The New Tone Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter Telegram Sam
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AC/DC is a classic example of why less is more, keep it simple blah blah blah. Pretty hard to mess up a pot of spaghetti.

Dat Guitar tone though.
 
yeah ..... I am happy and I feel blessed.

I know this doesn't compute for most players but 'making it' was never one of my primary goals even though i came pretty close a few times.

For me it was always about the doing of it ....... playing music for the sake of playing music and getting better as a player.
THAT was always my goal .... to get as good as I could on my instruments ..... and to do that you have to play ALL the time and if you're going to play all the time you have to earn a living at it or you have to spend a lotta time doing something else.
And that's why it's all I've ever done ...... because that was the only way to get to my goal.

So for me getting better and better has always been my driving force ....... and it still is ..... I'm good enough i could never learn another thing and it wouldn't affect my gigging but I'm always working on learning new things ..... I am determined that I'll get to be the very best player I can possibly be ........ then I'll be dead and it won't matter to anyone.
But a friend told me the other day he kinda envied me because there's never been any doubt in my mind what I wanted to do and I've never done anything other than that.

That's a pretty successful life by any standard.

Sure man, like I said, if you're happy that's awesome.

Personally, I've never had a job I love. Sooner or later I start to resent everything I do every day for money. And try to get as far away from it as possible in my free time. For that reason, I'm glad I've never come anywhere close to "making a living" with music, and have unintentionally (but studiously) avoided it by wanting to write originals. Seriously, in 30 years of playing multiple instruments, I'll bet I've learned less than 20 "cover" tunes all the way through. Like most here, I got into music young, like 3 or 4 or whatever. My folks bought me Sesame Street records and I'd just turn the volume down and make up my own songs to go in spaces between the thick black lines.. But because I was a fan first and foremost, I loved all music and believed there was something there to feel and learn.. that thrill of discovery just never ended for me. Sometimes I have to listen to 1000 songs to find the one that gets me, sometimes I hear something new in a song I've heard 1000 times. So when I sit here and categorize shit or talk about genres, I'm not trying to come off as some know-it-all, I'm just always listening and trying to process. I'm embarrassed about how much of my brain is filled with stupid trivia. I saw a post of yours once, where you joked about having some kind of music-related autism, and I thought that was funny and apt, because I myself am obsessive-compulsive. I can't not listen. For me, listening to and discovering music is inseparable from writing it. The day either one becomes a grind is the day I sell my shit. ;)
 
Ok, off to the songwriting forum to talk about froofy unquantifiable shit now. :)
 
Hey guys, I know this is the tone thread, but I just pulled the trigger on a set of e-drums...Pretty cheap/low-end set to start with, the Yamaha DTX400....Should have 'em around the first of the week (Tuesday I'm guessing), & I'm having 'em shipped to the new pad...Gonna finish moving my shit this weekend, should have some pics & clips (I'll probably take some pics of the new music room, but won't post any clips of my fabulous drumming....lol...I'm gonna record some new clips with the Chupa/DSL at the new pad....) around Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon hopefully...
 
Hey guys, I know this is the tone thread, but I just pulled the trigger on a set of e-drums...Pretty cheap/low-end set to start with, the Yamaha DTX400....Should have 'em around the first of the week (Tuesday I'm guessing), & I'm having 'em shipped to the new pad...Gonna finish moving my shit this weekend, should have some pics & clips (I'll probably take some pics of the new music room, but won't post any clips of my fabulous drumming....lol...I'm gonna record some new clips with the Chupa/DSL at the new pad....) around Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon hopefully...

Cool, tell us if they are any good and give us an idea of how well they record. They are on my list (after a new amp and mic) when I get the house move complete.
 
Hey guys, I know this is the tone thread, but I just pulled the trigger on a set of e-drums...Pretty cheap/low-end set to start with, the Yamaha DTX400....Should have 'em around the first of the week (Tuesday I'm guessing), & I'm having 'em shipped to the new pad...Gonna finish moving my shit this weekend, should have some pics & clips (I'll probably take some pics of the new music room, but won't post any clips of my fabulous drumming....lol...I'm gonna record some new clips with the Chupa/DSL at the new pad....) around Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon hopefully...

Hey congrats man!! That is exciting! Are you able to utilize software like Superior Drummer or eZdrummer with those edrums?

Sorry, off topic guys. Don't shoot me.
 
