The Tone Thread

[JD01]

I do think that, generally, pedals must be better now than they used to be. I don't think you'd be able to get away with just slapping a "name" on a pedal that sounds like shit and getting it to sell these days 'cos it would get hammered in reviews.

I think it's just the opposite. I think pedals are mostly shit and as long as it has a cool look or hip name and is boutique-ish it can be popular.

While most pedals are broadly similar, they generally all sound alright now though don't they. All of the myriad of overdrives you get these days are fine aren't they. There's not many total donkeys in there and there are more pedals than ever.

[Greg_L]

While most pedals are broadly similar, they generally all sound alright now though don't they. All of the myriad of overdrives you get these days are fine aren't they. There's not many total donkeys in there and there are more pedals than ever.

No, to me dirt pedals definitely sound worse. They are worse. They tend to be overpowering now. Instead of pedals working with the sound of the guitar and amp, pedals now are the sound.

Flangers and phasers and all that shit are fine. But what passes for OD pedals now are way way too heavy handed.

[Lt. Bob]

I can't agree with that at all ...... very many of the OD pedals are so light handed that unless you really push an amp with them, they don't do anything at all.

Yes, there are a lot of amp-in-a-box pedals like what greg is talking about which try to produce the entire sound within the pedal.

But there's tons that don't.
Like my catlinbread Royal Albert Hall pedal ... the thing does almost nothing if you don't use it into an amp and sounds different with every amp i try it with.
It's very amp dependent.

[Greg_L]

I can't agree with that at all ...... very many of the OD pedals are so light handed that unless you really push an amp with them, they don't do anything at all.

Yes, there are a lot of amp-in-a-box pedals like what greg is talking about which try to produce the entire sound within the pedal.

But there's tons that don't.
Like my catlinbread Royal Albert Hall pedal ... the thing does almost nothing if you don't use it into an amp and sounds different with every amp i try it with.
It's very amp dependent.

Well I'd love to try one of those. Everything I'm getting my hands on is trash.

[WhiskeyJack]

Greg is talking about guys like me back in mid late 90's. I had a big solid state 100watt amp with great cleans and all my dirt and "my sound" was actually nothing more than cheap chinese 70's single coils and a Danelectro T-Bone distortion pedal, A DS-1 or i had a DOD american metal pedal that at the time i thought to be "THE SOUND". But i looked at dirt pedals much the same as we look at amps now. The amp to me was so secondary i didn't care. my thoughts back then were i need the right pedal to define my sound. This 100 Watts hunk of shit here is just a megaphone for that.

So dumb. It didn't sound good. I was the kind of guy that thought that the amp was only there to make my distortion pedals louder. that is all i really cared about. If i knew then what i knew now.

80% of pedals are geared toward folks with the mindset i had back in those days.

[rayc]

Any thoughts on this VST? I don't understand or really hear the difference. he says he's taken the high pass and squelch from a tube screamer to tighten bass and I don't know - I didn't understand the rest - seems to be a think that palm muting chuggers would understand...
[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nEADW-PNtQ[/BBvideo]

[JD01]

OK, so here's the "Han-Taun" Klon that WJ recommend as was being sold quite cheap.
Generic JD punk song.

Han-Taun:

HT Tone.mp3

OCD Tone: (my normal tone)

OCD Tone.mp3

Both together:

HTL OCD R.mp3

Tones In a Mix:

Tones In A Mix.mp3

To be honest, I don't think they sound that different (which you wouldn't expect - they're both pretty transparent drives).
The Han-Taun has a bit more meat to it but also, the way I have them set here doesn't seem to be driving the amp quite a hard - It actually has the treble up quite high "2Pm" - typical Klon controls, Gain (set to 0), treble and output. Output is a little higher than 2PM.

The OCD is in HP mode - I think this is "Hi-Pass" mode (I'd have to check) but it also seems to be slightly hotter in this mode than LP mode.
To me, its clearly brighter, a little harsh in the highs and more aggressive sounding. They sound pretty good together though, different enough to compliment eachother.

[Tadpui]

[Mention]jd01[/mention]

I think the han-taun has a little more low end and the OCD has a little more presence in the mids somewhere. Both are good cutting tones for a mix. I'd happily use either tone, although the OCD might drop into a mix more easily. That amp does them both justice.

[JD01]

@jd01

I think the han-taun has a little more low end and the OCD has a little more presence in the mids somewhere. Both are good cutting tones for a mix. I'd happily use either tone, although the OCD might drop into a mix more easily. That amp does them both justice.

Cheers, Tad.

These were both using my Crimson with a Mutt-pups Humbucker. I'm gonna mess about with my tele too.
In the mix, the rhythm guitars are hi-passed a bit anyway.

Normally with slightly thicker tones with bottom end, I find they get v muddy, v quickly which doesn't appear to be the case with the Han-Taun.

You're up late. Drinking in your basement?

[rayc]

Sounded good in the mix James.
I THINK I liked the Han-Taun a little better on its own but together they're cool for your thing.

[SweetDan]

Tones In A Mix.mp3

That sounds really good!

[Greg_L]

I like a Han-Taun a lot better. The OCD sounds pretty thin in comparison to me.

[Greg_L]

Any thoughts on this VST? I don't understand or really hear the difference.

He seems to be talking about using a Tube Screamer to tighten the bottom end for heavy metal chugga chugga sounds. A very common practice when people go so heavy that their sound is farty ass - like any metal tone is. The Tube Screamer compresses and rolls off low end before it hits the amp.

