El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

barbarianbrute said:
so does a boost pedal pump the signal going into the amp or something? would a boost pedal help the tone at low volumes? isn't an overdrive supposed to push the amp harder at lower volumes too?
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Yes, a boost pumps up the signal going to the amp. Some boosts have their own distortion or overdrive and this is achieved just by increasing the boost. Some are very clean boosts, such as the Mosfet Boost I use. It gets some clipping going on when at max level but it is generally a clean boost. When run in to a clean amp it'll just make it louder without clipping, as long as there is sufficient clean headroom in the amp to not clip. If your amp is at the ceiling of "clean" and on the verge of clipping, boosting the signal with a booster will make it clip more, or overdrive.

When it comes to overdrives, they are boost circuits in the simple form but they provide their own clipping that, as we all know, is adjustable to taste. An overdrive can be used as a booster as well, and many do just that. Turn the drive down and the level up. You'll almost always still get some clipping from the pedal though, even at minimal drive, because that's just the nature of many of them. Some get cleaner than others but will almost never be "clean clean" like the Mosfet Boost.

An overdrive doesn't have to be used just at lower volumes. They are wonderful at high volumes. Get the amp loud and on the verge of breakup (power amp being overdriven) and then hit it with an overdrive for one of the most beautiful sounds ever heard. It's hard to do in an apartment with a 100 watt head, though. That's why I've been using the Vox AD50VT. I can get those tones at low volumes and high volumes with my band.
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

ErikH said:
Yes, a boost pumps up the signal going to the amp. Some boosts have their own distortion or overdrive and this is achieved just by increasing the boost. Some are very clean boosts, such as the Mosfet Boost I use. It gets some clipping going on when at max level but it is generally a clean boost. When run in to a clean amp it'll just make it louder without clipping, as long as there is sufficient clean headroom in the amp to not clip. If your amp is at the ceiling of "clean" and on the verge of clipping, boosting the signal with a booster will make it clip more, or overdrive.

When it comes to overdrives, they are boost circuits in the simple form but they provide their own clipping that, as we all know, is adjustable to taste. An overdrive can be used as a booster as well, and many do just that. Turn the drive down and the level up. You'll almost always still get some clipping from the pedal though, even at minimal drive, because that's just the nature of many of them. Some get cleaner than others but will almost never be "clean clean" like the Mosfet Boost.

An overdrive doesn't have to be used just at lower volumes. They are wonderful at high volumes. Get the amp loud and on the verge of breakup (power amp being overdriven) and then hit it with an overdrive for one of the most beautiful sounds ever heard. It's hard to do in an apartment with a 100 watt head, though. That's why I've been using the Vox AD50VT. I can get those tones at low volumes and high volumes with my band.
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so isn't a little clipping what i should be looking for on a totally clean channel? if i'm to understand this correctly, i can turn the level/vol knob on my overdrive up, the gain down, and put it in front of a totally clean amp. hmmm, i'm going to try that
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

barbarianbrute said:
so isn't a little clipping what i should be looking for on a totally clean channel? if i'm to understand this correctly, i can turn the level/vol knob on my overdrive up, the gain down, and put it in front of a totally clean amp. hmmm, i'm going to try that
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Yup. Listen closely to some SRV recordings, Little Wing is perfect for this. Just listen to his pick attack and how there's every so slight clipping when he digs in with it still "clean". Then when he kicks the Tube Screamer on, it just becomes tonal bliss. He controls that mild clipping with pick attack and the guitar volume knob.

This type of setup for blues gives you the perfect palette for very wide dynamics. The more dynamic, like Little Wing, your tone can be (and playing as well), the more effective the story is, which is how I see the blues, no matter what style - a story with a beginning, middle, end and ups and downs all throughout it.
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

what does it actually mean to "dig in?" my perception is that you use more of the pick and kind of scrape it against the string as opposed to simply striking the note. i can't seem to get that particular effect unless i turn my pick parallel with the string and do that.

wahwah seems to do that quite well. how can i get more of that digging in kind of sound?
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

Pick harder. With the pick at a slight angle it's almost like you're going to do a pinch harmonic but you don't actually pinch it. Having the pick parallel to the string is another way to dig in too, it's just more percussive. Try it both ways, listen to the difference.

The only way to get that sound is to practice picking dynamics. That's the key.
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

guitfiddle said:
I don't think a Strat, or which pickup it's on gets the sizzle...it's having the amp cranked to the top, and then dialed back a bit with the guitar. Listen to BB King Live at Folsom Prison some time...there is sizzle all over the guitar in that recording, and not cause of pickup choice, but for the simple fact that he has the poweramp on 10, and it makes all the difference. When you're recording, you want the amp to be sweating...no amp sounds it's best on 2 or 3, IMO, but most can be made to sound better with the right pedal. Most tube amps do, however, sound better when the gain is low and the power amp is slamming the tubes with juice.
The other thing is some good vibrato, which will take a while to dial in. A string having vibrato put on it gives up a bit of sizzle that a string bent, then released with no vibrato can't get.

