General Tone Tips
- Thread starter Rainmaker
- Start date
Ninja Monkey
New member
Re: General Tone Tips
hee hee
I meant to delete my n00bish advice. Anyway, you're right, when it comes to standard recording practice. However, now that I have this advice, I will not use it. I don't want to sound all normal, ya know? :14:
hee hee
I meant to delete my n00bish advice. Anyway, you're right, when it comes to standard recording practice. However, now that I have this advice, I will not use it. I don't want to sound all normal, ya know? :14:
davidwillson
New member
Re: General Tone Tips
If you pick hard on a tube amp it will "dirty up", if you do it on a transistor amp it might get louder. If you roll back your volume on a dirty tube amp it will "clean up", or in other words tube amps have the correct "feel".
In the immortal words of Cub Koda....." Never give a roadie anything of value, I have a box of toothpicks at home that use to be a Les Paul."
If you pick hard on a tube amp it will "dirty up", if you do it on a transistor amp it might get louder. If you roll back your volume on a dirty tube amp it will "clean up", or in other words tube amps have the correct "feel".
In the immortal words of Cub Koda....." Never give a roadie anything of value, I have a box of toothpicks at home that use to be a Les Paul."
RobSoundtrack
New member
Re: General Tone Tips
1: Square wave FACT
These edges of sound waves are tedious on our ears, whether we know it or not.
The 'warmth' of tubes refers to the roundness of their output wave.
That is to say, you get a solidstate amp setup to sound JUST like an adjacent tube amp;
on a psychological level, your brain/ears will sooner get tired of listening to the SS amp..
...and you wouldn't otherwise know why..
2: STYLE. We all have our own, embellish it well.
If we play the same easy riff on the same gear, are we going to sound the same?
Is one of us going to sound 'better?'
Take your vibratos. Do you just shake the s*** out of every note??
Or do you make those notes BLOOM!!
1: Square wave FACT
These edges of sound waves are tedious on our ears, whether we know it or not.
The 'warmth' of tubes refers to the roundness of their output wave.
That is to say, you get a solidstate amp setup to sound JUST like an adjacent tube amp;
on a psychological level, your brain/ears will sooner get tired of listening to the SS amp..
...and you wouldn't otherwise know why..
2: STYLE. We all have our own, embellish it well.
If we play the same easy riff on the same gear, are we going to sound the same?
Is one of us going to sound 'better?'
Take your vibratos. Do you just shake the s*** out of every note??
Or do you make those notes BLOOM!!
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
Re: General Tone Tips
Here's some even the most accomplished players can probably learn from!
Boxing: Don't limit yourself to patterns and 'box yourself in'. Learn modes for the entirity of the fretboard so you can move higher or lower. Learn the actual notes rather than the patterns. Can apply to great riffs and phrases as well as just leads.
Key changing: Learn to be able to switch keys during solos. This will allow you to create much catchier leads if you can move within a chord progression. Another limiting factor that even the best players may be caught in without realizing is only ever playing within the mode for one key.
Music Theory: If you can learn to read sheet music even just a little bit without necessarily being able to sight-read on the fly, it will do alot for your songwriting. Guitar tab is only written for guitar and is only numbers. Whereas notation is universal.
If you suffer from any of these, it doesn't mean you're a bad player. But if you can fix these it will make the difference from 'great' to 'amazing'.
Here's some even the most accomplished players can probably learn from!
Boxing: Don't limit yourself to patterns and 'box yourself in'. Learn modes for the entirity of the fretboard so you can move higher or lower. Learn the actual notes rather than the patterns. Can apply to great riffs and phrases as well as just leads.
Key changing: Learn to be able to switch keys during solos. This will allow you to create much catchier leads if you can move within a chord progression. Another limiting factor that even the best players may be caught in without realizing is only ever playing within the mode for one key.
Music Theory: If you can learn to read sheet music even just a little bit without necessarily being able to sight-read on the fly, it will do alot for your songwriting. Guitar tab is only written for guitar and is only numbers. Whereas notation is universal.
