what was randy's pedalboard like during quiet riot?

[wareagle]

ehh hmm hard to explain. like a "rolling distortion" thats wut i call it, it sounds like a ball rolling... idk it comes from his eq... hard to explain

[Paul Wolfe]

Dutch, he seems to be on the idea that there has to be something that Randy used during the QR days that he also used during the Ozzy days. This mysterious 'constant' would be the key to his tone.

Not sure what he means by "rolling"... Generally the term 'rolling' has to do with using the volume knob to bring the distortion into full effect by bringing the volume to full effect. That doesn't sound like what wareagle is describing, though.

As has been discussed, Randy himself, the Les Paul and maybe the EQ are the same during the Ozzy stint as they were in the QR days. The thing with the EQ is that it would change from day to day based on the venue, as opposed to the amp being used. That's why Randy would comment on his tone being his weakness. If the EQ were constant and the guitars, amps and hands were always the same and the only difference being the venue, then his sound would be quite different from place to place and neither Randy nor his tech would be the genius' they are credited as being. Guitar players tweak their sound prior to every show, hence the sound check!

You are right though, Dutch, Randy would have altered his EQ to some extent from QR to Ozzy, seeing as how he changed from solid state Ampegs to tube Marshall amps.

[wareagle]

nah its ust a certain thing in his tone/distortion hard to describe, im not saying the tone settings on the eq, im saying the eq in general gives it that sound, and the les paul isnt constant, he switches guitars all the time, whether in qr or ozzy

[tedeeoo]

I always had the impression that Randy's distortion was really layered (multi-tracked), especially in the studio, and I also remember an interview where it said that Randy would record rhythm parts in contrary motion to each other, which can give that "rolling" effect to distorted guitar tones. He was also the first guitar player who made me really aware of how much multi-tracking can affect recorded guitar tones, especially distorted ones and he was very good at it. The song that really defines Randy's "rolling distortion" to me is his rhythm sound on "Flying High Again", that description really makes sense to me on that song. Can't really speak on his QR tone, I have read his Marshalls had been modded I think to include an extra gain stage and the 'rolling" aspect of his sound always sounded to me like a little bit of a flange or maybe a phaser. To my ear his amps had alot of hi-mids, this could have also come from an e.q. pedal. You can't discount the part of his tone that came from his hands (especially his pick-hand) as it really does make a difference in tone. Granted, this is all just to my ear and there are people who know much more about Randy's set-up and tone than I do.

[wareagle]

acctually only one marshall of his was modded i believe. the white one, rest he aquired during the tours. and even live he has that sound uk.

[tedeeoo]

Well as I said, alot of people know more about Randy's tone than me, that assessement is just to my ear. And I am sure the mxr distortion had a lot to do with the way his distortion sounded, it would not have been hard for Randy to recreate his tone live as it was his tone. Although to my ear, "Tribute" is not as thick sounding as his studio tone (esp. Diary), his tone is pretty much the same as the records. But again, that's just to my ear and it has been awhile since I really listened to "Tribute", to you it may sound exactly like the records. Randy had a unique tone, and I agree with your description of his distortion as "rolling" ( I always thought of it as "complex" but "rolling" is a better description) he probably found something that worked for him that most people would not think of, keep searching, eventually you will hit on the right combination, be it an amp, pedal, guitar, pick-ups or all of them.

[wareagle]

i ahve. ive hit a tone that i like a mix between a neil schon and randy rhoads uk, they both had that rolling factor although randys was more dominant.

[tedeeoo]

You know that comparison between Randy 's and Neal's tones is pretty accurate, to my ear Neal's tone had a little more "warmth" to it than Randy's, but I think some of that has to do with the bands they play/played with. If you have a tone somewhere in between those two you have a great (and I do mean great) tone, Neal is one of my fave's, such great note choice from Neal, and Randy too for that matter.

[wareagle]

so true, neal had a great tone, very similar to randys just warmer and more "dimed it" as in just crisper and more set in stone then randys, i guess u could call randys a prototype neal tone because they have similar aspects, neals is just fine tuned

[The Flying Dutchman]

ehh hmm hard to explain. like a "rolling distortion" thats wut i call it, it sounds like a ball rolling... idk it comes from his eq... hard to explain

Indeed hard to explain sometimes.
What I hear in his QR sound is a kind of 'midrange growl/snarling' a bit simular I hear in the 'After Hours' show. Could be caused by his EQ indeed.

[mxr82]

Hopefully, MXR will make that RR pedal like I asked em' to! Check out Randy & MXR and Randy & MXR part 2 for the full story.

[TheMrAxeman]

wareagle i think you can achieve the rolling distortion from where the distortion + and the eq are put in the chain. randy had is eq closer in the chain to the amp than the distortion +. Also you will need to have sort of a clean boost sound that Im almost positive randy did with his distortion. It is where you have the distortion setting on the d + at somewhere between 1 and 4 and the output maxed out. So it makes your signal a little more crisp and boosts it. i keep mine at three and a half. since the distortion only crispens and boosts the signal now you will have to use more amp distortion. the key is to get the perfect balance of amp gain and pedal distortion. Randy in the diary tour had more gain(it was at 5)so that he could do harmonics and pinches easier because the chorus was always on and it weakens the harmonics. But i think that in the blizzard tour he had less gain i think it was at 4 or four and a half. these combined with the eq and good settings on your amp will get you the rolling distortion you need. i have achieved this, but i need to work more on my balance between treble bass and mids. i have a bass cab and it affects these deeply.

[matt21]

Heres a picture where you can see the board. Looks like a wah, distortion +, and a flanger

[wareagle]

WOW thats a sick pic 0.0

there is somthing next to the distortion + definatly not an eq but it seems your right wah, flang, d+, somthing

[tedeeoo]

This is a great picture, the pedal to the right of the Distortion almost looks like a channel switcher, can't really tell, but again, this is a GREAT picture.