The New Tone Thread

[Greg_L]

You can't get BBC iPlayer in the US, can you? It's great, you can browse all of the BBC glastonbury coverage and watch it at your leisure.

I don't know that there's anything there I'd wanna see besides Motorhead.

 

[rayc]

JDOD,
That'd be a good showcase song for tone.
Road Crew - now that reminds me of fun though
"..another tube of superglue..." wasn't part of it.

 

[jonny deep]

What, on top of the license fee?

No, but you'll need a licence to watch catchup on iPlayer, which you don't currently (I don't have a TV licence - I only watch DVDs, downloads, Netflix and iPlayer).

 

[JDOD]

No, but you'll need a licence to watch catchup on iPlayer, which you don't currently (I don't have a TV licence - I only watch DVDs, downloads, Netflix and iPlayer).

Ah, that's OK. I have a license. How do you get away without having one. I thought all houses had to. I don't actually watch standard broadcast either - just iPlayer

---------- Update ----------

I don't know that there's anything there I'd wanna see besides Motorhead.

Mate, there's loads of good shit on iPlayer. Not just glasto. They had a serious on there recently called the complete history of the guitar riff. BBC's music programmes on BBC4 are great.

 

[jonny deep]

Ah, that's OK. I have a license. How do you get away without having one. I thought all houses had to. I don't actually watch standard broadcast either - just iPlayer

You currently only need a license if you watch TV as its broadcast. You can watch catchup TV without one. You can just fill in a form on the TV licensing website to tell them you don't need one and they stop sending letters.

If you watch live TV on iPlayer, then you need a license.

 

[JDOD]

You currently only need a license if you watch TV as its broadcast. You can watch catchup TV without one. You can just fill in a form on the TV licensing website to tell them you don't need one and they stop sending letters.

If you watch live TV on iPlayer, then you need a license.

Fair enough - I do watch live TV and even though I don't have a TV aerial and could probably get away with it, that would be a bit shit 'cos I really do value the service and things its well worth the money.

 

[Greg_L]

Mate, there's loads of good shit on iPlayer. Not just glasto. They had a serious on there recently called the complete history of the guitar riff. BBC's music programmes on BBC4 are great.

BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only. Find out why.
If you are in the UK and see this message please read this advice.

This is the message I get at the website. Fucking jingo limeys!

 

[jonny deep]

BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only. Find out why.
If you are in the UK and see this message please read this advice.

This is the message I get at the website. Fucking jingo limeys!

We get similar on your channels' websites.

 

[Greg_L]

We get similar on your channels' websites.

Fucking jingo yankees!

 

[rayc]

The Joy of the Guitar Riff.

 

[JDOD]

The Joy of the Guitar Riff.

That's the sausage

 

[rayc]

I found it hiding in a bay & just watched it. Interesting but what can really be covered in 60mins? Also they went a little tangential about 2/3rds of the way through.
Of all the people interviewed the one I wanted to hear the most was Richard Hawley - his most recent album is full of great guitar - but he didn't seem to have any riffs to offer apart from Berry bits - oh, & weren't they ALL woeful at Berry riffs?

 

[ecc83]

Actually there is a way to get BBC iPlayer overseas but you have to be pretty PC cute and fool the system that your PC is over here, far to technical for me!

If anyone wants a specific bit of Glasto I have got a lot of it on HDD. PM me.

Dave.

 

[minerman]

I actually just did a google search, & found the vid, & didn't have to jump through any hoops to watch it....I thought it was ok, to me the best part was Dave Davies' LP though....identical to my Lester....

 

[antichef]

Always experimenting - I find recording at high volume to be challenging - I don't have a control room, and as a player, I prefer to be next to the amp anyway, but the result is that I can't hear what the recording sounds like until well after I'm done playing (and unplug the computer and converter, and go upstairs to my "mixing room", etc.). I don't even bother with headphones (except as ear protection, which I really should be doing all the time, but didn't do here) - the level of the amp completely overpowers what I could be hearing in the headphones, even if they're "isolating"

Here's my JMP with the mic:


Guitar: Gibson SG Supreme - 57 Classic bridge pickup, guitar volume 9, tone 10 ->

-direct - 20 foot cable ->

Amp: 1971 JMP Lead - into the top I input, with the bottom I and top II input bridged with a coil cable
-presence 0
-bass 6
-middle 7.2 ish
-treble 4
-volume I 5.9 ish
-volume II 5.9 ish ->

Cabinet: Marshall 1960A, Celestion G12T-75s (stock cabinet from 1986) ->

Microphone: Sennheiser MD421-U5 pointed at 90 degrees at upper left speaker about halfway
between center and edge, about an inch from the grill cloth ->

Preamp: API 3124+
- no pad
- gain about 9 o'clock (which probably corresponds to about 2 out of 10) ->

Line Attenuator: Little Labs 810U8ERS at about 60% ->

Converter/DAW: Lynx Aurora 16 -> Logic @ 24/96 khz (mp3 is down-converted to 48 khz)


broke the damn E string toward the end

View attachment 2015-07-11-guitar.mp3


Anyway, I like the recording up to the point where I break the string, but it sounds somewhat different from what I was "hearing" - I put that in quotes, because the amp is putting out between 125 and 127 dB at this setting, and I was standing in front of it (the active cabinet is sitting on top of another inactive 1960, so it's about ear/eye level). In the room, things sounded punchier and more percussive (and better, in my opinion) - the 16th notes in the beginning, for instance, sounded much more staccato. But of course my ears were operating outside their designed tolerance, so I can't be 100% sure of what I was hearing. I guess it could be the mic - I like these 421 mics, but this one is old and beat up, and I can't use it on toms anymore because it rattles.

