Lead guitar tones

[Ermz]

Some of the best I've ever heard on this track:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7b-_YcACuQ&feature=related[/ame]

Production info - anyone?

 

[schust]

yea, always liked Vai's lead tone. very clean. rhythm tone isn't horrible either. i was just reminded yesterday, when listening to some new music, how the "right" tone is so absolutely important in completing the package for any guitarist - especially one that touts themselves as a "god". as far as videos go, i thought this was tasteful too. Vai has always been active in searching out lessen known, talented guitarists. thanks for sharing Ermz!

 

[JonWormwood]

Are we talking Orianti or Vai?

ha @ 2:35

 

[Siriun]

Vai's tone sounds too thin and trebly. Bad tone imo. Orianti's tone is warmer and more mid. Neither have fantastic tone but It's decent.

 

[Harley Barley]

well i found that? semi related.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

I agree with others, not bad not great either.
I think this is a lot better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRq86-x5dYM#t=4m31s

 

[Brandon E.]

Vai's tone sounds too thin and trebly. Bad tone imo. Orianti's tone is warmer and more mid. Neither have fantastic tone but It's decent.

Pretty much exactly what I would say. And I never really tend to like Vai's tones, it never sounds quite right to me.

Getting a round, smooth, fat, lead guitar tone like that comes a lot from the rest of the mix, particularly to the rhythm guitars. You are never going to pull off a tone like that Orianthi chick has here in a modern metal mix with with up front, in your face, cutting, grindy rhythm guitars, it will never happen. It will get swallowed or be muddy. It takes smooth or even dull rhythm tones (if distorted) and a mix that leaves a ton of space for the lead. Distorted rhythm guitars don't exactly supplement a lead guitar tone IMO.

Besides that, obviously depends on the player, instrument, badass passive pickup, rich sounding amp, a great room sound, etc. The usuals. Goal is to capture the room sound of the guitar and let that shine in the mix without too much interference.

 

[Ermz]

yea, always liked Vai's lead tone. very clean. rhythm tone isn't horrible either. i was just reminded yesterday, when listening to some new music, how the "right" tone is so absolutely important in completing the package for any guitarist - especially one that touts themselves as a "god". as far as videos go, i thought this was tasteful too. Vai has always been active in searching out lessen known, talented guitarists. thanks for sharing Ermz!

Haha, especially when they're hot teenage girls. You're welcome!

I'd known about this track for a while, but just blew it off because it sounded kinda lame at first. Never sat down and actually listened to how well the character of the amps was captured in the tones.

 

[Siriun]

Getting a round, smooth, fat, lead guitar tone like that comes a lot from the rest of the mix, particularly to the rhythm guitars. You are never going to pull off a tone like that Orianthi chick has here in a modern metal mix with with up front, in your face, cutting, grindy rhythm guitars, it will never happen. It will get swallowed or be muddy. It takes smooth or even dull rhythm tones (if distorted) and a mix that leaves a ton of space for the lead. Distorted rhythm guitars don't exactly supplement a lead guitar tone IMO.

Besides that, obviously depends on the player, instrument, badass passive pickup, rich sounding amp, a great room sound, etc. The usuals. Goal is to capture the room sound of the guitar and let that shine in the mix without too much interference.

I totally agree with you on the dist. rhythm guitars. They eat up so much damn frequency anyway, and have very little consistency in their dynamic range. Palm mutes sometimes make the exception. That's why I try and not have my rhythm guitars super dist. to make room for the leads if there are any. If not I usually double, or even quad-track sections, phrases and riffs that have no lead or vocals so I have that frequency space to feed into the riffing machines.

As far as leads go, a Good guitar with good pickups, a good player, and a good amp cab setup will ensure you a good sound. (As if that's not obvious enough )

I think for leads, especially in metal when you're going for that thick, hi gain really distorted lead tone to really sound good, it's always important to slap a TSE9 in front of it and led that thing do a lot of the work.
For me I set the volume on full and leave the rest alone, and then crank the gain up on my head to about 7 or so, depending on the head. Adjust settings as desired. (I usually have treble about 6, mid 7 and bass 5; Pres 6-8 Reso 6)
For mic setup, I like to use a 57 with 990 and I can get a pretty good tone.
I have the 57 about 1 inch from the cone, and have have the MXL 990 about a foot back capturing more of the room sound and resonance. A nice blend in.

 

[AllanD]

Ultimate lead tones = The Jester Race and Follow The Reaper imo

 

[kev]

^^

 

[AndrewB]

I don't think I've ever heard a really impressive lead tone that I can think of. I mean, I've heard good ones (especially in instrumental music), but nothing that's impressed me as much as a great rhythm tone.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Great tones in the Orianthi/Vai vid indeed (agreed on Vai's being slightly thin, but it works for him) - also, is anyone else's head getting supremely fucked with by the positions of the two of them in the video being the opposite of their panning in the recording?

And Doomsday Machine has some of the best lead tones I can think of IMO (1:11 below)

 

[AllanD]

Get to :20 seconds.

 

[Brandon E.]

+1 on Arch Enemy

Apples and oranges I guess...Evergrey and In Flames are not at all my idea of a good lead tone. I was thinking more along these lines



EDIT: Or in a metal context...maybe some of this around :39

 

[Ermz]

also, is anyone else's head getting supremely fucked with by the positions of the two of them in the video being the opposite of their panning in the recording?

Yes, it bothers me a ton. You think they could've at least reversed the stereo on the music if they screwed up and put them on the wrong sides in the video.

If we're talking about a metal context:

 

[NoSoup4you22]

Jorn from Pagan's Mind does have a great lead tone... And Jester Race was oddly bassy... Other than that, they don't usually stand out to me as much as the guitar technique.

And god shred songs are boring...

 

[Melb_shredder]

Petrucci has fantastic lead tones IMO.. Love that liquidy sound! Otherwise, I'm also a fan of the Steel Panther tone you posted Ermz!

 

[JeffTD]

Done.

 

[Sweetnothing]

^^ +1 to govan!