tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

[Nick Welfare]

I run a duncan equiped les paul through a ENGL fireball head and 4x12". I get a great rythmsound(ultragain-channel), but i am not pleased with the sound when i play solo`s. I have boss dd-2, ge-7 and ch-1... any tips? Thanx for all the tips guys. I have a alnico pro II neck/bridge set on the les paul. What I do is dial a really high mid setting on the amp and keeping treble, presence,bass and gain at no more than a 10 o`clock setting. Then i run the boss ge-7 through the fx loop cutting a little mids and boosting just a little low and high freq, and leave the pedal on permanently to get a great sound. I been thinkin of getting a overdive pedal to run in front of the amp in ultragain mode, a mxr overdive or an od-3 or maybe the smart people factory ego booster that has 20db of boost and a bass/treble knob. Earlier attempts of running a distortion in front of a cranked amp resulted in noise like a mother****er, but I see that many players has an overdive in their pedal setup....

 

[neosadist]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

I run a duncan equiped les paul through a ENGL fireball head. I get a great rythmsound(ultragain-channel), but i am not pleased with the sound when i play solo`s. I have boss dd-2, ge-7 and ch-1... any tips?

Boss OD-2. Then play with the tone knob.
Honestly, almost any pedal can be used for lead, so long as you play with the tone. If you're still not getting the lead tone you want with the tone knob all the way down on the pedal, there's a problem somewhere.
On my Boss ME-50, either I can pick a patch that says this, or almost any distortion can be made into lead by playing with it for a while.

 

[Dills]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Sounds like you need to either boost the mids on your amp a little, or roll the tone back on your guitar. You can use the neck pickup to get a very smooth and thick lead sound. Changing pickups to a thicker set will also help, i have no problems getting a thick and smooth articulate lead sound from my aph1 in the neck and a farily boosted midranged pickup (custom custom) in the bridge.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Since you have a Boss GE-7 Graphic EQ, try using it to dial in the perfect frequencies, and bump up the volume slider on it. You might be able to use it as an additional lead boost.

 

[ParaGuitarMedic]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Don't be afraid to use your tone knob. I recall once thinking about taking my tone knobs off since i never used them. Funny, I didn't sound very good back then. Just experiment with those knobs and prepare to possibly compromise some of your rythm tone to get a better lead tone.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

sounds like a ts9 or ts808 is exactly what you're looking for

they'll smooth out anything, and have one hell of a volume boost

 

[neosadist]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Sounds like you need to either boost the mids on your amp a little, or roll the tone back on your guitar. You can use the neck pickup to get a very smooth and thick lead sound. Changing pickups to a thicker set will also help, i have no problems getting a thick and smooth articulate lead sound from my aph1 in the neck and a farily boosted midranged pickup (custom custom) in the bridge.

Strange, I've always went with tone knob at max, and ME-50 pedal at defaults, amp knobs all at "5", etc. Somehow everyone has always said I sound great. But I'm wondering: to my ears I don't yet hear the difference. I know there's a difference in tone between say Petra and BB King, but is there some recommended stuff to listen to in order to broaden my musical tastes in guitar? Thanks....

 

[Simon_F]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Bridge pickup tone knob is the key to fat lead tone on a Les Paul.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Get ready for this-

Throw all of the gear out except for the les paul, get a BF fender twin and two TS808's modded by mr spina....hehe

No mean to brag or anything, but i can honestly say that i'm pretty proud of my solo tone through my Spina TS9>DRRI using the strat...just insane butter and wail, and it's quite high gain hehe...This IMHO, i dont know much for high gain metal type tone but smooth and fat are the kinds of adjectives that could be used to describe my tone and the tone that you'd get with a Twin and two OD's.

