While I think this site is full of expertise in various areas we don't hear enough about guitar tones and how you create your sound; and various sounds from the music you enjoy most. I think it would be amazing for everyone to document how they get their favorite sounds and walk us through the process so we might all learn from others research and experience.
So I'd quite like to start by demonstrating my attempt at getting the guitar sound from Ghost Dancing by Simple Minds. I'm using my Warmoth Stratocaster with Guitar Rig 5 to make the sound. Attachments below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XtRoVofo8A
Step 1: The Amp
So nothing massively fancy with this one, started with a British hi-gain amp called the High-white with the matched cab using the full sm57 setting with the dryest possible signal. kept the gains fairly low to keep the strat sound very sparkly and full of life. The eq was pretty neutral at the 12 position on this one.
Step 2: The Tri-Chorus
I attempted to add a classic tri-chorus sound by chucking 2 chorus effects together; a mono one into a stereo one with the mix full on both. Of course your chorus works by repeating the signal slightly out of tune, the intensity of this detuning was enough for the sound although you could go absolute insane with this setting for really hardcore 80's sounds. These were added near the end of the chain after the microphone so the full spectrum isn't confined by the character of the amp/cab/microphone, like they might have done during the production process with a unit like the Dytronics CS-5.
Step 3: The hard knee compression.
This step was achieved by adding a compressor to the effects loop of the amplifier, it has an attack of around 3.5ms and a nice long release so that it doesn't snap at you while it destroys the dynamics. It's very heavily compressed to enhance the aggression of the strike without being completely flat dynamically. A second light compression was added at the very end of the chain after the Tri-chorus to bring it all together nicely. Very low threshold with a long attack and short release.
Step 4: The Tape Delay
And the end result is here. Nothing massively complex, 2 tape heads; one at 338ms and the other at 450ms. Low headroom to give it some serious grain, and a low and hi filter-pass to stop the unwanted mud and hiss.
Hope you like the sound
So I'd quite like to start by demonstrating my attempt at getting the guitar sound from Ghost Dancing by Simple Minds. I'm using my Warmoth Stratocaster with Guitar Rig 5 to make the sound. Attachments below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XtRoVofo8A
Step 1: The Amp
So nothing massively fancy with this one, started with a British hi-gain amp called the High-white with the matched cab using the full sm57 setting with the dryest possible signal. kept the gains fairly low to keep the strat sound very sparkly and full of life. The eq was pretty neutral at the 12 position on this one.
Step 2: The Tri-Chorus
I attempted to add a classic tri-chorus sound by chucking 2 chorus effects together; a mono one into a stereo one with the mix full on both. Of course your chorus works by repeating the signal slightly out of tune, the intensity of this detuning was enough for the sound although you could go absolute insane with this setting for really hardcore 80's sounds. These were added near the end of the chain after the microphone so the full spectrum isn't confined by the character of the amp/cab/microphone, like they might have done during the production process with a unit like the Dytronics CS-5.
Step 3: The hard knee compression.
This step was achieved by adding a compressor to the effects loop of the amplifier, it has an attack of around 3.5ms and a nice long release so that it doesn't snap at you while it destroys the dynamics. It's very heavily compressed to enhance the aggression of the strike without being completely flat dynamically. A second light compression was added at the very end of the chain after the Tri-chorus to bring it all together nicely. Very low threshold with a long attack and short release.
Step 4: The Tape Delay
And the end result is here. Nothing massively complex, 2 tape heads; one at 338ms and the other at 450ms. Low headroom to give it some serious grain, and a low and hi filter-pass to stop the unwanted mud and hiss.
Hope you like the sound
