New here! Here are some video/audio clips! (Archon/Hollowbody)

C

Chris Lee

New Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2015
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Hello! I'm new here to the forum (lurking for several years) and finally decided to join in on the fun and post a few clips. I'm in the DC/VA/MD-area, and am an endorsed artist with PRS (http://prsguitars.com/artists) with my band, Moogatu. I've been playing PRS Guitars for 11 years and preaching to the choir here, best guitars in the world! Not to mention, they are great to all of their players, whether it's a bedroom hobbyist or a full time touring musician. Thanks for everything!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the clips. Sorry about the clams, please forgive me, haha! Some of them were done in one take...

All audio was recorded DIRECT with a Suhr Reactive Load. No mic'd cab. I'm using Impulse Responses and getting some incredible results. It's crazy how good the technology has gotten. I AB'd a mic'd 4x10 cabinet (SM57) this weekend with the Impulses and preferred the direct sound. Obviously, using a mic'd speaker sound is great (also hard to get feedback playing direct, haha) - but if you want a polished guitar tone with very little tweaking (IMO), IR's at the way to go! Disclaimer: Recording novice

Chain (for those interested)

2014 Hollowbody II > Archon 100 > Moog MF104M Analog Delay (in loop) > Suhr Reactive Load > Focusrite 2i4 interface > Two Notes Wall of Sound Plugin (using the OwnHammer G12-65 Marshall 4x12) > Logic

Anyway, enough rambling. Here ya go!



(haven't played this since high school, be nice, haha)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Cool, living in an apartment with no soundproofing, this recording method interests me, thanks for posting. And great playing. And welcome to the forum. And what are those three guitars? Hollowbody, Vela, and...?

(You're local to me, so if you ever play out, let me know.)
 
Thanks for the kind words!

Guitars are 2014 HB2 and a 2014 S2 Standard 22

Also have a SC Satin, SC245, SE Angelus (1 custom, 2 standards), S2 HB, and a few others i'm sure I'm missing.

Let me know if you have any questions regarding the recordings. I'm not the greatest, but I'm sure I can provide a little assistance. I was skeptical at first, because I'm very traditional when it comes to tube amps and my pant legs flapping. The Suhr and Ownhammer IRs really sound great...with the Two Notes Wall of Sound III plugin, you can even manually change the location of the mic (as well as toggle through different ones), add a second cabinet, compression, EQ, and lots of other stuff. It is a night and day difference over using my the old LAConvolver plugin (which still gets the job done, but not with as much flexibility). The Suhr is also the best load box I've heard yet. It's an analog reactive load that is designed to very closely emulate a Greenback loaded 4x12, as I understand it.

Also, playing this Friday at the Wharf in DC! Also, just hit the LOCKN Festival this past weekend :)
 
Welcome! Sweet playing (checked out a couple Moogatu vids too). Tommy Bolin....FTW!
 
cool playing with awesome guitars, Randy's solo on an HBII that's a first
welcome and that's for sharing
 
Thanks! I'm sure Randy would have loved a HBII had he had the chance to play one :cheers:

Hope to share some more clips soon.

Beautiful 513 too. You could dive into that top...
 
Cool - nice playing! Would love to check you guys out if you're playing whenever I'm in that area.

Interesting that you tapped the beginning of that Randy solo - that's the way I learned it, too, but when I see him play it in videos, it's not tapped. I've tried playing it his way - I go back to tapping.
 
alantig said:
Cool - nice playing! Would love to check you guys out if you're playing whenever I'm in that area.

Interesting that you tapped the beginning of that Randy solo - that's the way I learned it, too, but when I see him play it in videos, it's not tapped. I've tried playing it his way - I go back to tapping.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah, I tap it because I don't have to reach to play that cleanly. Randy Rhoads was a freak of nature. Time to practice!
 
Chris Lee said:
Haha, yeah, I tap it because I don't have to reach to play that cleanly. Randy Rhoads was a freak of nature. Time to practice!
Click to expand...

Ha! The reach comment makes me laugh because a friend of mine once said I have "Billy Barty hands".

Randy didn't play those triads on one string - it was two notes on the first and one on the second. I just can't get it smooth. Then again, it's not like my taps are wonderful, either!
 
That's the first time I've heard an Archon clip that I liked. It's way smoother in your vids! Does it sound like that live through a cab? I could definitely use THAT tone live, unlike the sort of new-age metal tone that most vids seem to get. My band is decidedly UN metal.

As it turns out I was almost able to catch your show tomorrow and find out for myself, but I am playing a last minute show. Maybe sometime soon!
 
alantig said:
Ha! The reach comment makes me laugh because a friend of mine once said I have "Billy Barty hands".

Randy didn't play those triads on one string - it was two notes on the first and one on the second. I just can't get it smooth. Then again, it's not like my taps are wonderful, either!
Click to expand...

Haha!

There ya go!!! I do remember learning it like that in high school, and giving up because my technique was so sloppy. Tried it the other day, and I think I can get it down (pretty) clean now. The tricky part for me is the first Dm arpeggio, going to the second change, moving the 5th up, my fingers can sometimes get caught and mute up the strings.

Playing those licks on one string would be a sight to see!
 
squirrel211 said:
That's the first time I've heard an Archon clip that I liked. It's way smoother in your vids! Does it sound like that live through a cab? I could definitely use THAT tone live, unlike the sort of new-age metal tone that most vids seem to get. My band is decidedly UN metal.

As it turns out I was almost able to catch your show tomorrow and find out for myself, but I am playing a last minute show. Maybe sometime soon!
Click to expand...

Wow, thanks for the compliment! I set it up pretty smooth, and try to approach my pick attack that way too, like a lot of my favorite players. Herring, namely.

Through a real cab, the Archon is F'ing brutal. Yes, it does the metal thing in spades, but it's also very responsive to your pick attack. If you dig in, you'll get a very aggressive, punchy, sound and if you lay back a little, and adjust your technique, you'll get a bit of a smoother tone. Running a TS-style pedal in front of the clean channel also yields some great vintage-y, bluesy tones. I found it works better than trying to clean up the OD channel. But the OD channel does dial back a little bit, you literally have to run the Drive on 1-2 though, haha!

But to answer your question, IMO, I can get the same tone through a cab. It's smooth, while also being really punchy and present, but no shrillness or woofiness. It can also be dialed to be very aggressive. I find the EQ to be pretty responsive.

Another trick I do- I run a Moog Analog Delay MF104M in the FX loop and it's ALWAYS ON. This doesn't necessarily mean I always play with delay though. I run an expression pedal from the Mix out and control the amount of delay with my foot. I find that the Moog has a preamp circuit that adds a little "Special Sauce" to the tone. I can't explain it. Same thing I imagine people feel about the Echoplex circuit, etc.

For my next set of clips, I was going to do some A/B testing with the Archon using Impulse Responses/Direct and a real cab mic'd with a SM57. Stay tuned for those!

Bummer you can't make it out tonight! I'm planning to use the Archon 100 along with a 80s Marshall 4x10 cabinet.
 
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