The New Tone Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter Telegram Sam
  • Start date Start date
Johnny ....... I agree with the gerg ...... that sounds normal to me for the very reasons he gives. As for the two amps behaving differently ..... they're different amps ..... they should behave and sound different.
I'm positive I hear what you're describing in that clip but that sounds like most amps in that regard.
The only amps that are gonna maintain the distortion as the sound fades out will be hi-gain amps and they're gonna be getting some of that distortion from the pre-amp section 'cause power tubes are always gonna clean up as the signal gets lower.
 
Yep, I'm a wanker--at least when it comes to playing guitar. I favor the 80's hair bands and the Vai's and Satriani's of today in terms of guitar style. One of the of signature attributes of my recorded guitar is that it's wet--lot's of reverb and delay (Just ask Greg--he always points that out!). Lately I've been listening to some of my "heroes" and I've noticed that they use a lot less reverb and delay than I do. So I've been playing completely dry lately. It's still high gain, saturated tone, but there's no reverb or delay. I've found that I have to rely on my hands more for the tone--and that's a good thing.

Here's a jam I recorded this afternoon. Both rhythm tracks are dry, and the lead is dry--no reverb or delay on any of them. I'm trying to get used to the sound and would love your input. Is it too dry? Is it shrill?

 
Holy crap! There's more notes in that one track than I've played on 3 albums. :D

That's really good. Really nice melody to that wankfest. :D

I definitely don't think it's shrill. I don't think you have to go cold turkey on the effects either. I think you could add little hints of delay and reverb to just that lead track and it'd be good. But it's fine as-is too. I personally like stuff more on the dry side, unless it's springy awesome surf guitar or rockabilly. I do think the rhythms could stand to have less gain. But strictly for tone, I think it's all done really well.

So what was the set up? Guitar, amp, speaker, mic, sim, etc?
 
sounds good generally to me but the lead has some of that 'mosquito fuzz' going on. I'm not missing any 'verb or delay personally.
 
Lt. Bob said:
sounds good generally to me but the lead has some of that 'mosquito fuzz' going on. I'm not missing any 'verb or delay personally.
Click to expand...

Thanks Lt. That's the second "mosquito" reference I've gotten on this one. Did you hear that on the high double lead at the beginning or the main lead that follows? Perhaps after getting used to playing leads drier, I'll work on dialing back the gain a bit.
 
Greg_L said:
Holy crap! There's more notes in that one track than I've played on 3 albums. :D

That's really good. Really nice melody to that wankfest. :D

I definitely don't think it's shrill. I don't think you have to go cold turkey on the effects either. I think you could add little hints of delay and reverb to just that lead track and it'd be good. But it's fine as-is too. I personally like stuff more on the dry side, unless it's springy awesome surf guitar or rockabilly. I do think the rhythms could stand to have less gain. But strictly for tone, I think it's all done really well.

So what was the set up? Guitar, amp, speaker, mic, sim, etc?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, Greg. You're right, I don't have to go cold turkey on the effects, but for the sake of "learning" the sound, that's what I'm doing for now. As much as I like the wankers of the world, my all time favorite rock album is AC/DC Back in Black. The guitars (and drums, for that matter) are fucking huge. They're just right in your face. And there's nothing but a bit of room reverb on 'em.

The dry lead does a couple things I like: 1) The articulation of the notes is way more clear, and 2) it's definitely more "in your face." So after I get used to playing with this dry sound, I'll work on a happy medium between the dry and the wanker tone.

The setup: rhythm tracks were through the TH2 Overloud sim, and the lead was my Carvin Legacy 100W combo--master volume on 4, tone and gain all on 7. Mic'd with a Sennheiser MD421 right on the grill, middle of the paper.
 
Oh, and the guitar was a Carvin CT4--their version of a PRS custom: mahogany and maple with double hum buckers. All on the bridge pickup.
 
Greg_L said:
Is that the Steve Vai amp? It has a lot of gain!

Back in Black is one of my favorites too. That album is like a master class on what rock and roll sounds like.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's the amp. I don't sound like him, but I do love that amp. It's got it's own sound, but on the dirty channel it goes from Marshall to Mesa Boogie. And the clean channel has headroom for days--not that I've used the clean channel lately. It does anything I ask of it.

And yeah, if I could record something that sounded like Back in Black, I could die happy the next day.
 
WhiteStrat said:
Thanks Lt. That's the second "mosquito" reference I've gotten on this one. Did you hear that on the high double lead at the beginning or the main lead that follows? Perhaps after getting used to playing leads drier, I'll work on dialing back the gain a bit.
Click to expand...
the main lead
 
WhiteStrat said:
Yep, that's the amp. I don't sound like him, but I do love that amp. It's got it's own sound, but on the dirty channel it goes from Marshall to Mesa Boogie. And the clean channel has headroom for days--not that I've used the clean channel lately. It does anything I ask of it.

.
Click to expand...
I think if I had money I'd like their V3 Micro head. But that Vai amp looks way cool to me too.
 
Jonny: Don't listen to Greg or Lt. Bob dude, there's something wrong with that amp, you need to send it over here so I can figure out what it is....:DSeriously, sounds pretty normal dude, like mentioned, an 800 ain't a high-gain amp like the JVM dude, I personally think it sounds great, that was my first pick out of the 1 watters, but I had to wait & ended up with the DSL-1...Most of the hair metal guys used od/distortion pedals with their 800's, or modded the fuck out of 'em, so I'd say your amp sounds about right to me...The ISO cab's are the shizzle, ain't they??? I love mine, even if it looks like Forrest Gump built it, it does the job.....Sounds good man!!!!

