How come I can't do it? Distortion question

[William Walstra]

listening to some of the artists I really enjoy, I noticed a lot of them use little gain, and still have a great (powerful?) sound. When I try this, I get a thin, muffled sound. Which I'm not overly fond of. what am I doing wrong? Bad EQing? An example for what I'm looking for I can give you is Propagandhi's newest cd (Potemkin City Limits.)

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

It could be EQ to some degree, but my bet is that it's volume level. What kind of amp are you playing through, Will?

 

[34029324079]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

prop uses punk sounds...punk usually requires marshalls and high gain pups

 

[William Walstra]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

It could be EQ to some degree, but my bet is that it's volume level. What kind of amp are you playing through, Will?

Actually this came up while amp shopping. I've been trying 50-watt tube heads. Mesa Single Rectifier, Marshall DSL 50, and the Soldano Hot Rod 50/50+. The Mesa was completely useless to me. Far too loud for my own good, sound-proof rooms rock hehe. It just couldn't "clean up" to my liking. The Soldano's had too "fuzzy" of a gain, and the DSL 50 I couldn't get the tone from. I can get a vast array of other killer tones, but not the one I hear in my head.

 

[34029324079]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

either bring a hot plate to the store you are tryin em out (I still don't think you would get that good of tone doing that)

or

get the vox modeler head IMO

going to a store and trying to crank an amp is scraping teeth if they don't have a soundroom...and youll never really get good high gain tone out of tube at low volumes IMO

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

Every one of those amps needs to be be cranked up a bit to sound good. Otherwise, you're getting all of the gain from the preamp, and it doesn't sound like that's the tone that your wanting to hear.

How will this new amp be used?

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

Because on an album, its often double or quadruple tracked to sound much thicker. Also, you need more gain alone than in a band mix.

 

[William Walstra]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

either bring a hot plate to the store you are tryin em out (I still don't think you would get that good of tone doing that)

or

get the vox modeler head IMO

going to a store and trying to crank an amp is scraping teeth if they don't have a soundroom...and youll never really get good high gain tone out of tube at low volumes IMO

sound-proof rooms rock hehe.

I can't find a hotplate dealer that's easily reachable for me, and we don't have Vox dealers as far as I know.


DSS: I realise that, though I'd still like to find a simular tone (tweaked a little to my likings) that can be used in both instances.

 

[Imp]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

use a delay effect (very very subtle, and very very short) to thicken the sound a bit? like, the shortest delay the unit offers, with a single repeat, and a lower effect signal.. it'll go some of the way to sound like layering, but there's not much of a substitute

also, compression might help.. most guitar sounds you hear on record have been compressed somewhere along the line

tom

 

[Zerberus]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

...also, compression might help.. most guitar sounds you hear on record have been compressed somewhere along the line

...

You mean like the air in that strange bubble on your noggin?

 

[Nightburst]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

You probably mean that you were checking out amp settings from pictures and live concerts?

An od pedal in front of the amp will fatten and tighten up the sound. Will work at low volumes too but will work even better at higher volumes.

 

[80s]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

Just Crank it up. I have a Marshall Guv'nor (the old one) and it doesn't sound powerful enough at home (master Vol 2) When I practice with my band, Its a real beauty (master vol 6). I always think about getting another distortion pedal (like a tonebone) but hey we proberly have like 4 or 5 distortion/ overdrive pedals each here. After practicing with my band I think, The sound was good and powerful and I liked it. When i plug it in at home it lacks power like before and the circle begins again

 

[FretFire]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

Because on an album, its often double or quadruple tracked to sound much thicker. Also, you need more gain alone than in a band mix.

Exactly what I was going to say. Also, don't forget that there's a bass player on that recording .

 

[Diego]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

How do you exactly double track? I'm tempted to try it on something I'm recording... :scratchch

 

[nuntius]

Re: How come I can't do it? Distortion question

Because on an album, its often double or quadruple tracked to sound much thicker. Also, you need more gain alone than in a band mix.

Yep. Bear in mind there's also drums and bass on a recording.