The Tone Thread

[Minerman]

This is about 2 years old, but thought it'd be a good video to throw in here for all us Tonetards...If you guys have saw this already I apologize, but again, IMO this is a good video detailing how Angus/Malcolm (RIP)/Stevie get "that" sound...

Good info on gear, settings, all kinds of useful info here:
[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5C7GKGxICg[/BBvideo]

Here are roughly where each section starts in case you don't wanna watch the whole thing...

• 00:00 - 8:35 Guitars:

I thought it was interesting what he said about the p'ups, they have a lot lower output than I thought they'd have...Basically stock guitars with low output p'ups (compared to a lot of modern p'ups anyway), with wax to keep Angus' sweat from fucking the electronics up...
Ernie Ball .09-.42 string gauge, & uses a single guitar until it's out of tune before he'll swap...
I was pretty surprised that Angus uses these vintage guitars on the road...I'm sure he's got a shit-ton more, but still...

• 14:00 Schaffer Replica:

Nothing really new here, but the Schaffer is a part Angus' sound, now anyway...

• 16:00 Amp Tech:

There's an amp tech guy on the road with 'em, & all he does is work on amps, all day everyday...Pretty surprising, but later in the video you'll understand why...

• 17:00 Amp Details:

To me, those amps are the holy grail of guitar tone, & are nothing short of badass...And yes, I'm a Marshall fanboy if you're wondering...

• 17:20 Master Volume Mods:

The amps shown are modded with a master volume, I'm assuming this basically makes those amps sort of a JCM800...Again, badass...

• 17:50 More Mods & "Museum Pieces":

Some amps are stock, some are modded, but no matter what's been done to 'em, they all have the same goal of sounding consistently...

• 19:00 Amp Bias:

I was truly shocked with this, they don't follow the "rules" of biasing their amps, again, it's all about the sound...The tech guy said it was not uncommon to blow an amp up, & that's the reason for the amp guy...No compromising, if they've gotta blow amps up to get there, then that's what they do...
True rock & roll, there are no rules...

• 19:45 Power Tubes:

They use JJ tubes, I'm assuming because they could care less if they blow...They've got the coin to do what the fuck they want...
Again, true rockers...

• 20:05 Amp Settings:

Another surprise that makes sense to me now, & has gave me some ideas help to dial in the Mini Jubilee...

• Presence: 1
  Bass: 3
  Mid: 3
  Treb: 3
  Vol: 6
  Gain: 8

• 21:15 Angus Doesn't Do Soundchecks:

Angus is a living legend IMO...He doesn't fuck with soundchecks, just grabs his guitar & hits the stage...

• 21:30 Cabs, FOH mix ISO cab:

I've heard about the ISO cabs for years, but didn't know they have a 2x12 inside, I always assumed it was a 4x12...I'm positive these ISO cabs are nothing short of massive too...
Angus doesn't use in-ear monitoring, his stage cabs are his monitors, which I thought was interesting...I'd always assumed the cabs were just for looks & all the sound came from the ISO cab under the stage, but I was wrong...The FOH guitar sound is the ISO cab, but I'm sure all the roaring amps & cabs are part of the mix the audience hears too...Angus also has 2 of Malcom/Stevie's cabs on his side of the stage for monitors...

• 23:15 Speakers:

Angus uses Greenbacks & Malcolm/Stevie use V30's...This just confirms some ideas I've had for years to get different tones in a mix, Greenback or similar on one side & V30 or similar on the other...

• 24:00 Malcolm/Stevie's Rig:

He uses .12's , & like Angus, he uses a single guitar until it's out of tune...Great looking (IMO) & great sounding old-school guitars...

• 29:20 Stevie/Malcolm's signal Chain & Amps:

I immediately thought of Ray, he's using basically the same amp...

• 30:00 Amp Details:

Pretty interesting his #1 amp is a modded metal front Super Bass w/extra gain stage/tube through the bass channel, but without a master volume...Again, immediately though of Ray when I heard this...
His #2 amp is a 1966/early 1967 JTM 45 100 watter, & #3 is another Super Bass...
He also uses 6 cabs on stage, loaded with V30's, an ISO cab under the stage & has 4 of Angus' cabs on his side...Again, Angus has 2 of Malcom/Stevie's cabs on his side of the stage for monitors...

• 31:22 Amp Settings:

JTM 45:

• Presence: 3
  Bass: 1
  Mid: 4
  Treble: 6.5
  Volume 1:7
  Volume 2:0

If you pause the video & use full screen you can see what the Super Bass amps are set on...

Sorry for such a long-ass post, but there's some really cool things here IMO, & thought it might help some of us Tonetards who are chasing tone...

[Greg_L]

Yeah I've watched that one several times. It's definitely my favorite of the rig rundowns.

[Minerman]

Yeah I've watched that one several times. It's definitely my favorite of the rig rundowns.

I think it's pretty damn cool, & opened my eyes to a few things I thought I knew, like how they set their amps...I always assumed they set everything on 10, but I was way off...I'm gonna give some of these amp settings a shot tomorrow, I'll try to post some clips...

