what basic tone could you get lost in?

[Guitarzan]

i want to hear the basic tone you could really get lost in.

no switching, turning stuff on and off. just one basic recipe that is cast in stone that you could spend all day playing with this setup. and you are allowed to use the volume and tone on the guitar but no changing the pickup selector from your original choice.

i will start

 

one Les Paul Juniour with a p90 (bridge of course)

into a real good cable running into a gritty tube amp like a Plexi, with just enough dirt to get AC/DC style crunch but able to clean up went i am feeling sensitive.

i could play all day and night with that raw rock sound.

[King Kamehameha]

Wait, you mean you can't specify where you want the pickup selector, or you can't change it once you have it somewhere?

 

I'll specify.

 

Guitar: Fender Fat Strat, switch all the way towards the left, into a Fender Deluxe. Simple, clean, bright, and fabulous.

 

Bass: Tony Franklin signature fretless, pickup selector on the bridge, into that lovely SWR I played about 10 days ago. (I know I can mess with the tone, but it would be on fuuuulllll)

[PBBPaul]

ES335 neck pickup into a heavily driven Marshall Plexi. Ultimate woman tone.

[Justus A. Picker]

Plain old fingerpicked acoustic guitar.

 

Strat, neck pickup into something tweedy and clean.

[picker]

A Les Paul Standard through a 50 watt Marshall JMP head on a slant-front 4X12 with thin-cone Celestion Greenbacks. Ain't nothing in the world that beats that sound.

[Guitarzan]

which pickup picker?

[Guitarzan]

i forgot to add that i would be going into a 4x12 cab with celestions.

my basic recipe..

mahogany body and fat set neck, p90 in the bridge with 24.75 inch scale

tube amp of plexi design

4x12 celestion loaded cab

jim dunlop big stubby 3.0 mm

planet waves cable (a nice new one, my old one is dead)

[miroslav]

These days...it's the little Epi VJ head, set at about 2:00...running out to an old Cerwin Vega V-34 PA reflex cab that has a 15 " (horn & tweeters disconnected).

 

My current favorite guitar to plug into that rig is the Artcore AG85 with it's vintage tone pickups...

...but just about any of my other guitars sound just as sweet...and my Agile double-cut w/P90s really growls!

 

And of course...with any guitar choice...it's always the neck pickup for that great low-end chunk that has some top-end bite.

 

The tone is fat and warm but with a touch of raw crunch (no buzz saw overdrive).

[Guitarzan]

oh yeah i can hear it.

those epi heads are not available in Canananadada

[Gruupi]

Well I have 5 of those go to tones, anyone of which I can easily get lost in and improvise for an hour. I know thats not exactly what your asking for Zan, but these are the tones I have developed over years of searching and tweaking.

 

My Godin Multiac Nylon through a Roland GR-33 into my Fender blues Deville is the guitar I play just about every day. The Roland has a nice guitar preamp and I use a very light pad patch that adds a little bit of harmonics behind the tone, you would never know the synth is on. All my classical stuff is played and recorded with this setup. I also can switch on a synth patch that adds strings or some atmospheric background while playing for a couple of songs I am working on.

 

I have 4 basic electric tones that I can get with either my Carvin or my Warmoth project guitars. The Line 6 Pod XTLive has made it easy to tweak these tones and realy dial them in.

 

My lead tone is an approximation of Eric Johnson's "1000lb violin tone". I haven't really nailed his tone but mine sounds ok. I use a Marshall Plexi with a Tube Driver patch on with a humbucker bridge pickup. I add quite a bit of reverd and delay. I worked really hard on this tone to get a singing even harmonic tone that still has dynamics and isn't harsh. If you want to hear this tone I used it on my slide playing on Fumblefingers funk track, click on my soundclick link below.

 

Next is my SRV patch that I play with a single coil neck pickup. Its a Fender Bassman patch with the Tube Driver again, I've found the Tube Driver emulation very usfull in the Pod. My playing over Elwood's Slow Blues in AM has this basic tone. I used My Gibson ES-347 on that track but Strat style guitars sound a bit brighter and thinner which is what I usually go for.

 

Next is the "Little Wing" patch that I got from someone over at the Line 6 forums. He did a clip of the intro that sounded EXACTLY like Jimi's. I use this setting alot for both rhythm sounds and improvising. I use the out of phase setting between the neck and middle pickup with this patch. I played this for my rhythm guitar addition to Fumblefingers "Bohemian Blues" track.

 

My most recent tone is a single coil neck pickup tone that is really clean yet still has some harmonic richness. I used a Vibrolux or Showman patch to get this. If I really dig in I can get just the tiniest hint of distortion. I use this for playing some of the jazz things I am working on. It doesn't sound dark like a Joe Pass big box sound. But it is great for both chords and soloes. It really lets my fingers control the dynmamics and colors much like an acoustic guitar would.

 

Again, I know this isn't exactly what your post was asking Zan, but I try to be a very diverse guitarist. I play lots of styles (or try to at least) and I need specific tones for everything I do. I could never just pick one sound, but depending on my mood I can entertain myself (and hopefully others) for hours on a given sound.

 

Alot of these electric tones were things I had worked on before with my Blues DeVille, the Line 6 just made it easy to get just about anything I wanted. I have other things I mess with such as a dirty, twangy, twin sound but its not really part of my everyday playing.

