Does a Legacy really sound like this?

[Dark Angel]

I have no idea what this means :confused:

People say that essentially, you have to be Vai to make a Legacy sound like Vai... because the tone is in his hands. If they were correct, every guitar player with great tone wouldn't mind playing a POD. They don't because they need the source of the tone, their favorite amp.

I maintained that the tone is in the amp, you just need to know how to drive it. Therefore, I would obviously NOT play through a POD, because that would imply I thought my magical voodoo hands could make the POD sound like whatever tone I was aiming for.

In other words, if you want to cop someones tone, learn the licks and buy the amp. If it doesn't sound right, you didn't learn the licks right, because the amp is adhering to the laws of physics whether you play it, or some famous person plays it. If you play it the same, it HAS to sound the same. Any argument to the contrary is an afront to science, and the more superior "amp pilots" you seek to mimic, both in skill and taste in gear.

[Random Hero]

People say that essentially, you have to be Vai to make a Legacy sound like Vai... because the tone is in his hands. If they were correct, every guitar player with great tone wouldn't mind playing a POD. They don't because they need the source of the tone, their favorite amp. I maintained that the tone is in the amp, you just need to know how to drive it. Therefore, I would obviously NOT play through a POD, because that would imply I thought my magical voodoo hands could make the POD sound like whatever tone I was aiming for. In other words, if you want to cop someones tone, learn the licks and buy the amp. If it doesn't sound right, you didn't learn the licks right, because the amp is adhering to the laws of physics whether you play it, or some famous person plays it. If you play it the same, it HAS to sound the same. Any argument to the contrary is an afront to science, and the more superior "amp pilots" you seek to mimic, both in skill and taste in gear.

 

 

So when Vai said that when EVH visited the Mothership and played through his gear, and sounded exactly like EVH, he was lying? He also said he played through one of Eddie's rigs and said he couldn't get Eddie's tone and it just kept sounding exactly like himself.

[Pete]

It's easy to get Vai's tone with a jem straight into a legacy. Word on the street is that Vai and Carvin are teaming up for a 3 channel legacy.

[Aaron SS]

A while ago I went out to a German store to try some amps and cabs, I tried a whole bunch and they had a Legacy too, I was under the impression that it was some sort of boutique amp, so I plugged in and I was completely shocked by how good it sounded through some greenbacks. Im not a big fan of Steve Vai and I kind of hate his guitar tones, but this legacy certainly has something going one which I really like. Steve Vai has some taste in tone after all. When I was home I checked out the price and I thought it was pretty cheap for so much amp.

 

 

+1, i have a half stack with greenbacks and its pure heaven

[Phishmonkey]

It's easy to get Vai's tone with a jem straight into a legacy. Word on the street is that Vai and Carvin are teaming up for a 3 channel legacy.

 

 

I read that on the vai board, any real sources for this?

[pink freud]

I read that on the vai board, any real sources for this?

 

 

well, i've heard he mentions it on a gear walkthru. just have to find the walkthru.

[Aaron SS]

Ya im pretty sure a carvin rep confirmed it on the carvin boards as well, kinda bums me out since i caught word of it only 2 months after buying my legacy, o well im completely content with it as is, i will have to take a look at the 3 channel for kicks though.

[Phishmonkey]

well, i've heard he mentions it on a gear walkthru. just have to find the walkthru.

 

 

Hmm, sounds legit then. I wonder if it will make me sell my legacy, or if it will be more like the 2 ch recto vs 3 ch recto

[Aaron SS]

What speakers you running with yours Phish? Also outta curiousity what kinda settings/setup are you running?

[pink freud]

Hmm, sounds legit then. I wonder if it will make me sell my legacy, or if it will be more like the 2 ch recto vs 3 ch recto

i'm not selling mine, no way.

my mentality: why buy a new expensive 3 channel legacy, when somebody will buy it and sell their old 2 channel one for cheap, so i can have two

[jem7vwh]

So when Vai said that when EVH visited the Mothership and played through his gear, and sounded exactly like EVH, he was lying? He also said he played through one of Eddie's rigs and said he couldn't get Eddie's tone and it just kept sounding exactly like himself.

 

 

So are you saying that when EVH played Vai's rig, he made it sound like a wall of Marshalls, and when Vai played EVHs rig it made his Marshalls sound like Legacies?

 

I think theres a difference between what a player sounds like, and his tone. His sound is generated by how and what he plays and is built upon his base TONE which is all in the gear.

 

Sounding like someone is totally different from having their tone.

