The Rabbit Hole Of Tone:
One of the things I discovered on this tone journey was that I had played 'dry' for many, many years, just to ensure that I had a reliable rig. For almost 30 years, I dealt with the unpredictability of a Marshall 2203 because my heroes used them. One day in 2016, I was listening to a playback and realized that I didn't like the dry tone any longer and the 2203 was useless - almost AM radio-esque - at the low volume levels some venues require. Not to mention the enormous size of a 2203 with both cabinets in play. Now, I am less concerned about a pedal or a power supply going out unexpectedly and - more interested than ever - in producing a studio-esque sound from a live rig.
The last two rehearsals have been eye-openers. The first last week was absolutely perfect !!! Yesterday, I had some issues with getting my rig positioned where I could hear it AND the other band members, and in general, I was having an "off-day" in terms of just making a lot of mistakes on the newly learned material. I can't blame the amp position for my playing, but not being able to hear the overall mix made me very self-conscious and I began to over-thinking my playing and that never ends well for me. We got through it, moved some things around where I could hear better and by the time we were done, we had got some decent mixes.
We are rehearsing in an industrial park and there are some neighborhoods nearby, but not right next to it. At one point, we tested the sound quality by raising the roll up door and we played for a while like that. Yesterday, we were in a time slot just ahead of another band. And by the time we were breaking down, there were quite a few people out front. Never before in my career as a musician, had I received so many compliments and questions on my tone and my rig in general. As I began to answer questions about my setup, I realized that I had really gone 'down the rabbit hole' in terms of effort and time expended.
So, here is a detailed analysis of what went into getting this DSL40C to deliver a sound that appealed to my ears, and was fully controllable in tight spaces, at volume levels over 12 noon on the dial and gain knobs.
I am certain the 12AU7/ECC83S/ECC83MG/5751 tube combination was/is a big factor in this tonal quest, but much should be said about the 50 watt Reaper 55Hz speaker. In my own personal experience, I have never heard another speaker that can take being hit with the volume (at around 1 O'clock) and resonance that hard and still produce palm mutes with such clarity.
The TS-9, with 'drive' all the way off and 'level' all the way up, was another large factor in this behavior. There is no way I could have done it - and I tried everything - without a Tube Screamer adjusted in this fashion.
Building your first pedalboard at 53 was really daunting.
I knew that I liked the construction and function of Boss pedals and I was sure I wanted to stay with Boss as much as possible. Aside from a delay (DD-3) and an EQ (GE-7,) both of which I had owned for years, I would have to go shopping for all the other items I needed and I didn't know what I needed. My journey involved reading tons of interviews with producers, talking with as many producers - current and from the 1980''s that I could get in contact with or read interviews with - and analyzing the tone of some of my favorite players.
This led me to a few important conclusions:
First and perhaps foremost was identifying the "tone in my head" so to speak. My own personal taste in guitar tone has two distinct elements in it's most basic formation:
1. High Volume AND High Bass/Resonance That Causes a 12" Speaker To Move Dramatically
2. A heavy Mid-Range Boost with Slight High Frequency Cut
Finding a speaker that was up to the task involved contacting both Vaughan Skow and Trevor English at WGS. We discussed material, cone types, 'doping,' headroom and power handling. The trick was to get a speaker that would take a beating and yet remain relatively articulate. What we came up with was
- A less raw, more controlled sound
- A speaker that can hold its own at higher volumes and bass settings
- Cone material to reduce "cone-cry" and "ghost notes" brought on by dramatic cone movements
- A voice coil that can run cool over a variety of settings at high volume/resonance levels
- A magnet that would naturally compress at high volumes yet remain articulate
Trevor built me a custom 12" Reaper HP with an AlNico magnet and a custom 55Hz cone. This is an almost hybrid fo guitar and bass speaker. We chose 50 watts of power handling so we would be sure not to get speaker breakup and for voice coil longevity. I was really disappointed with the reaper HP 55Hz until I got all the other tone issues sorted out. Once I solved the many problems with my amp and rig in general - and not speaker related - I wasn't able to fully appreciate the Reaper HP 55Hz. I was still fighting this 'flubby' tone on palm muted sections that would not go away, even of volume and resonance was reduced. It was clearly in the gain stage of the amp and it was a relentless PITA to get rid of.
