Soundgarden

[zak]

To me they were the best band ever - the last two albums they did were amazing. And Audioslave are just nowhere near as good, because the guitarist in that band cannot write stuff that does justice to Chris Cornells voice.

Anyway, do any of you guys know what guitars/amps/pickups were used in those last two Soundgarden albums? I am mainly interested in their rhythm tones. Any good links for this also?

thanks
zak

[ericmeyer4]

Re: Soundgarden

the main guitarist used a lot was aguild sg copys and marshalls... i dont know if they make those guilds anymore. i believe they had stock pickups. i think i remeber chris corrnell using telecasters but im not positive on that.

and its not tom morrell cant write it... seriously have you herd his solos? its chris corrnell has screwed up his voice "steven tyler style" from years of smoking and pealing paint of the walls with his voice. after about 10+ years of doing that its gonna mess with the guy.

[zak]

Re: Soundgarden

I take your point about Tom Morrell. I am not saying he is a bad guitarist, but just that i think that the riff based stuff he writes does not lend itself well to be sung be a melodic singer - his style is much more suitable for the Rage Against the Machine type vocals. The exceptions to this are the clean songs on the album (E.g. Highway, Like a Stone), which do allow Cornell to use his vocals properly.
I prefer Soundgarden to RATM, but still prefer RATM to Audioslave if you see what i mean.

[Benjy_26]

Re: Soundgarden

Guild S-100 Polaras were used by Kim Thayil (sp?) with what appears to be stock pickups. Some of the later Polaras came stock from the factory with a 59/JB set and a phase switch. I remember seeing Cornell in pictures and vids using mostly teles and the occasional gretsch Duojet.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Soundgarden

I found this info about Soundgarden from the unofficial SG homepage:

Chris - His main guitar of yesteryear was a cherry sunburst Les Paul, and he has been known to favour a black Gresch '89 Duo-Jet, a silver Gretsch Jet, a Gibson ES-125 and a sunburst mid-60s Fender Jazzmaster. Reports from Lollapalooza 96, however, placed him exclusively in the Fender Telecaster camp. He used Ernie Ball Super slinky nickel strings, gauges ranging from .010 to .046. His amp setup included a Peavy Rockmaster preamp, MESA 100-watt Dual Rectifier heads, MESA 4x12" cabinets and a Celstion Greenback 35-watt speakers. His effects pedals included (but probably werent limited to) a Boss PN-2 Tremolo/Pan, an Arion HV-8500 stage tuner and a MESA switching box.

Kim - Kim played a range of Guild S-100 Delux guitars, but also fooled around on a Gibson Firebird, a thin-line Les Paul Custom and a '57 Fender Telecaster, relying on Ernie Ball Super slinky strings (.009 to .042) and Dunlop .060 nylon picks. Like Chris, Kim played through MESA/Boogie 4x12" cabinets and MESA Dual Rectifier heads. His main effects were the Vox or Colorsound Wah, a Dod FX-10 bi-fret preamp, DOD flangers, a Boss CE-2 chorus pedal and a range of MESA switching pedals.

Ben - Not one for technical stuff, Ben utilised a range of different equipment, purchasing one amp simply because it had a purple light on it. He was partial to Fender basses, generally Custom and Precision models, but has later used Music Man, Mosrite and a Hoffner bass (similar to Paul McCartney's); his string of choice being Dean Markley flat-wound. Like Chris and Kim, Ben also played through MESA/Boogie amps and 2x15" MESA bottoms.

Matt - Matt's drum setup was fairly standard. Early on he played Drum Workshop and Ayotte kits, but then moved to Ayotte exclusively, becoming an official endorser of the brand. His set consisted of a 14" Keplinger snare (custom made), 12", 13", 14" and 16" toms and a 24" bass drum. His cymbals were all Zildjian, including (from left to right): 15" New Beat high hats, 18" K crash/ride, 21" A medium ride, 17" A rock crash and a 20" A medium ride. Matt made use of a mixture of Emperor and Diplomat heads, a Remo coated snare and Vic Firth sticks (American Classic 5B).

[zak]

Re: Soundgarden

thanks guys. any idea about amps?

[JALIN]

Re: Soundgarden

I saw them on their very second to last concert and the stage was full of Mesa Rectifiers head and cabs. That was the best concert ever.

[zak]

Re: Soundgarden

i am soooooo jealous JALIN. They and perhaps Pavement are the only bands i have never seen but am desperate to see, and Alas both have long since split up.

[UCSDBoy]

Re: Soundgarden

I think it has more to do with the fact that Tom Morello and Co. don't want to use any weird tunings and **** like that. I think Soundgarden's stuff was more interesting that way. Audioslave is nice, but a little straightforward...

[sooperunkn]

Re: Soundgarden

SOUNGARDEN ROCKS!!! Have to be one of the most underrated bands out there. Badmotorfinger is absolute perfection. I've seen them live 6 times and the gear they used varied extensively... especially Cornell. Thayil always played the Guild S-100 and was quoted saying "...I started playing them because nobody else was." He rocks. Early on (Screaming Life, Ultramega OK, Louder Than Love) they played through Marshalls and Peaveys (LOL). Badmotorfinger is when they introduced Mesa Boogie (DRs) to the "heavy" world and that album absolutely started the CHUNK trend which is still alive and well today. What made them great is they continuously changed their sound. Early on they were very punk (Sub Pop stuff), then came angry metal (Ultramege/LTL), then came thuddy confidence (BMF), then came "Let's get paid but still rock" (Superunknown), then came their White Album (Down on the Upside). And somehow all of these albums merged together smoothly with that common thread that only so few bands can pull off. I miss the sh*t out of those guys.