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Advice for my setup?

 
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flavaham



Joined: 22 Oct 2009
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:45 pm    Post subject: Advice for my setup? Reply with quote

Okay, I've been screwing with my sound for a long time and I just can't get it where I want it. I really like the sound of Jimmy Herring, Derek Trucks, Jeff Beck, etc. They all have a very full, sharp kind of sound. I can't pin point what I need to do. I realize that a lot of it is in their hands but beyond that I still can't get close enough. When I get the sharp sustained notes I seem to lose something on articulation and attack.

Anyhow, here's what I have to work with:

Main guitar is an Ibanez Artist (semi-hollow) two hum's.
Amp is a Fender Hot Rod (40 watt tube - I only use the clean channel which gives me High, Mid and Low eq, reverb and presence)
Distortion - Rat
That's about all I use. I also have a DBX Phase 90 and a Boss EQ-7. Most of the sites I've looked at say that Jimmy uses a fender twin (or some variation of fender amp) and Ibanez Tube Screamer. Not much else so I've kinda put the others aside. Anyhow, does anyone have some advice as to how to get a nice tone from the above? Any and all thoughts are appreciated!
Thanks!
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gillvanderlip



Joined: 19 Sep 2004
Posts: 28

PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:22 pm    Post subject: try this Reply with quote

get a huges and kettner tube factor. its the best thing around for overdrive.
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gsbe



Joined: 30 Oct 2004
Posts: 65
Location: Lexington, VA

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Couple of points:

the amp is pretty weak. although I'm sure you can get a decent tone from it, I'd recommend moving on. All these players you've mentioned are using high quality tube amps, generally of the vintage variety. Derek Trucks is using PRS amps occasionally but I'm sure he's still jamming his old blackface Fenders. consider spending a little money to get a good amp now...that would really help. you can get some cash if you sell your amp, too. the reissue blackface Fender Princeton Reverb might be a good choice. take your guitar to a large store and try a bunch of different amps with different settings (low and high gain, diff EQ and presence settings, etc).

consider rewiring your pickups so that you can tap the coils of your humbuckers to effectively utilize them as single coils. many of the players you mention are playing strats so that may be part of it.


I think there are 3 main components to an electric guitar's sound:

1) your fingers and forearm strength
2) the pickups
3) the amp

You might argue strings but unless you're using flatwounds they all sound pretty similar to me. Working on finger strength and vibrato is more important than trying a bunch of different brands or gauges of strings IMHO.

Pickups have a strong influence over how an amp reacts because of their different output levels. Hot pickups, especially humbuckers, make an amp break up in a beautiful, warm tone that always reminds me of the Allman Bros (especially the neck pickup location). Loud single coils are nice because they can hit the preamp of the amp hard. Single coils tend to have a bit more treble jangle in the tone, especially if you use the out-of-phase pickup selections. This out-of-phase sound is especially popular with blues players like SRV.

good luck and try not to blame the gear. Smile
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triadboy



Joined: 02 Mar 2005
Posts: 26
Location: Tucson, AZ

PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:06 pm    Post subject: Re: try this Reply with quote

gillvanderlip wrote:
get a huges and kettner tube factor. its the best thing around for overdrive.


Jimmy swears by this product.
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another fishin' musician



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Raleigh, NC

PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 4:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jimmy loves mids. Crank the mids on whatever amp or pedal you might be using to get closer to his sound. EQ can be tricky and is very room-dependent.

The earlier advice about getting a quality tube amp is good. The Fender Hot Rod is pretty good, especially with a Celestion G12-65 speaker (or a clone) in there; I was surprised when I heard one of those set up that way!

Hot (high output) pickups are not always best imo, especially if you like & use true amp distortion. Jimmy & Derek both use Seymour Duncan HBs with a moderate output. Jimmy uses the 59's for sure. I have a solidbody Artist and changed the stock pickups to 59's and love 'em.

Don't forget about speakers! You can get good deals on used speakers sometimes. I just scored a used Tone Tubby ceramic 12" for $75. Eminence makes hempcone speakers using TT cones also. You also can't go wrong with Celestion G12M-25s (Greenbacks) or G12-65s or one of the clones, just watch out for amp vs. total speaker wattage so you don't blow a speaker.

Also, Jeff Beck and Derek never use a pick ever (Beck did years ago).

Good luck!
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