how can i get the adrian smith tone?

[mwalluk]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Seeing your situation have you looked at a vox ac15, vox night train or jet city? They are all british flavor and would help get you close to that tone

 

[Brown Note]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

A bit of a side note, but how does one archieve the tone from the powerslave album? Ive been fascinated by the sound for several years now and stil have not been able to dial it in.

 

[guitarded]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

I am little confused about what the goal is..... Are you all trying to reproduce a recorded tone in a live situation or are you are you trying to reproduce the live tone? If the latter.... The live tone at which venue?

 

[FuseG4]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

10000 reais is like almost $6,000. A DSL head costs 10x what it costs here?

 

[Red_Label]

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).

I had started to type a post similar to this earlier, but got called away and by the time I got back to it, you'd already posted this.

Anyways... I couldn't agree more. The Line6 amp isn't one that's gonna respond to some high-quality pedals in ANY meaningful manner. Better-off getting an approximate tone on the modeling amp, and then using the on-board FX.

After that, the BIGGEST way to capture Adrian's (or anyone else's) sound is to learn the tunes note-for-note, including the phrasing styles and the way he picks and uses his hands. All of the gear stuff is mostly academic, because if you can cop his playing well... you'll convince a LOT more people you are a good facsimile of Adrian, then you will if the playing is suspect, but the gear is dead-on. Look at EVH... people get hung-up on the gear -- but I've heard a LOT of guitar players who get close to nailing the EVH sound without using the exact gear. Beyond a certain point, it's all in the fingers.

 

[Brown Note]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Is there a rare mains frequency/ voltage or is there another reason why the head cannot be bought abroad?

 

[TheProphet]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

A bit of a side note, but how does one archieve the powerslave tone? Ive been fascinated by the sound for several years now and stil have not been able to dial it in.

IIRC from the photos that I had of the recording studio, both Dave and Adrian were running what looked like mid 70's JMP's.

As far as Guitars Dave sounds like he was using the 1957/63. I suspect that Adrian was using the SG or the LP Deluxe for recording as I don't have any pics of the Lado Earth in the studio. EDIT shoot I do remember a lot of Ibanez Destroyers in some of the pics.

I run the following EQ settings for Maiden when I do it. Dave - Bass: 25-35%, Mids: 85-90%, Highs: 5-10%. Adrian - Bass: 25-30%, Mids: 80-85%, Highs: 15-20%. Granted EQ levels depend on the amp you use. My current rig wouldn't cut it in a Midsummer Night's Dream

 

[guitarded]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

10000 reais is like almost $6,000. A DSL head costs 10x what it costs here?

Is there a way around that like have someone in the states purchase it and ship it? Shouldn't be too hard to convert the power supply...

 

[Mr.Geoffroy]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Is there a way around that like have someone in the states purchase it and ship it? Shouldn't be too hard to convert the power supply...

yes , but i dont have anyone to do it.

 

[Mr.Geoffroy]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

I had started to type a post similar to this earlier, but got called away and by the time I got back to it, you'd already posted this.

Anyways... I couldn't agree more. The Line6 amp isn't one that's gonna respond to some high-quality pedals in ANY meaningful manner. Better-off getting an approximate tone on the modeling amp, and then using the on-board FX.

After that, the BIGGEST way to capture Adrian's (or anyone else's) sound is to learn the tunes note-for-note, including the phrasing styles and the way he picks and uses his hands. All of the gear stuff is mostly academic, because if you can cop his playing well... you'll convince a LOT more people you are a good facsimile of Adrian, then you will if the playing is suspect, but the gear is dead-on. Look at EVH... people get hung-up on the gear -- but I've heard a LOT of guitar players who get close to nailing the EVH sound without using the exact gear. Beyond a certain point, it's all in the fingers.

i know that , i spend several hours to learn his techniques, and the way that him hold the pick is a very hard way , im training this for years.
about the tone , i dont want to buy his exactly equipament , but a similar , that allows me have a close tone to him.

