Hey. I'm a lead player, and i can never get the right sound im looking for. I have a Line 6 amp and an Ibanez guitar. Anyone got any ideas on EQing the amp or maybe a new set of Pickups?
Pickups
- Thread starter Painkiller87
- Start date
Krigloch the Furious
Pants full of poo
Krigloch the Furious
Pants full of poo
Pita Bread
Obscurity
I'd say the Line6 amp is your problem... that string of 1's and 0's going on in the supercomputer within the amp can never truly replicate the sound of a tube amp.
yeah.. i hear you.. everyone tells me to get something different... but my problem is i like to have a wide tone range.. even thought i cant find that great lead tone yet. its awesome for rythem of any sort.
I've tryed all sorts of different guages of strings.. i'm sticking with the standard 9's.. I'm thinking of getting two Dimarzio PAF Pro pickups one for the bridge and one for the neck.. i need to find a single for the middle.. i dont know if its just me, but I havent played on guitar without the middle having a hiss. So i have no idea what im going for on the single..
I've tryed all sorts of different guages of strings.. i'm sticking with the standard 9's.. I'm thinking of getting two Dimarzio PAF Pro pickups one for the bridge and one for the neck.. i need to find a single for the middle.. i dont know if its just me, but I havent played on guitar without the middle having a hiss. So i have no idea what im going for on the single..
Indiooo
Member
If a wide range of sounds is your deal, why don't you just get a MIDI preamp? A good tube preamp gets you all the tones you can get from a modelling amp, only better. It feels more natural, no doubt about that (to my ears, that is).
Indiooo said:
Actually that doesnt sound like a bad idea. But would you know how much something good of that sort would cost. I just bought two Dimarzio PAF Pro Pickups to replace the bridge and neck ones on my Ibanez. I never really liked the stock pickups. Maybe they will help get a better sound. I've heard quite a few guitars with them and they sounded awesome. But then again, I could also have been the amp.
Anything you can tell me on what you were talking about would be awesome.
Laterz,
Will
Indiooo
Member
Replacing pickups with better ones is always a good investment. DiMarzios are great pickups, you'll probably like them a lot. Don't worry, your money was well spent. Maybe it wasn't the number one priority, but it's good anyway. About the preamps... You have zillions of models to choose from. The cheepest MIDI tube preamp you can find is probably the ADA MP-1. They go for about $100 on Ebay. It's a great machine, used by a lot of guys in the 80's (from Paul Gilbert to Nuno Bettencourt, to Kirk Hammet, to Vernon Reid, etc, etc). In it's stock form, the original MP-1 can be a bit noisy on heavy distortion settings, but there are a number of mods available, so you can fix that problem, as well as others. You can throw in an extra tube, reduce the noise, make it sound like a Rectifier (within reason obviously, it won't be the exact same thing). After all the math, you can get a modded MP-1 for under $250 or so. Other good options are the MP-1 Classic or the MP-2. I have a Classic and I can tell you it's an excellent unit. Noise is not a problem and gain is definately not a problem (for info on ADA stuff, check www.adadepot.com). Let me see some other options... Maybe the Marshall JMP-1? I can't really think of other cheap alternatives. Other such as the Engl 580(?), Mesa Triaxis, Egnater M4, etc can get kind of expensive. But it's up to you to decide what's expensive and what's not.
Indiooo said:
I'll definitly have to check that stuff out. It doesnt sound as bad as i thought it would. I still havent installed the pickups. I've never soldered in my life. =) so it should be an interesting experience. Is there a specific way it needs to be done? a site or a guide anywhere?
Thanks for all your help. If you need anything just let me know, I'll do my best to help out.
Laterz,
Will 
Iced In Flames
Shredderite
I think Duncans are overrated. If ya play metal of course 9 of 10 people will tell ya EMG's I dont like those either tho....
Indiooo
Member
I feel the amp is much more important to your tone than pickups (speaking of heavy overdriven sounds). I play mostly metal, so people find it strange that I use single coils, but if the amp has enough gain, it's mostly a question of preference.
About installing pickups, check www.projectguitar.com I think you can find some info there.
About installing pickups, check www.projectguitar.com I think you can find some info there.
