guitar/amp... getting the right sound?

[gavtheoldskater]

not really sure how to ask this question, or indeed whether i'll sound like a complete loser, but i'm really struggling to get the sounds i want from my guitar and amp and when combined with an effects box seem to be spending more time adjusting stuff than actually practicing!

long and short is that after 4 years learning on acoustics i bought a fender 60's CP, a Marshall MG30 and a Zoom G2.1. its all great if i'm not looking for something specific, got a great patch for 80's metal for instance and the clean tone on the fender is just divine.

where i'm struggling is that i'm trying to work through the lick library (stuart bull) electric blues and my sound is so far from whats being played on the dvd its hard to make a judgement whether i'm doing it right or no.

i know that we're talking different guitars etc so i can never get a precise sound but can anyone give me any advice, tips or guidance on the relationships between guitar/pickups and amp settings and how to set them up for a specific sound?

anyway, mr.bull and that sound can be seen here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIWMJMQAf50

[ianpdq]

Try a Roland cube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLyYZ...eature=related

[Lixarto]

where i'm struggling is that i'm trying to work through the lick library (stuart bull) electric blues and my sound is so far from whats being played on the dvd its hard to make a judgement whether i'm doing it right or no.

Cannot listen to your link atm, but - if you're playing the right notes, does it matter yet if you haven't copied the chaps exact sound. I'll listen in the morning and see if I can offer any advice as regards the tone. It's probably just a matter of sussing out the Zoom a bit better, rather than buying something else, as good as the Cubes are.

[Paulo2]

Has the G2 got amp sims on it? If so and you are using these into the front end of your amp then the sound might suffer. Try using it into an FX return (if the amp has one) or into the CD/Aux in.


Paulo

[nickp]

Hi

haven't listened to either but i guess I'd try to play with minimal gain - i believe that these modelling pedals tend to overdo the gain and effects so as someone else said - try direct into the amp and use the amps gain channel but go easy on the amount of gain

cheers

nick

[Fretwired]

not really sure how to ask this question, or indeed whether i'll sound like a complete loser, but i'm really struggling to get the sounds i want from my guitar and amp and when combined with an effects box seem to be spending more time adjusting stuff than actually practicing!

I've listened to the tone and it should be pretty simple to approximate - I'd just start with your amp and leave the Zoom out of the equation. Select the red crunch channel, leave the bass, middle and treble at 12'oclock and switch all the effects off. Start with your Strats neck pickup - play a note and dial in a little bit of gain (you shouldn't need much) and volume to suit. Add some reverb and adjust the tone controls to taste and you should be able to get close.

[Noobshire]

Often the problem is too much drive/distortion, not enough volume.

Volume can account for a lot of the 'sound' or 'tone'.

A guy once came into the music shop my brother worked in with this problem. He said he just couldn't get a good blues rock tone, so my bro put together a modest set up and whacked both the drive and volume on half. The guy was blown away by how much more clear yet still very crunchy the sound was. Admittedly, he had trouble controlling the volume at first (I's afrighted!), but that's just part of the whole learning curve.

Obviously the tone is a bit lighter than that on that vid, but you get the gist, to wit: what Fretwired said.

Also, I find the guitar volume itself can be a great help. If you're having trouble finding a happy medium of drive/clarity with the tone, try just pulling back on the guitar's volume. Less power to the input has a different effect to lessening the drive. I find this helps with less driven jazz/fusion tones.

Personally, I like to have the drive as low as I think I can cope with, unless it's for effect