Besides that, im sure that you can dial in what your looking for with that ENGL, just keep working your tone knobs, and the amp settings. Smooth and fat usually describes a wailing neck pickup tone, so start there and use your tone knob and the gain to dial yourself in

 

[jeremy]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

what duncans? the neck pup with lots of mids gets me a big fat singing lead tone. if you have a good rhythm setting, use the ge7 to boost the level like gj said and push the eq to boost mids and maybe tighten the bottom so low notes arent mushy and roll of a touch of high end.

mixing the neck pup and the bridge pup with the tone rolled down can be a very cool tone that is way smooth

 

[FretFire]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Strange, I've always went with tone knob at max, and ME-50 pedal at defaults, amp knobs all at "5", etc. Somehow everyone has always said I sound great. But I'm wondering: to my ears I don't yet hear the difference. I know there's a difference in tone between say Petra and BB King, but is there some recommended stuff to listen to in order to broaden my musical tastes in guitar? Thanks....

Amp knobs all at 5 is usually a bad idea, at least with all the amps I've had experience with (Mesa, VHT, Fender, even Line 6 stuff). Knock the bass down just a touch, boost the mids up, and probably bump the treble up a little to taste. Also, remember to turn the gain DOWN when in doubt :laugh2:.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Yep, some of the guys here said it. You want mids to cut through the mix and using the neck pickup will give you a fat, lead tone. A neck humbucker or P90 just kills for that fat, smooth thang.

If you need a bit of a "boost" to kick the amp into feedback, just get a transparent overdrive and dial in a bit of gain and you should be all set.

 

[neosadist]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Amp knobs all at 5 is usually a bad idea, at least with all the amps I've had experience with (Mesa, VHT, Fender, even Line 6 stuff). Knock the bass down just a touch, boost the mids up, and probably bump the treble up a little to taste. Also, remember to turn the gain DOWN when in doubt :laugh2:.

Well yeah, in high gain situations with the neck pickup (Jazz) I've had to bump the bass down. Not with the bridge pickup (JB). Otherwise, it didn't sound in need of mids, but that could be my ME-50. Then again, I had never played my Fender Twin so loud before, I was at 7 volume and 7 master (but they said when I switched to a "lead" pedal I could be heard above EVERYTHING in the auditorium lol)....

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Amp knobs all at 5 is usually a bad idea, at least with all the amps I've had experience with (Mesa, VHT, Fender, even Line 6 stuff). Knock the bass down just a touch, boost the mids up, and probably bump the treble up a little to taste. Also, remember to turn the gain DOWN when in doubt :laugh2:.

+1 A little less gain and more actual volume can really give a smooth fat lead tone IMHO. . .

 

[LesPaulRules]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

As soon as I read the title of this thread, the answer was obvious.

Get a Duncan Custom Custom and throw it in the bridge. Big fat smooth lead tone til the cows come home. Moo

 

[greendy123]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Strange, I've always went with tone knob at max, and ME-50 pedal at defaults, amp knobs all at "5", etc. Somehow everyone has always said I sound great. But I'm wondering: to my ears I don't yet hear the difference. I know there's a difference in tone between say Petra and BB King, but is there some recommended stuff to listen to in order to broaden my musical tastes in guitar? Thanks....

Here's my favorite japanese band, The Brilliant Green, they play mostly pop or alternative stuff, most is easy going, but I love their tone. They do mix english and japanese, so you can understand some of their songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQABbkYkMvc&search=the brilliant green
This is one my favorite solos by that guitarist in the band. Just shows how good a tone you can get just a low/medium amount of gain.

 

[B2D]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

For big fat lead tones I usually tend to rely on neck pickups, a touch of overdrive with the tone rolled down somewhat, and less gain and MORE volume on the amp.

 

[neosadist]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

For big fat lead tones I usually tend to rely on neck pickups, a touch of overdrive with the tone rolled down somewhat, and less gain and MORE volume on the amp.

Yeah, for me I prefer neck PU for bluesy / midsy, and bridge PU for harder stuff, but oh well. Sometimes the JB actually DOES sound good in a bluesy setup....

 

[mctriple]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

the biggest change i generally make for lead tones is the midrange. boosting that lets it cut through nicely and gives it a nice fat tone.

 

[Guitarist]

Re: tips on getting a smooth, fat lead tone?

Buy an Eternity and pump syrup out of your amp, fo realz.

www.lovepedal.com