Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

[Binnerscot]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

I would have a few guitar choices (Hamer would be at the top of my list). As far as amps go, the "fattest" sounding amp I have ever heard is the little Mesa F-30. When I first got it, I did some clips with it to listen to how it recorded. I called one of them "Bacon Wrapped Bacon in Bacon Gravy" because it had a calorie content high enough for a bear to hibernate on! And that was with a Parker Mojo, its got some thick tone but not the fattest sounding guitar, it still has a lot of hi-fi bite to it.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

If I remember correctly the aislyn is based on the 59 bassman?

I have to study more about amps!! What is the cathode mode and no negative feedback?

And where did you find the oversized tele? built it youself Jeremy?

thanks!

the aislynns are based on fender tweed designs. mine is kinda super/pro/bandmaster but with treble/bass/middle and no presance control. the amp has a cathode/fixed biased mode. fixed is louder, tighter and has more headroom but cathode is sultry with such a sweet envelope. negative feedback is a little signal fedback earlier into the signal path out of phase so i evens out the frequency responce and gives a more polished tone with a little less volume. tweed circuts are very ballsy and throaty with lots of mids. i think the solid pine cab with only a light lacquer finish and thin floating baffle help to fatten up things even more.

the guitar is one i built in the late 90's. i keep coming back to it even though i try and use all my guitars. it just has a certain body to the tone that is addicting.

i played that guitar up in montreal at the duncan thing a few years back but it had pearly gates in it then. evan had some nice things to say about my tone that night. there are a couple pics in "seymours gallerys"

http://seymourduncan.smugmug.com/gallery/1228410/6/57542492

 

[Mephis]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

Massive strings (70-11) on a 59LP with PAFs through a HiWatt fullstack would be my vote.

 

[fingerace]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

Like Jeremy said, a chambered tele-gib with rosewood fretboard. The pickup you're describing is the CC, so use a CC/Seth neck.

Then get a Bassman LTD or plexi/2-12 setup, or both, in stereo!

For OD, get a Banzai Coldfusion or Klon.

That is the recipe for fat! LOL

with a maple neck? and mahogany body?
would a jtm45 do the job as well?


btw jeremy, I suppose that you are getting a sound that is just about to break up, and propably compressed also... is that right?

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

Doesnt get much bigger than LP Standard into Matamp GTO on full blast.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

I was quite close!

What neck wood and fretboard wood does the tele have? (I suppose it's a bolt on)

Yes, it's bolt on. Believe it or not, it has an ebony fretboard on a maple shaft. 25.5" scale. The neck was left over from a previous project, but it works, and works great in this case. I built a solid mohogony strat with a maple neck/rosewood fretboard for somebody, that didn't sound near this fat. Perhaps it's the chambering?

I did the body myself. It has two heart shaped hollow chambers connected by a small pathway in the upper bouts. There's a rear route electronics cavity. It's hardtail, with the strings anchored through the body, traditional tele style. It has 1/4" thick, western maple top, in trans black, and a chrome binding strip.

I played it the other night through a 50 watt plexi and 4x12, and it was just outragous fat tone. It just works.

Builders like Anderson and Suhr...ect.. always reccomend mohogony necks with mahogony bodies, and that's probably the way I'd go if I was you, as my maple/ebony neck -mahogony body combo might be an aberation? A Brazilian rosewood fretboard or parhaps Pau Ferro, on mohogony seems a good recipe to me.

An all rosewood neck may be too much with chambered mohogony. I have an all rosewood neck and it didn't work out on a different chambered strat. It was actually too dark, and actually a bit muddy. I had to match that neck up with a solid swamp ash body.

Yes, I would agree that a JTM-45 type amp, would be a great amp match for a fat sounding mohogony guitar.

 

[fingerace]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

Yes, it's bolt on. Believe it or not, it has an ebony fretboard on a maple shaft. 25.5" scale. The neck was left over from a previous project, but it works, and works great in this case. I built a solid mohogony strat with a maple neck/rosewood fretboard for somebody, that didn't sound near this fat. Perhaps it's the chambering?

I did the body myself. It has two heart shaped hollow chambers connected by a small pathway in the upper bouts. There's a rear route electronics cavity. It's hardtail, with the strings anchored through the body, traditional tele style. It has 1/4" thick, western maple top, in trans black, and a chrome binding strip.

I played it the other night through a 50 watt plexi and 4x12, and it was just outragous fat tone. It just works.

Builders like Anderson and Suhr...ect.. always reccomend mohogony necks with mahogony bodies, and that's probably the way I'd go if I was you, as my maple/ebony neck -mahogony body combo might be an aberation? A Brazilian rosewood fretboard or parhaps Pau Ferro, on mohogony seems a good recipe to me.

An all rosewood neck may be too much with chambered mohogony. I have an all rosewood neck and it didn't work out on a different chambered strat. It was actually too dark, and actually a bit muddy. I had to match that neck up with a solid swamp ash body.

Yes, I would agree that a JTM-45 type amp, would be a great amp match for a fat sounding mohogony guitar.

Thank you very much. I am buying a new amp soon, and I am already considering a warmoth project for the near future. This thread is my search of the tone in my head!

btw the guitar I own now is a '78 Greco LP clone with chambered mahogany body and maple cap. It's a very nice guitar for rock and blues-rock! but for slow blues and rock-blues I would like a tele-gib!

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

If you want FAT, you need a thick mahogany bodied guitar with a mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard and humbuckers, that is instant beef right there.

