Getting "your" sound

[MVI]

We all talk about guitar player such-and-such's tone, or this axe, that amp, those effects, and these pups. But what's the fun in that ? How have you found *your* tone, style, and inspiration away from ( or into ) the glam-and-glare lights of the big record label guys ? How would you define it ? What makes it different, in gear, technique, or what-have-you ? Let er rip guys, this should be good. Not really sure what forum to post in, and sorry if it's been done before - I never saw it.

Probably my faves are some of my great gritty Tele blues sound with lots of highs, and a variety of round-to-crunchy sounds out of a tricked out Rio Grande "Paged" Les Paul Special though Rivera amps. Damn I'm good.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Getting "your" sound

My tonal goal is to have a punchy, dynamic sounding lower midrange without an excessively bright top end.....if that also gives me a strong bottom end it's a bonus, but it's not really a necessity of mine.

The best results I've had so far have been with an Orange Rocker 30 run balls out and being driven by a Les Paul w/DiMarzio Super Distortion and Duncan 59.

Marshall's tend to crunch at high volumes and I'm not really into that sound. Orange on the otherhand tends to break up in big flabs of chunk....which is sweet IMO.

This gives me a very thick and chunky rhythm overdrive on the clean channel, particularly when pushed by that Super Distortion. Backing off the pick attack is enough to clean up single notes, but bearing down hard is enough to give an almost high gain type drive to it.

The dirt channel has similar levels of gain as a JCM800 but is voiced much darker....much more Orange like. I set the gain at the point where you can just start to hear the preamp tubes switch from overdrive to saturation. If I need more gain for leads I simply pick really hard. I've tried turning the gain up higher for more sustain and riding my guitar's volume for control, but I loose too much 'string sound' and start getting too much 'preamp sound'.

My other love is my MarkIII. I almost always use it on it's clean channel with the gain around 5 and the volume turned up until it overdrives.....this is the Blackface Fender type sound and it's some sweet, particularly with a Strat. I run the lead channel without too much more added gain (again, around 5 to 6) unless I'm doing Metallica type rhythm stuff. Some people really like to rag on Mesa....but I sometimes wonder if they realize that you don't have to turn the gain up all the time.....

 

[Axl H]

Re: Getting "your" sound

My sound is for cleans, a real sparkly sound with lots of high mids in it, to really cut through.

The crunch stuff is, a lot of bass (But not so it muds up), a lot of mids too (Metal sucks without mids), and my treble at around half (ENGLs have a lot of high mids) and half presence.

I love the sound of power tube distortion, but the ENGLs drive sound on the preamp is soo great that I dont even want to crank it.

My drive sound, I usually use my Charvel for the heavier stuff, but for the rock stuff, channel 3 and the PG into it slays.

 

[Loserchief]

Re: Getting "your" sound

My tone definitely involves an Engl of some sort since they are pretty much the only amps that stay as tight as i need them to be, while using lots of downtunings.
My distorted tone is pretty in-your-face with lots of mids and cutting treble and presence(not piercing but aggressive). I set the bass to match the tuning i'm in since havin the bass on 6-7 like in standard tuning won't work using a seven string in drop A. Tightness also is something important for my tone since i hate sounding sludgey.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Getting "your" sound

you what to hear something in this debate.. 90% of the time i try to get all my different amps and gear to have the same tone in the end... strange but true..

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Getting "your" sound

Clean tones= vox-ish with plenty of treble and bite
Dirty tones= aggressive, brown + defined but still with lots of low midrange.

pretty much the tone is my budda superdive 80.....

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Getting "your" sound

I always ending up sounding like me in some way.....as I always has been pretty contrary in trying to do the usual thing with aping ones hero's, I never wanted to sound or play like anybody else in the first place.
I do however like classic sounds, I like fun sounds, I like difficult to use sounds,
somehow I just try to fit in....
And still sound like me!
Anyways I have long since given up on having an ideal sound, just getting a few that works

 

[Mephis]

Re: Getting "your" sound

Clean=Very compressed, enough gain to keep it sounding on the edge of distorting. Twangy and pronounced.

Dirt=Changes every time I plugin, but the best way of putting it is just shooting for something some what similar to judas priest.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Getting "your" sound

you what to hear something in this debate.. 90% of the time i try to get all my different amps and gear to have the same tone in the end... strange but true..

I'm kind of the same way. I have a certain core tone I look for. It consists of plenty of midrange, a bit of ragged thud, and just the right amount of cut.

I like a loose sound I like it kind of squishy. I really dig Alnico 2 magnets, and tube rectifiers.