As an aside, I've sort of decided I like the JMP head through the 75 watt speakers more than I like it through the Greenbacks I got recently (which cabinet is not pictured above), but I need to experiment more. Oddly, I like my JCM 800 head (also not pictured above) better through the Greenbacks, even though I bought it new together with the cabinet pictured above (which has the 75s), so they're sort of a pair. Maybe I should swap speakers between the two cabinets - if that's reversible, I may go for it - I want to be able to restore the 1960A to be stock.

 

[Greg_L]

I think it sounds cool. It definitely has that loud-as-shit kind of sound to it. I find that when recording that loud, proximity effect with the mic is very powerful. That could be a piece of the difference between what you hear in the room compared to what the mic gets. If you don't like it, just back the mic off the cab some, but not so much that you get room reflections and comb filtering and shit.

 

[minerman]

Sounds pretty good Antichef, to me, the bottom end is a little flubby, but that can probably be dialed out by lowering the bass knob on the amp a little, backing the mic off just a hair (like the Gerg mentioned), or using a boost to tighten things up a little....I swear I've heard that riff somewhere before, but just can't place it.....What is that you're playing dude???


On the loudness thing, I know all about that shit man, I've got cables/cords long enough so I can put my cab in the other room, but it's not the same as sitting with the damn thing....I end up turning my 'phones up pretty loud so I can hear myself, which I'd say is as bad or worse than the actual noise from the amp itself....

I actually like the T-75 speakers with my DSL100, I just have to dial the eq in a little differently (obviously), but that amp sounds pretty good with 'em...The Ceriatone is another story, even in plexi mode, it just seems shrill/harsh with those speakers...

I've had some trade offers for the gear I've got up for grabs, but nothing I'm really interested in. There's a guy who offered me a Mesa Lonestar Classic combo for the DSL-1H, but I turned him down just going by the pictures alone. I know that amp cost way more than my little 1w, but it looked like it'd been through a flood, & had been used by the Navy SEALs for a rescue/extraction out of Afghanistan....

Another guy offered me a Kramer Pacer from around '86 or so, & I'm still thinking about doing that trade, maybe. It looks to be in damn good shape (going by pics anyway) for a 30 year old guitar....Greg would love it, Floyd Rose, single 'Duncan p'up, & hockey stick headstock...

I've had a couple low-ball offers for the Tweaker, but I'm not gonna give this shit away. Had another guy offer me a Blackstar HT-5 head for it, but I passed because I had the HT-5 combo, & didn't keep it very long...

 

[antichef]

..What is that you're playing dude???

I thought I made that up -- I have posted me playing it to this thread before, I think. Maybe (hopefully) that was where you heard it? I want to make it a song for my band, but my singer says he can't sing over it, and I suppose he's right -- a little too self indulgent on my part.

Another guy offered me a Kramer Pacer from around '86 or so, & I'm still thinking about doing that trade, maybe. It looks to be in damn good shape (going by pics anyway) for a 30 year old guitar....Greg would love it, Floyd Rose, single 'Duncan p'up, & hockey stick headstock...

Lol - I have a mp3 of me in 1987 playing a Kramer Pacer that I borrowed (through the same JCM 800 that I still have and that 1960A in the picture, actually). I'll post it if y'all promise not to be mean.


Thanks for the input guys - I bet the thing to do is to back the mic off - that might take care of the bassiness issue, which is definitely not a problem in the room.

 

[minerman]

I thought I made that up -- I have posted me playing it to this thread before, I think. Maybe (hopefully) that was where you heard it? I want to make it a song for my band, but my singer says he can't sing over it, and I suppose he's right -- a little too self indulgent on my part.

It just sounds like really familiar dude, like a Stone Temple Pilots riff or something. I like it, it's cool....

Lol - I have a mp3 of me in 1987 playing a Kramer Pacer that I borrowed (through the same JCM 800 that I still have and that 1960A in the picture, actually). I'll post it if y'all promise not to be mean.

Post it up man!!!

I'm still pretty tempted to trade, I already have one Floyd Rose guitar, but I do like 'em a lot, especially Kramers...Still gonna think on it a day or so...

Thanks for the input guys - I bet the thing to do is to back the mic off - that might take care of the bassiness issue, which is definitely not a problem in the room.

You probably could fix the low-end thing pretty easy dude, don't think I'm raggin' your tone though either, because I'm not, it sounds good as it is....

 

[antichef]

gulp - OK - here it is:
View attachment NoWayBackNoVox.mp3

I *think* this was done in 1987 - might have been late 1986 or early 1988.

I'm too kind hearted to put you guys through the version that has the complete vocals. Also, the song and the vocals were written by a guitar player who replaced me in the band and whom I later re-replaced (at which point we re-arranged and recorded the song), so it seems less uncool to post this vox-free version.

The intro is double tracked with me in both channels. The rest of the song has me in one side and the other guitar player in the other side. I played the solo (complete with floyd rose wank dive!) and he did the backing track for the solo .

I wish I paid more attention to what the producer and engineer were doing - I like the sound they got (a little bright for my taste these days, though), and as I mentioned, I still have the amp, and it still sounds the same as it did then. I remember the producer built a gobo hut around my amp, and we just about dimed it. I have no idea what mic he used, or what the placement was. All I know about the board is that it was "digital" and 32 channels, which was a big deal in the 80s, I think.