Opeth live sound: Some questions to Mikael

[Reelo]

I think it's pretty common knowledge that Mike (and possibly Frederik now too?) uses the Boss GT-8 effects-board into a clean Laney amp in live situations.

I've recently bought the new model, the GT-10 which, in addition to some major and minor improvements, can pretty much do what the GT-8 can.
Since I like Opeth's sound a lot, also (or especially) the live sound, I was wondering if anyone, hopefully Mighty Mike himself, could point me to a few of the settings he uses live.

I wouldn't need a complete rundown of every minuscule effect in each patch, but for starters I would very much be interested in the type of preamp model (if any) and/or distortion he uses for his distorted sounds, as well as maybe (but not necessarily) if and how Channels A/B are set up differently from each other.

As for the clean sounds, maybe a pointer to the preamp also, as well as any other major effects.

I know these things can be quite complicated, and I don't even know if Mikael programs his unit himself or if he has a tech doing it, but since the GT units have endless list of emulated preamps and overdrives/distortions, I was wondering which ones to use as a starting-point to get my own sound, modelled after Opeth's.

Any insight would be very welcome!

 

[Katatonic89]

I think Mikael uses the GT-6 and Fredrik the GT-8. I have a GT-6 and I've had it for about 9 month's and I still cant get a good distortion sound from it. So I use a Ibanez SM7 now but that's not relevant

 

[Reelo]

Well, I strongly believe you can get good sounds out of the GT units, as long as you know the board in and out, know exactly what you're doing and what you want to achieve. The GT-10 can do wicked stuff. It is true that COSM amp-sims aren't top notch for a studio environment, but wether you're using hi-gain preamp simulations or a clean preamp and a distortion effect (onboard or in its effect loop, like the other guitarist in my band does) it should be sufficient for a live gig.

I know I'll spend the next couple of weeks learning how to use everything, but in the end I believe I will come up with what I need...
A lot of people (and I'm NOT indicating you might be one of them!) get some high-end gear and expect them to instantly sound great. But it takes time and effort to get great tones...

 

[TheWyvern]

the thing with Opeth's particular set-up is that the PRS's have such great tone anyway that they sorta iron out the harsh tones of the digital modelling. if I was gonna go for L'Opeth sound I would defo start with the guitar. Opeth's distortion tone is nothing special really.

 

[thereformant]

yeah its the composition, not the tone with them.

 

[Reelo]

I don't want to clone / copy the exact tone. I'm pretty happy with my Warlock's sound (mostly due to a nice DiMarzio pickup I installed) I just want to have a starting point for a decent distortion that is neither too mellow nor too gritty. I think the distortion Opeth uses on stage is spot on and tasteful.

Granted, I'm tempted to model me some Opeth-y patches for personal delight, but I wouldn't use them on stage. They probably wouldn't go well with our sound anyway.
Right now I'm dicking around with Acoustic Simulations to come up with a suitable "Benighted" sound. Tho I might just plug in my electro-acoustic and work from there...

 

[TheWyvern]

Ask thereformant about getting electro-acoustic tones out of electrics, he knows about that. I have found that e-acoustics feedback like a bitch without a rubber body plug, at high volume. I guess it all depends if you really want your live sound to be exactly the same as your record. otherwise a semi-acoustic or heavy wooded guitar can produce nice tone if you persevere.

 

[Reelo]

No worries: when playing live with my band, we usually just play clean with added chorus and reverb. Now with my new gear, I made myself a nice dual-mono channel setup with one channel being a clean, slightly chorused electric, and the other a natural-sounding, slightly reverbed accoustic (sim). Together, they sound really nice...

The music we play doesn't require all-too refined sounds... it's pedal to the metal, mostly anway....