RECREATING VOILIN-LIKE SOUND?

[ksl]

About 30 yrs. ago, my band & I recorded in a top A room studio, and I was playing my H'bucker loaded Strat into a Boss Heavy Metal pedal, set to a tone cut, as opposed to any boost, then into my rack which contained a parametric EQ set to a subtle but sharp EQ curve cut in the low mids, then into a low powdered Gibson amp.  The tone I got was something like a combination of Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal, & Mick Taylor from 'Time Waits For No One'. It sounded almost like a violin, somewhat O/D'n but smooth & not edgey. No that different from Clapton's old tone cut 'Woman Tone' sound with Cream, but with more high end clarity. No longer owning any of that equipment other than the guitar, I want to try to replicate that type of sound, with the least amount of the buying, swapping, & selling dance we all do.  I know the amp is a big piece of the puzzle, but is there a OD pedal that comes to mind that might give me what I've described? I know Terje uses a TC Electronics Sustain-Param. EQ pedal thru AC30's, & Taylor is simply a guitar tone god, so what I seek is surely a tall task, but I just want that rounded OD sound w/o the spikes & edge, with something of a parametric EQ effect on board as well, or seperate.  Thanks all!!

[ksl]

Wow.... That Civil War is a beast.....very much what I am seeking. It's called a Big Muff II...
same thing? I see many variations on Fleabay... some ridiculous money & while others not so much. But I want a good one! LOTS of clones.....man I need help with this one!! Chicago Stompworks...EHX Deluxe Big Muff II..Stomp Under Foot...Wren & Cuff??  Think Rypdal, Taylor, & Gilmour. Thnx

[ksl]

UPDATE: I did pick up a Stomp Under Foot Violet Menace, and i was unable to get the Vol & Gain above 8 o'clock with getting this whiney overloading sound. Matt from SUF said i could send it in (pics taken looked normal, he said), but I'm thinking more & more that it may be my medium hot P90's in concert with my Mesa DC3, but on clean.  MY QUESTION, is this more common than I thought, where the gain structure of a pedal in combo with my pups & amp, is simply too much??  Deep underneath the awful noise, I can tell the pedal means well, but not a good match. I think i need a Muff 'type' box, but able to roll off the fuzziness & wooliness, & give me a nice mid hump, & a nice nod to the cello or violin type O/D.

Thanks for all the input~~

[WRGKMC]

Many pedals can get you that sound.  (I played an actual violin for many years and used to mimic the sound with a guitar)

 

What I suggest you do is find whatever gain pedals gets you the sound based on the pickups you have, then put a compressor and volume pedal in front of the drive pedal. The compressor will help to sustain the notes and the volume can be used to remove the pick attack. You simply turn the volume off, pick the notes then swell the volume up for a string type swell. 

If you want  to do it using only your volume on the guitar it can be done that way too.  It takes good coordination depending on the instrument.  Roy Buchanan was one of the better guitarists who used that technique. He got it from a tele plugged into a fully cranked twin amp, no pedals. It would knock your socks off when you heard him do it live. 

The volume on a tele is pretty easy for wrapping your pinky finger around it then ramping the volume up after you pick the note.  Getting the kind of vibrato used on a fiddle is the tough part.  I picked it up from actually playing violin. On a fiddle you roll the finger tip on the string end to end actually shortening and lengthening the string instead of bending the strings to one side.  With a guitar you cant roll the finger on the string because of the frets, but you can tug on the strings moving end to end on the string.  With the right strings and intonation you can get a vibrato that matches the violin quite well. 

[ksl]

Thanks for the advice! & i was fortunate enough to see Roy live in NYC~ Amazing!!

🕉

[WRGKMC]

Echo helps too. 

 

If you get the time give this video by Jean Lu Ponti a listen.  He does some things with an echo which are very guitar like. I used to play to his live album on guitar and fiddle to pick up licks and techniques. 

Oh, and another really cool trick I picked up.  If you have some Violin bow resin, try putting some on your guitar strings in the pick area and on your guitar pick.  You can use the side of your pick and it grips the strings for a short duration like a violin bow. I leaned using a Violin bow on a guitar like Jimi Page did.  Got the rosin on my strings and it grips the hell out of the pick.

I don't recommend a violin bow on guitar strings however.  I found out it totally destroys a violin bow.   I had used it on my guitar during a jam with some buddies about a week earlier and  when I opened up my Violin case I found all the horse hairs had snapped.  I couldn't figure it out at first and actually bought another bow.  Used it for months on the fiddle and no problems. Used it on a guitar and again all the hairs were broken.  Apparently the hairs get between the wraps in the wound strings and they act like a Knife sharpener and cut into the horse hairs.  After that it simply takes a few days and they all wind up breaking. Had me going till I figured that one out.  Violin strings are either gut or flat wound with aluminum. The surface is smooth and light so the bow grips and releases as you draw the bow.  You can match the Pizzicato of a fiddle on a guitars high strings but the groan of a bow is much tougher to mimic.  Rosin on the strings and sliding the pick over the strings gets close.