That tone is good (bit boxy for my tastes), but if you record annother, put the amp's master on 10, and then crack open the gain till its good and loud without being too far over the top, then use the right touch of vibrato on your bends and held notes, and see if you can hear a difference.
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what do you mean by the vibrato thing? are you talking about an effect or actually physically producing a vibrato? i did use a couple of vibratos in those clips. i don't use a whammy bar or anything, and i've been told that i have a decent vibrato, so i'm not sure what you're suggesting.

honestly, i don't work on a particular vibrato. i just try not to do those nervous sounding vibratos you hear players do all the time, and move up and down evenly. lately i've been experimenting with the side to side roll of the fingertip. i think the only vibrato i did in that first clip was at 1:35, so i'm guessing i need to do more of it. i think the second clip had several vibratos though.

my question is though, how much is too much vibrato? i hear guys doing vibratos sometimes on every friggin note they land on. i don't want to sound repetetive like that. what do you guys think makes a good vibrato and when best to use it?
 
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Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

Well, a nice slow and wide vibrato on bends makes them sound a bit more singing than a quick vibe, or none at all. Singing is the foundation of the blues solo, cause it's the other voice to respond to the singer's lines. When you swing the movement really wide, and slowly, but in time to the beat it really gets a more soulful thing going on. plus, it keeps the note going, and makes the harmonics more prevenlant as the fundamental fades. That's at least some of the sizzle part of it.
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

guitfiddle said:
Well, a nice slow and wide vibrato on bends makes them sound a bit more singing than a quick vibe, or none at all. Singing is the foundation of the blues solo, cause it's the other voice to respond to the singer's lines. When you swing the movement really wide, and slowly, but in time to the beat it really gets a more soulful thing going on. plus, it keeps the note going, and makes the harmonics more prevenlant as the fundamental fades. That's at least some of the sizzle part of it.
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wide, slow, and to the beat... hmm, i'll work on that tonight. thanks
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

The thing with vibrato is that it can give notes a vocal quality, and what makes the human voice so interesting and individual is that it is never the same twice. Ultimately, the best use of vibrato comes from having many styles available...slow, medium, fast, faster, wide, narrow.....then....changing them and mixing them up...i.e, a note with a slow vibrato that then speeds up, or a narrow vibrato that becomes wider. These are a lot of techniques to master, and as such are as much a lifetime's work as the art of playing notes. But they can be as important as note selection when developing your own 'voice' on the instrument.

For many players, the real action only begins AFTER they hit their target note....in what they chose to do with that note. There is so much expression that can be milked from a single note, often overlooked in a musical climate of 'speed and more speed', ....but vibrato, with the emotion and expression it can evoke, can take what you want to say straight to the listener's heart.....

listen to any great bluesmen.....

and, IMHO, don't listen to this one special guy.....just sit in front of the speakers and let his young and tortured soul bypass your ears by sending a few simple notes straight through your chest into your heart and literally move you with his use of vibrato......

Paul Kossoff .....God rest his soul.
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

Paul is a good example of the soulfulness it creates when it's done well, even tho his was a bit nervous at times. My examples to BBrute are for good slow blues like The Thrill Is Gone backing track he used...still, even the quick vibratos sound better to me if they're done not too fast and with a bit of a wider swing. My .02, which adjusted for inflation, equals nothing.
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

Paul Kossoff did have a fast and 'nervy' vibrato early on, (i hear the early Koss vibrato in Angus Young) and it slowed later in his short career. He even mentioned the fact in a Guitar Player interview that he had consciensiously slowed it down, to the point where it became devastatingly effective. He had a great understanding of how to use it at speeds that cut across the pulse of the tune to soul-wrenching effect.

His expression and control and the emotional development of his playing were astounding for someone whose life terminated at the age of only 28 years. His vibrato went from the expession of wild unadulterated excitement (faster vib.) to heartbreaking sadness (slower, later vib.). Most players will not get close to the depth of expression he achieved even if they live a full lifetime.

The solo album 'Back Street Crawler', although sometimes considered to be a 'loose jam' kinda thing, is a masterpiece of expressive guitar.
 
Re: El Diablo Blues Sound Clip - How's My Blues Tone Now?

crusty philtrum said:
Paul Kossoff did have a fast and 'nervy' vibrato early on, (i hear the early Koss vibrato in Angus Young) and it slowed later in his short career. He even mentioned the fact in a Guitar Player interview that he had consciensiously slowed it down, to the point where it became devastatingly effective. He had a great understanding of how to use it at speeds that cut across the pulse of the tune to soul-wrenching effect.


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That last bit hits the nail on the head...making the vibrato fit in with the beat, and divisions of the timing and tempo of the tune.
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