Luke

 

[jeremy]

Re: Getting "your" sound

plenty of midrange, a bit of ragged thud, and just the right amount of cut.
I like it kind of squishy. I really dig Alnico 2 magnets, and tube rectifiers.

Luke

yup. i took out the loose part cause i actually like there to be definiton on the low notes, but i want a note that swells and blooms, never harsh on the ears. lots of mids and a nice raw quality.

alnico II magnets plugged straight into a cranked tube amp

 

[ericmeyer4]

Re: Getting "your" sound

My sound keeps on changing. The main point of my sound is super clean or a NYC Big Muff.

 

[Axl H]

Re: Getting "your" sound

I always ending up sounding like me in some way.....as I always has been pretty contrary in trying to do the usual thing with aping ones hero's, I never wanted to sound or play like anybody else in the first place.
I do however like classic sounds, I like fun sounds, I like difficult to use sounds,
somehow I just try to fit in....
And still sound like me!
Anyways I have long since given up on having an ideal sound, just getting a few that works

But then again your rig sounds awesome no matter what, it sounds better than alot of amps do, the Charvel in your rig... I will never forget that sound.

OT: Jeg har lige købt et 400w 4x12" base kabinet fra Marshall, model 1982 for 1600kr, fedt køb? :fingersx:

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Getting "your" sound

Yeah but my real amps sounds about 125421335873131 better...but are harder to record
400 watts cab.....hmmm

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Getting "your" sound

yup. i took out the loose part cause i actually like there to be definiton on the low notes, but i want a note that swells and blooms, never harsh on the ears. lots of mids and a nice raw quality.

alnico II magnets plugged straight into a cranked tube amp

:laugh2:

Loose is the hardest word to describe tonally IMO, but compared to a lot of guys my low end is very loose because of the A2 mags.

Luke

 

[Axl H]

Re: Getting "your" sound

Yeah but my real amps sounds about 125421335873131 better...but are harder to record
400 watts cab.....hmmm

Lol, I would love to hear them.

You seem unhappy with that 400w cab?

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Getting "your" sound

In general, I go for a warm sound with nice detail and stringyness, and strong midrange that doesn't sound fatiguing. It's all in the midrange.

When I bought my vibrolux, it was specifically because the mids were stronger than a blackface fender tone, yet were in no way taxing to my ears. My blue Angel is stronger again in the mids, but the tone is fat, clear and wide.

The same applies to overdrive sounds. I hate distorted sounds where the mids are ugly sounding. At the moment, I'm getting love from a Soldano Hot rod 50 played wide open with the gain low, though I have a feeling I'm going to be adding some EL34 tone to the mix sometime soon. My Blue Angel is also serving up some good overdrive with the aid of my G2D classic OD.

I also choose my guitars with similar goals in mind. I tend to avoid swamp ash and mahogany with maple caps, and prefer slab mahogany and alder or poplar bodies.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Getting "your" sound

:laugh2:

Loose is the hardest word to describe tonally IMO, but compared to a lot of guys my low end is very loose because of the A2 mags.

Luke

loose to me implys an indistinctness or unfocused quality and my ideal tone doesnt have that problem. my tone isnt as focused as id like sometimes but i strive to keep it focused enough so that even the lowest notes speak clearly. i love the roundness to the treble that typically comes with a2 mags and the thick full bodied mids are the bees knees but the bottom end is not very inherently taught, but i think you can get decent clarity if you set the bass low enough on the amp. i even change the bass cap value sometimes if necessary. i was getting a great tone with my dr last night with a seth/bb (w/a2) combo and the bass was on 2 but it was nice and clear

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Getting "your" sound

Generally speaking...

Plug a LP into a Marshall, set it with the presence at 10, Bass at 10, Mid around 4, Treble around 5, Master around 2, Preamp anywhere from 6-10 and run it through a 4x12. Hit the guitar hard. That's my sound.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Getting "your" sound

I´d say my tone is refined to precision by my amplifier and guitars. But without my fingers there´s nothing worth refining. Everyone else sounds like **** thru my rig, their opinion and mine.

I can get a tone that sounds like "me" even on an unplugged acoustic, it´s all in the way you hit the strings and feel the instrument, though arguably that´s "style" and not tone... but your style generates your tone, because it influences it fron the moment the pick or finger changes direction to the point where it changes again.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Getting "your" sound

I vary my tone a fair bit based on my situation. That's one of the nice things about having a palette of amps and guitars.

The only constant in my tone that I can think of off the top of my head is that it's generally fairly balanced between highs and lows. Most of my EQ changes involve goosing or scooping the mids.