Hey guys. I am thinking of getting a tube amp, or pretty much are, in a few weeks. Now I can't afford a Mesa, Engl, high end Peavy or any other $1,000+ amp. I know that Steve Vai uses a Boss DS1 with his Carvin Legacy. Does he send the DS1 into the clean channel, or does he throw it ontop of the over drive channel? I am looking at getting a Fender Hot Rod or Peavy Valveking. I need good cleans for blues and good distortion for metal and progressive rock. Vai has a great distortion tone and if he mainly gets it through his Boss DS1, then I should have a good shot at getting a nice high gain tone through a cheaper tube amp with the right pedals. So does anyone know how he uses it? Thanks a lot guys.
Steve Vai and his distortion
- Thread starter BluesGuyJ
- Start date
greendy123
New member
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
You won't get a similar tone from any amp. He mainly uses the ds-1 as a boost by leaving the gain low or none at all and having the output level high. By doing this you just send a stronger signal into the amp without coloring the tone. The distortion is mainly the amp and the high output breed and evo pickups he uses.
You won't get a similar tone from any amp. He mainly uses the ds-1 as a boost by leaving the gain low or none at all and having the output level high. By doing this you just send a stronger signal into the amp without coloring the tone. The distortion is mainly the amp and the high output breed and evo pickups he uses.
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
Ok, not what I wanted to hear, damn. Can you guys reccomend how I can make a Fender Hot Rod push out a high gain tone? Would a distortion pedal ontop of a over drive pedal do the trick? I love using high gain for fast runs on the neck pickup as well as the bridge pickup. Or is this dream just unachievable with a Fender Hot Rod?
Ok, not what I wanted to hear, damn. Can you guys reccomend how I can make a Fender Hot Rod push out a high gain tone? Would a distortion pedal ontop of a over drive pedal do the trick? I love using high gain for fast runs on the neck pickup as well as the bridge pickup. Or is this dream just unachievable with a Fender Hot Rod?
Hot _Grits
Buttery Toneologist
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
Just get a high gain pedal. Something like the tonebone hot british, perhaps. The vox cooltron british bulldog would work well, too.
Just get a high gain pedal. Something like the tonebone hot british, perhaps. The vox cooltron british bulldog would work well, too.
greendy123
New member
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
Basically try every pedal at shops on your amp and you might find a tone your looking for. The thing is for your tone will be based on pedals instead an amp, its one of the things that may make your tone generic.
Basically try every pedal at shops on your amp and you might find a tone your looking for. The thing is for your tone will be based on pedals instead an amp, its one of the things that may make your tone generic.
S
Skarekrough
Guest
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
Well, not using a Fender HotRod Deluxe would be a good first starting point.
The difference between standard gain amps and high-gain amps is pretty sizable. The HotRod Deluxe amps are usually favored by those that like them for the 40 watts of headroom rather than the on-board overdrive.
Your best best would be to look at specific pedals that get that high-gain sound rather than trying to combine elements of the amp and a pedal for it.
I think H and K made a Rectifier-clone pedal or something like that.
It would also be valuable to mention that before you buy, take your whole rig to the shop and plug in and see what it sounds like with your rig. Different amps and guitars will produce very different results. The best way to be sure you're going to be happy with what you get is to use your own gear.
BluesGuyJ said:
Well, not using a Fender HotRod Deluxe would be a good first starting point.
The difference between standard gain amps and high-gain amps is pretty sizable. The HotRod Deluxe amps are usually favored by those that like them for the 40 watts of headroom rather than the on-board overdrive.
Your best best would be to look at specific pedals that get that high-gain sound rather than trying to combine elements of the amp and a pedal for it.
I think H and K made a Rectifier-clone pedal or something like that.
It would also be valuable to mention that before you buy, take your whole rig to the shop and plug in and see what it sounds like with your rig. Different amps and guitars will produce very different results. The best way to be sure you're going to be happy with what you get is to use your own gear.
