Members freerealestate Posted January 30, 2013 Members Share Posted January 30, 2013 First time posting, would like everyone's opinion on getting a crisper, "cutting" distortion tone on a les paul. I'm using a BOSS ME-50 and I can't say I really understand what I'm doing--I just mess around with it until I give up and settle for a less than satisfying tone... haha!The distortion I usually end up with is what I would call "bulky" and heavy, anything but crisp. I'm wanting a distortion tone that's cutting and electric, almost with a lot of feedback but controlled--I'm not a beginner guitarist but I get a lot of ringing when distortion is turned up. Almost like as the progression (or whatever I'm playing) goes on, the sound gets too muddled and heavy and I have to totally stop to reset.I don't feel like I'm explaining it as best as it could be explained, but maybe someone will understand what I'm saying. I'm going for a the Strokes or Phantom Planet type distortion--think "1st things 1st" by Phantom Planet. Can anyone explain how to get that sound, things to do/avoid with my gear, or things that I can improve in my playing to get that sound? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goodhonk Posted January 30, 2013 Members Share Posted January 30, 2013 try using your bridge pick up, and less distortion. i think on a les paul the bridge pickup is the called "lead" on the selector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr.Grumpy Posted January 30, 2013 Members Share Posted January 30, 2013 I listened to a couple of minutes of the Phantom Planet track on YouTube. That's not a very distorted sound, believe it or not. Sounds like they're strumming full barre chords through a cranked amp. Try these settings on your ME-50: (Like goodhonk said, use your lead pickup on your les paul, volume and tone on "10")Tone modify - OFF or TightCompressor - OFFOverdrive/Distortion - I'd try the GUV, RAT and Scream modes, but experiment. The DRIVE should be set pretty low, maybe around 9 - 10 o'clock. Start with the bottom and tone knobs at noon, then adjust as needed. Modulation & Delay - OFFREVERB - adjust to taste, I'd go with a little bit of 'room' reverb here. When you play with distortion, you have to take extra care to not let extra strings rattle or ring out, as you've found, the extra notes turns everything to harmonic mush. Concentrate on playing cleanly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chrisjnyc Posted January 30, 2013 Members Share Posted January 30, 2013 Have you tried single stomp boxes... its a lot easier to dial in sounds with just 2 or 3 knobs to change.Check out the Danelectro cool cat pedals... drive, OD, fuzz, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folky_Grunge Posted January 30, 2013 Members Share Posted January 30, 2013 +1 to using less gain that you think you need. Bands like use use more volume than actual distortion. A good first step to getting that sound is playing with less gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members freerealestate Posted January 31, 2013 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thanks for the replies! I'm gonna try out these suggestions tonight... I'll report my findings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members iwillfightu Posted January 31, 2013 Members Share Posted January 31, 2013 Of course "turning up the amp loud" result may vary depending on your amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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