What describes John Sykes Whitesnake "87" Tone?

[danjovi]

how far down on the mid slider do you think I can scoop with my green back speakers?

 

right in between the 2 white lines?

 

or right above the bottom white line?

 

 

I like how it sounds when its scooped

 

im just affraid of it not cutting through.

[gainfreak]

 

Originally posted by danjovi how far down on the mid slider do you think I can scoop with my green back speakers? right in between the 2 white lines? or right above the bottom white line? I like how it sounds when its scooped im just affraid of it not cutting through.

 

 

are we talking about recording or live?

 

You can get away with murder with scooping on a greenback loaded cab. I have scooped the thing full on and had it cut but only for a recording. The thing is to watch your presence control. i keep it on zero when recording.

 

The best advice that I could give you is to do a test recording and see how it sits in the mix.

 

For live I prefer to use the slide just under the white line. It sounds way mid heavy but cuts like glass through a PA.

[danyeo]

Originally posted by gainfreak Hahaha! Yes I have but you wont get that type of divebomb sound with a gibson without breaking the neck off

 

I think on the Blue Murder disc on Valley Of The Kings we can clearly hear some dive bombs that sound like he was using a Charvel.

[danyeo]

 

Originally posted by gainfreak The thing is to watch your presence control. i keep it on zero when recording.

 

 

That was the only difference i heard between our IIC+ heads. WHile my presence was on 5 we had your head on 0 and they sounded the same. Of course mine in non-simul while your's is.

[danjovi]

how about the presence live ?

 

cause we're going to be demoing music for Universal, Island, and Capitol records.

 

So we're going to record in January.

 

*gotta love hook ups : )

 

I've pretty much kept my mid slider right below the middle white line so its still has that mid-heavy sound. I don't doubt that its been cutting through.

 

But where should my presence be live?

 

I've had it at 6-7 right now, since we've only been playing live and I haven't been trying to find a "recording" sound.

 

Thats mainly because i have NO real recording equipment, just a {censored}ty cpu mic/wav recorder.

 

Maybe I should turn that sucker down?

 

I recently put it to 5.

[sparkle**]

 

Originally posted by danyeo I think on the Blue Murder disc on Valley Of The Kings we can clearly hear some dive bombs that sound like he was using a Charvel.

 

 

 

http://www.johnsykes.com/moreguitars.html

 

Look at the LAST GUITAR.....

[MasterOfSolos]

Yep he used a Charvel with a floyd for those divebombs. Listen to

"Give me all your love" I think he used it on that solo..

[dreamspace]

I like his tone on 87 and Thunder and Lightning(lot's o' good guitaring on that album )

[TomLionheart]

don

[Greazygeo]

too many effects.....

[danjovi]

I love how Children of the Night kicks in

 

the tone and the riff is so tight..

 

Which parts have that mild chorus crunch?

 

im like deaf to certain things..

[Highgrade]

 

Originally posted by 5150GSX He layered multiple tracks. You could make any amp sound like it has ungodly amounts of gain by layering multiple tracks.

 

 

Bingo!

[Whammyless]

Danjovi, the 80's were all about chorus. Check out anything that the studio cats like Lukather, Landau, Huff were playing at the time and it's got that wavery symphonic chorus going on with the clean tones and the leads. On the Whitesnake album, I hear the chorus on the guitars more for it's stereo spread vs the way we typically hear chorus used. Add a chorus pedal to your rig it will make it sound much bigger which is what always impressed me about the album.

[danjovi]

I have a Boss CH5 chorus pedal : )

 

I might mess around with it and add a hint of it.

 

Its just that last time I tried using it.

 

If i didn't put a whole LOT then you couldnt hear it for {censored}

 

Although my ears could have been shot at the moment, since i had been playing loud for a while before i did.

 

Are you saying to try it out as a solo booster and for clean channel(I know for clean they used it, im not that deaf hehe)

 

or just to flavor the over-all sound?

 

I'm thinkin of using it to flavor the over-all sound. If not that, then I will use it for clean.

 

I'll probably use my EQ Pedal as the solo booster to cut n slice through everything in the mix : )

[Gaf-Yag-A-Ton]

Originally posted by gainfreak If you want to come into a thread and help out that is fine but you always take the negative aproach. Your first post in this thread was worded like a 14 year kid who thinks that he knows it all. Try wording things better next time and maybe someone will take you seriously.

 

 

Its the classic "Gibson Dirty Fingers" pickup tone.

 

A pickup that never caught on back when it was new. Was discontinued. It has since been re-released.......and still hasnt caught on.

 

STRIKE 2.

 

I didnt come into this thread to "HELP OUT". i dont like the sykes tone. I dont care if it fizzles away... never to be plagerized by Syke wannabes again.

 

IF I DIDNT MENTION THE DIRTY FINGERS... no person OVER 15 would have.

 

You want me to IGNORE that he used a dirty fingers. You want to talk about every element of his tone... except that he used a dirty fingers. Why? because GAF brought it up. Gaf ... president of the "he-man woman woman haters club".

 

So ok. I will give good advice to please you mr... "professional studio guy".

 

If you want the sykes tone PEOPLE:

 

 

 

 

 

Thats all you need!!!!! Lipstick.

ENJOY YOUR BEING FIRED FROM THE WHITESNAKE TRIBUTE BAND.

[danjovi]

let the thread die you fag

[Gaf-Yag-A-Ton]

Ok.... you tell ME... what guitar he used on

"still of the night"?

