check out http://www.gearmanndude.com This is the new Barber Dirty Bomb distortion pedal. THey’re $99, and sound great. Highly recommend to anyone wanting a high gain box to get them over the top.
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How to use built-in distortion on your guitar amp in this free online instructional video.
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I am also getting a DigiTech RP90 Guitar Multi Effects Pedal today if that can help.
I’ve put some links below to help give you a perspective on what other people say, and the manual if it helps you dial in the tone you’re looking for.
Since I don’t know what type of distortion pedal you have, its kind of hard for me to help you in that regards, but I can at least suggest settings on the amp that might get you as close as possible to a Metallica sound.
The four amp models I would consider would be British 4, Hot Rod 2, Metal 1, or Metal 2. I haven’t used the amp, but that’s where I would start. No effects, Bass 5-6, Mids 3-4, and Treble 6-8. As far as Gain goes, it will depend on your guitar, pickups, etc, but between 6 and 8 will probably be the sweet spot.
Another way for you to approach getting that tone is to use a distortion pedal that cleans up well when you roll the gain down… in other words, if the pedal sounds pretty clean when the gain is at 1-3, then it will work for this… put the gain low (ie 1-3), with the level high (ie 7+). If it has a tone control you’ll probably want it between 4 and 6, if it has a separate Bass/Treble then I would put the bass at 3-5 and the treble at 6-8 (cutting bass before the amp = a cleaner, tighter, more trebly tone, which is exactly what earlier Metallica especially sounds like). This turns the distortion pedal into more of an overdrive/booster pedal.
Keep the amp at the settings listed above, but turn the Gain down or you’ll probably get feedback. A relatively clean "hot" signal pushes an amp (or pedal) further into distortion, so in general it works well with lower-gain amps and amp models. Your mileage may vary (YMMV), but I’m willing to bet that either British 4 or Hot Rod 2 are going to be the closest to the tone you’re looking for. I could be wrong, and it could be one of the Metal channels, but if British 4 = Marshall and Hot Rod 2 = "boutique" (which usually means Bogner or Soldano) then it should be right in the ballpark.
I don’t know much about the Digitech RP series (it’s been a while since I’ve looked them up, and I don’t think I’ve played one more than once), but I’d try googling for the manual if it doesn’t come with the unit already. If you use the pedal for your amp model, turn off the amp model on the amp and turn the amp’s gain way down – you want a very clean sound to make an amp model sound as good as possible. The exception to this *might* be putting the amp model on one of the acoustic settings. Its worth experimenting with, at least. Again, gain at 1.
Hope this has helped!
Saul
I’m probably doing about the best I can with my gear, but I want to develop a nice EVH style distortion (AKA brown sound). I know Eddie is known for the Phaser and Flanger effects, but I don’t think he used them that much. Only in certain parts of songs. I’m debating whether to use these effects, but it always sounds muddy and over effect driven when I add them.
This is my rig:
Ibanez RG350 guitar with modded DiMarzio pickups (Evolution in bridge)
Fender 15W Blues Junior tube combo amp (always set at a flat EQ – I think that’s what Eddie does or close)
Digitech RP350 multi-effects pedal (I like this pedal but many of the distortion effects are way too muddy and overdriven. I use the "Stack" effect for an 80’s rock/VH style distortion. Lots of guitarists do the mistake of using too much distortion. I did this when I was younger but I’ve learned it sounds better with less. Plus when you listen to VH and hair metal songs, they usually aren’t using heavy distortion on the rhythms.
I was told it sounds good to crank the master volume on tube amps but leave the channel volume low. I’ve been doing that and it seems to sound good. Any tips or thoughts? I know a lot of Eddie’s great sound comes from 1) being super good and 2) having a 100W stack. But c’mon, us guitarists know that gear makes all the difference in sound!
Hello there,
Too much to talk about in an answer here. So, here are some links to articles that discuss his set up.
Down near the bottom of the page
http://www.classicvanhalen.com/bios_evh.shtml
The Brown Sound
http://mr5150.vhvault.com/evh-brown-sound.html
Even more about his gear
http://mr5150.vhvault.com/evh-brown-sound.html
Later,
Im in a band and I just bought a good head and cabinet but I really need some effects. I want my distortion to sound something like band of horses. Any suggestions?