Indiooo said:
I'm trying to find a sound somewhat like Yngwie Malmsteen or Paul Gilbert. it sounds nice and full. good base with a nice punch through it as well. It could very well just be me. I'm nowhere near as fast as i want to be. I have no teacher, I've been playing for 2 years, and I'm 16. That could also have something to do with it.
once i get another sound card to record with.. I'll probably post some things up.
SevenString
RJ-D0, Metal 'Droid
i use a line6 amp (a Vetta), and for pickups either Duncan Invader 7s or DiMarzio Blaze 7s. However, in BOTH cases, they're custom-wound for more punch in the midrange. and i personally dislike the sound of active pickups.
anyway, Paul Gilbert's my main influence (more Racer-X, less Mr. Big), so we have something in common.
oh, and my tone through the Vetta sounds ANYTHING but digital. you can't go wrong by using the same amp as Mike Romeo.
Anyway, what L6 amp are you using? maybe i can help you with settings.
anyway, Paul Gilbert's my main influence (more Racer-X, less Mr. Big), so we have something in common.
oh, and my tone through the Vetta sounds ANYTHING but digital. you can't go wrong by using the same amp as Mike Romeo.
Anyway, what L6 amp are you using? maybe i can help you with settings.
SevenString said:
I'm using the spider. I needed something at the time when i had got it.. anything was an improvement from my 15watt peavy.. so i got the stereo 50watt spider. I'm thinking of getting the Spider II half stack.. still deciding.. i dont have the most expesive of equipment but i still play my heart out.
IM me and MtllcGtr if you want.
SevenString
RJ-D0, Metal 'Droid
oh, the original Spider... i'm SOOO sorry I have the Spider 2x10 and it TOTALLY breaks up at high volumes. blech
The SpiderII, however, sounds WAAAAAY better, and is based on the Vetta technology. I tried one out the other day, and even with a cheap sub-200 fakestrat, it sounded great, even at higher volumes. The high-gain tones are great on this thing.
Anyway, I'll try to aim you at some point, or you can find me as LeslieShreds
later
I have the Spider 2x10 and it TOTALLY breaks up at high volumes. blechThe SpiderII, however, sounds WAAAAAY better, and is based on the Vetta technology. I tried one out the other day, and even with a cheap sub-200 fakestrat, it sounded great, even at higher volumes. The high-gain tones are great on this thing.
Anyway, I'll try to aim you at some point, or you can find me as LeslieShreds
later
Indiooo
Member
Well, Gilbert uses Laney amps now, but he played ADAs for quite some time. Yngwie is more on the vintage side, 70's Super Leads all the way (a shitload of them usually). The distortion he gets is mainly from the DOD overdrive pedals boosting the preamp on the Marshalls.Painkiller87 said:I'm trying to find a sound somewhat like Yngwie Malmsteen or Paul Gilbert. it sounds nice and full. good base with a nice punch through it as well. It could very well just be me. I'm nowhere near as fast as i want to be. I have no teacher, I've been playing for 2 years, and I'm 16. That could also have something to do with it.
Obviously your technique (mostly the way you attack the strings with your right hand) influences the sound coming out of your amp, but no virtuoso can make a bad amp sound good. I also believe the opposite is pretty hard to do.
About the modeling amps. I'm sure you can get great tones out your Vettas and stuff, but how in the world can you get powertube saturation? If Line6 had an amp with a modeling preamp section and a tube poweramp section, I think I'd even get one myself...
SevenString
RJ-D0, Metal 'Droid
the powertube saturation is modelled as well. with the vetta (esp with the 2.0 software upgrade), the amp "opens up" at higher volumes, and gets that saturated, yet transparent sound that's such a signature of a cranked tube amp
some people don't think modeling amps can compete, and that's okay too.
some people don't think modeling amps can compete, and that's okay too.
Indiooo
Member
I guess it just comes down to one's taste in guitar sound. Personally I didn't like the two Line6 amps I had the chance to experiment with. Also, I can't really get myself to like Romeo's tone for example, and believe me, I love Symphony X.
Episteme
Member
Bahh...get a boss ge7 and boost your mids and shape the tone of your sound for leads. That's what I do..then again I got a different set up.