Nightburst
New member
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
I know someone who uses a Line 6 Ubermetal pedal through his hotrod and he gets good cleans and real good high gain! Any other good distortion pedal will do the trick as well.
BluesGuyJ said:
I know someone who uses a Line 6 Ubermetal pedal through his hotrod and he gets good cleans and real good high gain! Any other good distortion pedal will do the trick as well.
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
Well the thing is, I needgood cleans for blues/clean playing obviously, and distortion that goes from ZZ Top "Tush", to Dream Theater, to early Santana. It looks like I may be looking at some sort of boutique or custom amp for this. I suppose a Mesa would do the trick dead on, but I dont have that kind of cash. I do have a Podxt and perhaps the Atomic Reactor is my answer to my problems. Is there a Marshall that could get me into this ball park? I love the tone of the DSLs, but I wont allow myself to go near them because of their horrible reliability reputation. I hate how my playing is so diverse, it gets the best of me when it comes to amps.
Well the thing is, I needgood cleans for blues/clean playing obviously, and distortion that goes from ZZ Top "Tush", to Dream Theater, to early Santana. It looks like I may be looking at some sort of boutique or custom amp for this. I suppose a Mesa would do the trick dead on, but I dont have that kind of cash. I do have a Podxt and perhaps the Atomic Reactor is my answer to my problems. Is there a Marshall that could get me into this ball park? I love the tone of the DSLs, but I wont allow myself to go near them because of their horrible reliability reputation. I hate how my playing is so diverse, it gets the best of me when it comes to amps.
That90'sGuy
DyzaBoyzologist
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
Steve Vai's tone just sings for days because he really uses modified Bogner XTC 101B amps. You guys are right though, he pushes the front of his amps with modded DS-1s.
Steve Vai's tone just sings for days because he really uses modified Bogner XTC 101B amps. You guys are right though, he pushes the front of his amps with modded DS-1s.
Metalman_666
Well-known member
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
What???!?!!? Vai uses Bogners? Since when? Where did you hear/read/see this? I'm curious!
the_Chris said:
What???!?!!? Vai uses Bogners? Since when? Where did you hear/read/see this? I'm curious!
T
TheArchitect
Guest
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
He has a signature amp made just to use something else? This crap is all over the net and I am calling BS on all of them until someone produces something remotely resembling credible evidence.
the_Chris said:
He has a signature amp made just to use something else? This crap is all over the net and I am calling BS on all of them until someone produces something remotely resembling credible evidence.
Hot _Grits
Buttery Toneologist
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
He's using a bogner on the first G3 tour DVD. After that, he did the deal with Carvin for the Legacy. I've seen his more recent live rig and it had Legacies, so unless he's gutting the heads and using them to house Bogners...
He's using a bogner on the first G3 tour DVD. After that, he did the deal with Carvin for the Legacy. I've seen his more recent live rig and it had Legacies, so unless he's gutting the heads and using them to house Bogners...
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
Mesa made a pedal called the V-Twin a few years back that might be just the ticket. It's got a pair of preamp tubes and 3 channels - clean, blues, and high-gain. You can only choose 2 channels to be active at a time, but you could use your amp for cleans, use the Mesa blues channel for ZZ Top, and Mesa high-gain channel for Santana and/or heavy tones. They're a bit pricey but cheaper than another amp, and you might be able to find a used one for a decent price on Ebay.
Mesa made a pedal called the V-Twin a few years back that might be just the ticket. It's got a pair of preamp tubes and 3 channels - clean, blues, and high-gain. You can only choose 2 channels to be active at a time, but you could use your amp for cleans, use the Mesa blues channel for ZZ Top, and Mesa high-gain channel for Santana and/or heavy tones. They're a bit pricey but cheaper than another amp, and you might be able to find a used one for a decent price on Ebay.
drpietrzak
New member
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
You are able to get what you want. Pick up a Carving X100B (El-34 version) and a 2x12 cab (Avatar maybe). This was the older Vai head. The X110B has good cleans and does the other side well (as well as Vai anyway). Hit hte gain channel withe the SD1.