[Greg_L]

I like how they have an amp tech whose job is to rebuild their blown up amps day and night.

[Minerman]

I like how they have an amp tech whose job is to rebuild their blown up amps day and night.

Yeah, Angus' tech said they blew 3 or 4 up during one gig...

I can see where they're coming from though, they've got the $$$ to do anything they wanna, & if they have to blow amps up to get where they wanna be tone-wise, they can...Must be nice...

[rayc]

I read recently that after Bon died Noddy Holder was approached but that he recommended Brian.

[JD01]

I read recently that after Bon died Noddy Holder was approached but that he recommended Brian.

Wow, that could have been truly disastrous.

[JD01]

Alright guys,

These are the new tones that I've been working on today - I'm actually pretty pleased with them, they seem to sit in a mix pretty well.
I've basically swapped my mic choices around, I've put the i5 on the edge of the cap and the 57 out towards the edge of the cone and blended them eqaully. When I had the mics the other way around with the i5 towards the edge of the cone I found that I had to turn the i5 down quite a lot 'cos it got dark really quickly. Weird, I always though the i5 was supposed to be a bright mic!

New Rhythm 1.mp3

New Rhythm 2.mp3

[Greg_L]

The i5 is much smoother than a 57. I prefer it as the bright mic placement, 57 for more body.

[Greg_L]

Lol. This Jubilee is a real a piece of crap to deal with.

labels.jpg

board removed.jpg

board 1.jpg

board 2.jpg

[Lt. Bob]

at least it looks like there's a pretty good bit of room to work on stuff

[Greg_L]

at least it looks like there's a pretty good bit of room to work on stuff

Yeah on one hand the spade connectors and ribbon cables make it easy to take apart. I got the board completely removed without even turning on the soldering iron. On the other hand, a tube amp being assembled like this just gives me an uneasy feeling. This thing is like a computer with tubes.

[Tadpui]

Holy crap, that looks as bad on the inside as this focusrite does! Except the Jube has way more scary looking giant capacitors in it.

[rayc]

New Rhythm 1.mp3
New Rhythm 2.mp3

ONE seems like it'd fit in a Buzzcocks' mix until the chugga. Both are good to my ears.

[rayc]

at least it looks like there's a pretty good bit of room to work on stuff

Yeah on one hand the spade connectors and ribbon cables make it easy to take apart. I got the board completely removed without even turning on the soldering iron. On the other hand, a tube amp being assembled like this just gives me an uneasy feeling. This thing is like a computer with tubes.

I like the OCD labeling.
Reminds me of the back of my stereo: all connections labeled both ends.
It does look odd, you're right.

[JD01]

The i5 is much smoother than a 57. I prefer it as the bright mic placement, 57 for more body.

Yeah, me too now. I just hadn't had time to really experiment with it until now.

[JD01]

New Rhythm 1.mp3
New Rhythm 2.mp3

ONE seems like it'd fit in a Buzzcocks' mix until the chugga. Both are good to my ears.

Yeah, I'm pleased with these to be fair.
Looking forward to getting a new amp, but I'm actually pretty pleased with what I have now so a bit nervous about it! I'm sure it will be fine and I can always revert back to a Blackstar if I don't get on with it.

[Greg_L]

I like the OCD labeling.
Reminds me of the back of my stereo: all connections labeled both ends.
It does look odd, you're right.

There's absolutely no way I could do this without labeling every wire. It's like 20-something wires I had to remove. They just pull off, but there's no rhyme or reason to it. Thankfully the connections of the board are marked, so I just made a little flag for each wire and wrote where it goes on it.

[SweetDan]

...These are the new tones that I've been working on today - I'm actually pretty pleased with them, they seem to sit in a mix pretty well...

Nice!

I'm really curious, though, about your production techniques that allowed you to go from a tone clip to a full, finished mix ("Entertain Ourselves To Death", right?) in a day.

[JD01]

...These are the new tones that I've been working on today - I'm actually pretty pleased with them, they seem to sit in a mix pretty well...

Nice!

I'm really curious, though, about your production techniques that allowed you to go from a tone clip to a full, finished mix ("Entertain Ourselves To Death", right?) in a day.

haha, I had the scratch tracks down already, the song written/arranged and the drums done. I just needed to get the vocals done and record all of my "keeper" guitar tracks. The vocal took me 2 or 3 hours of take after take to nail it (I'm a shite singer). Rhythm L took me three takes, then I did Rhythm R in one take. Then I worked on the lead bits quietly for a while until I had them under my fingers before recording them.

I didn't write, arrange, programme drums and do everything in one day!
I'll normally spend a while working on something deciding what I like and what I don't record scratch tracks using the emulated out from the amp as I can do this at any time of day, practice the parts so I know I can play them well etc. Then when I come to track things for keeps I can generally get it done really quickly.
I've only realised that this seems to be the best technique for me in the last few months though.