If you suffer from any of these, it doesn't mean you're a bad player. But if you can fix these it will make the difference from 'great' to 'amazing'.
Re: General Tone Tips
hey there is some great advice on here allready so I will just put a couple of easy things I have been researching latley
1) if you are buying a Fender Twin amp or a clean amp in general with that similar clean type tone check out the Weber 12a150 speakers-they are a warm alnico speaker that just seems to go very well with this amp for some reason, for you ceramic speaker guys the weber 12f150 is good as well.
2) for tweed amps with a thicker tone if you want to fatten it up even more try a celestian vintage 30. I know-I know its a distortion speaker but it also sounds nice and fat, clean-in a tweed type circut and when the tweed amp starts to break up it sounds great as well.
just a couple of ideas for you guys
:beerchug:
hey there is some great advice on here allready so I will just put a couple of easy things I have been researching latley
1) if you are buying a Fender Twin amp or a clean amp in general with that similar clean type tone check out the Weber 12a150 speakers-they are a warm alnico speaker that just seems to go very well with this amp for some reason, for you ceramic speaker guys the weber 12f150 is good as well.
2) for tweed amps with a thicker tone if you want to fatten it up even more try a celestian vintage 30. I know-I know its a distortion speaker but it also sounds nice and fat, clean-in a tweed type circut and when the tweed amp starts to break up it sounds great as well.
just a couple of ideas for you guys
:beerchug:
Baltar
New member
Re: General Tone Tips
@philtis: i think everyone swears on different speakers in a twin.
some other fantastic choices:
- evm12 for superclean
- eminence gb12 imo a perfect mix for multiple needs (i'd say from country to bluesrock)
- jensen neo12 (green)
many other fit cool as well.. swamp thang (less sterile than evm12), texas heat (less dB)
cheers, b
@philtis: i think everyone swears on different speakers in a twin.
some other fantastic choices:
- evm12 for superclean
- eminence gb12 imo a perfect mix for multiple needs (i'd say from country to bluesrock)
- jensen neo12 (green)
many other fit cool as well.. swamp thang (less sterile than evm12), texas heat (less dB)
cheers, b
Scott Olson
SD Media Manager
Re: General Tone Tips
There are no rules - a guitar can be played in any way you can get sound out of it. Explore alternative tunings, tapping, harmonics - you might find things you like and incorporate those little sounds into your tonal pallette. Learn how to play songs by ear rather than using tabs all the time. I'm a huge fan of low tunings on Acoustic that I could never pull off on electric and playing it distorted and as hard as you can. I love what I can do on acoustic guitar, that I could quite frankly not pull off on electric with such aggressive playing and low tunings.
There are no rules - a guitar can be played in any way you can get sound out of it. Explore alternative tunings, tapping, harmonics - you might find things you like and incorporate those little sounds into your tonal pallette. Learn how to play songs by ear rather than using tabs all the time. I'm a huge fan of low tunings on Acoustic that I could never pull off on electric and playing it distorted and as hard as you can. I love what I can do on acoustic guitar, that I could quite frankly not pull off on electric with such aggressive playing and low tunings.
icantbuyafender
New member
Re: General Tone Tips
Never eat yellow snow.
Never eat yellow snow.
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
Re: General Tone Tips
Here's some vital points to consider when recording distorted guitars.
You should be so practiced that you can play your parts backwards in your sleep so you can bash them out with confidence, precision and flare when needed. You should make sure you aren't making creaks and string noise.
Try and have as direct a signal as possible. Spend the money on good cables, especially on the cable from the head to the cabinet. The speakers have possible the strongest role in the coloration of your sound so in preproduction you should experiment with different speakers until you find "your" speaker.
If you use pedals, don't use noisy AC adapters, put in fresh batteries. That guitar had better be intonated and the strings should be fairly new and freshly worn in (not too jangly). Get "your sound" happening in the room, right there. Don't think you'll get it "later down the line". It's gotta happen where it's at.
