Sylver Posted August 30, 2001 Share Posted August 30, 2001 Sorry, not a "favorite" thread. I've played bass for more years than I really want to admit to(19). But the last few years, I've been playing mostly guitar, and recording and stuff, mostly originals. Of course being a bass player, has left me with an awful technical gap about guitar sounds and such. I'll assume that Khan will jump right on this one. OK, I got a Strat and a digitech gp14d processor (gets a pretty good sound, has a tube pre) and a cheap peavy amp(bandit 75 I think, Ugh!). I'm not trying to copy D.G.'s sound, but he's got one of the best overall sounds around, I think, and it fits in well with the music that I write. I know, I know, he has a billion dollars worth of equipment. If that is the tonal range I'm going for, what's the next step? A tube amp, I'm sure. Which one's should I be looking at? Fender? I get the impression that there is not enough gain there. Marshall? Too much crunch and not enough sweet? How about a hiwatt? That's what Dave uses, but I also heard someone say (can't remember who) that Dave get's his distortion from effects and pre's, not from the power section. Then, wouldn't any decent tube amp do? Thanks in advance, Jack I really don't know what to put here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbrock1san.rr.com Posted August 30, 2001 Share Posted August 30, 2001 There is a lot of info on the net about Gilmours gear, just do a search. In the 70's he used a Big Muff, Arbiter Fuzz Face, Uni-Vibe, MXR Phase 90, and he was playing through an Albemic BF2 Bass preamp. He also used a Maestro Rover which is a rotating speaker effect. In the 80's he incorporated a Boss Heavy Metal pedal, and some MXR delay pedals into his rig. If I was trying to get something close to his sound today I might buy a Line 6 Modulation Modeler because it has so many of the effects he used in one box. I'm not really a fan of Big Muff or fuzz pedals because I think there are better overdrive/distortion pedals out there. Lots of good delay units too. I would just start accumulating effects pedals and experimenting with chaining 2 or 3 together. This message has been edited by SteveRB on 08-30-2001 at 12:24 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHAN Posted August 30, 2001 Share Posted August 30, 2001 I really don't know that much about how Gilmour gets his sounds. Of course I start with a strat. Mine are stock Am. Standards. My live rig is all rack stuff: For my preamp I have a Peavey Tubefex. It has 4 gain stages: 1. clean 2. crunch 3. lead 4. ultra(same as lead but with a different eq) This is kind of like having a clean amp (think Fender Twin) and three distortion pedals. I also use the Tubefex for Compression, EQ, Delay and Pitch Transposer. For additional effects I put a Digitech TSR-24 into the FX loop of the Tubefex. The digitech gives me nice Reverbs, 8 voice chorus, phaser and detune. The whole mess goes into a Peavey Classic 50/50 tube power amp into a Peavey Classic 410e speaker cab. I don't necessarily try to copy Gilmour's sound exactly (very difficult without the exact same gear) rather, I try to copy the "vibe" of the sound. In other words trying to recreate the "feel" of the sound. I hope this helps. ------------------ KHAN (Always hopeful, yet discontent) www.floydtribute.hpwebhost.com So Many Drummers. So Little Time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlh Posted August 31, 2001 Share Posted August 31, 2001 I think copying the sound would depend a lot upon the Gilmore era you are looking to catch. Most of his sound seems to be in his hands and his ears. I've been playing for 30+ years and a Floyd fan since Piper. The thing he can do so well is emote through the guitar. The solos in "Time" and "Comfortably Numb" are great examples. Note the use of echo on parts of solo in "Time" and the changes in feel. "Comfortably Numb" is remarkable in the change of feel between the two solos. The first is dreamy and gentle while the second one (after the shot) is choppy and violent. If you've seen "The Wall" movie you can get what he had in mind. There are no amps of effects that can produce that. I have an old DigiTech GSP21 and there is a program called something like Top 40 Solo. Stupid name, but it is a good place to start for a really BIG sound. Then bring in and out the effects as you need them to create drama. Big distorted sounds with lots of effects kind of catch the feel, but not the modern "scooped" type sounds, he tends to be more balanced across the frequency spectrum. The effects are used as a canvas to create an