You can go so many different directions as far as amps go. I have no doubt in my mind that Jeremy is onto something. I get an extremely beefy tone from my Bogner Shiva, so I feel pretty safe in saying the Ecstasy wouldn't be much different.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

with a maple neck? and mahogany body?
would a jtm45 do the job as well?


btw jeremy, I suppose that you are getting a sound that is just about to break up, and propably compressed also... is that right?

maple neck, ebony finger board with graphite re-enforcement rods. its an alder body but doesnt sound like alder at all, sounds more like a super light piece of mahogany.

the amp set pretty low so it isnt breaking up at all but the cathode biasing compresses it some. if you compared thd to a ss amp its way higher, 5% vs 0.01% let say. it still sounds clean but meaty like you wouldnt believe. i wish i had some way to record it. i was in the process of recording clips for scott but the studio i was working in got closed down by the town for some fire code issues

 

[tone4days]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

in general terms, i think a guitar like steve howe's es-175 ... heavy gauge strings with somewhat higher than normal action ... for pickups, a set of ants, no doubt ...

 

[fingerace]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

maple neck, ebony finger board with graphite re-enforcement rods. its an alder body but doesnt sound like alder at all, sounds more like a super light piece of mahogany.

the amp set pretty low so it isnt breaking up at all but the cathode biasing compresses it some. if you compared thd to a ss amp its way higher, 5% vs 0.01% let say. it still sounds clean but meaty like you wouldnt believe. i wish i had some way to record it. i was in the process of recording clips for scott but the studio i was working in got closed down by the town for some fire code issues

A lot of the tone comes from the amp then, instead of the guitar! I really have to look into that stuff you're saying about the amp. You seem prety excited about it...

 

[fingerace]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

in general terms, i think a guitar like steve howe's es-175 ... heavy gauge strings with somewhat higher than normal action ... for pickups, a set of ants, no doubt ...

I was thinking about that...

The tones SRV used to get were not as bright as they were expected to be from a strat. So that, combined with the acoustic nature of the hollow body and two humbuckers could be it!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

that guitar really has a fat and resonant sound. id say that the guitar matters but dont rule something out cause you dont think its got the right woods or something. its the sum of the parts not the individual componants. heavy strings (11's or up) and higher action are a must in my book.

 

[Gunny47]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

1957 Les Paul Custom black beauty with TWO PICKUPS (the middle position on a 3 pickup sounds muddy IMO, not as full as the middle position on the 2 pickup version IMO) with heavier strings, top wound, good PAF pups whether theyd be Gibson Burstbucker 1 and 2 combo, Fralin Hums, Duncan Antiquities, with a 6L6 amp with Alnico speakers, whether it would be a Super reverb, Bassman or my personal favorite, Low Power Tweed Twin.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

I always heard players talking about getting fatter tone by using less and simpler gear. I think that as an option, a one (vintage output) pickup, only volume control guitar, maybe with a chamberd body through a Plexi might make a few fat sounds. Maybe the Delonge signature ES that I like (and all others hate - don't worry I forgive you) could do the trick here.

But, there's an option I like better. Overdrive into fuzz into two amps (with the bass and mids turned up)... like Eric Johnson... gets a really big sound... and you can shred and still get fat sound... overdrive into fuzz or modulation can get you some magic from effect pedals.

And full tone, is something that you want to get in the right places.. at least for you... For me, guys like Albert Collins sound amazingly fat, and some Les Paul+Marshall+the right setting guys sound very unimpressive. It's also about the way you pick the guitar - a huge part is just learning how to pick it right.

And one more thing- Never scoop the mids. You might want to use less mids if the amp is middy on its own, but the grunge/metal scoop mids thing is bad for fat tone... bad...

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

A lot of the tone comes from the amp then, instead of the guitar! I really have to look into that stuff you're saying about the amp. You seem prety excited about it...

Although, I have already stated, that in my opinion, the guitar is more important, the amp is still very, very, important.

 

[Young Angus]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

YES, to guitar-HELL with you . . .


. . . you know, where there is only Krank amps, and pointy BC Rich guitars :argh: :argh: :argh: :crazy:


:fing25:

Hahaha oh god that would be hell!

 

[some_dude]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

And one more thing- Never scoop the mids. You might want to use less mids if the amp is middy on its own, but the grunge/metal scoop mids thing is bad for fat tone... bad...

That's silly......particularily when most grunge bands didn't scoop their mids, and Cobain - who arguably had the worst tone of all of them - is known for running his mids flat out for extra nastiness.

The important thing is to choose the best settings for each amp within the context of your band, your choice of pickups and your technique, regardless of where that leaves your mids at.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

Hahaha oh god that would be hell!

. . . oh yes !

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Describe the setup for the FATTEST & RICHEST tone

That's silly......particularily when most grunge bands didn't scoop their mids, and Cobain - who arguably had the worst tone of all of them - is known for running his mids flat out for extra nastiness.

The important thing is to choose the best settings for each amp within the context of your band, your choice of pickups and your technique, regardless of where that leaves your mids at.

Your amps setting, like your pickups or guitar wood are just a part of the puzzle... running the mids high or low are not a safe way to get good tone. Guys who are using your favorite gear might also produce some bad tone...

As for grunge bands, listenning to some old albums (grunge had it's 15 minutes of glory when I was growing up) I do hear a few bands that scoop their mids but lets not go into a "yes they did" "no they didn't" thing.

And the best amp settings to my ears, for almost any band, has the settings mids on a little higher then 0. Let's face it, many guys that work on their amp settings for the first time find that it's easy to get a familiar tone with the bass and treble way higher then the mids (actually, with almost no mids). It sounds cool. But I never played an amp that had this setting as the fattest and fullest.