White Strat: Sounds awesome dude, maybe just a little fizzy (the lead), but not bad....Try a little eq on it to remove some of the fizz, but be careful, too much & it'll kill the whole tone...Great playing too....

Greg: Thanks man, that was the Behringer C1 by itself this morning, about 4-5" away from the speaker...I heard the "flub", but didn't have time to mess with it anymore, I was almost late for work...LOL...I think the C1 sounds better than the '57 personally, but blended together (with the C1 in the back of the cab) sounds good too...I'm actually trying to get the best sound I can with just 1 mic for most of these songs, simplifying things, I've been known to get carried away with a lot of shit...LOL....

Amp settings/signal chain:

Ibanez RG > SD-1 > DSL-1 > T-75 > C1 mic

SD-1:
Level: 10
Tone: 4-5
Drive: 0

DSL-1:
1w mode
Bass: 5-6
Mid: 3-4
Treble: 3-4
Deep: On
Mid Shift: Off
Red Channel
Gain: 3
Volume: 8

The C1 is way more sensitive than the '57, so I don't have to crank the mic pre as much to get a good noise/signal thing going on, & it actually works really good in the .01w mode too, doesn't seem to loose the "balls" like the '57 does in .01w mode...

I'll give the eq thing a shot in a while, I just walked in the door, & I need to shower, & eat, long fucking night for me, but lately, they've all been that way....

Thanks again guys....
 
Ya know, with all that Carvin love going on, it got me to thinking. You notice that you never see WhiteStrat and apl in the same post? Hmmm....
 
Hey Lt & Miner. Thanks for your input. It's all reassuring! I do love the sound of the amp, I was just expecting slightly different behaviour.

I'd happily send it to you, Miner, but I don't think it would work over there. Something I read suggested that you'd need to swap out the transformer on the UK-sold JCM1 to work on American 110V power. Sorry, I'll have to keep it here!
 
Ok guys, instead of messing with the eq on the guitar tracks, I just re-recorded 'em with a little less bass dialed in on the amp, trying to get it right at the source, instead of "fixing it later"....Same amp settings as before, I just lowered the bass knob to about 4 or so....

And, instead of posting just part of the song, here's the whole thing so maybe you drum guys can lemme know if these fake drums sound anywhere near a real kit....

Ibanez > SD-1 > DSL-1 > T-75 >CO-1

SD-1:
Level: 10
Tone: 4-5
Drive: 0

DSL-1:
1w mode
Red Channel
Bass: 3
Mid: 3
Treble: 3
Gain: 5
Volume: 8
Deep: On
Tone Shift: Off


LDO 3-11-2014

Lemme know if you guys think this is any better....off to work, be back later.....
 
minerman said:
Ok guys, instead of messing with the eq on the guitar tracks, I just re-recorded 'em with a little less bass dialed in on the amp, trying to get it right at the source, instead of "fixing it later"....Same amp settings as before, I just lowered the bass knob to about 4 or so....

And, instead of posting just part of the song, here's the whole thing so maybe you drum guys can lemme know if these fake drums sound anywhere near a real kit....

Ibanez > SD-1 > DSL-1 > T-75 >CO-1

SD-1:
Level: 10
Tone: 4-5
Drive: 0

DSL-1:
1w mode
Red Channel
Bass: 3
Mid: 3
Treble: 3
Gain: 5
Volume: 8
Deep: On
Tone Shift: Off


LDO 3-11-2014

Lemme know if you guys think this is any better....off to work, be back later.....
Click to expand...

I think it's pretty good. Probably the best overall everything yet. I think you could drop the kick just a little and bring up the overheads. Guitars sound much better.
 
minerman said:
LDO 3-11-2014

Lemme know if you guys think this is any better....off to work, be back later.....
Click to expand...
Maybe I missed something in the explaining parts but after the left side intro everything gets quieter - like the overall level goes down. That shouldn't happen. It should get louder, fuller or at least maintain the starting volume. I understand balancing the output but maybe you have to achieve the opening impact with tools other than outright volume 'cause it loses impact when the rhythm comes in. It goes quiet - sounds smaller.
 
To be fair the main body sounds good but the intro sets me up for blow my face off and I am disappoint when the volume falls. Ya' dig?
 
Thanks guys...

Greg: Thanks dude, I'm still learning the drum programming thing (let me re-phrase that....learning to program 'em realistically that is...:)), I've even set up my midi keyboard for the next go-round/song to try using that with all the different articulations...We'll see....To be honest, I'm as tickled as a puppy with 2 peters since you didn't really say anything about the drums, other than the levels dude, maybe I'm on the right track finally....LOL...Thanks again....

Lou: Thanks dude, I get what you're saying man, this is just a "static" mix, I just got the levels about where I thought they should be, you're referring to automation envelopes, to bring the instruments up/down/whatever in the song....I'll get to it eventually...LOL, but for now, my main concern is getting the guitar tones to "sit" right in the mix, along with getting the fake drums to sound as real as I can get 'em....Thanks again man!!!
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
Maybe I missed something in the explaining parts but after the left side intro everything gets quieter - like the overall level goes down. That shouldn't happen. It should get louder, fuller or at least maintain the starting volume. I understand balancing the output but maybe you have to achieve the opening impact with tools other than outright volume 'cause it loses impact when the rhythm comes in. It goes quiet - sounds smaller.
Click to expand...
I'm not hearing that myself. What I hear is more like the addition of drumbs and bass are so loud they cover the gits but the gits don't go down in volume ...... everything else is just even louder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top