Cant get that tone why?

[Headtrip]

Where to start I have been trying to get a tone that I like and I have but I cant get it to cut through at practice or when I play with someone else. If I hit the solo switch and lower the volume to match everyone else I get a better tone that cuts through better but still not what im looking for. My other guitar player in my band has almost the same setup as me and his tone is where I would like mine.

My setup 3 Channel dual rec with JJ 6l6 tubes and JJ pre amp tubes

Mesa 4x12 recto Cab straight

Guitar is a Ibanez rgt6exfx solid body with Emg's


My other guitar player has

Older 2 channel triple rec with Electro harmonix 6l6 tubes and preamps

A cheap fender 4x12 and a line 6 2x12 with vintage 30's

Guitar is a Paul Reed Smith Custom 22

Basically when we both play same riffs his tone cuts through mine so much that I cant even tell what notes are coming from my guitar his pinchs sing and his notes are more pronounced bar chords you can hear all the notes. he even uses a BBE sonic maximizer which when I bought one to try out it just made it worse. On my side I cant get my setup to match near him this is killing me I bought the cab thinking it would help as I had a B-52 4x12 before it did a little but not what I was hopeing. The one thing I did notice is that when he plugged his guitar in my amp on the clean channel the amp sounded like I switched it to the pushed side? Are his pick ups that hot.

My Settings on my amp are Channel 3 modern

Gain 3:00

Master 9:30

Presence 2:30

Bass 1:00

Mids 11:00

Treble 2:00

Any advice or idea's would be great as I have been fighting this ever since I started plaing with these guys and this is my first tube amp only had it a year. Retubed it because one of the preamp tubes started making my amp pop.

Thanks
AJ

 

[ToneAddictJon]

I would suggest turning up your mids and turning your bass and treble down. Your presence is set a lot higher than I go on modern as well (I go noon at the highest). I would also turn the gain down. I'm not a fan of the recto 4x12 cabs, I think they muddy things up a bit. If you're willing to try a different cab, I recommend 2x12 vertical halfbacks with EV's or 4x12 halfbacks with EV's (EV's really let recto's shine). Also try turning the send control (on the back) to noon or lower and turning up the master.

Having 2 rectifiers in one band can be a pain, because both amps are going to be in the same tonal territory. I would also suggest trying some EL34's in your amp, especially if your other guitarist uses 6l6's, this will help you sculpt your own sonic territory. JJ E34L's are my personal favorite, and I didn't love my DR until I put them in it. Hope this helps

 

[DeFrag]

Yeah, boost your mids else you'll be vying for the same frequencies as the drums & you'll never cut through.

 

[LnTh]

2 channel and 3 channel rectos sound VASTLY different man. It's no suprise that you guys have different tone. I'd sell 3 channel on evilbay and get a 2 channel (tremoverb would definitely be my suggestion for the same price tag as your amp or similar)

 

[Headtrip]

Thanks for all the response's guys.

The weird thing is the other guitar player settings are

gain 3:00

master 10:30

presence 12:30

Bass 2:00

mids 11.00

treble 2.00

So we are close to each other and he wails over my tone.

What about the solo channel when I hit it and get the volume set to match him my amp come's alive and gives me that cut through tone like him.

Also what about when he plugged into my amp on the clean channel and his guitar made it sound like it was pushed could his pick ups be that hot even over my Emg's.

The only other thing he has got that I dont use is the BBE sonic Maximizer and I dont understand why it works for his amp but not mine.

AJ

 

[ToneAddictJon]

All the sonic maximizer does is boost the low and high frequencies, the 3 channel version has more of both already. The 2 channels have more mids and less bass at those settings than the 3 channels, which is why his cuts through better when you use similar settings. His pickups are probably that much hotter than yours, and that pushes the preamp more. EMG's are not the best hot pickups IMO, they seem to cut the mid frequencies a bit and boost the lows and highs (from my experience) giving a much fuller sound in a 1 guitar band, but easily lost in a 2 guitar band. I have EMG's in my SG and they don't cut through nearly as well as my Dimarzio EVO's and PAF's in my S and RG Ibanez 7 strings. The extra speaker cab he has is pushing more air as well, letting his sound fill the room more. The solo boost is the same as turning the master up a bit, I think it's 3 db's louder in the same position as the master, which helps push the tubes more. I turn the mids on my modern channel to max, so don't be afraid to crank them (I also have my treble at about 10:00).