emotional impact. I doubt this helps much, but I just had to put my 2 cents worth is because I've studied him so much. JLH But never fear, you're safe with me... Well maybe. - Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael saulnier Posted August 31, 2001 Share Posted August 31, 2001 I'm with the "it's in the hands" crowd... although I can also attest that Khan gets a VERY Gilmore vibe on his Floyd cover band live CD. He doesn't have the exact setup, but he certainly has a convincing sound... One thing no one's mentioned is the EMG "kit" that has the same pickups, pre-amp boost and cut he uses on his current strats. It's a "drop in" replacement including pickguard, pots and all... and sells retail around $200. It should drop into virtually ANY strat or strat clone without much modification of the guitar. For guitar sounds at least, you won't get any closer than that. His rig was featured in a Guitar Shop cover article, (man I miss that rag), and maybe even our favorite moderator, Lisa, may have had a hand in writing that, or know the details... Lisa? I vaguely remember it was a hodgepodge of new and old pedals and rack stuff, and he had several different "lines" of stuff for different songs from different eras and setups. All that being said, I bet he could pick up my or your guitar, play through OUR rig, and sound EXACTLY like Gilmore... No doubt!!! guitplayer I'm still "guitplayer"! Check out my music if you like... http://www.michaelsaulnier.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted August 31, 2001 Share Posted August 31, 2001 I just made a post about this somewhere else in these forums about this.... Clean soloing: you've got to have enough volume that you can control nuance in dynamics - the volume has to be there in the treble. That, and a single coil neck pickup. I dunno... Just about any amp can be made to sound like Gilmour if you ....make it sound like Gilmour? Hmm. No, that's what I mean, it's easy. ------------------ New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virtual.rayprodigy.net Posted August 31, 2001 Share Posted August 31, 2001 Get a Strat type guitar and drop the DG-20 pickup kit from EMG in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsj Posted August 31, 2001 Share Posted August 31, 2001 As for me, I love Gilmour's sound. To that point, I dropped in a set of EMG DG-20s last February into my '98 Am Std. Strat. Did it myself and it was a piece of cake. (Only wish to make the battery accessable without removing the entire assembly.) Then took the guitar into a local luthier for a bone nut, and set-up and now its a monster... I love it. Its my favorite of my three electrics, but I'll never sound like David, I just don't have his hands. If you do go the EMG route, be attentive to volume control, the active pickup can and will peak the front side of your signal. I'll peak my AirLine receiver if I turn the volume to 10. -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted September 1, 2001 Share Posted September 1, 2001 To me, his coolest sound was on the intro to "Echoes", which isn't the EMG thing at all. For the EMG thing, the direct sound on the intro to "Coming Back to Life" rules - and I think that's a Neve cranked a bit there. You also have to check out those Alembic bass preamps.... ------------------ New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylver Posted September 1, 2001 Author Share Posted September 1, 2001 Thanks for all the cool advice, guys. I am considering the EMG drop in for my strat. (Hoping that will cut a lot of the niose as well) I think Khan hit it on the head when he said that he isn't trying to copy DG's sound. I'd like to approach it, and get that vibe, not copy his sound. As far as the real trick being in the hands, I agree 100%. I guess that's one of the reasons that I'm attracted to the later day Floyd, ringing bell tone sound that DG get, because that is what my hands do. Playing bass (fretless) for so many years, I get lots of vibrato, a la DG, so that is not a problem. I guess my question is more of an amp question. To keep my sound smooth and sweet, I'm convinced that a tube amp is the way to go. I don't need a lot of power, so a small combo should be pretty fine. With my tube driven digitech floor pedal, will ANY tube amp cut it? Fender, Marshall, Joe Blow? Will a Fender have enough gain to get those long sustaining notes? Would a Marshall be too over the top? How about some of the other amps by say, Hiwatt, H&K, Reverend, Budda? Thanks in advance. I really don't know what to put here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted