Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

oilpit

Active member
I LOVE Gary Moore's lead tone, so amazing, I am in the market for a new head and I want to get a tone like his. I am thinking about an Orange 50 watt head of some kind or a Marshall JCM800, I'm open to other suggestions as well.
Thanks!
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

Gary mainly uses a Soldano SLO or Bluesbreaker set for mild breakup, then hits the front end with an older Marshall Guv`nor pedal for solos.

Doesn't mean you'll get his tone though........it's all in the hands
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

Gary mainly uses a Soldano SLO or Bluesbreaker set for mild breakup, then hits the front end with an older Marshall Guv`nor pedal for solos.
Anyone know what he used in his Thin Lizzy days?
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

I would strongly consider a Marshall 900 50W head. This amps get a bad rap but they have the Gary Moore sound in them. Check one out. They are pretty reasonable too.
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

The old Marshall Guv'nor pedal is the Gary Moore tone if used into a Marshall however barefoot Dave is spot on...several JCM900's will get SCARRY close to that sound...
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

Which Gary Moore tone?

Gary is one of those guys who has mostly used "current" amps- yet his tone has not changed all that much over the years.

early 70s he used Plexis/Metalfaces and then onto JMPs for the late 70s- for studio stuff he often used a distortion box plugged directly into the board ( "My Sarah" is an example from Black Rose)

Solo stuff throughout the 80s was JMP/800s goosed with DS1s or Tubescreamers (so yeah a good 900 like a MKIII super lead would be real close)

His early Blues albums were the Soldano goosed with a Guv'nor.

In recent years he's been using DSLs, and VMs and there is a pretty current clip of him on youtube at the Marshall factory playing- you can check out his current rig there, IIRC it's a JVM but not positive.
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

Good call JeffB.....


Gary Moore has an awesome tone mainly cause his playing is so darn aggressive and awesome.
Check out a few vids and practice your NARDS off!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

The Marshall Guv'nor was bought during the Still Got the Blues recording sessions (GM claims that he had recorded the title track solo with it in one take on the day he bought the pedal).

Not sure he kept using it for that long afterwards...

But yeah... a Marshall with a simple overdrive/distortion should do the trick for you.
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

I know he was using a DSL JCM 2000 on the "Live At Monsters of Rock" DVD that was filmed in 2003, and the tone was absolutely incredible.
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

It really is more of an attitude thing....Gary goes for it, just use some British sounding amp and be somewhat aggressive about it:) (what ever dirt pedal or the amp itself)
And some Celestions the gives that old middy tone.
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

i love the tone he has on corridors of power; it sounds like a strat and a marshall turned right up with nothing fancy added; so raw and powerful! you can hear him fighting the guitar to get that sound out!
something marshall-ish with either a LP or a Strat (depending on what era you're aiming for) set up with just enough preamp gain to tip the amp over the edge and plenty of volume! you need to get that classic power amp distortion happening...and as some other guys said, just dig in and attack the guitar like Gary!
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

His early Blues albums were the Soldano goosed with a Guv'nor.

He only toured with the Soldanos. In the studio he used Marshalls and the Guv'nor pedal. He took the Soldanos on the road because he felt they were more roadworthy than his old Marshall amps.
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

back in 1984/85-ish there was a video set called Rock School... it was sopposed to let rock stars explain how they get their sounds and so on... Gary Moore's Victims Of The Future era band was in the video a lot... Ian Paice and Gary had a lot of clips in it...

the one thing that stood out in my mind was when Gary was explaining his Boss Pedal Board set up... he turned them all off and then put each pedal on one at a time... he had a double stack of 800's behind him and they were set pretty flat with hardly any dirt to them... and he kicked on his DS1 and bam!!! it sounded great...
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

back in 1984/85-ish there was a video set called Rock School... it was sopposed to let rock stars explain how they get their sounds and so on... Gary Moore's Victims Of The Future era band was in the video a lot... Ian Paice and Gary had a lot of clips in it...

the one thing that stood out in my mind was when Gary was explaining his Boss Pedal Board set up... he turned them all off and then put each pedal on one at a time... he had a double stack of 800's behind him and they were set pretty flat with hardly any dirt to them... and he kicked on his DS1 and bam!!! it sounded great...

DS1
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

He only toured with the Soldanos. In the studio he used Marshalls and the Guv'nor pedal. He took the Soldanos on the road because he felt they were more roadworthy than his old Marshall amps.

Yep, prolly right- the original tour behind "still got the blues" and the second album (after hours?) was what I was speaking of. I think the Soldano sound he got on that first "blues tour" is still probably the bada$$est high gain Les Paul tone I've ever heard- I had the video concert with the Alberts, but managed to lose it at some point in time.
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

So, a Les Paul. Into a 1959SLP reissue with an old Guv'nor would do the trick nicely?
 
Re: Amp for Gary Moore Tone?

Gary is using 1959HW's at the moment, for me his zenith in tone was with his 1972 Super Bass and the period of 1984-1987, I love the 1989 After The War album, but his touring sound with the JCM 800's and they were 1959 4 holers, wasn't the greatest.
Wild Frontier in 1987, SGTB with Stripe and the Soldano/Guvnor was a great blues tone..
yngwie308
 
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