The Tone Thread

[Bill L]

As always, it depends on what you want to do. The first 2 are brighter. To me, that means they'll probably slip into a mix better as mids and lows are where all the mud comes from when you add a bunch of tracks together. I tend to play with less treble and more mids so for me that becomes an issue. It may not be a problem for you. Conversely, if everything tends to be recorded very trebley, you may have a hard time mixing in all the highs; that will be creating possible issues in the high end when all the tracks are active and playing.

But hey, it's home recording. Try it, upload it, read the comments and then try something else. I experimented for years and still do. That's the only way to know if something is a good idea or not.

[Greg_L]

Thanks for the listen! So for the first two I may not be far off after all? Meaning with eq and compression and in a mix with everything else it may be alright? It sounds soooo much better standing in my room playing then it does recorded.

For me, if I'm imagining them in a mix, I like 3 and 4 the best. 1 and 2 are okay, but they're a little harsh on the top end and that may be too much in a mix. 3 and 4 have good, smoother top end to me and enough meat in the mids. 5 and 6 don't do much for me.

I think it's important to keep in mind that as much fun as it is to crank up some amps and record tones, the end game should be to get something that works for a mix.

[miroslav]

I liked 2 the most...by itself, of course....but, if you are looking to combine...maybe 1 & 3...or 2 & 3.
One fatter/chunkier and one brighter.
4 was possibly another one to use with one of the darker ones.

5 & 6 had too much muted honk.

Of course...it all depends on everything else that is going to be in the mix...

[rayc]

liv_ rong
I liked 3 & 4 - no particular reason. they're the ones I like.

[JD01]

You Blackstar has never sounded as boxy as mine, must be because of your cab cos everything else is the same!

[rammer24]

Hey guys,

I think it's time I tried stepping up my guitar game. I want to get a feel for my rythm sound and maybe get some opinions on which guitar and which pick-up sounds better for a good, basic rock rythm. I know it depends on a hundred things like mix, arrangement, context, etc....But I still think there can be a general consensus on what sound "better" to most people for a basic rock rythm guitar.

So, here's 4 clips, each about 10 seconds. I used the same basic "Marshall JCM 800" setting on my Fender SUper Champ X 2.

We got:

Gibson Bridge
Epi P-90 Bridge
GIbson Neck
Epi p-90 Neck.

I tried playing more or less the same thing each time.

Let me know what you think. This is just for rythm tracks, not lead.

My opinion, I actually like the Epiphone bridge better than the Gibson bridge for rythm.
But I like the Gison neck better than the Epi's neck, which I find really muddy.

GibBrij.mp3

EpiBrij.mp3

GibNek.mp3

EpiNek.mp3

[Greg_L]

I like both bridge pickup clips best, and of those two I like the Gibson bridge sound better. It's tighter, a little crisper without being fizzy or harsh.

The Gibson neck and Epi bridge sound surprisingly similar to me. Both good.

Epi neck, meh.

[rammer24]

We agree on the Epi neck pick-up.

I do like the Gibson bridge, but I thought it might be too aggressive. I also use the Gibson bridge most of the time for leads and for that "second" guitar, so I usually try to avoid using it for rythm.

Thanx man.

[Greg_L]

We agree on the Epi neck pick-up.

I do like the Gibson bridge, but I thought it might be too aggressive. I also use the Gibson bridge most of the time for leads and for that "second" guitar, so I usually try to avoid using it for rythm.

Thanx man.

How does your amp react to rolling the vol off the pickups?

[rammer24]

It actually reacts pretty good to that. It reacts to that way better than turning down the gain on the amp. That almost makes no difference until you get to 1.

You thinking I should try Gibson bridge rolled off a bit?

[Greg_L]

It actually reacts pretty good to that. It reacts to that way better than turning down the gain on the amp. That almost makes no difference until you get to 1.

You thinking I should try Gibson bridge rolled off a bit?

Sure, why not? That usually knocks some of the edge off it. How far you have to roll off depends on the value and taper of the volume pot. Hopefully yours is set up so just going down to like 7 or 8 makes enough difference.

