Vito Bratta sound

I

iwas1ncthr

New member
Hey All,

Was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of setup Vito Baratta from White lion had on his guitar. I know he played a Steinberger for some of his solo's but I also know he had a main axe but no clue as to what kind of pickups or sound setup this guy had. Any info on this guys setup would be helpfull. Also, if you can recomend a pickup setup for his style of playing, I have a H/S/H I want to setup just for this (Tap) style playing. Thanks in advanced.
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

early on i think he used a 59 in a strat. then he went to emg's w/ his ADA pre amps.
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

The video from "Wait" has him playing a humbucker-equipped Fender Strat with a "White Lion" logo pickguard. I've heard that it was a JB, and it really does sound like a JB for the "Pride" record anyway. It's got that "honk" to it, esp. "All You Need Is Rock and Roll." But see below for people who probably care more about it than I do....

Found this on the Internet; looks like an incomplete list of his gear:
>ADA MP-1
>Roland Jazz Chorus JC120 (Vito used these before he switched to the ADA MP-1 setup.)
>Carvin Power Amp (Vito used this with his ADA MP-1 preamps.)
>Steinberger GM1TA (white 1988 model)
>1967 Marshall 4X12 Cabinet (Vito used this vintage cabinet on the Big Game album.)

And this:
>The clean tone on Little Fighter is from a Steinberger with EMG active pickups.
>Vito's tone is on Pride and Big Game was the result of his guitar signal going to a clean and dirty amp simultaneously, this was then blended for the desired effect.
>The key to Vito's tone, IMO, is clarity, which you can get through a low-output PAF style pickup like a '59, or an active pickup like an EMG 85. If the individual notes in the chords sound like mush, then you'll never get Vito's "sparkle".

I also found an ad for Carvin with Vito in it, so that's probably true. I'm not here to start any fights, but I'm not sure what the guy with the "EMG 85" = clarity comment meant, IMHO, the '59 would be more "sparkly", but I'm sure there may be EMG users who would disagree....
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

I've been researching this awhile...and I *finally* found my old interviews with him.

Here's the scoop:

On Pride (which is in my opinion, his *best* tone)...he used:
* "Master Volume Marshall" (probably a jcm800 of some sort)
* Tubescreammer (this accounts for the 'honk' heymcz refers to)
* 70s era sunburst strat with seymour duncan 59 in it.
* Various Michael Wagener studio jape

What you see in the wait video is one of hte custom shop strats that ESP made for Vito prior to his move to stienberger. Those guitars had a Floyd Rose, Duncan JB in the bridge and a Dimarzio HS-3 in the neck.



Sometime between or during the Pride tour, Vito moved to an ADA MP-1 setup, which was powered by a Carvin mosfet poweramp (basically, the rig mentioned above)...and Steinberger guitars with EMGs...


He continued with the Steinberger/ADA MP-1 rig for recording both 'Big Game' and 'Main Attraction'....Although he had good tone for parts of these records, nothing compares to the tone he got on pride. He should have stuck with the Duncan loaded strats into marshalls, imho.


Anyway, prior to launching the ill-fated tour to support Main Attraction, Vito went back to Fender getting a few new model strats, most notably a dark blue one....retrofitted it with an OFR and a pair of emg pickups.
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

He used a BBE sonic maximizer with the MP-1 and the carvin FET1000. He always used the same '67 marshall 4x12.

Vito will always be one of my favorite players. He will hopefully cease to be so criminally underrated some day.
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

guitarslinger213 said:
Vito will always be one of my favorite players. He will hopefully cease to be so criminally underrated some day.
Click to expand...

He's one f my favorites as well. I miss his playing. He was one of the few guitarists that treated the solo as importantly as the song...but also treated the song with a reverence that was unrivaled. He was the complete package.
 
Last edited:
Re: Vito Bratta sound

ok- lets now start a thread- THE VITO BRATTA IS THE BADDEST MUTHUA AROUND THREAD

CC DEVILLE IS THE BADDEST MUTHA AROUND

EDDIE OJEDA IS THE BADDEST MUTHA AROUND
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

Strangegrey, thanks for the info...I knew that he'd used JBs at some point, but I wasn't aware that he'd used a '59 on the record. Midrange honk, yep, tubescreamer should do that. Someone should call a band 'midrange honk'. Or better yet, midrange_hump....

Eddie Ojeda? Nah. How about the DAN WEXLER FROM ICON IS THE BADDEST MUTHA thread...though I'll be the first to admit, his tone sucks...except maybe on "Right Between the Eyes".