BluesGuyJ said:
You are able to get what you want. Pick up a Carving X100B (El-34 version) and a 2x12 cab (Avatar maybe). This was the older Vai head. The X110B has good cleans and does the other side well (as well as Vai anyway). Hit hte gain channel withe the SD1.
drpietrzak
New member
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
He is known to use various things occasionally, but teh Legacy seems to be his primary deal these days.
Hot _Grits said:
He is known to use various things occasionally, but teh Legacy seems to be his primary deal these days.
tone?
New member
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
im gonna get atracked for this but i dont give a ratts butt.
if you want to get Vai's tone ust get a good SS amp. cause his tone isnt anything special at all.
he has a very compressed sound. not as compressed as it used to be, but still quite compressed.
Yeah i saw him use a Bogner on G3 as well and his tone still was flat cause he is flat. HE is the one tweaking the knobs anyway so go figure.
Sorry if i insulted anyone but i really think his tone is easy to get from a good SS amp.
or get a really good tube amp to do the ZZtop and Santana tones you mentioned and then just compress the heck out of it to get the Dream Theater/Vai Solid State Compressed sounding tone.
Cheers!
if you want tone refer to The reverend B. Gibbons. Now THATS tone.
im gonna get atracked for this but i dont give a ratts butt.
if you want to get Vai's tone ust get a good SS amp. cause his tone isnt anything special at all.
he has a very compressed sound. not as compressed as it used to be, but still quite compressed.
Yeah i saw him use a Bogner on G3 as well and his tone still was flat cause he is flat. HE is the one tweaking the knobs anyway so go figure.
Sorry if i insulted anyone but i really think his tone is easy to get from a good SS amp.
or get a really good tube amp to do the ZZtop and Santana tones you mentioned and then just compress the heck out of it to get the Dream Theater/Vai Solid State Compressed sounding tone.
Cheers!
if you want tone refer to The reverend B. Gibbons. Now THATS tone.
Re: Steve Vai and his distortion
It depends on which sound of his you're going after...
The 1st G3 sound? The Alien Love Secrets sound? PAW-era madness? Or his more recent stuff?
If you're after his more recent stuff... this is it. -> http://guitargeek.com/rigview/119/
He runs the Legacy at a Medium/heavy distortion sound and sets the DS1 (which has been modded by Rob Keeley) to a light overdrive sound and a LOT of volume boost. Additionally he's been using Keeley Tube Screamers as well. If you want details on those check out www.robertkeeley.com
I've heard all the stories about his Legacies being modded by Bogner... personally I don't believe it because I a) own a Legacy and b) Have seen him play live twice with his Legacy rig and his recent tones are definitely within the amps stock capabilities
. Just make sure you're running good speakers and really kickass tubes. I run GT12AX7Rs and GTEL34R's in mine and the sound is a vast improvement over the stock Sovteks and EH tubes. I'm told by the Carvin guys the amp sounds best with JJ tubes as well.
http://www.vai.com/Machines/livegear.html <- There's more info on his live gear as well.
It depends on which sound of his you're going after...
The 1st G3 sound? The Alien Love Secrets sound? PAW-era madness? Or his more recent stuff?
If you're after his more recent stuff... this is it. -> http://guitargeek.com/rigview/119/
He runs the Legacy at a Medium/heavy distortion sound and sets the DS1 (which has been modded by Rob Keeley) to a light overdrive sound and a LOT of volume boost. Additionally he's been using Keeley Tube Screamers as well. If you want details on those check out www.robertkeeley.com
I've heard all the stories about his Legacies being modded by Bogner... personally I don't believe it because I a) own a Legacy and b) Have seen him play live twice with his Legacy rig and his recent tones are definitely within the amps stock capabilities
. Just make sure you're running good speakers and really kickass tubes. I run GT12AX7Rs and GTEL34R's in mine and the sound is a vast improvement over the stock Sovteks and EH tubes. I'm told by the Carvin guys the amp sounds best with JJ tubes as well.http://www.vai.com/Machines/livegear.html <- There's more info on his live gear as well.