Yeah minerdude, congrats on the e-drums. I cannot with a clear conscience condone e-drums, but I know that for you they are the right thing to do. :D
 
Thanks guys, I know that real drums would be my best solution to all this drum sampler madness, but in reality, it's not gonna happen, at least for a while anyway...The new pad does have room for 'em (in another bedroom), but we're talking another audio interface, several mics, plus the drums, cymbals, hardware, cables....all that shit would cost me lots of $$$ that I really don't have right now...Plus, I'd have to learn how to mic a kit, & all that shit, so the e-drums are a pretty good solution for me right now...I'm hoping that the long, tedious process of drum programming will be over, at least the biggest part of it....Maybe one day I'll get a real kit, but for now, the e-drums are a step-up from hand-programming....

I'm not writing off the e-kit's internal sounds until I hear 'em, but the biggest reason I bought them is to trigger Superior Drummer or other drum samples with them...The only thing about 'em (that I know of) is the hi-hat, I'll have to go back & record midi cc's if I want anything other than an open or closed sound, but, I'd likely have to go into the midi editor anyway to add another cymbal or change hits if needed, so it's really not a big deal...

I was gonna get another set, the Yamaha DTX500 series, but it was a lot more $$$, which would be a lot better kit, but for what I'm gonna do with 'em, the DTX400 should be fine...


Off to work, & I'm gonna pull an all-nighter tonight (depending on if I work tomorrow or not), moving the rest of my stuff to the new pad...I'll be in/out after about 2 am tonight (just guessing)....See you guys!!!
 
Hey that sounds pretty good. I'd like a little more low end in the overdriven guitars, but I think what you have will work with some beefed up bass guitar in there.
It was getting mushy when I was adding more low in the guitars. I'll try mixing the bass a bit higher when I get a minute.

Just checked, the bass setting on the Jackhammer was quite low too. Not sure I can be arsed to re track the whole song but it might be a decent tip for improving my tone until I get a new amp and mic sorted.

Mic might be first actually, if I can replicate or improve on that tone using the Jackhammer through the clean channel of my amp I'll be happy for now.
 
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My back is feeling better but now I'm sitting here with a bad bad cold, so I needed some volume to knock the muck out of my head. My ears and sinuses are all clogged with snot and crud anyway, so might as well do some Plexi clips. I guess this is like a semi-shootout between my hottest output guitar and my lowest output guitar through the same amp settings with lots of guitar vol rolling and pickup switching and bad playing. It's pretty un-scientific and just some stupid shit I made up on the spot.

Marshall Plexi 1959 SLP
Presence - 2
Bass - 6
Mid - 4
Treb - 5
Vol 1 - 6
Vol 2 - 0
Top input 1
PPIMV max - disengaged
Marshall 1960a 4x12 - G12-65 - SM57 center - Audix i5 edge - both mics on axis, on grill, 60/40 blend 57/i5
No EQ, little bit of reverb added in DAW
Both clips with exact same settings

Gibson Angus Young SG - Angus sig bridge pickup/57 Classic neck

Hallmark 60 Custom - SD P-Rails bridge (P-90 mode)/stock Hallmark neck

I can't hear very well right now, so tell me what you think.
 
Bad back followed by bad cold - mate, you're in the wars.
You should've played some UK punk being that you're a snot ball.

SG -
This suits riffing & the feedback suggests it's at high vol.
A little thin.
60 Custom -
Sounds fatter than the SG when the vol went back up.
Feeds back better.

I listened with a pair of SennHD 515s if that makes a difference.
 
Thanks Ray. Is the reverb I added even noticeable? I honestly can't tell. My head feels like I've got toilet plungers over my ears. I went by "well this should be about enough". Lol. I normally don't add any reverb to my clips, and don't know why I did it this time.

Yes, it was very very loud. Marshall Plexi loud. I run two cabs at all times with the Plexi to hopefully save my poor Greenbacks from becoming dust. One thing that I already knew and re-confirmed today is the amp sounds best full tilt wide-open. The PPIMV does a great job at knocking some vol off for live use, but it does start to hinder the tone as you bring the vol down to non-painful goofing around levels. The PPIMV also adds gain as you bring the vol down. To some that's probably a good thing. Not so much to me. But, this amp was never meant to be a bedroom amp. It sure sounds good to me loud though. The Plexi and the 800 are by far my favorite amps. Now that I've fixed up my 2204 it's right there with them too. My poor fancy JVM is now at the bottom of the totem pole.
 
The reverb was well set because it was as if it wasn't there - well that is unless you wanted a verby sound.
I tried my little 5w at almost full tilt yesterday. I needed ear buds & muffs as it was pretty loud BUT the sound seemed to get thinner as it got louder once I went beyond 1/2 way - unless it was the mics struggling to capture things.
I though humbuckers might be the answer but my Epiphone Sheraton II didn't make an appreciable difference to the recorded signal.
Oh well, still a week of holidays so I'll keep experimenting, (and getting closer to getting that little modification done).
 
What do you mean by "thinner"? I can't think of any situation where louder = thinner.
 
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