[rammer24]

I'll try that. My guitar actually starts making a difference at about 8 and a half or so.

What I was doing until recently, was putting the Epi bridge on one side, and the Epi neck on the other. Last couple of tunes, I went Epi bridge and Gibson neck, which I like better. I can't see any occasion where I'll want to use the EPi neck any more.

[Greg_L]

I'll try that. My guitar actually starts making a difference at about 8 and a half or so.

That sounds good to me. That's why I like audio taper pots in my guitars. The first little bit of roll off does the most work instead of having to turn way down to like 2 or 3.

[miroslav]

Yaaaaay...my two Warehouse Guitar speakers arrived today....they were waiting for me at my front door.
And yup...both are brand new, even though the sold them as B-stock. It was just because they decided to change the colors of the baskets on the speaker models.

So...now I gotta decide how best to set up this speaker shootout.
I'm thinking that maybe I'll record a few licks and some chords, all DI....then reamp (it will be the first time with me finally using my reamp boxes )...that way I can send the exact same source each time to each speaker.
I'll first do the speakers that are already in my cabs...then start the swaps and go from there.
I figure since it will take time between each swap...doing the DI/reamp would ensure that it's always the same source, where if I just played it each time, It would have some differences.

Let's see how this goes....I don't want to get too nuts with it, but I would like to be able to sit back and really compare each speaker by listening to the recorded results. There would be at least 6 different speakers.

[Greg_L]

Yaaaaay...my two Warehouse Guitar speakers arrived today....they were waiting for me at my front door.
And yup...both are brand new, even though the sold them as B-stock. It was just because they decided to change the colors of the baskets on the speaker models.

So...now I gotta decide how best to set up this speaker shootout.
I'm thinking that maybe I'll record a few licks and some chords, all DI....then reamp (it will be the first time with me finally using my reamp boxes )...that way I can send the exact same source each time to each speaker.
I'll first do the speakers that are already in my cabs...then start the swaps and go from there.
I figure since it will take time between each swap...doing the DI/reamp would ensure that it's always the same source, where if I just played it each time, It would have some differences.

Let's see how this goes....I don't want to get too nuts with it, but I would like to be able to sit back and really compare each speaker by listening to the recorded results. There would be at least 6 different speakers.

Very cool. The DI/reamp is the right idea. But you'll also have to keep the mic positioning the same somehow.

[miroslav]

The mic thing is easy...I have them marked and measured.

[Greg_L]

Here's some real craptastic high gain Gerg style. I'm not even gonna type out all the settings, I was just fucking around with how a P90 works with the JVM and it's mega-gain channels. I literally never use this much gain for anything, and it's only just barely getting into the gain potential of this amp. Too much gain. Anyway....it starts on the clean channel, then I kick it into a retardo gain mode. Volume was louder than a TV, too loud for an apartment, probably not loud enough to gig, and not my usual stupidly loud loudness.

P90 SG
Marshall JVM 410 Clean and OD1 channel
Marshall 4x12 - Greenback - SM57

Gerg original Napalm Beach LOLGainzzzz

[JD01]

Volume was louder than a TV, too loud for an apartment, probably not loud enough to gig, and not my usual stupidly loud loudness.

That's my usual recording volume

P90 SG
Marshall JVM 410 Clean and OD1 channel
Marshall 4x12 - Greenback - SM57

Gerg original Napalm Beach LOLGainzzzz

Holy shit, Teh Gerg finger picking.

Fuck, sounds great when the gain is kicked in. That's the sort of tone I like. Does it palm mute well? or mush out?

[Greg_L]

Holy shit, Teh Gerg finger picking.

Fuck, sounds great when the gain is kicked in. That's the sort of tone I like. Does it palm mute well? or mush out?

Hold on I'll check and post...

[JD01]

Holy shit, Teh Gerg finger picking.

Fuck, sounds great when the gain is kicked in. That's the sort of tone I like. Does it palm mute well? or mush out?

Hold on I'll check and post...

Cool - you know, I thinking BR style muted verses with open strummed crazy choruses.

Nice have got back home on a Thursday evening and be able to listen to this stuff on monitors instead of in the office on closed back headphones.