September 2, 2001 Share Posted September 2, 2001 Originally posted by Sylver: I guess that's one of the reasons that I'm attracted to the later day Floyd, ringing bell tone sound that DG get, If you want that "Coming Back to Life" intro sound a solid state amp might be better. You need tons of headroom - which depends on the volume you expect to play at. Those cheapo Fender Roc Pro amps will do that at a fair volume; inciduously bright, but the high end extends out far which is good for that sound. Some sort of studio quality compressor with a draggy attack to give you the snap on the front end. I'd prefer a high wattage Boogie, or simply a nice Twin (not cranked to distortion). The Fender Blues Deville really excels at the Gilmour clean sound thing, though that's *all* it will do. Regardless, go around the Digitech if possible.... ------------------ New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Bob Posted September 4, 2001 Share Posted September 4, 2001 His lead at the end of "Another Brick in the Wall" is unbelievable. I don't think it would sound as good if it were distorted. It sounds very clean yet strong. The amp may even be more important than the guitar in getting that sound. Comments please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted September 4, 2001 Share Posted September 4, 2001 help me out here folks, but if i remember doesn't he use a GK solid state amp?... also seem to recall that he did 6 or 7 "wild" takes of solos then comped them into one good one, then actually learned the comp solo and played it again top to bottom... anybody else (chip?)recall that? my brain cells are mostly shot... -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted September 5, 2001 Share Posted September 5, 2001 Originally posted by d gauss: help me out here folks, but if i remember doesn't he use a GK solid state amp?... He did on the intro to "Sorrow". also seem to recall that he did 6 or 7 "wild" takes of solos then comped them into one good one, then actually learned the comp solo and Yeah, he said he does that in an interview that references "Comfortably Numb" in I think Guitar for the Practicing Musician. my brain cells are mostly shot... After trying to get some work done I've spent every waking moment of the past 3 days trouble shooting my computer to find out the the following: Win2k and WDM sucks. At least until Echo audio gets drivers happening for the Gina that WORK without the built in retro "vinyl record" effect... Asus P3B-F motherboards have a funny defect that when you transfer a large amount of data across the processor to memory... it overheats and freezes. This has been going on "randomly" for over a year since I've had this board, and because of it's seemingly software related nature I've never know it was the STINKING MOTHERFRICKINGBOARD. My computer has ate 2 projects I was working on, that I felt had some actually decently neat bits in them... My nerves/brain cells are totally shot. So now, after work I get to look forward to the emergency solution of money I don't have spent on a new motherboard. Yay. Uhg. Oh well. Anyhow, I think Gilmour now is favoring a Boogie MkIII slaved through the Hiwatts for his main sound. ------------------ New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 When I worked with Guitar Shop magazine, we did a long feature on Gilmour, his gear and how he gets his tone. You might be able to find the stories online or get a back issue of the magazine. I can also make a copy of the info for you, if you want it. Just let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill V Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 While his hands, amp, and pickups all certainly play a big part of Gilmours classic tone, I wouldn't want to underestimate the contribution of the recording equipment involved as well. Great mics, pre-amps, mic placement and probably most importantly a big ole'fat two inch analog tape play a big role in creating that pleasant strat sound. It can sometimes be a little bit tricky recording single coil fender guitars to 16-bit digital. They can be overly bright and crisp on the top end at times and you have to be careful that they don't end up sounding too thin and brittle. Analog tape is perfect for smoothing out the transients of a slighty distorted strat. Just listen to the solo in "Have a Cigar" for one of the best sounding strats ever recorded. I don't think it would have quite the same character and punch if had been recorded on one of todays portable digital workstations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.