Find the excursion point of the speakers. The sweet spot you want is just as the speakers start to move and a little before they start to break up undesirably make the cabinet rumble. You may need to take off your grill cloth to see the speakers and observe the movement. If possible, try and determine which speaker has the best tone.
You also want to make sure you aren't causing too much movement in your microphone's diaphragm and that there's plenty of headroom on the mic preamp.
Keep a note of your excursion point and put the volume down, strap on your headphones, put your mic of choice on a stand. Stick it on the cone, pull it back a few inches and then turn it about 30 degrees facing the edge of the cone. Then rotate the boom until you get the sweet spot where it isn't ice-picky and thin, but it's muffled and dark. Then lock it all down and DON'T TOUCH IT. Turn back up to your excursion point and now we can start using the control room.
If you really know what you're doing, stick a condenser or two in the corner of the room to supplement the sound later on.
Spend the money on a good unit for gating and compression. VSTs aren't really going to cut it and they will chew up RAM. Spend lots of time shaping the sound with the attack and release. My compressor has a tube saturation section and I use the coveted echoplex tube section as well.
Your amp should be in a different room so you can hear it unimpeded through your monitors. It may also be a good idea to keep your cab mic'd in your iso room and adjust the head in the control room.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. This is just the beggining of getting a really great distorted guitar sound the old fashioned way with real amps and microphones.
Here's some vital points to consider when recording distorted guitars.
You should be so practiced that you can play your parts backwards in your sleep so you can bash them out with confidence, precision and flare when needed. You should make sure you aren't making creaks and string noise.
Try and have as direct a signal as possible. Spend the money on good cables, especially on the cable from the head to the cabinet. The speakers have possible the strongest role in the coloration of your sound so in preproduction you should experiment with different speakers until you find "your" speaker.
If you use pedals, don't use noisy AC adapters, put in fresh batteries. That guitar had better be intonated and the strings should be fairly new and freshly worn in (not too jangly). Get "your sound" happening in the room, right there. Don't think you'll get it "later down the line". It's gotta happen where it's at.
Find the excursion point of the speakers. The sweet spot you want is just as the speakers start to move and a little before they start to break up undesirably make the cabinet rumble. You may need to take off your grill cloth to see the speakers and observe the movement. If possible, try and determine which speaker has the best tone.
You also want to make sure you aren't causing too much movement in your microphone's diaphragm and that there's plenty of headroom on the mic preamp.
Keep a note of your excursion point and put the volume down, strap on your headphones, put your mic of choice on a stand. Stick it on the cone, pull it back a few inches and then turn it about 30 degrees facing the edge of the cone. Then rotate the boom until you get the sweet spot where it isn't ice-picky and thin, but it's muffled and dark. Then lock it all down and DON'T TOUCH IT. Turn back up to your excursion point and now we can start using the control room.
If you really know what you're doing, stick a condenser or two in the corner of the room to supplement the sound later on.
Spend the money on a good unit for gating and compression. VSTs aren't really going to cut it and they will chew up RAM. Spend lots of time shaping the sound with the attack and release. My compressor has a tube saturation section and I use the coveted echoplex tube section as well.
Your amp should be in a different room so you can hear it unimpeded through your monitors. It may also be a good idea to keep your cab mic'd in your iso room and adjust the head in the control room.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. This is just the beggining of getting a really great distorted guitar sound the old fashioned way with real amps and microphones.
ancient_owl
New member
Re: General Tone Tips
Don't forget about your guitar volume and tone controls - they may significantly affect your tone, especially with valve amps. Try to get true-bypass effects.
Don't forget about your guitar volume and tone controls - they may significantly affect your tone, especially with valve amps. Try to get true-bypass effects.
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Re: General Tone Tips
It may have been said before but anyway, learn how to solder especially if you own multiple guitars. It is easy to do. There is many how to videos on YouTube and the tools you will need are inexpensive. It will save you
plenty on tech fees and is also pretty rewarding to fix your guitars yourself. You will also have much better tone with a properly wired guitar and you will be able to do upgrades yourself.