There are so many out there that it’s hard to recommend one. I just prefer stomp boxes and despise digital multi-effects, so if that is what you’re after I can’t really help. I would just hit a few stores and try out various distortions. I use a Fulltone Full-Drive 2 (my favorite), a RAT (cool classic distortion)and a Boss Metal Zone (just okay). I really like Fulltone products, the OCD distortion is pretty cool also.
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/navigation/guitar-effects-pedals?N=100001+338510+203880
i just have it lyin around and i wanna find some new sounds for my guitar without spending alot of money, if u know of any cheap homemade effects let me know
Depends of your level of computer science/digital electronics knowlege to be honest. You could possibly add two jack connections, one wired to the pins of the phone microphone and one wired to either the headset speaker pins, or the speaker which plays ringtones. You’d then want to write a digital distortion algorithm probably using a low level language for whatever chip is in the phone. It’ll sound crap and take hours and hours of hard work and probably many "urrrrgh, work damn you!"s but it’s probably possible.
Or you could gut it, google fuzz face schematics and fit a fuzz face circuit in there for pretty cheap.
OK so ive had my guitar (electric) for a couple years now and its a cheap johnson or something like that, but anyways.
My guitar never sounds as good or like i want it to.
I have a really small marshall amp. (thats it)
But im wondering what else (more amps, boxes, distortion?) i need to get so my guitar can sound similar or along the lines of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka1Agg25O5I
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJUE74i-htQ
(punk/ska sound)
What brand? nothing too expensive, but something good… ?
Good gear makes all the difference, but you don’t have to spend alot of money. You have a small practice amp… while this is great for personal practice, you are never likely to get the exact sound you seek. For this reason you will have to invest in a bigger amp. Look around, sometimes you can find great deals. For the type of music you want to play I think a bigger marshal or a Fender Combo will do the trick. Crate also makes some good combos too. You may want to upgrade to a slightly better guitar too before you consider electric pedals. Pedals should be the last thing you should seek to get a good tone. For me effects pedal are there to modify a great starting tone with a guitar and amp. Effects are just icing on the cake.
Whats your budget and I may get more specific…
What I meant is that
Is there any software that you can install in the computer, play your guitar in front of a Mic ( that is plug into the com) and hear sounds or distortion sounds from the com.
is there any?
Pls tell me…
cakewalk guitar tracks pro 3 or 4
http://www.cakewalk.com/products/guitartrackspro/
mix craft 4 http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/
studio devil amps http://www.studiodevil.com/home/
These can all work via plugging your guitar in the mic jack (you can get a 6.5mm to 3.5mm connection.) But they’d also work with a microphone infront of your guitar.
i hope some of these work out for you
I have a simple yet effective PA system composing of two Yamaha 12" passive speakers and a soundcraft gigrack mixer/amp. I use this to play my acoustic set for live shows. When I plug my acoustic through any one of the channels, it sounds great. But if I try to put an effects pedal between my guitar and the amp/mixer, ie; delay, chorus, flange, etc., I get a muddied, low end distortion coming from the speakers. This only becomes really audible/noticeable when I strum chords and such, but it is quite annoying. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remedy this with out compromising my original acoustic sound and volume when running these pedals. Note: this is a PA system and does not come with an effects loop like most guitar/bass amplifiers.
Thanks in advance.
Alleycat – My first guess would be that you may be distorting the input you are plugging the guitar and effects into. The pedals may boost the guitar signal somewhat which may overdrive that channel into distortion. Each channel on the mixer has a "pad" switch – try switching that in on that channel.
Watch your "clip/protect" lights too – make sure they are not lighting up when you are playing with effects. A clipped and distorted sound can damage your speakers.
when ever i pick one string with a high gain distortion it’s fine but two certain strings together (G string fifth fret + B string fourth fret) it produces a very undesirable effect. It’s almost sounds like a guitar with a sore throat and then you hear this tremolo effect.
Distortion produces a lot of harmonics. Playing two notes with heavy distortion produces harmonics from each note, and these harmonic notes can be at very unpleasant intervals. This is why you won’t often hear heavy multinote distortion.