how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Mr.Geoffroy

New member
hey guys,
i need some help here . i play in a iron maiden tribute band , and i play adrian smith stuff, but i cant find his tones in my line 6 spider 4. so i was thinking in buy some pedals to help me find it, and the pedals that i think that can help me is the ibanez tube screamer 808 , ibanez cf 7 chorus and flanger ,dunlop cry baby , the digitech whammy , and a valve pedal just to use in the clean chanel as a preamp, to use in every preset. ( this one :http://www.efxpedais.com/hotbox.html)
my guitar is a custom made strat , with a maple neck , alder body , floyd rose , a super dist in the bridge , a seymour duncan 59 in the neck and a keystone k-200 in the middle

sorry about my bad english
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

how expensive? There are some cheap tube amps like the pro junior that sound really good.

The best you can do (IMO) is to get a single coil (cool rails maybe) in the neck and a valve pedal like the twin tube classic.
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

how expensive? There are some cheap tube amps like the pro junior that sound really good.

The best you can do (IMO) is to get a single coil (cool rails maybe) in the neck and a valve pedal like the twin tube classic.

very expensive , belive me ,just to you have an idea , the marshall jcm 2000 dsl ( just the head , and a used one ) is something around the 10.000 reais.
and i really like my pickups , i dont wanna change them. the tube pedal that i mentioned is a brazilian handmade pedal that is really similar to the twin tube , but this one has more gain and is more similiar to a marshall tone.
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Adrian's tone is very simple and not based on using a lot of FX. His main sound is just a TS9 going into the Marshalls. No chorus or flanger.

So I definately wouldn't use a chorus or flanger to chase his tone. I would also avoid the 808 unless it's being used as a cleanish boost as from my experience the 808 and TS9 are different beasts (I use an OD based off the vintage 808's).

For Dave Murray's tone I'd add the chorus. But his 'sound' also relies heavily on the way he plays guitar.
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Adrian's tone is very simple and not based on using a lot of FX. His main sound is just a TS9 going into the Marshalls. No chorus or flanger.

So I definately wouldn't use a chorus or flanger to chase his tone. I would also avoid the 808 unless it's being used as a cleanish boost as from my experience the 808 and TS9 are different beasts (I use an OD based off the vintage 808's).

For Dave Murray's tone I'd add the chorus. But his 'sound' also relies heavily on the way he plays guitar.

man he uses a lot of effects, chorus, delays, reverbs, synths, etc.. take a look at this site
http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazi...Y_Iron_Maidens_2010_Touring_Gear.aspx?Page=11 & # gallery
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Dude ... I've been listening to Maiden for 20 years and on one instance followed them on tour.

On the last four albums he has dabbled with FX. But isolate his parts on everything from
... (Dennis Stratton)
Killers - No FX
Number of the Beast - No FX
Piece of Mind - No FX
Powerslave - No FX
Somewhere in time - a little delay
Seventh Son - some minor FX
... (JJ)
BNW - Dabbled with some FX
DoD - Dabbled with some FX
A Matter of - Dabbled with some FX
Final Frontier - Dabbled with some FX

With Iron Maiden based off listening to all their studio albums and most of their Live Albums, PLUS seeing them live. If I hear/see who's playing when there's chorus engaged (or flanger for that matter) it is always Dave Murray
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Dude ... I've been listening to Maiden for 20 years and on one instance followed them on tour.

On the last four albums he has dabbled with FX. But isolate his parts on everything from
... (Dennis Stratton)
Killers - No FX
Number of the Beast - No FX
Piece of Mind - No FX
Powerslave - No FX
Somewhere in time - a little delay
Seventh Son - some minor FX
... (JJ)
BNW - Dabbled with some FX
DoD - Dabbled with some FX
A Matter of - Dabbled with some FX
Final Frontier - Dabbled with some FX

With Iron Maiden based off listening to all their studio albums and most of their Live Albums, PLUS seeing them live. If I hear/see who's playing when there's chorus engaged (or flanger for that matter) it is always Dave Murray

dude , take a look at this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My7mp6akPbo

cleary you can see his effects on a few songs , ex differnt world , dance of death ( the solos on the video )
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

dude , take a look at this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My7mp6akPbo

cleary you can see his effects on a few songs , ex differnt world , dance of death ( the solos on the video )

