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Thread: BD Tones - First Stab

  1. #1
    Administrator Tim's Avatar
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    BD Tones - First Stab

    Evening all. First evening of getting to know my new Explorer so thought I'd try and create a few beautiful day tones. These are all very draft and being lazy I haven't done a huge amount of fine tuning. Oh and also the playing is poor as I haven't actually learnt this song properly, so just after feedback on the tone



    Guitar : Epiphone Explorer Korina
    Effects : HD500

    Clip 1 & 2 = Intro tone. Neck pup. Boost Comp, Delay.
    Clip 3 = Chorus tone. Bridge pup. Distortion. Probably too overdriven?
    Clip 4 = Crazy tone. Bridge pup. Pitch Shift, Distortion, Delay. Again might be too distorted?

    Any comments appreciated as I sculpt these tones. Thanks!
    My Gear : Fender Strat // Tokai Love Rock LP // Epiphone Explorer Korina // Taylor 814ce (2014) Acoustic // Roland HP107 Piano // Line 6 Pod HD500 // Korg A3 // Presonus Firestudio Mobile // iMac 3.06Ghz Core 2 Duo 8GB // M-Audio AV40 Monitor Speakers // Vox AC4TV

    "Everybody’s going to remember your songs, it’s just that nobody’s gonna be able to play them" - Bob Dylan talking to Edge

  2. #2
    Senior Member TooTone76's Avatar
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    1 and 2 sound good. Perhaps a bit more lower mid "thump" on 1.

    3 needs to sound distorted but maybe you need a different distortion model, and you need to work on the general EQ. I'm saying as if I know what it is, but I don't. I find that getting overdriven and distorted tones to match drives me crazy. On a different song, I've been using MOHs tip (UTEOTW) about using a Tube Screamer and RAT (or whichever distortion fits) in series to sculpt the tone. I'm finding it hard to zero in because there are a lot more variables to play with, but the end results are getting closer. I felt like I'd ran out of options when I was just using one distortion pedal.

    4 is a tricky one, and your's sounds OK, but I suspect that getting closer to the real tone might need a bit more studio and rig set up than the POD HD has to offer. I can't say because I've not spent any time trying this one (although I've watched MOH's video on this section dozens of times)... I think I get put off by the amount of tweaking I'd need to do, and end up doing something simpler instead

  3. #3
    Great start Tim, are you using your Joyo on this or just the pod? Can definitely get the explorer vibe coming through here.

    On the specific clips, I like the intro tone a bit deeper (more bass/mids) and being really picky a tad less delay, Verse tone sounds good, I somethimes try a little chorus in this bit to fill it out a little.
    Love the chorus tone, I agree with TT maybe its not the exact distortion edge uses but no doubt he has used many in different versions of the song, I blow so hot and cold on which distortion tone is right changing my mind daily so as long as you like it thats all that matters.

    On the crazy tone, this is so difficult I have tried and failed many times, even Michaels axe version doesn't do it for me. I usually end up ditching the pich shift because in my boss gt and in Guitar rig (and in the HD500 I can hear) the effect just struggles to cut it and you end up with god awful sqwarky bits it the signal (probably not the correct technical description.) To be fair the HD500 is doing as good a job as any I have heard but I still find it a little ugly. Maybe a digitech is the only way here? I usually end up going back to a heavy shimmer sound for this bit of the song. Not very authentic but less painful on the ears.

  4. #4
    Administrator Tim's Avatar
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    Tony/Tim, thanks for the responses. These initial tones were without the Joyo as I'm awaiting a new power supply which should arrive any day. I used the AC30 sim instead, but will definitely replace with the Joyo later on. I'm hoping this improves the overall tone a little. I must say I do like the woody tone that the Explorer gives through the neck pickup.

    Listening again today, I think I was out of time on the intro, which means the delay is really noticable. If I was playing in time, the 1/4 note delay shouldn't be as prominent as it is in the clip. My excuse is I was playing without any backing track or metronome

    The chorus is just a classic distortion (I always try this one first for some reason) but I will experiment with some other distortion models and see what it sounds like. I will also try using a screamer then a distortion in series and see if I can make that work a bit bitter.

    As for the "crazy" tone (I just called it that because I don't know what else to call it!), I suspect you are both correct and the HD500 will never nail this 100%. It's not bad for 20 minutes of tweaking but I don't like those squawky bits so will continue to try a few other things for this tone.
    My Gear : Fender Strat // Tokai Love Rock LP // Epiphone Explorer Korina // Taylor 814ce (2014) Acoustic // Roland HP107 Piano // Line 6 Pod HD500 // Korg A3 // Presonus Firestudio Mobile // iMac 3.06Ghz Core 2 Duo 8GB // M-Audio AV40 Monitor Speakers // Vox AC4TV

    "Everybody’s going to remember your songs, it’s just that nobody’s gonna be able to play them" - Bob Dylan talking to Edge

  5. #5
    Senior Member TooTone76's Avatar
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    The Classic Dist I think is based on the ProCo RAT... so great minds think alike

    Insted of using pitch glide for the octaves you could try the Smart Harmonizer which is a little less piercing to my ears, but you do have to keep it lower in the mix than the dry signal and follow it woth something to smooth off the brittle highs (I usually put it before the Screamer or Dist Pedal)

  6. #6
    Like the harmonizer idea, will certainly try that !

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