 

Inform ME!

Help MEE out.

It was my understanding that album was the dirty fingers/gibson.

If i am wrong or missinformed... tell me what guitar he used...then.

[PWNAGE]

I believe "pure secks" would be the most accurate term

[danjovi]

he DID use the dirty fingers

 

the point everyone was trying to make including John Sykes personal friend who RUNS his site

 

is that the pick-ups didn't play that much of a role in the tone.

 

If he had used ANY GOOD pick-ups then it would have came out sounding that way.

[Gaf-Yag-A-Ton]

 

Originally posted by danjovi he DID use the dirty fingers the point everyone was trying to make including John Sykes personal friend who RUNS his site is that the pick-ups didn't play that much of a role in the tone. If he had used ANY GOOD pick-ups then it would have came out sounding that way.

 

 

"didn't play that much of a role in the tone".

I'm sorry. I am genetically incapable of accepting this claim but I will not debate it further as the poster specifically requested this thread die.

 

 

I have no doubt that you could come close enough to the 87 tone with a comparable pickup.

 

But.... I am all about "paying attention to detail".

Unfortunately... paying attention to detail... earns you "14 year old" status.

 

And to john sykes friend..... tell john he can mock my KMD solid state/hotrails tone if he wants! that would be an honor to say the least.

 

I am REALLY REALLY sorry i mentioned the Dirty fingers. I will never enter a john sykes thread again.

 

If you want the john sykes 87 tone ................... use a Q-tuner pickup.

enjoy!

[Whammyless]

Originally posted by danjovi I have a Boss CH5 chorus pedal : ) I might mess around with it and add a hint of it. Its just that last time I tried using it. If i didn't put a whole LOT then you couldnt hear it for shit Although my ears could have been shot at the moment, since i had been playing loud for a while before i did. Are you saying to try it out as a solo booster and for clean channel(I know for clean they used it, im not that deaf hehe) or just to flavor the over-all sound? I'm thinkin of using it to flavor the over-all sound. If not that, then I will use it for clean. I'll probably use my EQ Pedal as the solo booster to cut n slice through everything in the mix : )

 

Danjovi, I wouldn't run the chorus pedal through the front. Modulations and time-based effects I don't like before the preamp section but see if you like it. On the album, I heard the chorus on the clean parts like in "Is This Love" but also on all the dirty rhythm parts and solos. It even sounds like the solos might have been multitracked which wouldn't be unheard of. Zakk did multitracking on solos and rhythms for Ozzy's "No Rest for the Wicked" and that album sounds huge, too.

 

To get the full effect of the chorus, you need a stereo spread wet/wet or wet/dry. I didn't like using effects in the loop of that amp but I might not have done it right. If I did it over, I'd either slave the amp to a power amp with the chorus in between and the power amp out to 2 speaker cabs (either both cabs would be wet or only one wet, the other dry). Or, I'd go amp to cab and then mic the cab and run the mic to a mic pre, then to the chorus, then to a solid state power amp, and finally to 2 full range PA speakers; a wet/dry/wet setup.

 

I like my dry sound dry. I found that I lost dynamics with effects applied to my main sound. With wet/dry/wet you have your main tone along with effects that don't cloud it up. More equipment and crap to buy and carry around, bitch to use live, but it will sound huge (guess I lurk too much at hugeracksinc.com ). Again, Gainfreak may have a better idea on how to implement it. Otherwise, if I didn't do the wet/dry/wet thingy, I'd just play amp straight to cab and unless you really are in a Whitesnake tribute band, if you play it right it will probably sound fine.

[danjovi]

LOL no im not in a Whitesnake tribute band : )

 

I'm just a fan of his tone and would like my tone somewhere around that "87" tone.

 

THEN

 

I want to mold it a little bit from there.

 

thanks for the detailed info though

 

 

 

Im thinking the only thing I can really do is run the pedal up front lol : (

 

all that other stuff sounds like it takes more amps or technical stuff i wont understand. : (

[danyeo]

 

Originally posted by Gaf-Yag-A-Ton Ok.... you tell ME... what guitar he used on "still of the night"? Inform ME! Help MEE out. It was my understanding that album was the dirty fingers/gibson. If i am wrong or missinformed... tell me what guitar he used...then.

 

 

Just shut up already. Gainfreak IS a pro at getting killer sounds from his amps, guitars, speakers, etc. Lots of people from this board seek out his advice, especially on getting these 80's tones. If you heard him play you would probably be annoying the {censored} out of him for advice. And when we hang out at his place we can dial up a SYkes tones with a Boogie IIC+, III, or IV, a superstrat type guitar, a treble booster or similiar OD pedal, and some H30 or Greenbacks. The last thing we're doing is worrying about pickups.

[atbear]

 

Originally posted by danyeo Just shut up already. Gainfreak IS a pro at getting killer sounds from his amps, guitars, speakers, etc. Lots of people from this board seek out his advice, especially on getting these 80's tones. If you heard him play you would probably be annoying the {censored} out of him for advice. And when we hang out at his place we can dial up a SYkes tones with a Boogie IIC+, III, or IV, a superstrat type guitar, a treble booster or similiar OD pedal, and some H30 or Greenbacks. The last thing we're doing is worrying about pickups.

 

Wait. Sykes used an amp on that album?!

[squealie]

 

Originally posted by Gaf-Yag-A-Ton ..................

 

 

It only just now occurred to me, to read your moniker backwards.

 

Boo.