean channel, and there it was, sounded just like Duane Allman. (the amp had issues and had to go)

Done the attenuator thing already, it ruined my tone all the way around. You dont realize what it's doing to the tone until you use it for 6 months, then one day take it out and crank up the amp. Cant do that again, sold the thing.......then I bought the Mesa! :D
Click to expand...

That's why I was suggesting a low wattage amp like an 18 or 20 watt. You can dime them without peeling the paint off the walls, but it's still loud enough to gig with.
 
soundchaser59 said:
I agree also. I got really close to that type of tone and feel when I had a Subway Rocket. I dimed the clean channel, and there it was, sounded just like Duane Allman. (the amp had issues and had to go)

Done the attenuator thing already, it ruined my tone all the way around. You dont realize what it's doing to the tone until you use it for 6 months, then one day take it out and crank up the amp. Cant do that again, sold the thing.......then I bought the Mesa! :D
Click to expand...


I've been getting a great tone out of my Express 5:25 with a simple compressor up in front.... try the clean channel on 25w mode, with the compressor gain pumped up until the thing starts to really sing.... I'll see if I can get a clip of mine tonight for you.

~Shawn
 
I hate to be the one who says larry carlton but....... sounds like old school boogie sound big midrange peak hefty amount of gain. Crap for chords but otherwise. You have some cool gear. try the eq in the effects loop.
 
Thurgood said:
I hate to be the one who says larry carlton but....... sounds like old school boogie sound big midrange peak hefty amount of gain. Crap for chords but otherwise. You have some cool gear. try the eq in the effects loop.
Click to expand...

The Carlton sound is a Dumble, not a Boogie.
 
Cool beagle. When I visited with him (before a show) he was using Dumble amps. Nonetheless, and a object lesson to a budding gttr'ist at the time I cop'd a pretty good "clone" of his tone witha Mark 3. Just an observation. I do believe that the tone presented sounds a bit like a small amp, compressor and eq after preamp section. Ahh, the quest for tone. Be well all.
 
Thurgood said:
Cool beagle. When I visited with him (before a show) he was using Dumble amps. Nonetheless, and a object lesson to a budding gttr'ist at the time I cop'd a pretty good "clone" of his tone witha Mark 3. Just an observation. I do believe that the tone presented sounds a bit like a small amp, compressor and eq after preamp section. Ahh, the quest for tone. Be well all.
Click to expand...

Yes tone is good. :)
 
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