I can't get that great tone for lead!

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myhatbroke

myhatbroke

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Man it's so difficult to get it. I always get this bluesy sounding lead tone. Not that killer sound of lightning speed shreds! What is the answer to my dillema.
 
myhatbroke said:
Man it's so difficult to get it. I always get this bluesy sounding lead tone. Not that killer sound of lightning speed shreds! What is the answer to my dillema.
What's your gear?
 
1) Use a distortion pedal and dial in way too much drive.
2) turn the bass on your amp to "10"...midrange to "0" and treble to "10"


That should kill most of your blues tone and give you a great starting point!
 
Go Easy

{turn the bass on your amp to "10".} Hey now, that just don't sound fair to us LOWLY bassplayers!? :eek:
 
myhatbroke said:
Man it's so difficult to get it. I always get this bluesy sounding lead tone. Not that killer sound of lightning speed shreds! What is the answer to my dillema.

It can be kind of hard to dial in a good lead tone on a casio. ;)

Seriously, what is your gear? If you've got enough midrange and enough drive....there you are.
 
Compression for sustain, period. Infinite sustain and amp feedback make a nice mix.
 
myhatbroke said:
Man it's so difficult to get it. I always get this bluesy sounding lead tone. Not that killer sound of lightning speed shreds! What is the answer to my dillema.
Play faster.
 
metalhead28 said:
It can be kind of hard to dial in a good lead tone on a casio. ;)

Seriously, what is your gear? If you've got enough midrange and enough drive....there you are.
Hey hey, I have a casio guitar. It's one of those 80s MIDI guitars, and it can get some good tones out of it. But the pickups have to be replaced for anything more than fooling around at your house. The playability is very nice, though. Reminds me of a higher end Ibanez.
 
I find it to be largely in the facial expressions, otherwise what those guys all said above, plus make sure you're using the bridge pu, consider your guitar/amp combination (a strat with stock pickups through a blues jr. for example will probably not yield shred), consider aftermarket pickups.
 
Have you tried any distortion pedals in front of the amp by any chance?
 
IronFlippy said:
Hey hey, I have a casio guitar. It's one of those 80s MIDI guitars, and it can get some good tones out of it. But the pickups have to be replaced for anything more than fooling around at your house. The playability is very nice, though. Reminds me of a higher end Ibanez.

I was refering to his (programmed MIDI) "shred" solo he posted in the MP3 clinic....... :rolleyes:
 
myhatbroke said:
......The amp is a valve dynamic, and no its not like other hybrids. THis one really does have a tube warmth.

Okay then, I guess you're all set. ;)

No need for any more advice people!
 
metalhead28 said:
Okay then, I guess you're all set. ;)

No need for any more advice people!
O come on man I need your advice. Its not enough gain or something.Don't most guitar players use a stomp box or something for leads?
 
myhatbroke said:
OK I have a Randall RG 75D amp. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Randall-RG75G3-G3-Series-Guitar-Combo-Amp-?sku=480334
I also have an Ibanez with Dimarzio pick ups. This amp has great gain for rythmn. When I turn up the gain for leads it just doesnt scream, its hard to explain. The amp is a valve dynamic, and no its not like other hybrids. THis one really does have a tube warmth.

Ok, there should be no reason why you shouldn't be able to make that setup scream WITHOUT extra pedals. Not pedals would definatly change your sound, it just depends on what sounds exactly you want.
 
myhatbroke said:
O come on man I need your advice. Its not enough gain or something.Don't most guitar players use a stomp box or something for leads?

Dude, you are asking a most totally subjective and unanswerable question. If you can't get the sound you want out of your gear change something. If you can't get enough gain, get an overdrive pedal, or get a new amp. Use your head a little. Turn the fucking knobs. Figure out what they do. If one of them doesn't turn far enough....get a pedal.

The tone has alot to do with the amp. Maybe you have the wrong amp. Tone is in the fingers too. Maybe you have the wrong fingers.

I can't believe people look to the internet for advice on how to dial in THEIR OWN AMP. I mean, come on. You're sitting right there with it. You're the one who knows what the knobs do to the sound. You're the one who knows how much gain it has. You're the one who makes the call. Learn what your amp can do and then either address the shortcomings or replace it with one that does what you want. Easy. Have you spent the entire 15 minutes it would take to completely analyze what it is capable of in every configuration? I mean I know that's asking alot, but you should think about it. I can only assume you have never done this.

Set everything in the middle. See what it sounds like. Figure out what you want to be different about it and then turn the fucking knobs. Once you turn one knob to some totally bad-ass position, turn that other fucking knob over there that you didn't think you wanted to fuck with at all and see how it interacts with the first knob. Knobs are like women. You might be getting along just fine with one of them, but if you fuck around with a different one, the first one will treat you completely different. This is just called learning your equipment. No one can possibly do a better job of this than you. Do it.
 
I'm no metalhead but

I would think 'tube warmth' wouldn't necessarily be what you want for shred.

There must be someone you want to sound like (otherwise you wouldn't be asking somone else to pick your tone for you). Maybe that would be a good starting point. Also, can you post anything showing what it sounds like now?

Then maybe somebody can help you get from point A to point B, or at least headed in the right direction.
 
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