[Minerman]

[mention]rayc[/mention]
I meant to reply earlier man...sorry...
Pretty much what Greg said though, a TS tightens up the bottom end (a lot of od's do this btw, like my Boss SD-1) when you hit the front end of an amp with it...Seems the vst he's using does a similar thing...

OK, so here's the "Han-Taun" Klon that WJ recommend as was being sold quite cheap.
Generic JD punk song.

To be honest, I don't think they sound that different (which you wouldn't expect - they're both pretty transparent drives).
The Han-Taun has a bit more meat to it but also, the way I have them set here doesn't seem to be driving the amp quite a hard - It actually has the treble up quite high "2Pm" - typical Klon controls, Gain (set to 0), treble and output. Output is a little higher than 2PM.

The OCD is in HP mode - I think this is "Hi-Pass" mode (I'd have to check) but it also seems to be slightly hotter in this mode than LP mode.
To me, its clearly brighter, a little harsh in the highs and more aggressive sounding. They sound pretty good together though, different enough to compliment eachother.

No favorite for me Jdude, they both cut well in the mix, that's the end result you're after dude...Now being picky like we usually are here, the Klon clone is a bit thicker sounding to me, but they seem to compliment each other pretty good, so well done...

I know it's been quite a while now, but the H&K amp, the 2x12, & your hard work/dedication have made a stellar improvement in your tones...I personally think the tones you post here rank right up there with Gerg's holy grail amps dude...

[WhiskeyJack]

JD they both sound really good together in that "in a mix" clip. A nice dynamic duo that plays really well together. The HT has a bit more beef to it than the OCD does. I think my ears prefer the fullness of the HT over the OCD in a side by side comparison. but when you chuck them together they really work well with each other quite nicely. I am really curious to see what the fullness of the HT can do for a tele sound. I bet it will sound quite delicious.

Interesting though, my local store here has a candy apple red OCD pedal for 179CAD. I had a split second where i contemplated grabbing it yesterday but i left empty handed. I am really liking what i get from HT and the HT+Spark tag team where needed. It's really bringing out some nice flavors on that Traynor i picked up.

[JD01]

No favorite for me Jdude, they both cut well in the mix, that's the end result you're after dude...Now being picky like we usually are here, the Klon clone is a bit thicker sounding to me, but they seem to compliment each other pretty good, so well done...

I know it's been quite a while now, but the H&K amp, the 2x12, & your hard work/dedication have made a stellar improvement in your tones...I personally think the tones you post here rank right up there with Gerg's holy grail amps dude...

Bloody hell, miner. High praise indeed, cheers, mate.

I do think they’re pretty decent, also, I do think some tones are objectively good or bad regardless of personal preference.

While I’m happy with these there’s a crucial difference in that Greg knows how to listen to a tone and can work out how to tweak it and adjust it just by listening... whereas I take a lot of trial and error. I am getting better, but I know that I can’t just hear what needs to be done yet. Just practice I suppose.

Also, Greg taught me how to do this!

[JD01]

JD they both sound really good together in that "in a mix" clip. A nice dynamic duo that plays really well together. The HT has a bit more beef to it than the OCD does. I think my ears prefer the fullness of the HT over the OCD in a side by side comparison. but when you chuck them together they really work well with each other quite nicely. I am really curious to see what the fullness of the HT can do for a tele sound. I bet it will sound quite delicious.

Interesting though, my local store here has a candy apple red OCD pedal for 179CAD. I had a split second where i contemplated grabbing it yesterday but i left empty handed. I am really liking what i get from HT and the HT+Spark tag team where needed. It's really bringing out some nice flavors on that Traynor i picked up.

I’m gone try that same mix later in the week but with the tele through the Han Taun on the right.

You’d probably like the OCD into your orange, it’s a pretty bright pedal, should sound great into the Orange on HP mode. If you’re interested in an OCD but don’t want to pay, try a ToneCity Dry Martini. Excellent OCD clone. I dialled the in next to each other once and posted up some tones. Pretty much identical.

I gave mine to a mate at work. If I still had it, I’d send it to you.

[Tadpui]

Cheers, Tad.

These were both using my Crimson with a Mutt-pups Humbucker. I'm gonna mess about with my tele too.
In the mix, the rhythm guitars are hi-passed a bit anyway.

Normally with slightly thicker tones with bottom end, I find they get v muddy, v quickly which doesn't appear to be the case with the Han-Taun.

You're up late. Drinking in your basement?

Oh that's right, I forgot you've got a Mutt Pups pickup now. I need to get off of my butt and order one from the Mutt-ster. Really you've got a great setup going now. Between that sweet guitar, sweet pickup, and sweet amp, you're all set! I'm really impressed in how that amp sounds. I bet that you're not missing that Blackstar at all now

And yeah, I was up way too late and over-imbibing in my basement room. You pretty much nailed that one

[JD01]

Cheers, Tad.

These were both using my Crimson with a Mutt-pups Humbucker. I'm gonna mess about with my tele too.
In the mix, the rhythm guitars are hi-passed a bit anyway.

Normally with slightly thicker tones with bottom end, I find they get v muddy, v quickly which doesn't appear to be the case with the Han-Taun.

You're up late. Drinking in your basement?

Oh that's right, I forgot you've got a Mutt Pups pickup now. I need to get off of my butt and order one from the Mutt-ster. Really you've got a great setup going now. Between that sweet guitar, sweet pickup, and sweet amp, you're all set! I'm really impressed in how that amp sounds. I bet that you're not missing that Blackstar at all now

And yeah, I was up way too late and over-imbibing in my basement room. You pretty much nailed that one

I've rarely given the Blackstar a thought.

[Minerman]

Nothing new here, but this will give everyone a visual guide of doing the 2-mic thing...

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