The New Tone Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter Telegram Sam
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ShanPeyton said:
So I got a question for everyone. At what point do you just say screw it and just record your songs?
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you record your songs from the very beginning ...... you should never delay recording because "once I get this I'll be ready" can turn into years of waiting to get this just right or that just perfect.
It'll never be perfect ..... there will always be things that you want to correct or improve on.
So record ..... and then as your tones get better and better, write some more damned songs and record them.
 
I think its like the Nike ad, Just Do It.
Any time spent improving your skills is going to result in improving your skills.
I haven't finished a single thing yet, but I have been plugging away.
I understand the equipment that I am using on a much more profound level
now, and the only way I have been able to do that is by spending time with it.
My efforts to date, all still sound like crap, but much less so than my first efforts!
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:)
 
Atom Bomb said:
No. One would assume you have a life.
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Or a day job? Ha! All great advice. Thanks everyone. I have the afternoon off work So i am going to be sitting here for a while.

After listening back to what i did last night i think my bass and my guitars are all out of intonation. Some weird weird cosmic stuff going on. So yet another set back for this stupid cover i am working on. HaHa. Always has to be something not working.

Really not enjoying what this dry prairie weather is doing to my guitars.
 
There is a "post your raw guitar samples" thread at Gearslutz. This guy has some killer fucking tone. It is a Ratt song and imo sounds better than the original because of the gear he's using (LP straight to a Plexi, dry guitar on the left, reverb only on the right). Of course, I think he has a professional studio that he operates, so I'm sure that plays a factor somewhere, too.

Check it out.
 

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Seeker of Rock said:
There is a "post your raw guitar samples" thread at Gearslutz. This guy has some killer fucking tone. It is a Ratt song and imo sounds better than the original because of the gear he's using (LP straight to a Plexi, dry guitar on the left, reverb only on the right). Of course, I think he has a professional studio that he operates, so I'm sure that plays a factor somewhere, too.

Check it out.
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Wow, plus he can play the guitar.
Seeker is there a link where I can hear your 800?
 
So tonight I was trying out some cleaner settings on a few of my amps...and decided to record some clips of each trial.
I used the same guitar, a reissue Hagstrom Super Swede, which has a coil split switch. I recorded each amp/channel with the split coil and with it at full humbucker setting. I used the neck pickup for all.
Also used the same mic (AKG D1000E) for each clip, and positioned it in about the same spot for each amp/speaker...off center about 2", kinda midway between the center and edge of the speaker.

I can give specific amp settings for each if anyone wants them...but it may not mean anything to anyone unless they have the same amp(s).

Here's the clips...as I said, I was going more for a cleaner sound, though there's a touch of breakup on some of the clips. I also normalized each of the clips so that their levels were as close as possible.
The Chubster 40 has two channels, and I tried to set them so they were similar/balanced, but so you can still hear the different voicing of each.
With the Hammerhead, there are several tone voicing options, I just picked one that I liked for these clips.
The Rt. 66 is a basic Treble/Bass/Volume amp...so I set all three in the same position.

I played the same few chords for each clip, that way it would be easier to compare them (sorry for a few sloppy strums...my hand got tired holding the same chords over and over.

Split Coil clips
Rivera Chubster 40 - Channel 01
Rivera Chubster 40 - Channel 02
Carr Hammerhead
Dr. Z Rt. 66

Humbucker Clips
Rivera Chubster 40 - Channel 01
Rivera Chubster 40 - Channel 02
Carr Hammerhead
Dr. Z Rt. 66

I may the same thing with some OD settings on each amp when I get a chance.
 
Telegram Sam said:
Seeker is there a link where I can hear your 800?
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Here are a few I posted a few weeks ago. They don't quite capture what I'm hearing in the room so I'm going to experiment, maybe with a ribbon mic, maybe a room condenser mixed with the 57.
 

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miroslav said:
Here's the clips...as I said, I was going more for a cleaner sound, though there's a touch of breakup on some of the clips.
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Nice. I like the Rivera the best, at least for the clean tones and progressions you played. I'll throw out a buzz word descriptor, but I think it fits here...chimey tones. I suspect the Carr and Dr. Z are going to break up pretty nice since you can already hear them trying.
 

