Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

[EDX]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

i use an old solid state amp (block logo peavey envoy, those and the block logo bandits are beloved by swedish death and black bands, they can sound really bright) and i run 2 overdrives, an eq and a wah (not at the same time, but i combine the drives and eq with the wah for leads) and i really don't have problems getting a smooth lead sound and my brash thrash tone, it all has to do with running the right drives into the damn thing

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

It all starts with 1) Your guitar 2) Your amp 3) Your speakers 4) Your effects. I would suggest you start by getting "creaminess and sustain" from your guitar and then running into a decent tube amp with the proper speakers and then the effects. All the pedal recommendations given here are what we call "putting the cart before the horse" and not addressing the primary issue. Even Johnny Winter (as good as he was) when playing through Randall solid state amps sounded absolutely horrid. I should know, as I saw him live up close and personal.

I LOVE the sound of my amp & cab, which I have been playing since around 1988 or so. I do not want to change anything about my base rhythm sound, which is what I play 99% of the time. If I were a blues rock screaming lead player like winters I would use a very different setup, but I'm not. I just want to push into a smooth, creamy sustain lead sound for 30 seconds of one or two songs.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

I think you get what I have and what I am looking for. Dark & liquid are definitely what I need. Thanks.

 

[HiFiRebel]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

In defense of Johhny Winters he did have a methadone addiction for quite some time.

I forgot about the solid state part. How you considered something like a Klon clone? The EHX Soul Food does nicely with my hybrid.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

Creamy Lead Tones ?

Get a Big Muff.

 

[Southbound Suarez]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

I LOVE the sound of my amp & cab, which I have been playing since around 1988 or so. I do not want to change anything about my base rhythm sound, which is what I play 99% of the time. If I were a blues rock screaming lead player like winters I would use a very different setup, but I'm not. I just want to push into a smooth, creamy sustain lead sound for 30 seconds of one or two songs.

I'm done utahere:

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

I know no one is biting their nails waiting to find out what happens next (especially Southbound Suarez) but Ima update y'all anyway:
The more I thought about it the more I realized the TS-based handbuilt I have is almost what I want except for the base cut. So I did some internet searching and figured out how to mod it. Added a .22uF capacitor ($2 at local Radio Shack) in parallel with the .22 it already had on the output circuit, wired with a mini toggle switch I already had, and now at the flick of a switch I can add a ton o'bass and get really smooth and creamy.
This may sound like I ignored everyone's suggestions but it was actually the whole discussion about mid hump vs. bass bump that got me really thinking about what was missing in my overdrive. Thanks!

 

[Demanic]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

Dude! Grats!

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[EDX]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

lol nice, pedal modding is nice and clever but having a pedal only for the smooth creamy sound is always a good thing

 

[Demanic]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

Don't do the smooth creamy too often. I like a lot of chunk and sizzle. But all of my guitars have a tone knob. Most of them with a 0.047 Orange Drop. Picked up a 5 pack one day in the discount bin @GC.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

That's Awesome!! Glad you got what you needed and it is especially cool you were able to make it!

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

That's Awesome!! Glad you got what you needed and it is especially cool you were able to make it!

Oh, just to clarify, I did NOT build the overdrive, I bought it from the guy who built it. I just soldered in two capacitors, two wires, and a toggle switch. I just never realized how much you can change the character of a pedal with just one little change or addition.

 

[devastone]

Re: Help me find smooth, creamy sustaining notes with a crunchy amp

The caps and resistors are pretty much what set the character, they are what does all the signal limiting, tone manipulation, and frequency dependent gain.