 

[Headtrip]

I will try messing with the mids more at practice this weekend and let you know what I find out. The other thing I was thinking about doing was trying out some El34 tubes to see if I can get a better cut tone any thoughts on this . Music played is like a Disturbed---Sevendust style.

I was thinking about buying some pick ups for my RG570 I got from 10 years ago (still stock pickups) and was looking at the EVO's as a choice only thing is I would hate to have 2 guitars on stage that I would have to tweak the amp settings on stage due to a string break or some other problem. I know if I buy Emg's I would have close to same sound and not really have to worry about it.

 

[Elpelotero]

the 2 big factors I'm looking at here: 1) 2ch DR, 2) a PRS. Prs will always give you clarity, unless you put terrible pickups in it

 

[Headtrip]

I know he has a better guitar but I didnt think it would be such a diffrence. I was looking at getting a PRS but I cant afford 3000.00 + so I was looking at the SE models and see if I can get options on it. I raised up the mids high and lowered the treble down a little I get more pronounced sound. Tell you guys what comes out after practice this weekend.

AJ

 

[Elpelotero]

You can get a used PRS for a little over 1000. The SE's are good, but they skimp on the hardware and pickups.

 

[Bobby Marshall]

I know he has a better guitar but I didnt think it would be such a diffrence. I was looking at getting a PRS but I cant afford 3000.00 + so I was looking at the SE models and see if I can get options on it. I raised up the mids high and lowered the treble down a little I get more pronounced sound. Tell you guys what comes out after practice this weekend.

AJ

If you have a guitar that intonates well and is built solid you just need better electronics. PRS make some beautiful guitars but my Gibson SG with Seymour Duncan 59 pickups can melt a stock PRS anyday of the week. :twisted: I went and played a PRS (not one of the cheapos either) through a Mark IV (which was the amp I also owned at the time), and I just didn't get the kind of response like I do from my SG.

My friend has several Gibsons, all with the 57 humbuckers and his tone always kicks ass through his DR TOV. He swears by them.

I would personally go Seymour Duncan since you can bring them back in less than 30 days and exchange for a different Seymour Duncan model. Or at least you used to be able to do that.

 

[Headtrip]

Well tonights practice was great. I finally was able to hear my tone from my amp but I was still not as bright as him but im sure that is just the emg's darkside and bass. Think I might take my 10 year old RG570 and throw some
Semours in it and see if that makes my tone if so bye bye Emg's. Besides the 570 still has the stock pickups and could use some TLC. Thanks everyone for the help.
AJ

 

[speedy mcfeely]

Ibanez guitars are very thin sounding with emgs. basswood is brighter sounding than mahogany. I like your idea of trying your other ibz. get some dimarzio paf classic pups in your 570. you will have a great sound. I am guessing that you play metal. I think that instead of hot pups, get some low to med output pups, and make the amp produce the distortion and od. you can always get a ts-9 or sd-1 for a little more umph as well.

 

[Headtrip]

Ibanez guitars are very thin sounding with emgs. basswood is brighter sounding than mahogany. I like your idea of trying your other ibz. get some dimarzio paf classic pups in your 570. you will have a great sound. I am guessing that you play metal. I think that instead of hot pups, get some low to med output pups, and make the amp produce the distortion and od. you can always get a ts-9 or sd-1 for a little more umph as well.

Mix of metal and hard rock no scream your ass off the whole time stuff.

http://www.myspace.com/haveutripped Here is our page there is 2 songs self recorded and you will be able to tell what my amp sounded like compared to his. His comes out fuller in the song's.

AJ