Let me give you a hint. If someone comes in with a bunch of knowledge when you're asking for help, you don't tell him he's wrong. If you don't agree with it, just let it go. If you knew better, you wouldn't be asking for help, and you should be able to find the tone yourself. Otherwise, listen to what the knowledgeable guys are saying.
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Ok maybe I should clarify. For me, the 'classic' Adrian tone is held from Killers to 7th Son. Even up to 2006 he only had the Univibe and the Delay racks for the few times he was using FX.

And from seeing them live this summer. Adrian only engaged delay.

However ...

On the last four albums he has dabbled with FX.

So

cleary you can see his effects on a few songs , ex differnt world , dance of death ( the solos on the video )

Doesn't change much. If you think you need chorus or flange for his sound then buy the same pedals that are on his current board.




EDIT; On an ironic note I am actually wearing my Trooper Hoodie at work today as everyone is on holidays.
 
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Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Ok maybe I should clarify. For me, the 'classic' Adrian tone is held from Killers to 7th Son. Even up to 2006 he only had the Univibe and the Delay racks for the few times he was using FX.

And from seeing them live this summer. Adrian only engaged delay.

However ...



So



Doesn't change much. If you think you need chorus or flange for his sound then buy the same pedals that are on his current board.




EDIT; On an ironic note I am actually wearing my Trooper Hoodie at work today as everyone is on holidays.

thats just the univibe , the tubescreamer and a delay on the different world solo?
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Youtube is blocked at work so I'll take a listen later and let you know
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Let's avoid the effects discussion and focus on the amp. (I'll admit up front I know very little about Maiden and their tones, however...) Let's look at the basic tone you're after, a Marshall, boosted with a clean-ish Tube Screamer for more overdrive.

Marshall amps in gerneal do this very well, you don't even need the Tube Screamer. Any pedal that will give a clean-to-mildly-crunchy boost will drive a Marshall to that sort of sound. (I used a Boss GE-7 in this capacity for many years.)

Here's the problem - modelling amps do a pretty convincing job at copying tube amps; not perfect but good enough for a lot of purposes. However, in my experience, where these amp emulations fall down is in how they react to pedals, in particular heavily-boosted inputs. So, a Line 6 JCM800 model may sound a lot like a JCM800, but if you kick up with input signal 20 dB with a TS (or an SD-1, or a GE-7, or any other clean boost) the model falls apart. By necessity, the A/D conversion on the front end has to be designed for a certain range of guitar signals (similar to a normal guitar).

So, if Smith's signature sound is a clean-ish TS into a JMC800, the cleanish TS into a model of a JCM800 isn't going to do it. Also, the TS with the dirt turned up isn't going to do it either, because now your introducing "Tube Screamer dirt" when what you really want is "Marshall input stage dirt".

I don't know exactly what to tell you, but I suggest looking for a different amp model; a hot-rodded Marshall, like an SLO model or something along those lines.

Or, to consider something entirely different, see if you can find the new Sans Amp "character" pedals. I've heard of people getting good results using those straight into the PA. In particular, I've read good reviews of their "Fender blond", "Orange" and "Hiwatt" models, but I'm sure they have other pedals to immitate Marshalls and other amps. Try one of those into the PA, or into your Line 6 as clean and flat as it will go (straigth into the effects return if it has one).
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

My favorite Adrian tone is from Live After Death - oh man, that ring modulated over distorted grindy sound was awesome and fit so well in the mix. Live - I would shoot for that and let the "Dave" player go with a more traditional Marshall crunch sound.

Also - you need one of these:

DSC_0010-1.jpg
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

If you can get your hands on one a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL would nail the tone you are after. In fact, he used/uses it in his rig. I'm not sure what the currency difference is though.
 
Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

10,000 Reais is about $5,500 US ... which is mind blowingly insane considering I can score them for $700-900 used.
 
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