@Troy, I was wondering how you get the very cool, wah-type tone in the intro of videos like “A Pick and a Hard Place”? It has that kinda’ Doug Aldrich Marshall tone that I have been trying to dial in. Are you using overdrive or other FX. What are your amp settings, etc?
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Are you asking about the animated intro with Yngwie riding the dragon? There’s no wah in that clip - we don’t own one! Most of our stuff is just amp tone with some verb. There are a couple shots of our Cornford Hellcat in the “Centipede” video but it’s just miked with a 57. Nothing fancy here:
https://troygrady.com/channels/behind-the-scenes/the-sounds-of-centipede/
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Thanks, @Troy! Let me clarify: by “wah” type tone I merely meant the tone overall sound. Your tone and Doug Aldrich has a certain tone style I have been seeking for years. Though your tone, as it appears by your amp EQ settings, doesn’t have that sizzle high frequency range as does DA, but your tones sound very similar in the overall effect. I realize that the make up of guitar tone comes from many variables - our hands, the amp, the guitar, pickups, etc.
That being said, I appreciate the heads up on the video and the picture of the amp settings. I will try out those eq settings and see how they sound. I have the Marshall 410H 100 watt head going through a Marshall 1960AX cab (with 25 watt green backs) and play a 2002 Gibson Les Paul Custom Goldtop '57 Reissue. I used to play through all the digital amp simulators but just found the tones were thin and stale sounding. I just went old school - Marshall and Les Paul! Though this particular amp has 4 channels, I usually only use the Crunch Channel and the OD1 Channel. I have never been able to dial in the clean channel to my liking, so I use the Crunch (green) for cleans, and the Crunch orange and red for Classic Rock style tones. For Metal, I use the OD1 orange for rhythm, and OD1 red for leads or to kick up the dynamics.
And of course, the old die-hard mic, the 57 is definitely the go-to mic. Thanks for the reply. I have to say, it feels like old times from back in the days when George Lynch had The Dojo back in 2007-08. That was one of the most creative and exciting times in my guitar playing. OK, I’ll stop rambling now!
Sorry! I misread your question - I see what you were getting at.
I wouldn’t kill yourself trying top copy EQ settings from the amp. The Hellcat has passive tone controls that only cut. There’s no way to look at the panel settings and have any idea what it’s really going to sound like.
The Les Paul I used on the Yngwie clip has a “sound” that is pretty consistent and maybe that is what you are hearing. Strummed acoustically, it sounds completely different than my Fenders. It has a low-mids boosted sound, like a tuned wah but in the low frequency range somewhere under 1000hz. It would not be a bad way to describe it.
To get close put a Les Paul through any high gain amp, with the treble not screaming, and miked with a 57 1.5-2 inches off center, not dead-center cone. That will roll off more treble, which is what I do. That’s probably the simplest formula.
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@Troy, Yeah, I tried those EQ settings and what I got was a lot of “pick ping” from the neck pickup. I kept making subtle adjustments in my DWPS and I just couldn’t get it. I went back to my original EQ settings and voila, pinging gone and I was DWPSing with more ease. It really goes to show that amp settings, etc are very personal. I’m gonna buy a 57 this week and I gotta fix the gain pot in my Digidesign Eleven Rack; it’s just loose I think. I need to learn how to sync video with audio anyway. I will shoot some video and record audio with Pro Tools and post them when I can. Life of an Uber driver…you understand! LOL!
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