What is a lead tone???

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: What is a lead tone???

For my rhythm tone, I use a moderately high amount of gain, stomp box to tighten things up, nothing else.
For lead, I decrease the presence, increase the gain for more sustain, through in some reverb and delay and I'm set.

 

[boingboing]

Re: What is a lead tone???

i'd play with the EQ more before changing pickups.. it'll make more of a difference straight away!

always try the cheapest things first

You're definately right ;P

It's kinda hard to get 'the' thing you're looking for though!

 

[boingboing]

Re: What is a lead tone???

For my rhythm tone, I use a moderately high amount of gain, stomp box to tighten things up, nothing else.
For lead, I decrease the presence, increase the gain for more sustain, through in some reverb and delay and I'm set.

Okay!

Yeah, presence makes thing shine...

For metal thing rythm, I use distortion until it's saturated enough to my tastes, for rock, I like it more raw ;P

For lead, I'm still searching lol...

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: What is a lead tone???

Okay!

Yeah, presence makes thing shine...

For metal thing rythm, I use distortion until it's saturated enough to my tastes, for rock, I like it more raw ;P

For lead, I'm still searching lol...

Presence can also make notes piercing and excessively bright once you venture high up the fretboard, so I like my lead tone to be much rounder than my metal rhythm tone.

 

[boingboing]

Re: What is a lead tone???

Presence can also make notes piercing and excessively bright once you venture high up the fretboard, so I like my lead tone to be much rounder than my metal rhythm tone.

Good point!

It might be a bit wierd to say, but I often forget that there are 24 frets...

I often play lower

And it makes sense, what you said before, to add more gain too, since higher on the fretboard, notes don't sustain as much... hmm...

 

[blueman335]

Re: What is a lead tone???

Having a bit of reverb fattens it up too like blueman said, and I even use delay to give it more character as well. It's all taste though.

+1. Delay is a very good idea on solos, but usually with only a low volume repeat or two to thicken your sound, especially on the upper octaves; you don't want to sound like you're lost in the Grand Canyon. It's easy to use too many repeats & get a muddled solo no one can make sense of. I rarely use delay on rhythm as it can mess up your timing.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What is a lead tone???

Yeah... but I don't know how to make it sound full... AND smooth...

It's too crunchy, or too thin... too distorted... but I guess it's quite complicated to build up a nice lead sound?

It takes a little work to get a good lead tone. You need some smoothness so that it's fluid, but still with enough sharpness and note definition so that it doesn't sound like you're playing a kazoo. I like the sound of pick attack in my solos, for 'bite', which I get with sharp-edged Dunlop .88 picks. Really emphasizes the notes.

 

[mudpuppy]

Re: What is a lead tone???

An alternative to reverb or delay to thicken you tone is chorus. If you have 2 amps, stereo chorus (or any stereo effect) makes your sound a lot 'bigger'.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What is a lead tone???

An alternative to reverb or delay to thicken you tone is chorus. If you have 2 amps, stereo chorus (or any stereo effect) makes your sound a lot 'bigger'.

Yes, but I've heard it abused more often than used properly. Too many guys lather it on and get a real artificial tone that gets tiring in a hurry. Reverb, in moderation, is natural and one of the rare effects that can be used all thru a gig (and yes, there's idiots that overdo it).

However, I do not want to hear any guitarist using chorus on more than a couple songs a night. Here and there is okay, everywhere is not. Which is like other effects (phaser, phlanger, delay, rotating speaker, etc) nice for occasional emphasis, annoying when overdone. The average local rock guitarist doesn't know when he's crossed the line & lost his tone in effects. Best to have too few effects than too many.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: What is a lead tone???

If your rhythm tone is a modern metal sound with scooped mids, you need to go the other way for lead. Less gain, more volume, boost mids especially 400-800 Hz. If you're using a "recto" model for rhythm, try a JCM800 or Plexi model for lead.

If your amp doesn't let you change models and settings on the fly, maybe try turning it around - use a less-gainy Marshall-style model and dial in your lead sound with the amp, then use a dirt box to scoop the mids, increase the gain, and drop the volume for rhythm. Something as cheap as a Boss DS-1 might work well for that (and makes a great mod platform if it's not quite right out of the box).

