Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 I write and record various types of music and use many different types of effects some very cheap I do not care as long as I get the result I am after. However when I Play the blues I get all precious about tone! Any tricks, tips, favorate effects, pickups or amps you guys/girls care to share, I would love to hear from you!
Guitarzan Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 guitar, med to high action, OD and a low watt tube amp with minimal dirt. i find most guitars an get a great blues tone if you keep them clean in regards to gain. power amp grit is better to get your tone. use the volume on the guitar to vary the sound. the power section as opposed to the preamp will get you better blues tone. big fat picks will get you alot of note as well. i hear a big diff between my "big stubbies" and thinner picks. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will
The Big G Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 well I would have to agree with Zan in the most part, I get my best blues tone using a LP and a fender twin with a small amount of reverb, the pick is a good point and recently I have using heavier and heavier picks and the tone is improving. No pedals or effects units required just a good valve amp with a good clean channel. Love life, some twists and turns are more painful than others, but love life..... http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=592101
Bbach1 Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Reverb, and I like to dial up just a touch of dirt to put a little grit into my blues tones. I don't like em too spanking clean. bbach Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
The Big G Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Originally posted by Bbach1: Reverb, and I like to dial up just a touch of dirt to put a little grit into my blues tones. I don't like em too spanking clean. Bbach do you find your Falcon the best for a bluesy tone or do you slide another guitar in at that point, I like my Nashville but do prefer the LP tone for blues? Cheers G Love life, some twists and turns are more painful than others, but love life..... http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=592101
Bbach1 Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Originally posted by The Big G: Originally posted by Bbach1: Reverb, and I like to dial up just a touch of dirt to put a little grit into my blues tones. I don't like em too spanking clean. Bbach do you find your Falcon the best for a bluesy tone or do you slide another guitar in at that point, I like my Nashville but do prefer the LP tone for blues? Cheers G Tell you the truth Big G, I like a solidbody with some humbuckers for blues. LP, Hamer, PRS. Just the tones I like. A personal thing. bbach Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
The Big G Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 [/qb]Tell you the truth Big G, I like a solidbody with some humbuckers for blues. LP, Hamer, PRS. Just the tones I like. A personal thing. [/QB] I am with you on that one Love life, some twists and turns are more painful than others, but love life..... http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=592101
Dr. Ellwood Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Strat,Les Paul or PRS or Tele with PAF in neck position, to a Klon Centuar to a Lexicon reverb to a 1962 Fender Pro Amp, adjust to taste. http://www.thestringnetwork.com
Tone Taster Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Check out the Dr. Z Route 66 amp, the Maxon Tube Screamer, and the Seymour Duncan Antiquity PUPS
Pappy P Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 I love to user use the tremolo bar and a wah together. I use a rectifier amp setting with a medium gain setting and lots of compression. You can hear my fingers touching the strings and anything else going on in the room. Mostly like to have the brige and middle pickup on. www.birdblues.com My Stuff On Sound Click
Pappy P Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Oh yeah, welcome to the forum. Don't forget to post on the Roll Call thread. Do you have a sound click or myspace site, we'd love to hear some of your tunes. www.birdblues.com My Stuff On Sound Click
Xplorer Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Get yourself a Epiphone Valve JR Head or Combo before they're a thing of the past! Only $99 dude, and they sound great! What a horrible night to have a curse.
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 Pappy P - WHATS THE ROLL CALL THREAD I have some stuff up at www.myspace.com/jonprothero but the music has nothing to do with the blues. I get in my tiny studio and do an album every couple of years for myself there has been a couple of acoustic fingerpicking one, a rock one and the one on there now is me experimenting with different instruments sounds and feelings. (So I doubt that its going to be to many peoples taste) I would dearly love to do a blues one, or go out and play in a blues band. I have been a fan for 25 years and there was nothing better than playing a solo live when everthing falls into place juct right!
The Big G Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Originally posted by Jon Prothero: Pappy P WHATS THE ROLL CALL THREAD jon its a thread that most people put the relevant info about themselves etc... Pappy has put it back up recently so should be easy to find. Also put your my space link on your profile and when you post people will check out whats on there. G Love life, some twists and turns are more painful than others, but love life..... http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=592101
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 Thanks for the tip on Epiphone Valve JR Head or Combo just checked them out. They are not to expensive over here as well I saw one for £89 on the net. I have a Peavey Classic 30 but this would be great for recording in the house!
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 Pappy P.. what wah are you using I am looking for a good one
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 Thanks for the tips Seems we are all thinking along similar lines. ....I have only just started using really heavy picks, really does make a difference notes sound bigger and you have much better control over the dynamics. One very subtle thing I found out the other day was that my tone and sustain improved when I tighten up my screws in my fenders neck plate. (My tele was relatively new and I was checking for lose strap buttons and so forth) when I noticed they were not tight enough. Be sensible if you do this never overtighten anything!
picker Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 I like my MK III Boogie for dirty rhythm and hot lead. I got hooked on Santana's tone and sustain way back in the day, and it just doesn't right to me if I can't get it. And, the clean side of the Boogie is pretty neat too. I use two 6L6s and t20 EL34 power tubes for a bit more complexity in the dirty tone, but with four 6L6's, you get a clean tone that's like floating on a cloud the size of a football field. With a little reverb or echo, it gets really lush. It's good for blues, rock, country, you name it. I've never had an amp I like better. Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 My brother's got a boogie and it is great for that creamy Santana sound!