On Vito: "Wait" is a masterpiece of orchestration and guitar voicings. I didn't really like too much else that he did, the rest of his playing seemed a little stale in comparison.
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

Thanks for all the input guys, IMO I think Bratta is one of the best players on earth, but, I think Nuno should be thrown in the mix also. I have been tryin to get down Cliffs of Dover from Eric johnson, I've been playing for 18 years so maybe about 10 more before I get the 190BPM or such this guy is playing at,LOL anyway you all have been a great help, Thanks-- Dennis
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

Hmmmm.....I just tried it, and it works. Confirmed the spelling, and everything. It's a killer clip. Short & to the point.
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

Yep, I think Vito never got respect due to the fact that they pretty much fell in to the glam category. However he is an amazing player that write my first single note pick-harmonic-palmmute-pedal note riff. About JB pick up, can you guys tell me more, can it get a little bit more of crunch then on Vito's stuff, or it is just not the pick up for power metal territory ???
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

The JB is what Vito used live and *maybe* some of Big Game (although I think the iron arm of Michael Wagener forced Vito to use those damn steinboogers and the ADA MP-1 by then)....

On Pride (the record where vito's tone rules), he used a 59B in an old strat, as I've already mentioned above, into a Tubescreamer, into a master volume marshall (some variety of 2203/4 probably)....

I strongly suspect the tubescreamer was set for a very mild bump in gain.....given that vito's tone on pride is not too distorted. That combined with the midbump that comes standard on every tubescreamer, LOL, using a JB *without* the tubescreamer will probably do the same thing. being that the JB has it's own mid bump! :)

Regardless, the JB was employed by vito live for most of the pride tour. I've gotten darn close with a JB, to vito's tone....it can be done quite easily.

The above posted clip by VHoholic...I remember when he recorded it...it was a few years ago...and it was in response to someone mentioning that Vito used a JB in addition to a 59. That clip was *also* recorded with a JB and he posted both...in both cases, he got pretty darn close to vito's tone...

-F
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

Ghmm, hmmm once again, plizzzzz dudes.
About JB pick up, can you guys tell me more, can it get a little bit more of crunch then on Vito's stuff, or it is just not the pick up for power metal territory ???
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

strangegrey said:
The JB is what Vito used live and *maybe* some of Big Game (although I think the iron arm of Michael Wagener forced Vito to use those damn steinboogers and the ADA MP-1 by then)....

On Pride (the record where vito's tone rules), he used a 59B in an old strat, as I've already mentioned above, into a Tubescreamer, into a master volume marshall (some variety of 2203/4 probably)....

I strongly suspect the tubescreamer was set for a very mild bump in gain.....given that vito's tone on pride is not too distorted. That combined with the midbump that comes standard on every tubescreamer, LOL, using a JB *without* the tubescreamer will probably do the same thing. being that the JB has it's own mid bump! :)

Regardless, the JB was employed by vito live for most of the pride tour. I've gotten darn close with a JB, to vito's tone....it can be done quite easily.

The above posted clip by VHoholic...I remember when he recorded it...it was a few years ago...and it was in response to someone mentioning that Vito used a JB in addition to a 59. That clip was *also* recorded with a JB and he posted both...in both cases, he got pretty darn close to vito's tone...

-F
Click to expand...

I dont know man, I keep hearing he used a 59, EMG's etc, but when that main riff to Little Fighter kicks in, thats got "Duncan JB" written all over it!!!

JQ
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

Johnny Q said:
I dont know man, I keep hearing he used a 59, EMG's etc, but when that main riff to Little Fighter kicks in, thats got "Duncan JB" written all over it!!!

JQ
Click to expand...

As I've already stated, the reason his sound has JB all over it, is because he used a 59 *with* a tubescreamer on Pride. The tubesceramer would have, without question, not only raised the input signal into the amp (while adding some grit) but also would give a mid bump to the signal.

So the short answer is that you can get vito's tone with a JB, just take the tubescreamer out of the equation....you might still need some boost on the amp you're playing, but make sure it's a flatter boost...
 
Re: Vito Bratta sound

The biggest difference between "Pride" and "Big Game", IMO, is that Pride sounds all-tube, whereas Big Game sounds like he's mixing in more "direct" signal or solid state amps.

I don't particularly care WHAT it was he used to get the tone on Big Game, I'm just saying that it's got a more immediate response/attack, and a less warm, "tube-y" tone.

I prefer the TONE on "Pride", and the rehearsed, melodic solos of "Big Game".
 
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