[Phishmonkey]

So are you saying that when EVH played Vai's rig, he made it sound like a wall of Marshalls, and when Vai played EVHs rig it made his Marshalls sound like Legacies? I think theres a difference between what a player sounds like, and his tone. His sound is generated by how and what he plays and is built upon his base TONE which is all in the gear. Sounding like someone is totally different from having their tone.

 

 

But we can't hear sound and tone separately. Hence why tone is in the fingers, even if you have all the gear you're still only halfway there (being very generous) Vai won't have his tone through a 5153, but he will still sound like Vai and retain most of the sound we hear when he plays

[Random Hero]

So are you saying that when EVH played Vai's rig, he made it sound like a wall of Marshalls, and when Vai played EVHs rig it made his Marshalls sound like Legacies? I think theres a difference between what a player sounds like, and his tone. His sound is generated by how and what he plays and is built upon his base TONE which is all in the gear. Sounding like someone is totally different from having their tone.

 

 

I'm not saying either - I didn't hear it. I'm just pondering whether or not some of you think Vai was lying.

[jem7vwh]

But we can't hear sound and tone separately. Hence why tone is in the fingers, even if you have all the gear you're still only halfway there (being very generous) Vai won't have his tone through a 5153, but he will still sound like Vai and retain most of the sound we hear when he plays

 

But you're associating playing ability with tone... Amps don't change you into a different player, of course your playing will sound like yourself through any rig, whether you are good or bad.

 

Your tone can be identical to someones though, but it doesn't necessarily mean you'll sound the same as them due to different playing. However if you hit an E minor chord on Steve Vai's rig, it would sound just like if Steve Vai did the same.

 

Similarly, you could have a beginner wanking on Steve Vai's stage rig complaining that he doesn't sound anything like him, and of course that would be because, as the cliche goes, he doesn't have his fingers. But he WOULD have his tone, even though its overshadowed by crappy playing, the tone, the way the sound comes out of the speakers, is still there.

 

I think we have different definitions of what tone is. To me, tone is the foundation on which a players sound is built, regardless of how he plays. How far you go from your foundation of of tone to create your own sound depends on your style and skill, but I believe that the basic foundation is attainable for anyone just by using the same gear.

[etienne]

I think we have different definitions of what tone is. To me, tone is the foundation on which a players sound is built, regardless of how he plays.

With all due respect, this to me is a fallacy since you are removing a building element from the tone "equation". But this is just IMHO of course.

I would love to have Steve Vai in my basement with the same amp he used for the clip. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't hear a difference if we both hit an open E, but as soon as we would get into a simple chord, the difference would be audible. There are ways to extract the tone, an open E isn't one.

I mean.. when I play through my friends rig, whatever I play seems to have more treble..

This is an endless debate !

[Random Hero]

I would love to have Steve Vai

[rushtallica]

Well I guess Devin Townsend == Steve Vai then? His tones are so close to Vai's that you'd think he went to his house to track it and then decided to ask Steve to play it instead. Nuance is in the hands. Tone is in the pick, string, pickup, wood, cable, amp, speaker. It's a mechanical process. I get so tired of hearing people say that crap about tone being in the fingers. Steve Vai through a gorilla sounds like a gorilla being played by Steve Vai, not freaking Passion and Warfare. As if the flesh on your finger impacts the metal on metal contact beyond it at the fret. By that logic all those icky resonating notes (you actually create two notes when you fret) should always make us sound {censored}ed up.

That might be considered the "Passionate Wellfare" tone.

[rushtallica]

With all due respect, this to me is a fallacy since you are removing a building element from the tone "equation". But this is just IMHO of course. I would love to have Steve Vai in my basement with the same amp he used for the clip. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't hear a difference if we both hit an open E, but as soon as we would get into a simple chord, the difference would be audible. There are ways to extract the tone, an open E isn't one. I mean.. when I play through my friends rig, whatever I play seems to have more treble.. This is an endless debate !

Yep. Even the open E sound might be a bit different if one of you used any vibratto, different pick type and angle/attack of the pick, etc... I think most of the greats will always sound like themselves even though they aren't going to get the same tone from a SS amp with a 3" speaker as they will with a wall of Marshall 100 Watt heads.

[cobrahead1030]

He may have plugged straight into the amp but it's what came after the amp that made it sound like that. I'll bet they used 2 mics one close and one a few feet back from the cab, a compressor, a parametric EQ, and a stereo digital delay.

you can all that just from that clip