Great Guitar Tones

[JD01]

Rammstein just came on in my headphones this morning. "Du Hast"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3q8Od5qJio
I probably haven't heard it since I saw them play about 6 years ago and certainly before I got into the nuances of recording good tones... I immediately thought, fuck me, that's a good tone.

Its heavy, but there's no sludge in it, its really right and defined. I know this tone won't be everyone's cup of tea but you gotta admit they've made a good job of getting really good tone.

What other stuff have you heard recently where you've thought, holy shit, that's a good noise. Doesn't even have to be a song you particularly like.

[jonny deep]

Not guitar tone, but I heard the song Amazed by Lonestar and thought the snare sound was incredible (shitty pop-country song; nice bit of ear candy). I went on Amazon Music and found it on a compilation album and the remastering had ruined it - found it on the original album and it sounded great again.

[JD01]

Not guitar tone, but I heard the song Amazed by Lonestar and thought the snare sound was incredible (shitty pop-country song; nice bit of ear candy). I went on Amazon Music and found it on a compilation album and the remastering had ruined it - found it on the original album and it sounded great again.

That's weird, is that due to compressing the shit out of it for a modern MP3 release?

I've just listened to this on YouTube... the song is bloody awful! Almost unlistenable - in fact it is unlistenable.

[JD01]

Also, this is a tone I love and its kind of my goal as a tone! Seems to do everything I want, a chugs a bit and is crisp but it also sounds good when they strum it, not losing definition and becoming a mushy mess.

Its most obvious at 1:18 in the song so I've tried to get the YouTube link to start there - its pretty clear all the way through the song though.
https://youtu.be/X2u6DeXvLDM?t=78

[Bubba]

I like a lot of Dan Auerbach's tones. I really like the sound of guitars that are a bit tortured, on the edge, lo-fi. Tight, crisp guitar tones are anathema to me. Here's one I liked from more recent years.

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhgVu2lsi_k[/BBvideo]

[Bubba]

I've just listened to this on YouTube... the song is bloody awful! Almost unlistenable - in fact it is unlistenable.

You tell 'im JDude.

He lives quite near me - shall I drive over and give him a slap? I can nick his JCM 800 while I'm there.

[Bubba]

Also, this is a tone I love and its kind of my goal as a tone! Seems to do everything I want, a chugs a bit and is crisp but it also sounds good when they strum it, not losing definition and becoming a mushy mess.

Its most obvious at 1:18 in the song so I've tried to get the YouTube link to start there - its pretty clear all the way through the song though.
https://youtu.be/X2u6DeXvLDM?t=78

Now I see why you've struggled with that mudhole Blackstar, mate. Seriously.

[JD01]

Also, this is a tone I love and its kind of my goal as a tone! Seems to do everything I want, a chugs a bit and is crisp but it also sounds good when they strum it, not losing definition and becoming a mushy mess.

Its most obvious at 1:18 in the song so I've tried to get the YouTube link to start there - its pretty clear all the way through the song though.
https://youtu.be/X2u6DeXvLDM?t=78

Now I see why you've struggled with that mudhole Blackstar, mate. Seriously.

How'd you mean?

[JD01]

I've just listened to this on YouTube... the song is bloody awful! Almost unlistenable - in fact it is unlistenable.

You tell 'im JDude.

He lives quite near me - shall I drive over and give him a slap? I can nick his JCM 800 while I'm there.

Yeah - if you can hook up an attenuator and then stick it in the post that would be great.

[Bubba]

Now I see why you've struggled with that mudhole Blackstar, mate. Seriously.

How'd you mean?

I honestly don't think that amp can do it, mate. I think there are a few amps you could plug into and get that kind of tone with not much bother. I dunno.

[JD01]

I like a lot of Dan Auerbach's tones. I really like the sound of guitars that are a bit tortured, on the edge, lo-fi. Tight, crisp guitar tones are anathema to me. Here's one I liked from more recent years.

