Accept "Balls to the Wall" = Tubescreamer into Marshall?

[LLL]

1. THANK YOU. I know it took time and effort to make that clip and I appreciate it.
2. Regardless of what Ace says, your clip hits the same essential quality.
3. MXR Distortion+? Really?? What settings? I'm just surprised. So I wasn't TOO far off thinking Tube Screamer after all.

This is actually the second time I have heard something I liked and it turned out a Distortion+ was involved. Guess I will have to chase down one to try.
I actually owned one of the originals (no led or power jack, rounded enclosure, don't recall the text type) that I bought used way back in the mid 1980s for a short time but I have totally different equipment and goals now.

Yeah, I don't put any weight to what Ace says about tone related subjects due to the fact he doesn't delve deep into the details, but takes on a more general approach.

It's in the ballpark - I could have given it touch more time focusing on the mids but "nahhh".

I used mostly non-canonical gear:

MXR 10 Band EQ (emulating Distortion+ midrange hump) > AMT M2 > Two Notes Torpedo (greenback with SM57 + 421)

Guitar was Gibson CS SG with Seth Lovers

Lots of DAW EQing and some Lexicon plate reverb VST.


Like I've stated previously, there's not much info out there on the particulars.

My best (educated) guess is he was doing what lots of hard rock guitarists were doing back then:

Goosing their PAF/T-Top humbucker guitars and Plexi/Metal panel Marshalls with a Distortion+, DS-1, RAT or the like.

Sometimes just using the "Level" knob to boost the signal and low to no clipping.


I've found if you have a PAF-output type pickup and a Plexi or similar, you need a boost to reach these levels of gain.

But if you have a SD Custom, JB, DiM SD or similar output pickup, you don't really need a boost.

There is also the concept of pre and post EQ which comes into play - generally speaking, boost the mids going into the amp (EQ, etc), then cut the mids at the console.

[LLL]

This is actually the second time I have heard something I liked and it turned out a Distortion+ was involved. Guess I will have to chase down one to try.
I actually owned one of the originals (no led or power jack, rounded enclosure, don't recall the text type) that I bought used way back in the mid 1980s for a short time but I have totally different equipment and goals now.

The new MXR (current manufacture) ones are different than the originals and seem to be a little more cutting than smooth.

Whirlwind Gold Box is what I would investigate. Whirlwind company was started by one of the original MXR dudes.

[Aceman]

Yeah, I don't put any weight to what Ace says about tone related subjects due to the fact he doesn't delve deep into the details, but takes on a more general approach.

See - there is where you are missing the point. Your work is usually spot on. You are KNOWN for the detail. And regardless of my more general approach (accurate description) my ears know the details of how it sounds. You set your own ridiculously high standard. Just saying you missed it this time. And not by a lot, but enough. Slapped together factor was stated.

This is the spouting part to not put weight on => I could do better with a Marshall MG50 and a 498 loaded Les Paul off the wall at GC. ;P

[LLL]

I could do better with a Marshall MG50 and a 498 loaded Les Paul off the wall at GC. ;P

Well, you know what they say:

"Talk is ****."

Let's hear your take on it, tone maestro - show us how it's done.

But realize that if you don't, you're just talking out of your arse... again.

[Aceman]

[LLL]

Uh huh.

Nobody's falling for your BS, Ace. Either add something of value, or move the **** along.

[LLL]

1. THANK YOU. I know it took time and effort to make that clip and I appreciate it.
2. Regardless of what Ace says, your clip hits the same essential quality.
3. MXR Distortion+? Really?? What settings? I'm just surprised. So I wasn't TOO far off thinking Tube Screamer after all.

This is actually the second time I have heard something I liked and it turned out a Distortion+ was involved. Guess I will have to chase down one to try.
I actually owned one of the originals (no led or power jack, rounded enclosure, don't recall the text type) that I bought used way back in the mid 1980s for a short time but I have totally different equipment and goals now.

Here's a great article on the techy specs of the Dist+, including freq curve. Not surprisingly, the Dist+ has a similar mid-hump as the Tubescreamer.

https://www.electrosmash.com/mxr-distortion-plus-analysis

[Sirion]

http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/node/25

Here is a short guide written by the guy who happens to own the Hoffmann amp that was posted here previously. Is the strat thing the missing piece of the puzzle?

