Dr. Lo
New member
I just figured out how to get May's tone (or very close to it) without having to make your eardrums bleed. As most of you probably know, one of the key components of his rig is a Vox AC30 played at full volume. Not only is this insanely loud on its own, but May also boosts the amp with a treble booster.
I've been trying to get his luscious overdriven tone for a while now, and I think I've found it in such a way that I don't have to crank a boosted AC30 and kill my neighbors. Here's my rig:
Enjoy!
I've been trying to get his luscious overdriven tone for a while now, and I think I've found it in such a way that I don't have to crank a boosted AC30 and kill my neighbors. Here's my rig:
- Strat with stock (vintage-style) single-coils, but with a mod allowing me to combine the bridge and middle pickups in series, which May does with his guitar to get most of his trademark tones. Here's the mod I used: http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schematics/singlecoil_series_mod.html
- Orange Tiny Terror Class A amp (power set at 7 watts, volume at noon, tone at 10-11 o'clock, and gain at 3 o'clock).
- Open-back 2x12 speaker cabinet loaded with a pair of Celestion G12H30s.
- MXR 6-band EQ pedal between the guitar and the amp with its 800 and 1.6k sliders up by about a quarter from the mid position. This helps add clarity and gain to the tone, much like what May does with his treble booster.
Enjoy!