The addition of a TS-9 as a clean boost tightened up the low end. Combined with the reduced preamp gain of the tube combination, the TS-9 allowed greater levels of gain with increased clarity.
My next quest was to get a very fluid delay/reverb relationship that could be used 24/7 including rhythms. The digital reverb of the DSL40 was perfect because it is not influenced by cabinet resonance and it is very subtle compared to other reverb systems. I must have read/listened to hundreds of interviews and isolated tracks. In doing so, I came away with a few interesting things:
1. George Lynch claimed to employ 28ms delay to make his rhythms sound fuller
2. Lynch also remarked on running a Boss Chorus full-time as an important element of his tone.
3. Max Norman favored plate reverb and delay around 400ms on most of the Dokken recordings
Taking these things into consideration, I knew I wasn't out to cop Lynch's tone, but to absorb as much of the 1980's era vibe into my live tone - and to do so - would involve getting the delay and reverb to run 24-7 and play cleanly.
The end result - after a lot of testing - was a delay signature that is almost undetectable during rhythm parts, but will still "slapback" when playing a note stops abruptly. The reverb is subtle but still has a very deep effect with a relative slow decay rate.
The next element that I added was a Compressor. The Boss CS-3 was chosen and modded for me (along with all my other Boss pedals new or otherwise) by Modest Mike. The compressor added a very 'controlled' element to the tone, even though I was using a fairly conservative attack setting. The effect is very subtle and no boost is used. Another nice feature is the CS-3 has a tone control, so after the amp's 3-band EQ, and the GE-7, I am also able to color the tone slightly with the CS-3.
By this time, the sound was getting better, but something was missing.
I happened to read an article on line very late one night where max Norman commented on the fact that Lynch ran a chorus 24-7 as pillar of his tone. Since I had a vintage 1980's Arion SCH-1, I tried some experiments - and the results were just awful. It was a mystery to me how anyone could run chorus and get it to sound good. Then, I ran across a photo of Lynch's 2018 rig and there was a CE-5 on the board. I posted some questions in here and got favorable reviews by actual users, so I set out to get one. I ended up trading an old 1980's Arion Metal master pedal for a brad new CE-5 still in the factory packaging. This is the only Boss effect that has not been modded by Modest Mike. It is 100% stock.
The chorus was - by itself - a very subtle thing. It added some color and has a two band EQ, which allows me to again EQ the sound to some extent, but it's effect was not fully realized until I switched on the entire board at once.
The interplay of the delay and reverb is fantastic. It is never switched off except on songs like "Symphony Of Destruction." The effect is subtle. The rhythms sound fuller and deeper and there is a definitive slapback when a note is abruptly choked off, but the effect is on all the time with absolute clarity. Although the settings on the DD-3 do not allow for precise user-programming of the delay effect, I found that 800ms, with a single repeat and a second 'ghosting fade' was the perfect blend from a tonal perspective. If more delay is needed, increase the pick attack. Very simple.
When the board is switched on, there is no noise. Each effect comes online silently and without loud hissing. What little noise the chain makes is completely quelled by the NS-2. The amp is extremely responsive to pick attack and the tone can be almost clean if picked lightly. The behavior of this rig at such high performance volumes is just so incredible. It's well behaved, doesn't squeal or feedback and really sounds good - as in the mixture and sonic texture of the tone is very broad and engaging to the listener. There are no feedback issues even on a tight stage at over 12 noon volume settings on 40 watt (full power) mode. None. Zero.
The speaker movement during F# palm mutes is something you really have to hear in person. You can feel the speaker movement in the room. We took some digital sound samples, with the singer's voice recorder, and the i-Pad, but because of the volume and the room, we couldn't get any decent audio. The music is simply overwhelming the microphones. I am quite certain that in our excitement, we were just playing too damn loudly.
We are going to try miking the entire band next rehearsal and get some decent sound files.
