Lead guitar tones

[Harry Hughes]

I have always, ALWAYS had a major problem with my lead sound. I have the worst lead sound ever and I can't help it. Sucks when you can put out decent rhythm tones and the song gets ruined by the shitty lead.

Yeah sounds like shit, sorry man.
Terrible phrasing and guitar tone in that video, I've only watched that solo over and over again just for the lulz, not because I dig the solo and tone or anything.

I prefer a little less distortion on leads than a lot of people, I think it adds more 'guitar' to the guitar, sounds more woody I guess. EVH, Lynch and Gus G always have great tones.
Guthrie Govan is a master, how many people would kill to be able to play like that? I think he displays that tone is in the fingers. No matter what amp he plays through it sounds like him, same with the others too.

Ola I actually quite like your lead tones!

Guthrie's technique is just incredible, probably the most technically skilled jazz-fusion/rock guitarist on the planet.
I love watching videos of him play, but honestly, his solo album Erotic is just insanely boring to me. There's a few songs that seem alright, but a lot of them just seem to blend into each other and sound like a guy shredding over cheesy jazz-fusion backing tracks rather than actually being particularly interesting compositions. The guitar playing is great, but the song writing just doesn't seem totally there.
Doesn't help that he has some of those BluesJamsTracks and Lick Library renditions on youtube are just more interesting versions than the studio versions, giving me less incentive to listen to the studio album.
I just keep thinking he has a lot more song writing potential than just mainly cheesy, done to death jazz-fusion backing tracks, but I guess he's gonna write whatever he wants to write, eh.

 

[sprack]

For anything recent Skolnick's tone on Souls of Black and The Ritual has the perfect mix of gain and sustain without sounding too compressed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=84NQXLVVeiY#t=136s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RkjRRkvmO0Y#t=220s

More recently, Anton Svedin of Soreption. Best fast solo tone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Cv0pAzj6wXM#t=163s

Older stuff; Mark Knopfler tops my list.

 

[SwambA]

Ron Thal is one badass mfer and great tone.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=wEOFMHgkHzI

 

[SwambA]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEOFMHgkHzI&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLF224FC2E0C5AB7EA[/ame]

 

[Rex Rocker]

 

[26]

...but he definitely has something else that I like.

it's called musicality

edit:
...and to add some retarded saturday afternoon wisdom:
music is a language. and it depends on the speaker if he wants to talk math formulas or poetry.......
lead tone is always the player, not the gear, imo.

 

[Ermz]

I agree. That's exactly why the best players in the world can pick up a broken ukelele and make it sound exactly like a Custom 24 into a JVM stack.

 

[TheBeville]

Can't stand Zakk Wylde's tone, personally. My favourite lead tone on a recent(ish) record was the lead on The March by Unearth. Grave of Opportunity in particular sounds lush.

Edit: Also, I've thought it before but Guthrie really looks like Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) if he grew an epic beard.

 

[26]

....broken ukelele....

 

[hsinn3r]

I don't know if it's just me gasing on the gutar, but I like his tone on this vid

 

[Fabrice]

For the guitar sound, not the synth :

 

[|Thanatos]

For the guitar sound, not the synth :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwCyjvSdYyw

As it happens, a few years back I sold him the actual preamp he probably was using there aswell. HK Tubemaster plus rack pre with one tube IRC. The rhythm tones out of that thing weren't that good, but it works well with the kind of lead sound Kupiainen goes with.

 

[Clark Kent]

I'm facepalming a bit here... not everything can be compared to Steve Vai guys. I mean Steve Vai's fart has more talent than some of these guys.

Anyways I wanted to remind you guys that playing leads has so much to do with play technique and the detail Steve Vai puts into it is something you can't buy. It's not gear related. If it's gear related I'd say guitar+amp+cab is 90% of the tone. Vai's Carvin sounds very nice for leads. I wouldn't use it for a rhythm tone you know but it's so smooth and warm. Sort of like clean and dirty at the same time. Orianthi is playing PRS so it doesn't matter what gear comes afterwards, it'll sound amazing.

 

[S1770]

Styles legacy - Vito Bratta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Bratta

 

[EffigyForgotten]

 

[Djabthrash]

I have always, ALWAYS had a major problem with my lead sound. I have the worst lead sound ever and I can't help it. Sucks when you can put out decent rhythm tones and the song gets ruined by the shitty lead.

weird...

i think your lead tone sounds good on the Feared stuff

 

[Djabthrash]

Not metal but this guy Tristan Klein has a sick lead tone and sick feel above all IMO :

 

[Scottxx]

I agree Clark but... Joe Satriani has far more talent and music than all the others. He is the one that deserves the Number One in the guitar world if that thing exists. I don't want to fight who is better and I know is hard to compare any kind of musician. But I really think that the man is the beast and angel, the hell and the heaven, the Devil and the God... all in his hands. Just magic.