So I Just Had My Best Tone Day Ever.

[László]

Ever have one of those days where you're on, your gear is sounding amazing, and everything clicks? Earlier today I had my best freaking tone day ever -- and I'm going back to 1967 on this!! :top:

I've been thinking, how does this happen all of a sudden?

Earlier in the week I made a couple of changes on my pedalboard...I don't really think that's the main reason, but maybe it's a small part of it...I discovered that the reason my Eventide H9 was sucking tone when I set it for true bypass is because you have to enable true bypass in two places in the pedal's software, not one. Not knowing that before is why I had the H9 in a true bypass loop with a switch box. So I was able to take my true bypass switcher off the board, and eliminate a couple of cables and the switch box from the signal path.

Maybe that was a teeny-tiny, marginal improvement...

Then, too, a couple of weeks ago (posted about this tube rolling thing earlier) I did a little tube rolling with the DG30. I am dialing in the amp a little differently as a result. Not much, just a little.

Maybe these things combined. Maybe the tone gods were on my team today. I dunno what it was.

In any case, here was my signal chain for today:

PRS CU24 30th >> Fulltone Clyde Deluxe >> Suhr Buffer >> Suhr Koko Boost >> Fulltone Plimsoul >> Suhr Jackrabbit >> Eventide H9 >> Fulltone Tube Tape Echo >> DG30 >> DG matching 2x12 cab.

The DG30 was set boost on, Presence around noon, treble cut 0, bright switch on, treble 2 o'clock, mids 1 o'clock, bass around 1 o'clock, master dimed, gain around 12:30 to 1 o'clock.

Yeah, it got a little loud. That's ok.

The tone was amazing regardless of which pedal was on, and when they were all off, too. Even with the Echoplex thing bypassed, it was incredible. I was so excited that I wrote a new piece, and am going to start recording it tomorrow.

It's really a shame I'm too old to be of much use to anyone but myself, because I could cut a hell of a good record with this rig!!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Bangin'! I love those days!*




*Except when it's a day I'm borrowing or renting an amp.... then I'm bummed.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I've had days like that. In the past, I dreamed of being the next Jan Hammer -- creating guitar tones with synthesizers (I've since given up that dream and decided it'd be easier to learn guitar, hence....). One of the things I tried was putting a Prophet 5 through an Alesis Quadraverb GTR, which was a Quadraverb with a really nice analog input section with overdrive and fuzz done in the analog realm. Once (and only once, on one of those "magical" times when everything just worked well together), I got these really beautiful glassy wall-of-sound distortions that rivaled some of my favourite Judas Priest tones. There might have even been some speaker breakup involved.

I think it's a function of warm-up. Both tube gear and solid state gear sound better at varying levels of warmed up and bias and whatnot. At least in terms of tone. Other factors come into play, too, obviously, in terms of the material -- mood, humidity, clarity of thought.

 

[veinbuster]

Very cool.
Glad to hear it.

 

[Boogie]

Those were usually the days where I could hear myself the best. A gig with complete "ears" is a great gig. :rock: I totally get it and and happy as hell for you.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Les, clearly the only thing that could have made this better, is if some of your PRS brothers where there to share in your tonal bliss. So next time this happens, invite us over! :beer:

 

[László]

Les, clearly the only thing that could have made this better, is if some of your PRS brothers where there to share in your tonal bliss. So next time this happens, invite us over! :beer:

I think you're right! :five:

 

[tabl10s]

Many things can contribute to the "Best Day Ever!". Mine was back in '85 with my current amp, EMG loaded Strat, Peavey Gliders(country version)and a mini stack of Rockman effects.

 

[Boogie]

Many things can contribute to the "Best Day Ever!". Mine was back in '85 with my current amp, EMG loaded Strat, Peavey Gliders(country version)and a mini stack of Rockman effects.

I still have the EMGs and the Rockman effects. They're very dusty, but still work.

 

[László]

I was easily able to reproduce yesterday's results earlier this afternoon. So another great day, leading to working out some of what's happening in terms of tone/

First thing is that a big part of my incredible tone day was the fact that I was playing my CU24 30th guitar with the DG amp in a way I hadn't before, and set up the amp/pedals/echoplex slightly differently. I came to the stunning realization that I prefer the DG30 to the HXDA with the CU24.

In fact, the way I'm thinking today is that the CU24 30th may be the most unusually wonderful guitar I've ever played, and I'll explain shortly...

The Hammer Of The Gods McCarty Singlecut has been my #1 since the day I got it, and I love it with the HXDA. Phenomenal instrument, great combination. I think it works better with the HXDA than the DG30 for most of what I do.

But I realized that to a degree I've been picking up the CU24 and trying to make it sound a lot like the HOTG. Either that, or just going for a super-clean tone with it.

The secret might be that the last two days, I let the guitar be itself. In fact, I just kinda let it rip with the DG30 in a way I hadn't before. I let it be a CU24 instead of a wannabe McSC, or to use it mostly for clean tone, as I had been doing.