 

[TheProphet]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Do you have an album/era that you are looking for in terms of Adrian's tone? It'd be easier to explain how to go for that sound

 

[Mr.Geoffroy]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Do you have an album/era that you are looking for in terms of Adrian's tone? It'd be easier to explain how to go for that sound

dude , i really love all the tones that he got along the years, and as my amp have a lot of chanels i was thinking in make 4 chanels for the new tones and 4 for the old ones .

 

[JOLLY]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

This is just my opinion but, either get a high gain Marshall or a modeling amp with a high gain Marshall model, and just play the songs correctly. Nobody's going to know the difference if you have his exact tone or not.

 

[TheProphet]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

Working with what you got (and a presumed limited budget)

With the L6 ... forget what their trying to model and use your ears.

I have no experience with the Spider's. When I was using the Flextone I got really decent Marshall tones using the Tweed Champ and Blackface Deluxe. Make sure when you do this the amp is at gigging/practice volumes. Dialing in Maiden I usually started with the right EQ levels and a little too much gain. Then I backed off the gain completely and started increasing it until I was in Maiden range. FYI the Plexi and JCM 800 models will not cut it for Maiden.

As far as pedals, I know that he did have a Univibe on his pedalboard and I haven't found another pedal that mimics one of those. One of the Digital Delay's by Boss will handle the delay. I'd also strongly suggest picking up the Boss Graphic EQ as well, no one ever appreciates them until they have one.

That being said, if you REALLY want to be able to cover Maiden tonally, I'd save up and grab a 9100 or 9200 and a JMP-1. But I don't think that's an option for you at this stage.

 

[Mr.Geoffroy]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

This is just my opinion but, either get a high gain Marshall or a modeling amp with a high gain Marshall model, and just play the songs correctly. Nobody's going to know the difference if you have his exact tone or not.

i know , but a play for me not for the others . i want to get the right tone for me , you know?

 

[JOLLY]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

i know , but a play for me not for the others . i want to get the right tone for me , you know?

That's cool.

 

[Mr.Geoffroy]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

hey guys,
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)

but guys , dont you think that with this pedals plus my amp , i can get a similar tone to adrians one?

 

[TheProphet]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

but guys , dont you think that with this pedals plus my amp , i can get a similar tone to adrians one?

I've given you my best advice, especially in post #34.

But to answer your question, no.

The TS808 is very different to the TS9 that Adrian uses/used. The CF7 IMHO does not sound like a Univibe. In all my years I can't think of a Maiden tune that NEEDS the Whammy, although I know Adrian has one.

The only pedal I'd say is worth getting is the Crybaby, but then you have to ask "Which one?".

 

[Mr.Geoffroy]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

I've given you my best advice, especially in post #34.

But to answer your question, no.

The TS808 is very different to the TS9 that Adrian uses/used. The CF7 IMHO does not sound like a Univibe. In all my years I can't think of a Maiden tune that NEEDS the Whammy, although I know Adrian has one.

The only pedal I'd say is worth getting is the Crybaby, but then you have to ask "Which one?".

ok so , ts9 ,uni vibe and the cry baby , but which one? the classic or the standart?

and just one more thing ,can you help a little bit more? you said that if i tell you what tone ( i ll give you a album as a reference) you can help me more.

 

[TheProphet]

Re: how can i get the adrian smith tone?

I can try.

Here's the problem with buying the pedals that Adrian uses, and Rich S touched on this.

The TS9 changes the way an amp acts moreso than the sound in many cases, and considering that you're using a Solid State Digital Modeler and he's using Tube amps, I don't think it will act the same.

So by all means get the Univibe and a Crybaby (I have no idea which one to use for Smith, I use one for me). They may or may not get you Adrian's tone.

I've dealt with cases like this before where someone gets all the right equipment, but gets frustrated as they can't dial in the sound they were expecting to get.