It may have been said before but anyway, learn how to solder especially if you own multiple guitars. It is easy to do. There is many how to videos on YouTube and the tools you will need are inexpensive. It will save you
plenty on tech fees and is also pretty rewarding to fix your guitars yourself. You will also have much better tone with a properly wired guitar and you will be able to do upgrades yourself.
Last edited:
Myaccount876
Amira-Maker
Re: General Tone Tips
Being able to play lead over multiple keys and time signatures along with changes thereof is extremely useful. Especially when playing with others.
Being able to play lead over multiple keys and time signatures along with changes thereof is extremely useful. Especially when playing with others.
Re: General Tone Tips
At stage levels you don't necessarily have to go full out with the gain, speaker break up tends to lend to the crunch. I have used tube heads, solid state heads, combos ranging from 1-12 to 4-10s and can tell you that my sound did change, it didn't change all that drastically. While I prefer tube amps in the studio, I usually end up going solid state live (I know you guys can start giving me crap now. I hear it all the time at gigs-kind of amazing that the same guy who will compliment your tone will almost retract that statement when they find out you are playing through a solid state). That choice is mainly because of convenience, and having lost a tube a tube a few times at a gig. So much of your tone comes from your hands that I think if you sound good you'll probably sound good regardless.
With pickups, I have dialed back on output, I currently use a Pearly gates Plus for everything from country to hard rock/metal/instrumental rock and find that it works for me. The big reason for going to a low/med output bucker is that it, to my ears, seems more articulate. That and the fact that with all the gain being built in to amps these days, you really don't need to hit the input that hard.
And just like most everyone has said, guitar lives in the mid frequencies so don't take it out. You are just losing volume. Too much low end kills articulation and sounds woofy (not a word but the best way I can describe too much bass), and too much high end just makes you sound thin. I would have to agree with EVERYONE who stated that what sounds good at bedroom levels probably won't on stage. I found that out when I auditioned for my first band, turned up, and had to re-eq to not sound like a train wrecking into a semi full of running chainsaws. Also boosting frequencies that aren't there tends to sound a lot worse than removing bad frequencies that are.
So anyhow that's the small amount that I've learned over thirty years of playing.
At stage levels you don't necessarily have to go full out with the gain, speaker break up tends to lend to the crunch. I have used tube heads, solid state heads, combos ranging from 1-12 to 4-10s and can tell you that my sound did change, it didn't change all that drastically. While I prefer tube amps in the studio, I usually end up going solid state live (I know you guys can start giving me crap now. I hear it all the time at gigs-kind of amazing that the same guy who will compliment your tone will almost retract that statement when they find out you are playing through a solid state). That choice is mainly because of convenience, and having lost a tube a tube a few times at a gig. So much of your tone comes from your hands that I think if you sound good you'll probably sound good regardless.
With pickups, I have dialed back on output, I currently use a Pearly gates Plus for everything from country to hard rock/metal/instrumental rock and find that it works for me. The big reason for going to a low/med output bucker is that it, to my ears, seems more articulate. That and the fact that with all the gain being built in to amps these days, you really don't need to hit the input that hard.
And just like most everyone has said, guitar lives in the mid frequencies so don't take it out. You are just losing volume. Too much low end kills articulation and sounds woofy (not a word but the best way I can describe too much bass), and too much high end just makes you sound thin. I would have to agree with EVERYONE who stated that what sounds good at bedroom levels probably won't on stage. I found that out when I auditioned for my first band, turned up, and had to re-eq to not sound like a train wrecking into a semi full of running chainsaws. Also boosting frequencies that aren't there tends to sound a lot worse than removing bad frequencies that are.
So anyhow that's the small amount that I've learned over thirty years of playing.
Marbledecker
New member
Re: General Tone Tips
Boss Metal-Zone makes a fantastic ash tray, or blunt-force weapon. Just don't plug your guitar into it.
Boss Metal-Zone makes a fantastic ash tray, or blunt-force weapon. Just don't plug your guitar into it.
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