Guitar Tone

Todzilla

Todzilla

New member
I finally have a guitar tone captured that I REALLY like.

Here's a scratch track with the tone:

- this scratch track is very repetitive, so no need to listen beyond the first chorus. The drum machine is just the cheap VI with Digital Performer, as is the lame-o bass. I've been trying to get this kind of deep growling distorted sound for a long time and I stumbled upon this.

If y'all like the tone, I'll tell you how I got it.
 
Todzilla said:
I've been trying to get this kind of deep growling distorted sound for a long time and I stumbled upon this.
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Deep growling? Are you kidding? It sounds like a battery powered mini amp recorded in a bathtub.
 
OK, I don't believe ocnor was very nice about it, but he has a point. It doesn't sound really powerful to me. It's not as bad as he so eloquently put it, but it is lacking in the overall tone department. It sounds like it was recorded at a relatively low volume. I can't tell if it's a single guitar track or or two with the same amp and tone settings. The guitar isn't well defined, it's muddy in the distortion.

This is what I would do for that song and style. Record the first track over again with the amp cranked much higher. EQ the tone the way you like it. Then do another distortion track and EQ the tone with a hi pass on. Then do a clean guitar track, and mix and pan until you get that well rounded deep growl you are looking for. This works for me.
 
undrgrnd studio said:
OK, I don't believe ocnor was very nice about it, but he has a point. It doesn't sound really powerful to me. It's not as bad as he so eloquently put it, but it is lacking in the overall tone department. It sounds like it was recorded at a relatively low volume. I can't tell if it's a single guitar track or or two with the same amp and tone settings. The guitar isn't well defined, it's muddy in the distortion.

This is what I would do for that song and style. Record the first track over again with the amp cranked much higher. EQ the tone the way you like it. Then do another distortion track and EQ the tone with a hi pass on. Then do a clean guitar track, and mix and pan until you get that well rounded deep growl you are looking for. This works for me.
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Thanks for the more detailed feedback. Again though, as a point of reference, what's your holy grail of guitar tone?
 
chances are its how hes hearing it.

It probably sounds dope to him casue of whatever hes listening to it on.


And shit ot those with a nice room and monitors.


It's not terrible. I think it works for this tune.

I wouldn't say it is the definiton of what a distorted guitar should sound like.

but really thats a veyr broad spectrum.


as long as buddy is happy.
 
Holy grail of guitar tone? For me that's like asking for the holy grail of the color spectrum. What is the best color? Blue? Red? Purple? There is no "best color", and I don't believe there is one best guitar tone either. It depends entirely upon the song, the artist, the feel, and what mood one is in on any given day.

Todd, you found a tone you like. Like miro said, that's all that matters. But you can't expect very many people to agree with you any more than you can get them to agree on their favorite color or their favorite guitar.

G.
 
I don't think it works for the song, There have been thousands upon thousands of guitar tone recorded that have different tones so is there a holy grail?......

It sounds like you recorded the sound from a small 15 watt practice amp with a 7" speaker, or a Crate Amp:laughings:

What kind of amp did you use?
 
Tastes vary don't they ? As I'm typing this, one of my kids is watching TV, oblivious to the world about him. The other is jumping and dancing to the track playing air guitar and singing "Show me what to dooooooooo" and "Shit's breaking all around me...." and telling his brother how what he's watching is rubbish (never mind two years ago it's what he used to watch !)
One Ocnor's distaste is another person's delight and the bizarre thing is that they're both valid for the person sporting the opinion.
Personally, I like the song and the little organ trills that weave in and out. And personally, I like the tone of the guitar. I like it in the context of the song. I like so many different guitar tones (a bit like snare tones) and I like this one. Others don't/won't. You know, there are albums I have where I love the guitar playing in the context of the songs, but not the tone of the guitar {like "Shades of Deep Purple" or some of Hendrix stuff}. But as Miroslav pointed out, you like it and that's what counts.
 
The holy grail of guitar sound is different ... listening, is an experience, and it's unique to everyone of us. Listening is physics and psychology.

Individual differences play a role but in general we all hear the same. Preference drives taste.

For me, the holy grail of guitar sound is my 1967 Fender Vibrolux Reverb cranked wide open to 9 or 10 being drive by some NOS JAN Phillips 6L6WGB power tubes from either a Telecaster or a Strat.

Dial the volume back for jazz or up for crunchy Freddie King-esque raw blues.

The only Holy Grail, or Sister Grail, of tone would be my Fender Tweed Deluxe with any guitar that rolls Humbuckers; Les Paul, ES-335, etc. DEVIOUS TWEED.

What I don't like is phased out, crazy op-amp distortion...ala metal, ala emo, whatever.

