Tone Problems!

[TheMrAxeman]

I need help with my tone. I am trying to get a tone like the tone randy had in providence 81. he had a really good tone on that tour and it is killing me when i hear my tone now. i dont care if i have to change something completely to get that tone. also i am playing through a 4x12 bass/guitar cabinet idk if it being bass and guitar will affect it tho. here is a sample of my tone...sorry about the crappy playing

[NoQuattro]

Might help if you tell us what amp/guitar/effects you're using. That'll help me make any recommendations I may have.

[TheMrAxeman]

Oh yeah sorry i will post pictures of my settings on them tomorrow
My amp is a marshal vs100
it is hooked into a ampeg bass/guitar 300w cabinet(theres no information on my cab on the internet, but it boosts the bass alot)
the pedals i use are a mxr eq and distortion +
my distortion plus is plugged into my guitar and then my eq then my head
my guitar is a epiphone zakk wylde with emg hz
since i posted this i have found a closer tone thats why i didnt post pics yet
i was accidentally using the wrong channel on my amp, but i still need pointers to get his tone. I know that most of it comes from the fingers

[Ritchie]

Mr Axeman , why don't you simply try to get "your" tone instead of chasing the tone Randy had ? , In the long run it will save you time and you get to sound like you ! , for sure you can use Randy as a source of inspiration and even use his tone as a "ball park" goal , but don't try to get too hung up on it .... Focus on being you and sounding like yourself .

[chasmcneal]

this thread maybe belongs in the gear thread or similar? mods?



as for randy tone: valvestates are fine little amps, but 'getting' randy tone with one is probably not in the realm of possibility.

[wareagle]

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[TheMrAxeman]

maybe wareagle. how do those sound? ive never heard one compared to the new remake i have

[wareagle]

.

[hansolo]

Boost your midrange! Most amplifiers scoop out the midrange. I played on a few guys' rigs and a lot of them lack those important guitar frequencies to hear you guitar sing! They had plenty of mud and mush but no soul. And allow your amp/guitar to gradually feedback (positive feedback) during vibrato or holding a chord. Practice, practice, etc...

[Tito]

ritchie i got to thank you for your advice dude!!!instead of chasing randy's tone find your own..after 2 decades i think i found my tone!!!!dont get me wrong im a fan of the tom sholtz randy mid range tone...but i just got my fender frontman back from a friend and after i read your post i started messin with my boss eg pedal and my mxr "classic distortion".too noisy with the eq in the chain but when i shut it off the mxr was sounding a bit nice!so i go from my guitar to the mxr right into the amp..so now i got a nice mid range bass treble tone!!!!i gotta crank it and record with it so i can post it..thank you so much ritchie for once i said forget randy's tone and listen for yourself!!!peace dude!!!!

[Ritchie]

ritchie i got to thank you for your advice dude!!!instead of chasing randy's tone find your own..after 2 decades i think i found my tone!!!!dont get me wrong im a fan of the tom sholtz randy mid range tone...but i just got my fender frontman back from a friend and after i read your post i started messin with my boss eg pedal and my mxr "classic distortion".too noisy with the eq in the chain but when i shut it off the mxr was sounding a bit nice!so i go from my guitar to the mxr right into the amp..so now i got a nice mid range bass treble tone!!!!i gotta crank it and record with it so i can post it..thank you so much ritchie for once i said forget randy's tone and listen for yourself!!!peace dude!!!!

Dude .. you're welcome , it really is imperative to work hard on your own style first , this in turn will influence your tone . If Angus Young picked up Randys guitar and played through Randys rig , it would sound like Angus but with more gain ..

Also another tip is try using " less gain " some guys think they need to use as much gain as possible , I used to think like that too .. but I can attest that once I backed off on the gain , the actual tone of the guitar and amp became clearer and I worked more on nuances and detail as it was more apparent with a cleaner sound .

[Remedylane]

It took me YEARS but im finally happy with my tone.. A wise man told me years ago that 90% of your tone was in your hands.. I could never wrap my head around that until many years later.. But it is a very accurate statement.. A good guitarist can sound good even on crappy gear.. So yeah, it has just as much to do with your hands as it does your gear! Believe it!

Matt

[NoQuattro]

It took me YEARS but im finally happy with my tone.. A wise man told me years ago that 90% of your tone was in your hands.. I could never wrap my head around that until many years later.. But it is a very accurate statement.. A good guitarist can sound good even on crappy gear.. So yeah, it has just as much to do with your hands as it does your gear! Believe it!

Matt

That's true, it's all in the hands. A great many of aspiring guitarists live in denial of that fact. Playing a $2000 guitar through a $2000 head and cab with $5 skill will sound like shit. Lots of guys are wrapped up in the "oh, well if I just had a really nice guitar then I would really sound a lot better." Not true in the slightest.

Case in point - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVyroY5mCME