Members tdempsey Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 First, hey gang. I've never posted in this forum, but I recently have switched instruments from bass to rhythm guitar/keys and I'm worried about my tone. I play a MIA Strat and read elsewhere you need three tones - clean, grit and crunch. I suppose clean and crunch are self explanatory... But what is grit? How do you define it? I'm playing through a borrowed Fender Deluxe and it was only towards the end of my first full-band session that I rolled up the "tone" control on my Strat, and far preferred the sound. Doh! I'll likely get a POD XT Live floorboard (I know, a divisive topic) in a few months if this band gets to the gigging phase - but my question is - like the thread about starting over:if you had to start over - knowing what you now know about tone , what would you advise for a convert who wants to get on the fast track? Thanks for any pointers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tele The Truth Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 I guess it all open to interpretation, but I would define grit as the sound you get when you crank the clean channel of a tube amp to break up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peavey_impact Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Grit to me is a nice overdriven sound, lying between cleans and distortion. My 3 basic sounds are spanky cleans, overdriven humbucker grit, and full on humbucker crunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fanuvbrak Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 It's hard to limit yourself to three, but I would say: Clean Overdriven Distorted. There are exactly 12,645 tones within each category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danocoustic Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Three? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burgess Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Loud, louder and loudest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members angus_old Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Rhythm, treble, both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members woude Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 for me it would be: -punchy fender clean > stratocaster through fender blackface style amp with 10" alnico speakers. (add a tubescreamer and you're in blues territory) -marshall crunch > gibson lp or sg through marshall plexi with a cabinet with 12" celestion greenbacks (add a booster to get into hardrock territory) -vox chime > hollowbody gibson or rickenbacker or gretch through an vox ac30 with 12" alnico speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DenverDave Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Originally posted by Danocoustic Three? +1...I need more than three...Lets see...Country cleanHendrix cleanJazz cleanClean with a slight edgeBluesy edged cleanblues gritSRV bluesy toneBB King Bluesy toneClassic rock smooth rhythm tone classic rock edge rhythm toneover the edge rhythm tone2 or 3 lead tones (classic rock)then we start getting into metal tones...I don't know if you must have dozens of tones, but at times you need more than a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prages Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 If it were me, and I'd be looking for a gigging setup, I'd forego the Pod and instead get a smallish tube amp like a Peavey Classic 30 or Classic 50. Both are really good sounding amps that are built really well and will give a great clean tone and a great mid-gain tone. If you need more gain than those amps can give, you could also get a distortion pedal of some sort. I really only need two amp tones. Clean and a mid-gain distortion. I can roll back the volume on the guitar to get the 'grit' tone you described. Then I have a delay pedal and an EQ pedal in the loop. I just use the EQ pedal for lead boost, but if you're only going to be playing rhythm, you may not need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members angus_old Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 you can get a lot of different tones just from where you pick. sometimes i'll pick up around the 12th fret to get a really full bell tone. it's not all pickup & amp settings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chikinpox Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 If I had to do it all over I'd do more research. It's easy to go gear shopping and fall in love with a piece of equipment, only to find out later it doesn't really work for what you want to do. If you're going to stick with your set up for a while, research the different pieces of gear you have. Check out a site like www.guitargeek.com and see what pros are using your amp, pedals, etc. This is a good starting point to see what you can achieve. When buying new gear, do the oposite. Look up the players who's tone you like, and see what gear they use to get it. The more research you do, the more you'll appreciate the gear you buy. I'd have a whole hell of a lot less distortion pedals over the years if I had gone in looking for something specific.As for the three tones, I agree with the "clean", "overdrive", "distortion" theory. How you personally set the three is up to your preference and the style you're playing, but those three are good starting points when looking for tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Uma Floresta Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 I think a good example of nice grit is just about any old song from Tom Petty. Certainly not singing distortion or big crunch like Zep or ACDC, but just enough dirt to break things up a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tdempsey Posted February 9, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Thanks, you folks rock! But you knew that already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NUNO Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Clean, distorted for rhythm, screamy distorted for lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZenFly Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Get a zenTera. Or a Vetta...or a Valvetronix and have some fun. 3 tones? I can't even imagine! With my zen alone I get 128 patches, 17 amps. you get something like 50 with the Vetta. just my 2c but unless you have a cartage company and tons of pedals modeling is the way to go for variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Secondhandloser Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Originally posted by fanuvbrak It's hard to limit yourself to three, but I would say:CleanOverdrivenDistorted.There are exactly 12,645 tones within each category. No longer true due to the introduction of the clean on the verge of overdrive catergory, which was created out of parts of clean and overdrive, and the demotion of some distorted tones to overdrive, and then the addition of the over-distorted catergory, employed by certain metal bands which will remain unnamed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nothingstock Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 I've been at this for too long to think about, but I just got a Vox Ad50VT and I luv it - 2 presets and manual mode give you three sounds - add a good overdrive and multiply that for six -and you've got some great models to choose from also. Of course, the AC30TB is a good starting point, especially for gritty sounds. Before you try a POD, try one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PolyFmorf Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 3 guitars: Single coil P90 humbuckers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jorge Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 play with the thickest strings you can handle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vox Boy Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Fender Vox Marshall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members _pete_ Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 Originally posted by ZenFly Get a zenTera. Or a Vetta...or a Valvetronix and have some fun. +1 Except the Vetta. I never liked Line6's amps.The Valvetronix amps are good and very versatile. It's easy to get a good tone from them.The ZenTera is in it's own leauge. Expensive, but it can do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Janx Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 I got a Line6 GuitarPort and a Korg AX3000G. In many ways, I like the guitar port better, and would've gotten the Pod XT Live, based on assumptions of what I can do with it. Via the PC, it's a lot easier to pick and choose tones (and I then assume, download them into the Pod). As a newbie, I like having lots of tones, it makes it fun trying different combinations. I agree with DenverDave, my list would be the same-ish: Country clean Hendrix clean Jazz clean Clean with a slight edge Bluesy edged clean blues grit SRV bluesy tone BB King Bluesy tone Classic rock smooth rhythm tone classic rock edge rhythm tone over the edge rhythm tone 2 or 3 lead tones (classic rock The trick is, as a newbie, I don't know how to generate more tones beyond clean, distorted and grit. So beyond choosing tones randomly, it'd be useful to know general tips on how to generate the list of above tones. In theory, anyone with a $300+ pedal rig and a good guitar should be able to generate variety of good tones (with some variation of course). Tips like: "you can get a lot of different tones just from where you pick. sometimes i'll pick up around the 12th fret to get a really full bell tone. it's not all pickup & amp settings" and "I really only need two amp tones. Clean and a mid-gain distortion. I can roll back the volume on the guitar to get the 'grit' tone you described. Then I have a delay pedal and an EQ pedal in the loop. I just use the EQ pedal for lead boost, but if you're only going to be playing rhythm, you may not need it." go a long way to helping newbs try constructing good tones. Janx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gotboostvr Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 i absolutley love my Vox ad30vt. killer tones baby. and a wide range of variety. plus a buncha FX, but i only use one or two of em anyways, add in my 535q wah, and its all good baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nothingstock Posted February 9, 2006 Members Share Posted February 9, 2006 The sounds I'm getting from my ad50vt are veeeeeerrrryyy convincing and fun. The edge-of-gritty AC30 soound is lots of fun and has already become my main tone. Have fun with the ad30 - I know it sounds good because I tried one before I bought the 50 watt version - I just like the way 12" speakers sound more than 10's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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