Various Tones with Effects?

[To-student]

Generally that may be a good idea, but I have heard some live tones that just sucked ass. Even Warren is subject to bad tone nights. I saw Ratt about 10 years ago & the tone that night still haunts me. I think it was the sound man. The guitar tones were so treble heavy it was like icepicks on my ears.

I agree 100%.
When I saw Disturbed I was really excited because Donegan was using the MTS live. They were great and the band sounded great. But his tone didn't sound as I thought it would. It had a lot of punch but not a lot of distortion or gain. Which I was suprised.

I have also seen live bands were as you say the tone sucks. Lynch is lilke that also sometimes it is amazing and others just blah.

 

[GtrGeorge!]

That was a very cool time for guitarists..the 80s. Everybody was focused on the guitarists skill and tone. From Randy to Jake E Lee, to Eddie to Warren DeMartini, Trevor Rabin to Brad Gillis and Jeff Watson (NightRanger) there was alot to be enjoyed.
Im a tone freak..and when I hear alot of that stuff I realize how bad many of the engineers were. And the producers,too. Docken's engineering was so bad,..I just found all of it unlisteneable..it always sounded like someone was using the cheapest digital rverb they could find on EVERYTHING. And Ozzy's bark at the Moon album contained great playing but even he said something happened in the recording. I think they did everything on the cheap..and paid a price for it.
John Sykes sounded good..and still does on the "Whitesnake" CD ...but our ability to enjoy him is thanks in part to Keith Olsen NOT screwing up to much. The Guitar has reverb, and overdub and thats pretty much it.
The rest is John Sykes....and damn he is good.
Compare to the way to much phasing on "Bark at the Moon" and its a shame..we cant hear how Jake E actually is..and I think he is damn good, actually.
Imho, it was a crazy time..and in the rush alot of stuff was done way to hasty and only few people had a glimpse we might still be listening 30 years later.
George
PS: I never liked any "artist presets"..I think thats all BS. They are so off..it makes me laugh.

 

[kc2eeb]

My 2 cents.
The effects and set up that sound good in your room only sound good
there! Every room and every studio is different, and playing live is a totally different story altogether. The sound of your guitar starts with how
it sounds acoustically, no amplifier, no exceptions.
As far as playing live, the bigger the place, the fewer effects, especially
anything time and phasing related.

 

[Hamner1]

That was a very cool time for guitarists..the 80s. Everybody was focused on the guitarists skill and tone. From Randy to Jake E Lee, to Eddie to Warren DeMartini, Trevor Rabin to Brad Gillis and Jeff Watson (NightRanger) there was alot to be enjoyed.
Im a tone freak..and when I hear alot of that stuff I realize how bad many of the engineers were. And the producers,too.

I'm not sure if it was; they were that bad or just trying to come up with crazy/new effects/sounds to stand out. It depends on the album, but most of the stuff from then I liked. Some of those things set the mood for the song as well.

 

[Daryl]

The inconsistencies in tone point to the simple fact that nothing is a perfect match. Artist presets are weak representations of what the artist intended. If you look past it all, you see certain basic fundamentals. For instance, look at a good lead tone. What are the basic components that make it "work"? OK, it's a midrange heavy tone, gain up at about 3/4 of dimed, and it has a multi-tap delay. If you aren't focused on absolute perfection, you can dial in a similar tone on just about any amp. Amp character aside, you can have a tone that will get it done for you in a live situation. It's when you get into the studio setting that things get more defined.
EQ is often overlooked, but is the most important tone shaper when you are going for a particular type of sound. Many styles are characterized by their EQ. For instance: Metal guitar uses a scooped midrange to add heaviness to the character of the tone.

 

[Hamner1]

Well hear is my 1st stab at this.
I dea was I wanted to thicken my Rythm tone & have something on order of Ratt's Lay It Down. Chorus wasn't doing it for me, so I came across a post from Pete that suggested pitch shift to thicken the tone. I think it works. It sounds better with the Plexi than the SL+. Besides the Plexi cleans up better for the clean parts. Keep in mind I am using a Rocktron Xpression hooked up in the parallel loop.

Here it is:
RM4 settings: Effects 11 oclock, Level 10 oclock
Plexi module: Gain 3 oclock, Bass dimed, Mids 12 oclock, Treble 12 oclock, Level 1 oclock, bright switch on.
Xpression:
Mixer - R direct +4, L direct +4, Effect level +2, Volume 127
Hush - on, Threshold 44
Pitch Shift- Pshift out 0, Pan L<50>R, Pitch 00, Fine -20, Speed Slow
* the pitch shift pitch equals -20 cents
* depending on my mood or the sound that day, the Plexi Gain may actually be set anywhere between 3 oclock & dimed.

I also tried to add a short delay 150ms & that did not turn out to well, so it is just the pitch shift, Hush, & Plexi.