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Miro: I personally like the Carr Hammerhead clips the best, to me those just sound warmer & fuller, even the single coil clips. The others sound pretty good, but if I had to pick, the Carr would be my choice. Of course, a guitar sound can be awesome on it's own, but would sound really different in a mix, but again, I think the Carr amp sounds best.......


Seeker: The Ratt clip reminds me of the first "band" I played in, I had a 12w Marshall Micro-Stack (I was 16....about '87....), & the other guitar player had a Laney 50w tube head & 4x12 cab. Needless to say, I couldn't be heard at all, but that was one of the songs we played. The clip you posted sounds great man, plus like Sam mentioned, he can play.....

Out of the clips you posted the last couple/few days, I like the Aerosmith the best, sounds pretty close to the album tone, good job!!! That's the kind of tone I'm after, it's gritty, but still has bite & definition.....


I stopped at the local music store & pawn shops on the way to work Thursday looking for an eq pedal, but they didn't have one anywhere. Suppose I'm either gonna have to order one online, or make a longer trip to a few more places to find one. I'm gonna try the eq in the loop to see if that helps with my tone, hopefully it will, but if not, I suppose I'll be on the hunt for another amp.....The setup I have does sound pretty good (especially when I stack the combo on top of the 1x12 cab & use both speakers, they seem to compliment each other really well), but getting what I hear in the room is another story. The stock Blackstar speaker almost gives me the "bite" I'm after when using the Greenback cab under it, but I have to dime the treble knob. I've thought about buying another mic or two, & recording both speakers at the same time, blending 'em.......We'll see in a couple days if/when I find an eq pedal, there's a friend that's selling all his gear (he's going through a divorce.....), & he may have some stuff that I could get pretty cheap.......

Not a lot of time here for recording, work seems to take my whole life over anymore. Gonna try to get some stuff tracked this weekend though.....
 
Thanks Seeker.
I'm going to listen to all these tones tonight.
Here are some tones I'm working on.
I've had ideas for several songs bouncing around in my head for a while,
which is why I started recording again.
This one is in three parts, I've finished this scratchpad of the guitars
and now if I am going to do it, it is going to be a lot of effort.
I don't want to get half way through and decide to abandon it altogether.

My questions are; the beginning, too fast / slow, is the tone going to be ok mixed with
base, maybe some synth winds and sparse percussion or is it going to need some chorus / flange / effect?
I was kind of hoping to keep it clean.

The middle, is it original enough?

Any other thoughts before I start tracking in earnest?

I am going to flesh out each section into longer pieces and set the spacing appropriately,
any word on how long they should be?

 
minerman said:
Not a lot of time here for recording, work seems to take my whole life over anymore. Gonna try to get some stuff tracked this weekend though.....
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AS the saying goes, (work) is a good problem to have, man. I just tracked some drum punch-ins and felt really good about the drum sound. Then I rip and smash it to Mp3 and it seems to lose everything that I liked about it. :(



Telegram Sam said:
The middle, is it original enough?
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I think so. It almost sounds like the highs/high-mids could be tamed just a little, but that may end up making it fit better in the mix. Going to be cool to hear how that song sounds once you get all of the parts recorded.
 
Nice. What is your chain again?
 
Seeker of Rock said:
Here are a few I posted a few weeks ago. They don't quite capture what I'm hearing in the room so I'm going to experiment, maybe with a ribbon mic, maybe a room condenser mixed with the 57.
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Nice.
This is great for comparing my modeler to the real thing.
Nice selections, well played!

Seeker of Rock said:
Another clip from 20 years ago. This one is juiced up a bit since this band was heavy metal. Same Marshall amp, driving the front end with a DOD fx40 level control boosted and a ^ shaped EQ to boost the mids. 16 Shattered Innocence [Demo Version] by Seeker of Rock on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
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What was the name of the band?
That's pretty cool.

So that brings up another question I have:
Do you always try to get as close to your final tone as possible when you are recording it?

For example, if I am doing a a swamp guitar part,
do I mix the reverb in at the beginning and record it, or do you add the reverb later in the mix?
 
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