And I have to say, I am blown away.

What makes the CU24 30th so great for my playing style is the pickups. I absolutely adore them. They sound great at any volume, crisp, clear and awesome, and yet they also rip. They drive the DG30 into a gorgeous overdrive at just the right frequencies. Gotta say, I love it. In fact, I love the combination with the DG30, it just floats my boat wonderfully well.

I've always said that you have to live with an amp or an instrument for a while before you truly understand what you can do with it. We sometimes rush to hasty judgments, and often too, we try to do with one guitar what we've always done with another. With pedals, with amp settings, and so on and so forth. I actually like both amp and guitar better now than I did they day I got them, and that's saying something because I was very happy in the first place.

Today the CU 24 was again magic with the DG30. Magic, I tell ya.

Of course, the HOTG sounded fantastic with the HXDA, as always, and it's good to have both sets.

 

[duhdewd]

I've always said that you have to live with an amp or an instrument for a while before you truly understand what you can do with it. We sometimes rush to hasty judgments, and often too, we try to do with one guitar what we've always done with another.

+1
I play at a church and they supply a Jackson Britain for me to play on. I am a minimalist, my signal chain is my guitar straight to the amp and I put my H9 in the effects loop for delays and reverbs. I hated, I mean, HATED the Britain with both my original SC w/#7's and my P22 w/57/08's. I wanted it to do what my Budda did with those humbuckers. Just recently, I finally got it dialed in with my 408 Standard. Single coils or humbuckers, with the 408 it kills now, it's a very different animal than the Budda and it just loves 408's.

 

[László]

+1
I play at a church and they supply a Jackson Britain for me to play on. I am a minimalist, my signal chain is my guitar straight to the amp and I put my H9 in the effects loop for delays and reverbs. I hated, I mean, HATED the Britain with both my original SC w/#7's and my P22 w/57/08's. I wanted it to do what my Budda did with those humbuckers. Just recently, I finally got it dialed in with my 408 Standard. Single coils or humbuckers, with the 408 it kills now, it's a very different animal than the Budda and it just loves 408's.

It's really interesting how that interrelationship between guitar and amp work...

I don't know if there's anything you can predict, without plugging in and trying a bunch of different things.

The weird thing for me is that I really liked what I was getting before, but I'm always experimenting and trying new things, so the discovery process is part of the fun, over and above the playing.

 

[markie]

Not sure I've ever had one of those days ................ just kidding :tongue:


It's fun when it works! :rock:

 

[jfb]

Not sure I've ever had one of those days ................ just kidding :tongue:


It's fun when it works! :rock:

Last one I had was your double neck through your Shiva rig.

 

[László]

Not sure I've ever had one of those days ................ just kidding :tongue:


It's fun when it works! :rock:

Sure is!

I could actually get by for the rest of my life with just the CU24 30th and the DG30. But why do that?

 

[squirrel211]

I went back and looked at your description of the DG30 in the 'Dream Amp' thread...

Describe "Americana"

Wound up Tweed? Loose bass/low end?

 

[László]

I went back and looked at your description of the DG30 in the 'Dream Amp' thread...

Describe "Americana"

Wound up Tweed? Loose bass/low end?

Someone once said talking about music is like dancing about architecture...

Go to iTunes and listen to a couple of David Grissom's tunes on "How It Feels To Fly." The amp sounds exactly like that, and I'll call that Americana because Grissom himself does.

For a different side of what the amp can do, here's a little blues number, neck pickup on McCarty Singlecut. Excuse the sloppy playing.

https://soundcloud.com/lschefman/hammer-dg-30-custom-v2

 

[squirrel211]

Someone once said talking about music is like dancing about architecture...

Go to iTunes and listen to a couple of David Grissom's tunes on "How It Feels To Fly." The amp sounds exactly like that, and I'll call that Americana because Grissom himself does.

For a different side of what the amp can do, here's a little blues number, neck pickup on McCarty Singlecut. Excuse the sloppy playing.

https://soundcloud.com/lschefman/hammer-dg-30-custom-v2

Nice Les! I enjoyed the playing actually; I think that sort of demo goes a lot farther in understanding an amp remotely!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Come on Les, you know if you're playing to precisely, it AIN'T BLUES!

Sounds really good and nice playing!

 

[László]

I think that sort of demo goes a lot farther in understanding an amp remotely!

Glad you found it useful! With the way Grissom sets it up, sure there's his thing, and the amp can do that, but it's kind of interesting that you can do different things with it; I think it sounds almost like an old Deluxe in the blues clip; I mean, not spot-on, but it's an equally valid amp for that style. I kind of think of blues as the flip side of the Americana coin.

Come on Les, you know if you're playing to precisely, it AIN'T BLUES!

Well, valid point, but the timing the blues greats had with their playing was just so cool...not too far behind the beat, or not to far in front, depending on the song...that's what playing night after night for many years gave them. Incredible timing, more so than note selection as far as I'm concerned.

I hear sloppiness in my timing that is what it is because I'm just some guy with a guitar.