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 Anybody out there want to contribute to favourite guitar solos that has great feeling and soul! Hopefully I will find something I have not heard! I will start you of 'Need your Love so Bad' by Peter Green's (Early Fleetwwod Mac) Every single note means so much...just fantastic!
Gruupi Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 I am kind of on a blues kick myself these days. Almost any guitar I pick up I am trying to find a way to play some expressive blues on. On electric I think any decent guitar can be used. I like an amp setting where the dynamics are great. I want a fairly clean sound if I am playing soft but if I dig in it gets a little dirty. Its not that I don't like a sustaining lead tone, but for blues I really prefer something where the sound doesn't compress. Nothing against Pappy's way of doing things, I am just stating my own preference. I am even playing some blues on my steel string acoustic and nylon string guitars. Bending isn't really the same on a nylon string and it forces me to try and play with even more dynamics and musicality to compensate for the lack of bends and big vibratos. I do understand where you are coming from Jon. Since blues playing is relatively simple, its the tones and inflections that make it work. Its the dynamics and vocal like phrasing that sets apart a good blues player from some one who can just play a fast blues or pentatonic riff. I spend way to much time tweaking my sound, but I think that time is well spent by the end. It sure is hard to play blues with any conviction if your tone isn't happening. My soundclick site: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=397188 My YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/gruupi
MILLO Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 I really like my Fulltone FD-2. Really good for bluesy toneS. Yup, the S is capital, b/c there are tons of them here, not only in the pedal but in its interaction w/ your amp's and guitar's settings. "Without music, life would be a mistake." --from 'Beyond Good and Evil', by Friedrich Nietzsche My MySpace Space
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 Gruupi you summed it up there, and that it is tone, dynamics & phrasing that are key elements to great feeling. I have had to remind myself of this recently thats why I am revisiting some tasteful players. I have found that as i have got technically better over the years sometimes it gets so easy to reel out the licks. So I am trying to strip back to the essential elements and adding flurries only when necessery. I have started to sing the phrases in my head then play them. Not quite perfect at it yet but it a good tool to use as a complement to a armoury of licks!
Pappy P Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Jon: I'm using the expression pedal on my Digitech RP300A. I'm thinking about getting a Morley or a Dunlap wah pedal. www.birdblues.com My Stuff On Sound Click
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 everybody i speak to about wah wahs seem to end up getting loads before they find the one, apprently they just don't make them like they use to. I've had 4 so far the Morley was the worst for my taste. I have had a lot of recomendations for the Donlop 535Q which I am going to try. I find their standard wah too bright and brittle in the top end so I am going to sell it
Dr. Ellwood Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Originally posted by Jon Prothero: everybody i speak to about wah wahs seem to end up getting loads before they find the one, apprently they just don't make them like they use to. I've had 4 so far the Morley was the worst for my taste. I have had a lot of recomendations for the Donlop 535Q which I am going to try. I find their standard wah too bright and brittle in the top end so I am going to sell it Ok Jon, yes when you test drive the 535Q make sure you spend some quality time with it! Try the positions and boost combinations, make sure you try single coil and Humbuggers and go through all the possiabiities, it takes awhile but I think you will like some of the choices offered by the 5 way switching and boost on the bottom. Good Luck. http://www.thestringnetwork.com
Jon Prothero Posted July 7, 2006 Author Posted July 7, 2006 Yeah I will spend some time with it. I love it when I have the chance to customise sounds so they can suit may own taste!
Bejeeber Posted July 8, 2006 Posted July 8, 2006 Originally posted by Jon Prothero: Anybody out there want to contribute to favourite guitar solos that has great feeling and soul!This one's been discussed here before when talking about Les Paul Jrs and P-90s, but Leslie West gets so deeply inside of some of the notes on Mountain's "Mississippi Queen" with his lead work, that shucks, it's just classic IMO. Or hmmmm...is nostalgia coming into play some here, coloring my perception of his playing and tone on this tune??? Just a pinch between the geek and chum
mdrs Posted July 8, 2006 Posted July 8, 2006 "Ya gotta suffer if you wanna sing the blues" That's David Bromberg's song, and ain't it true?? The blues are all about feel, and expressing emotion. If you can get that to your fingers, you're 75% there! I'd say....tube amp and a neck humbucker (some are good, some not so good for the blues...gotta find a good one, if you can). I also like a neck, or "second and fourth position" Strat sound. I like sustain, but controlable distortion. If you can find an amp that'll do that, hold on to it. I LOVE my Fuchs OverDrive Special 30 watt 2x12 combo. It'll do the low distortion, huge sustain sweet fat Santana tone, but cleans up totally as well. When I wanna play the blues, it's just me, my guitar, and a tube amp. No pedals in between. There are many many ways to play them, however... Don Don "There once was a note, Pure and Easy. Playing so free, like a breath rippling by." http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=574296 http://www.myspace.com/imdrs
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