 

[Rich_S]

Re: What is a lead tone???

An alternative to reverb or delay to thicken you tone is chorus. If you have 2 amps, stereo chorus (or any stereo effect) makes your sound a lot 'bigger'.

I disagree. As a chronic overuser of chorus, I belive it's great for jangly, clean-to-crunch rhythm parts, but it thins out leads. The phase cancellations inherent in chorus detract from a solid, fat lead tone, and break up the sustain and feedback. I almost always turn off my chorus when it's time for the solo.

 

[DeanSweden]

Re: What is a lead tone???

And a good lead would be super big juicy koolaid ultra smooth smoothiness?

you've just described George Lynchs tone on Beast from the east

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: What is a lead tone???

I would say if you want a smooth, silky lead tone, you might want to look at the neck pickup before the bridge. And also, you mentioned you tend to play lower on the fretboard, but with the neck pickup on high notes sing with big, round sustain.

Since you have a Spider combo, I would recommend just switching between different high-gain models and listening with both pickups, while tweaking the EQ, to find a lead sound you like. My only suggestion in terms of models is stay away from the INSANE model, because in my experience it's insanely bad for lead tones. You may find you like it but that's my word of caution.

Finally, a bit of reverb/delay never hurt anyone, but like Blueman and Rich have said, be sure not to overdo it. I would try reverb level around 2 or 3 to give a bit of openness to the tone. The right amount can make a lead tone sound huge.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What is a lead tone???

I would try reverb level around 2 or 3 to give a bit of openness to the tone. The right amount can make a lead tone sound huge.

+1. That's the word I was looking for, "huge". Solos need to sound big, even if they don't have lots of notes. A commanding presence. A sound that will get their attention, and enough style and skill to hold it.

 

[scottish]

Re: What is a lead tone???

if you want a fuller, thicker tone for leads...then play your leads on the neck pickup. try it out, that way if it works for you then you dont need to mess with the JB and you still have your killer rhythm tones.

 

[jeremy]

Re: What is a lead tone???

thats what i kept thinking as you were describing what you want. solo with the neck pup, youll get a smoother warm creamier tone. play your rhythm parts with the bridge pup, set it so you get the sound you like. adjust the neck pup so that the volume is about the same as the bridge. when you want to take a solo flick the switch over to the neck and your tone will get thicker and smoother without touching the amp

 

[The Usual]

Re: What is a lead tone???

Lead tone is all about EQ. Vocal is what you want, regardless of genre. Remember that you are essentially imitating the human voice to some extent, or completely. A good lead guitarist does exactly that. Melodic sense and vocal tone are it.

The tough part is having a rig that allows you to do both rhythm and lead, which are usually mutually exclusive in a band with more than 1 guitar. Many people use some sort of EQ to boost mids or upper mids during their solos, or run two rigs.

You can use speakers like V30s to great vocal lead tones, but you can't turn them off for rhythm. Think of someone like Slash, who, love or hate him, is very good at melodic lines with a very vocal tone. But I would not want him to play rhythm in my band. Jeff beck is the same way. Great vocal tone, not much of a rhythm sound.

The old "slave to 2 masters" holds very true on this subject.

 

[kaligula11]

Re: What is a lead tone???

Lead tone is all about EQ. Vocal is what you want, regardless of genre. Remember that you are essentially imitating the human voice to some extent, or completely. A good lead guitarist does exactly that. Melodic sense and vocal tone are it.

Good point. I think many guitarists, even the biggest stars, don't get it. They work very hard to convince others that lead playing has nothing to do with music but is a triumph of form over substance. That's true of course.

 

[kaligula11]

Re: What is a lead tone???

if you want a fuller, thicker tone for leads...then play your leads on the neck pickup. try it out, that way if it works for you then you dont need to mess with the JB and you still have your killer rhythm tones.

Sometimes I change from the bridge to the neck pickup when I move up the fretboard. Higher notes sound thinner so this change adds more depth, liquidity and fullness. I love that tone.