Sorry :) good luck thougH!
 
leaningpine said:
I don't think it works for the song, There have been thousands upon thousands of guitar tone recorded that have different tones so is there a holy grail?......

It sounds like you recorded the sound from a small 15 watt practice amp with a 7" speaker, or a Crate Amp:laughings:

What kind of amp did you use?
Click to expand...

Just for scratch I reamped it through a cheap ass Epiphone $99 tube amp. The Choruses were re-amped through my Mesa Boogie DC-2, although I like the little amp better for the verses. I had planned to re-record it, but I like it a lot. I may experiment, but I doubt I'll get anything I like this much.

I recorded it on an Audix i5 stuck in the grill off-cone at an angle, then through a Seventh Circle Audio API-clone preamp. I simultaneously recorded the room sound through my Neumann U-89 set to omni about 12 feet away, through a Seventh Circle Audio Neve-clone preamp. The guitar is a cheap particle board Gibson Sonex, bridge pickup. And, I'm a keyboard player, not a guitarist.

The main reason I love the tone is it's exactly what I heard in my head prior to recording. Lest I be accused of practitioner bias, I should note I'm typically very dissatisfied with my tone.

I have a strong enough ego to not be offended by those of you (seemingly the vast majority) who strongly dislike what I've done. So, no worries. But I ask about posters' ideas on great tone, since criticisms from buzz-metal worshippers would have little relevance to what I'm doing.
 
I thought the guitar was missing some presence. If it were me working with my gear the first thing I'd do with this particular sound is turn up the treble and/or the presence knobs on the amp.

I agree there's not a ton of power. Not sure what to do about that without knowing the gear you used.
 
Slashdot said:
What I don't like is phased out, crazy op-amp distortion...ala metal, ala emo, whatever.

Sorry :) good luck thougH!
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No, that's cool. I like many different tones as well, although this tone was exactly what I wanted. The only op amp used, as far as I know, was in one of the preamps used to record it.

Knowing your tastes helps me understand your criticisms better. Thanks!
 
TripleM said:
I thought the guitar was missing some presence. If it were me working with my gear the first thing I'd do with this particular sound is turn up the treble and/or the presence knobs on the amp.

I agree there's not a ton of power. Not sure what to do about that without knowing the gear you used.
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See post above yours.
 
I generally prefer meaty, woodsy, dark tones that have some growl with only a pinch of upper-end distortion. IOW...I like the low end chugging but the high-end clean...but it's tough pulling that off.
I hate fizzy, buzzy, brittle, piercing high-end. Lots of guys like it "cuz it cuts through"...but man that’s some annoying shit to my ears! :D

For pure low end rumble...like a 10 megaton nuclear detonation...nothing touches my "little" Tungsten Crème Cortez 5E3-style amp (Neil Young would be proud)! :cool:

But every song calls for a different vibe...so there's no one tone that always works...unless you just want to have a single signature sound for everything you do, which is why I have a variety amps, guitars and pedals.
 
Todzilla said:
Thanks for the more detailed feedback. Again though, as a point of reference, what's your holy grail of guitar tone?
Click to expand...

Hmmm? I think one of the best sounding guitar tones is on Blind Melons No Rain CD. Also, I would throw in Nirvana nevermind as an excellent example of distorted guitar tone. If I had to keep going, I love Bob Dylans guitar sound on his first three albums, especially on The times They are a Changin.

To keep going I would throw in Alice In Chains Dirt, Pearl Jam Ten, I like the guitars on most Beatles records especially on Help, and later on Abbey Road was amazing, especially Oh Darling. I could list examples all day. Your sound is clearly not going to take cues from Bob Dylans North Country Blues, but Alice in Chains Dirt and Nevermind could definitely provide some guidance.
 
undrgrnd studio said:
Hmmm? I think one of the best sounding guitar tones is on Blind Melons No Rain CD. Also, I would throw in Nirvana nevermind as an excellent example of distorted guitar tone. If I had to keep going, I love Bob Dylans guitar sound on his first three albums, especially on The times They are a Changin.

To keep going I would throw in Alice In Chains Dirt, Pearl Jam Ten, I like the guitars on most Beatles records especially on Help, and later on Abbey Road was amazing, especially Oh Darling. I could list examples all day. Your sound is clearly not going to take cues from Bob Dylans North Country Blues, but Alice in Chains Dirt and Nevermind could definitely provide some guidance.
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Cool!

And in a cosmic coincidence, my next door neighbor was/is in Blind Melon.
 
Todzilla said:
Cool!

And in a cosmic coincidence, my next door neighbor was/is in Blind Melon.
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What? That's crazy! I think that No Rain CD is prett7y much a perfectly recorded, performed, and mixed CD. Tell him some amateur musician on the internets said that, I'm sure he'll be tickled pink. Lol!
 
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