Opeth's BOSS GT6 distortion settings

Dysperium

New Metal Member
May 26, 2004
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I was just wondering if anyone had any idea how Opeth use their GT6s; mostly how they get such damn good distortion out of them no matter what kind of amps they are using.
 
i dunno is settings....but from what i have heard from others....the only time they have ever used their gt6s with another amp was in 2003 on marshall jcm800s. i heard that their tone sucked. it really is the laney amps that do it. they have a nice dark, fat, and clear tone. without that, their notes wouldn't cut through the mix. i'm not sure of the exact settings. their guitars do a lot too. the prs custom 24s and their les pauls make a huge difference. there would be no way to get that creamy, dark, and crystal clear tone out of a jackson, or an ibanez. have you ever heard bootlegs of peter's live tone when he played his white jackson? it sucked....it sounded cheap (in my opinion)....overall, its not just the boss that does it. the boss just colors the tone that the guitars and amps put out. the laneys are set on the clean channel with the mids at around 8 or 9, and the bass and high end are on zero (from what i have heard)....then the boss does the rest. good luck..
 
best distortion is always produced in the amp.
I believe thats what Opeth does too. Their distortion is coming from the laney amps, boss used only for some sound settings, but not for dist.
 
Sfarog said:
best distortion is always produced in the amp.
I believe thats what Opeth does too. Their distortion is coming from the laney amps, boss used only for some sound settings, but not for dist.

You'd think they would, and I think the distortion from those laney's does sound better than the GT-6, but they really do use the dist from the pedal. I've been over why thats true way too many times...if ya don't believe me do a forum search.

For settings first make sure you've got the gt6 setup right with your amp, make sure the global settings are what you want, get all that basic stuff out of the way. Then, start with the preset patches Metal Distortion or maybe the 5150 model and start tweaking like mad. I havn't messed a GT for a while but I think the best sound was the metal dist setting properly EQed, and remember there are 2-3 different eq's in that pedal alone, just run straight through the amp with no preamp modeling. Using the 5150 model and working from there was close too.

Too many settings to nail it though, unless Mike feels like jumping in I wouldn't worry about getting it perfect, you'll just drive yourself nuts and end up selling the pedal like I did =). I decided the laney distortion itself was just fine compared to that much tweaking.
 
no guys, they really do get their distortion from the boss gt-6s. i'm 99.9% sure of that one. you can especially tell on the dvd. it really has that boss (kind of digital-like) crunch.
 
Okay, first of all I have seen them live when they used Marshall amps, but I don't think they were using jcm 800s or any jcm for that matter. It looked like they were using 1959 slp reissues 100w. It sounded fantastic!; no different from the laneys. They did only use prs and les pauls though, but I really don't think that matters too much honestly. The guitar matters to an extent, but its mostly the pickups. So it sounds like nobody really knows; which is kind of what I expected. Does Mikael or anyone else from the band read these forums ever? It would be an enormous help if I could get some real answers for this question. Thanks to everyone who has responded though.
 
Man, I dont know how much I have said this, and as much as you want to nail Opeth's tone, you should still just mess around with the settings yourself, and come up with something that will please YOUR ears more.
 
I saw them live in 2003 and they used marshalls. I was suprised because they seemed to sound exactly like the way they sounded with the laney's. Same guitar tone, so it is pretty obvious they get the distortion from the GT-6 and use the amps clean channel
 
The key really is using the EQs. Also try things like the pickup simulator and play around with the effects chain. I've gotten some okay distortion sounds, but I'm still not 100% happy. check out my files in the record a riff thread. :)
 
i'd like to play one of these '59 slp reissues...right now i have a jcm2000 dsl 50 and i hate it...so i was shopping around...tried a 5150, some fenders....basically everything...i was going to try to avoid a laney so i didn't feel like a tool (i felt as though i was buying one just cuz opeth used 'em)...then i actually played one...i played on a vc30 2x12....holy fucking shit....it was sacred...i'd never played a class A...i'm selling my marshall and getting that....it sounded like nothing else...it was beautiful....and its 2x12 30 watt engine will smoke my 4x12 50 watt marshall....anyday....
 
Amp choice is totally your opinion, dont say this smokes this or that smokes that. Its your opinion. I think their laneys blew those marshalls they used out of the water.. to dysper and raz, im not sure what you guys are talking about. On the 2003 tours when they used marshalls, their tone sounded really weird, nothing like when they used their laneys. Listen to the inferno festival boot, then the hultsfred bootleg and you will definately tell the difference.
 
Also the gt6 wont give you the same tone when used on any amp. Come on people.. the amp gives the root of the guitar tone and the gt6 just builds on it.
 
JoeVice said:
i dunno is settings....but from what i have heard from others....the only time they have ever used their gt6s with another amp was in 2003 on marshall jcm800s. i heard that their tone sucked. it really is the laney amps that do it. they have a nice dark, fat, and clear tone. without that, their notes wouldn't cut through the mix. i'm not sure of the exact settings. their guitars do a lot too. the prs custom 24s and their les pauls make a huge difference. there would be no way to get that creamy, dark, and crystal clear tone out of a jackson, or an ibanez. have you ever heard bootlegs of peter's live tone when he played his white jackson? it sucked....it sounded cheap (in my opinion)....overall, its not just the boss that does it. the boss just colors the tone that the guitars and amps put out. the laneys are set on the clean channel with the mids at around 8 or 9, and the bass and high end are on zero (from what i have heard)....then the boss does the rest. good luck..

Joe, dont go saying things you know arent proven now. My jackson can get a prs tone any day, its the pickups and the woods that make the guitars tone. The brand doesnt tell you anything really. Unless you are talking about fender vs gibson or something drastic like that. When peter played his jackson the amp was a mesa triple rectifier.. it sounded "cheap" because of his settings, not because of the guitar. I dont understand why you would say cheap, i like his tone when he used it. It gave a real crisp crunch out of the distortion. The eq settings make the biggest difference on an amp.
 
suislidE said:
Also the gt6 wont give you the same tone when used on any amp. Come on people.. the amp gives the root of the guitar tone and the gt6 just builds on it.
Not really, they're using the amps to amplify the 5150 model that the pedal provides. If they were using the pedal to hit a gritty channel on the laney then I'd agree but thats not what they're doing.