[Ricardo.]

I love switching tones, like Gruupi.

 

I love trying to find a nicer sounding "jazz" tone. Usually on a dual-humbucker guitar. Sometimes, by switching to the middle position and playing with the punchier sounds there, sometimes by going to the neck and searching for the ultimate balance between treble-cutting on the guitar and treble-cutting on the amp and... It's just great with fun results

[miroslav]

Originally posted by guitarzan:

oh yeah i can hear it.

those epi heads are not available in Canananadada

There's no US dealer that will ship to Canada...?

[Guitarzan]

i don't believe, the combo is available.

i should check some of the ebay stores.

this of course could change.

[Griffinator]

Wow. Either I'm way unsophisticated or... I dunno...

 

My Lead I through your choice of amps at about 75% saturation. I can cook up riffage all day and night with that axe with a good stout shot of overdrive. Wrote half the album my band is getting ready to record using this setting on a stinkin' Peavey Chorus 212...

[Guitarzan]

hey, i don't have the gear i mentioned.

but i like the recipe.

give us a dream recipe for your tone Griff.

i am far from sophisticated.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

My Danelectro baritone is turning up soon, as well as my Vox AD30VT. I love that guitar, it has Seymour Duncan lipsticks. I play it through the AC15 emulation, with the reverb on about six, which puts out a rich, dark sound. A bit like hot guinea chocolate, but yummier.

 

I also love playing bass through my new bass amp, a HK BK300. I think I'm going to get a P bass soon though, because the sound is punchier than on mt EB-0 copy. I could play p-bass through that amp for days on end.

[The Geoff]

I've found an emulation in the GNX-1 that's just fabulous for me - its called 'Clean Tube' - no other info.

 

I set up the EQ with lots of treble, set about 3, mids about 1 and bass about 11.

 

On low gain, its clean and cuts - great for rhythm - on high gain - and you need to get it pretty high - it just does a smooth transition into creamy overdrive.

 

It's brought a whole new lease of life to my old boxy Fender Studio 85.

 

I'd probably manage to play the Aria Pro TA-40 on neck pup all day through that. I can add reverb/delay and chorus to that if needed.

 

G.

[Hound Dog]

A watery, Robin Trower-type vibe.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Aluminum Strat on neck pu to LavaCable to Klon Centuar to ultravibe to 50 watt JCM2000 Marshall head to 1960A 4X12 slant cab.

[Griffinator]

Originally posted by guitarzan:

hey, i don't have the gear i mentioned.

but i like the recipe.

give us a dream recipe for your tone Griff.

i am far from sophisticated.

OK, Dream recipe?

 

Axe: Zion Bent T swamp ash/flame maple top, HSH config, Duncan Distortion bridge, Pearly Gates neck, QP middle. Brass nut.

 

Amp: Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier head, 8x12 Celestion Greenbacks. Head settings: Channel 1 (lead) Presence at 1 o'clock, Master at near WFO, Gain at 12. Bass at 10, Mid at 2, treble at 12. Channel 2 (rhythm) Presence at 12, Master at 4, Gain at 2, EQ's all at 12 (flat). Channel 3 (clean) Presence at 3, Master WFO, Gain at 9, Bass at 9, Mid at 1, Treble at 2.

 

That would do just about anything I needed done. I'm pretty much a no-frills kind of guy. Chorus, phase, reverb all that stuff is an unnecessary add-on that I'll save for the studio engineer to apply afterward...

[Trucks]

Acoustic Lapslide tuned to Open C, played with a Lap Dawg.

 

Cant get much simpler than that Im easily pleased.

[Hardtail]

My Strat using the neck PU into my Fender HRD suits me just fine.

 

If I want to really get fancy, I might even play my 535Q pedal.

[Darcy H]

American Vintage Thin-skin 52 reissue, straight into a Blues Junior. Bridge pickup, tone rolled off just a tad, Blues Junior about 8, master about 5....

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/darcyhoover/43492508.jpg

[Mudcat]

Originally posted by guitarzan:

...one Les Paul Juniour with a p90 (bridge of course)

into a real good cable running into a gritty tube amp like a Plexi, with just enough dirt to get AC/DC style crunch but able to clean up went i am feeling sensitive...

Same guitar, different amp. I'd have to go with a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Preferably a re-capped original '65 model.

[Guitarzan]

cool, that would work nicely as well.

lets rock.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Ok and for the blues band.. 56 Strat on neck pu,Lavacable,Klon Centuar, to a recapped 62 Fender Pro Amp running two 15inch Jensens.

[Gifthorse]

My Peavey Generation S1 through a Bivalve with the best tubes money can buy through an Orange 4/12.

 

I have to say there are other amps and guitars I could do this with too. And cabs. I love my Z best but if I had a choice I would take a 4/12.

[rw2003]

Les Paul on brdige pu playing into my JCM 800 half-stack through an eq. Lots of crunch maybe even closer to high gain. A touch of delay and maybe a bit of chorus too.

 

I've played a lot as a teenager and in my 20's but now not nearly as much. As a result, i haven't played through a lot a different equipment lately. I'd love to experiment with some different pu's such as the Seymour Duncan EVH or the one that Salash uses. I'd even like a LP loaded with Dimarzio SuperDistortions to crank out some old KISS licks!!!