[Masta' C]

And here's an interview where they discuss the early tone about one-third down the page: http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/node/235

[Dave Locher]

Thanks for sharing that!

[Dave Locher]

You wanna know the really weird part? The setup he is describing isn't too far off from how I used to play when I first started out except I had a Ross Distortion instead of a Distortion+ (and I was playing through a Peavey 2x12 tube combo not six Marshal stacks!). But the idea was the same: amp set loud, distortion knob on the pedal turned up most of the way, use the volume knob on the Ross to set overall rig volume, from whisper-quiet nighttime noodling to rehearsal to stage. I abandoned that setup within the first year because I was told by some "experienced" guru (who had probably been playing 6 months longer than me) that real guitar players didn't use distortion pedals!

[dave74]

That was a good read posted by Masta. I've never even tried an H30 speaker before. (the shame!)

That same grindsaw in the upper midrange is in the HM-2's "highs" knob when it gets up around 3:00 and over.
It drags the treble with it so it's good if your amp has a presence control to roll-off the thinness.

[Aceman]

A little late, but here is my swing at the wall, with my balls

https://soundcloud.com/acemansdug/b2tw

So - I have absolutely ZERO mastering skills on Garage band. I'm actually seat-of-my-pants getting the input...but here is is

1979 LP w/ Duncan Distortion >
Marshall VS100R OD channel
- BMT 2/9/7 Contour at 6 >
Boost DLA in loop set for a low mix ~2/3 repeats
Reverb on 1 >
Zoom G3n
-Marshall 4x12 Cab

And a little futzing with the global EQ in garage band. Maybe a touch more global verb for the room.

[Aceman]

Wow - just listened to the album. Needs more verb! I am pleased with the overall tone though, more so than Round & Round.

[El Dunco]

I think LLL needs to do a how to video on how to get Wolf's tone in this album!
Can someone with some pull make that happen? Ha ha. I'm lowly and glossless.

I'm subbed to a channel called Circle Of Tone. The dude's name is Owen and he tracks down as many interviews from old magazines or archived sites, as much definitive information as he can and even reaches out and asks the guitarists themselves (he got corrected by Tony Iommi on Twitter once and it blew it, but he took it like a champ), producers and engineers what they used and recreates the tones using all the same gear and techniques. He's done a lot of rock and metal classics, old and more recent. I'd be down to see LLL do something like that on the regular and his take on it can be showing how to recreate the tone without necessary needing exactly what they used, but with similar gear you can get today.

Btw, I'm pretty sure Ace was giving you a compliment. It didn't come off like he was being rude at all. If I submitted a track to my distro label and they didn't accept it because it wasn't up to scratch, I'd do it again rather than be upset. I'm not saying you can't handle criticism but it seems like you inferred it as overly hostile just because Ace said it. Can't we all just get along? Did you remove your SoundCloud clip from the other thread? I wanted to hear it and it won't let me.

A little late, but here is my swing at the wall, with my balls

https://soundcloud.com/acemansdug/b2tw

So - I have absolutely ZERO mastering skills on Garage band. I'm actually seat-of-my-pants getting the input...but here is is

1979 LP w/ Duncan Distortion >
Marshall VS100R OD channel
- BMT 2/9/7 Contour at 6 >
Boost DLA in loop set for a low mix ~2/3 repeats
Reverb on 1 >
Zoom G3n
-Marshall 4x12 Cab

And a little futzing with the global EQ in garage band. Maybe a touch more global verb for the room.

Knowing what a pain Garageband is to work, that's pretty darn close! Through my stereo it just needs more low end and softer treble (not necessary less treble, just smoother if that makes sense) and it will be pretty much exact! My partner has mastered using GarageBand it and makes incredible demos for her songs on there with all this stuff that just goes way over my head (I learned on 16-tracks, ProTools, Cubase etc. and it's nothing like it) and I haven't had the patience to get to grips with how to use it properly to even come close to the sounds she can make,t so I can't stand it!