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhgVu2lsi_k[/BBvideo]

That sounds awesome! How on earth has that passed me by.. think I'll be spending the rest of the morning checking out Royal Blood.

[Bubba]

You'll love 'em. I heard them on BBC6 Music a few years ago.

[JD01]

Yeah, I've heard them a couple of times and people have talked about them but I've never really paid attention before.

[WhiskeyJack]

Just started watching this series.

I'll always play the Ness card when it comes to tone. I just love it. I would say his tone is about as high gain as i ears would like. Anything much more than that just starts to sound the same to me.

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhTSaRkDaSs[/BBvideo]

There are tons of other tones that i'll hear and be like "SHIT GOL DANG THATS SEXY" but i think he's got it dialed in really well. The Bouncing Souls did a cover of Johnny Cash's "the man in black" and that tone hit me like a mack truck.

Hot Water Music's record "Caution" was a mind blower for me. It was love at first listen. they had a pretty wide history i was seemingly in the dark on but that record was another game changer for me on so many levels.

On that record they just had a little something going on with their tone that wasn't really going on with everything else i was listening to at the time. Maybe it was? I don't know? It wasn't "good tone" but they just were doing something 'different' and it stood out to me. The record made me reevaluate what i was doing myself which is maybe why i have sort of adopted a more low gain simplistic approach tone wise. I actually packed up my distortion pedals at that point and just started relying on the amp to do it's thing and try to incorporate something more than 2 guitars playing the same power chords into my verses.

I'd recommenced their records "Caution" and "Exister" start to finish to anyone seeking out some unconventional punk rock stuff. I've read rumors of another new one coming out too.

[Greg_L]

Just started watching this series.

I'll always play the Ness card when it comes to tone. I just love it. I would say his tone is about as high gain as i ears would like. Anything much more than that just starts to sound the same to me.

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhTSaRkDaSs[/BBvideo]

[Greg_L]

Also, this is a tone I love and its kind of my goal as a tone! Seems to do everything I want, a chugs a bit and is crisp but it also sounds good when they strum it, not losing definition and becoming a mushy mess.

Its most obvious at 1:18 in the song so I've tried to get the YouTube link to start there - its pretty clear all the way through the song though.
https://youtu.be/X2u6DeXvLDM?t=78

The good thing about that tone is that it's about as simple as it gets. Gibson and Marshall.

[rayc]

Rammstein just came on in my headphones this morning. "Du Hast"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3q8Od5qJio
I probably haven't heard it since I saw them play about 6 years ago and certainly before I got into the nuances of recording good tones... I immediately thought, fuck me, that's a good tone.

Its heavy, but there's no sludge in it, its really right and defined. I know this tone won't be everyone's cup of tea but you gotta admit they've made a good job of getting really good tone.

What other stuff have you heard recently where you've thought, holy shit, that's a good noise. Doesn't even have to be a song you particularly like.

They are a fun band - almost as fun as Laibach. I enjoy the heaviness, industrial metal stamping plant rhythms. the Ram guitar is great for their music - as you'd expect - they've been at it long enough to have nailed it. [BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7muCRio2nQ[/BBvideo]

[JD01]

The good thing about that tone is that it's about as simple as it gets. Gibson and Marshall.

That's a full stack that's screaming loud though isn't it? I'll never have the space/neighbours for that. And the 15W Marshall's I've tried were shit.

[Greg_L]

That's a full stack that's screaming loud though isn't it? I'll never have the space/neighbours for that. And the 15W Marshall's I've tried were shit.

There's really no telling what they used in studio. It sounds like it's probably their live gear, but you never know. They also have like 10 guys in that band, and the writing/recording band is not always the same as the touring band. When you see Bad Religion, it can be any combination of those 10 guys. The only two that are always consistently the same are Greg Graffin and Jay Bentley.

[JD01]

I think Brett plays on their studio stuff quite a lot and obviously he produces it. I think he only plays live with them when its local to his home - he doesn't tour.