The Tone Thread

[rayc]

Mellotron VSTs. Free. Save yourself hundreds of dollars.

There are some good ones out there.
I tried a few but I don't really have anything to trigger them properly.
Prior to getting the Mel 9 I used sets of .wav files I have for the full 'tron keyboard and about 7 different sounds.
I'd cut & paste the notes into a couple or three tracks to make triads etc. They sound incredible but it's a laborious.

[rayc]

Aren't you a Reaper person, ray? Add MIDI item and away you go...

I am David but I'm also a Midi idiot - no idea - couldn't even get my e drums to run midi in Reaper.

[SweetDan]

Tonight while messing around w/pedals I found that an insane mid-boosted EQ goes really nicely into that fuzz pedal I made a while back. I can't do any out-loud recording right now -- the fam has gone to bed -- but somebody poke me in a few days if I haven't posted any sound clips by then, and I'll throw something up here.

Tele bridge, tone rolled off about halfway, vol 100%
-> EQ (severe bass/treble cuts, extreme mid boost)
-> fuzz
-> clean amp

[SweetDan]

SweetDan, killer of threads...

Setup: Tele-clone, bridge p/u, tone/vol 100%
-> DigiTech RP255, "Mid boost" EQ processor, bass=-12, mid=+12, treble=-12 (I have no idea what the frequency centers are)
-> DIY "7-Min" fuzz pedal I built a few months ago
-> clean amp
-> SM57, ~1" off grille, on-axis, pointed at dustcap/cone seam
-> audio interface and into the DAW, no other processing

guitar-eq-fuzz-amp.mp3

Clip descriptions:
1. guitar->clean amp; EQ off, fuzz off
2. guitar->EQ->amp; fuzz off
3. guitar->fuzz->amp; EQ off
4. guitar->EQ->fuzz->amp

So, the point of this exercise was that (to my ears, at least) the fuzz pedal, by itself in the signal chain (segment #3), is not great; it sounds a little woofy. But inserting the extremely sculpted EQ in the chain before the fuzz (segment #4) got rid of the woofiness and added or emphasized some nice mid/high-range grind.

EDIT: Hey, look at that...I didn't even read my own notes from before! I should have rolled off the guitar's tone knob a bit.... Anyway, here's a "solo" tone, with the addition of a bit of delay. Segment 1 is without the EQ, segment 2 is with. That EQ shape into the fuzz really adds a lot of clarity to the tone:

solo-guitar-eq-fuzz-amp.mp3

[rayc]

The rhythm clip has quite a classic rock tone to it.
Not sure about the lead.

[Greg_L]

SweetDan, killer of threads...

Setup: Tele-clone, bridge p/u, tone/vol 100%
-> DigiTech RP255, "Mid boost" EQ processor, bass=-12, mid=+12, treble=-12 (I have no idea what the frequency centers are)
-> DIY "7-Min" fuzz pedal I built a few months ago
-> clean amp
-> SM57, ~1" off grille, on-axis, pointed at dustcap/cone seam
-> audio interface and into the DAW, no other processing


guitar-eq-fuzz-amp.mp3

Clip descriptions:
1. guitar->clean amp; EQ off, fuzz off
2. guitar->EQ->amp; fuzz off
3. guitar->fuzz->amp; EQ off
4. guitar->EQ->fuzz->amp

So, the point of this exercise was that (to my ears, at least) the fuzz pedal, by itself in the signal chain (segment #3), is not great; it sounds a little woofy. But inserting the extremely sculpted EQ in the chain before the fuzz (segment #4) got rid of the woofiness and added or emphasized some nice mid/high-range grind.

EDIT: Hey, look at that...I didn't even read my own notes from before! I should have rolled off the guitar's tone knob a bit.... Anyway, here's a "solo" tone, with the addition of a bit of delay. Segment 1 is without the EQ, segment 2 is with. That EQ shape into the fuzz really adds a lot of clarity to the tone:

solo-guitar-eq-fuzz-amp.mp3

I think you did a good job with that fuzz pedal. I'm not a connoisseur of fuzz pedals, I wouldn't know a good one from a bad one, but from what I can tell it's good. Not too harsh or fizzy, but it is appropriately fuzzy. I think it works well. With the EQ you've shaped it well into something that I think could be very usable in the right situations.

[JD01]

Sounds like a tidy fuzz tone to me too, not too mental - some of them sound pretty much unusable unless you specifically want things to sound broken! I reckon this sounds good.

I would like a fuzz pedal - I just need to get to shop and try and bunch of them to work out what I actually want!

[Minerman]

Just a quick post before I head out the door to practice for the gig....

I'll have everything I need to make some tone clips at the practice spot today, so I'll make a few clips with the Mini Jubilee at the volume I'm using there & post 'em up when I get home tonight...The little shitty laptop won't handle much else, but it should be able to handle a tone clip or two...

[JD01]

I just don't have many tones to share at the moment. Spent ages working on loads of different tones but now I have something that I want to stick with for a while.

[rayc]

I just don't have many tones to share at the moment. Spent ages working on loads of different tones but now I have something that I want to stick with for a while.

Yeah, you do!
That amp was near perfect for you!

[Greg_L]

Red Tide.mp3

[JD01]

Red Tide.mp3

Cool, is this all the new built amp?
Did you start playing the Inspector Gadget theme in there?

That is loads of reverb!

Sounds really good.

[JD01]

I just don't have many tones to share at the moment. Spent ages working on loads of different tones but now I have something that I want to stick with for a while.

Yeah, you do!
That amp was near perfect for you!

I'm sure I'll start wanting something else in the future... but I can't think of another amp that I want that actually exists!

[Greg_L]

Red Tide.mp3

Cool, is this all the new built amp?
Did you start playing the Inspector Gadget theme in there?

That is loads of reverb!

Sounds really good.

Thanks. Yup that's the new amp and yup there's a hint of inspector gadget in there and yup it's got a lot of amp reverb.

[Minerman]

Red Tide.mp3

Sounds good Greg...I think you did a super job on the amp build dude, it does exactly what you were shooting for, I say job well done...


I didn't get around to messing with any tones yesterday, I'll try it again today, but not sure it'll happen today either...I've took on being soundman/pa guy, none of the others in the band know anything about the little pa we're using, so there's something else I've ended up taking on...It's not a big deal because the only thing going through the pa is the vocals, I'd just forgotten how much goes into playing a gig...

I actually haven't took the time to do much except the practice/gig thing, but it'll be over before long, & Thursday things should get back to normal for me here...

[rayc]

Yup, Yup & Yup said the Greg and the amp samp is a Red Tide of Yupness too.
Which guitar? Did I hear whammy bar wangling?

[Greg_L]

Thanks dudes. That's the Hallmark Mosrite clone, and yup, some wang bar wiggling.

[JD01]

OK, this is the song I started working on last weekend. Was fleshing out the vocal melody too on Tuesday so I might even get this one finished next weekend.

But this is my latest rhythm guitar technique of using the i5 one side and the SM57 the other side. I've muted all of the lead guitar work on this as they were just placeholders, so its just rhythm guitars, bass and drums.

Fairly pleased with them but you've got any tips for how to make them sound better prior to me recording the rest of the bits that would be great.

New Punk Song Rhythm Guitar Mix.mp3

[rayc]

James,
That amp makes SUCH a difference to your songs that it seems that they've come from transistor radio to living room stereo.

[JD01]

Cheers, guys - looking forward to trying to finish this one off now.