Fatter lead tones

[Riff Blister]

I’m mainly the rhythm guitar player in the band that I’m in but I do get the chance to step up to the plate at times. I do about 30% of the lead work.
I’ve always found that my lead tones are thin in comparison to my band mate’s Bogner Shiva.

My question for you lead guys is this. What do you do to add some girth to you tone?

I do use a little bit of delay and one or two of my Bixonic Expandoras (stacked) which does help.

Thanks,
Riff

 

[Jak0lantern01]

I switch to the neck pickup and adjust the tone knob on the guitar accordingly. I've gotten some great lead sounds this way.

 

[ryjan]

Try experimenting with adding more mids. The crunchy rhythm will fatten up a bit and the higher frequencies will thicken as well.

 

[Laskyman]

For a lead tone to "cut" it is mostly in the mids. DO NOT SCOOP them out. If you use an EQ, bump the 500-800 to taste. Fatten will happen. Yep.

 

[droptrd]

I do use a little bit of delay and one or two of my Bixonic Expandoras (stacked) which does help.

Thanks,
Riff

forgive my stupid question, what do you mean by stacked?

 

[Riff Blister]

Thanks, I agree with you.

No mid scoopage here. My spell check hates that word. :lol:
I keep my mid setting around 2:00 with both channels. I use Channel.1 Crunch and Channel 2 Tight.
The neck pick up does have some great lead tones too. I do use that for some of my leads. It makes me feel like Uncle Ted.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining really. I’m bored at work here and just doing a little thinking. Don’t you agree though? Up high on the fretboard the Stiletto can get a little thin sounding.

I’ve never been much of a pedal guy so maybe that’s why I’m asking. I’ve had the Expandoras for quite a while and I’m sure there are better overdrive pedals on the market nowadays. Still, there is something about those Expadoras that I really like. Oh, by stacked I mean that I use two of them together at the same time.
I keep them dialed in low or they would take me to feedback hell or compress things too much.
I’ve never owned a compressor or an EQ. Do I want to add them to my board?

I’ve been standing next to that Bogner for nine years, six with my Nomad and the last three with the Stiletto. **** that thing! :evil:

Like I said, I’m out of things to do here at work so I am bored. Can ya tell?

Sorry about the ramble.

 

[E_R]

Try different pickups?

 

[Hobo]

Possibly try a different speaker.
My F-50 had thin highs with the stock speaker. I put in a Celestion Classic Lead 80 and it made a world of difference.
Also, I've recently found that I can actually get a fatter/tighter crunch tone by playing thru the clean channel and using a TS-10 for the crunch tones.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

Are you using the fluid drive mode???

 

[MusicManJP6]

A compressor can help fatten single notes. Worth a shot.

 

[Riff Blister]

Thanks for the good ideas gang. I knew I could count on the great minds here.
Yeah, I was poised a few months ago to experiment with pickups, speakers and some different pedals. Then I got my hours cut way back at my day job. SUCK!!! My plans are on hold.
I have made a few tweaks sticking with what I’ve got and I think I’m dialed in a little better for lead stuff. I set my masters past noon and set Expandora #1 like a clean boost (on all of the time now). This seemed to round things out a bit and fatten up my mids. It got rid of that piercing tone I was hearing.
I’ll give it the road test at our gig this weekend.

 

[flieger67]

What mode(s) are you using for your rhythm work?

Another possible scenario for you to try is to do your rhythm playing with the guitar's volume backed down and then turn it up for solo spots. That may or may not work, depending on your music.

Once you get some cash flowing again, I highly recommend the ClinchFX EP-PRE pedal. The EP-PRE adds a ton of definition to your single-note lines and just a touch of gain, too. The pedal is essentially the preamp section of the old Echoplex EP-3, which was a key part of Eddie Van Halen's old setup. The pedal just adds "more" to your tone and I've found that with my Stiletto, it makes a very noticeable improvement with lead passages even on higher-gain settings. The pedal is not an overdrive or distortion pedal. If you're happy with your basic tones but just need more definition and cut, this is the pedal to consider.

You can check out soundclips of the pedal here: http://www.clinchfx.com/ep-pre - scroll down to the bottom of the page and check out the clips from Cary Chilton. He plays a series of riffs and parts with and without the EP-PRE so that you can hear exactly what the pedal does.

Good luck with your job situation.

 

[berumen77]

I’m mainly the rhythm guitar player in the band that I’m in but I do get the chance to step up to the plate at times. I do about 30% of the lead work.
I’ve always found that my lead tones are thin in comparison to my band mate’s Bogner Shiva.

My question for you lead guys is this. What do you do to add some girth to you tone?

I do use a little bit of delay and one or two of my Bixonic Expandoras (stacked) which does help.

Thanks,
Riff

I ended up modding mine because it had that thin "bright" thing on lead tones. If you want to take the edge off both channels, add a 220K resistor at the Input jack from hot to ground, it's very subtle change in feel but takes a bit of thinness out.

This mod can help a lot...remove the resistor at R38, it's know as the mid slope resistor. It's a 39K stock, and replace it with a 56K resistor. This will shift the mids to a lower frequency and thicken Channel 2 only. Easy and totally reversible.
This mod is done to JCM 800s to thicken them up and the Stiletto has the "Marshall" design in it. These mods will not void the warranty so long as your solder job is clean.

You can replace the 12ax7 tube in the V3 with a 12at7...it will lower the gain a bit but also mellows the amp out, could be good depending on what guitars your running.

Other than that you can run an EQ in the loop and engage it for leads...Slash did the EQ in the loop to thicken his solos for a long time, MRX 10band. Lower some of the low freq bass and ultra high freq and raise some of the lower mids. You will cut through but not be piercing :wink:

Try the mods if you're good with a soldering iron, or get someone to do it for you. 5-10 minutes of time -$1 worth of parts and a world of difference in tone. And please don't pay to get it done ... there is no labor involved and most places will try to charge you $50 or more to take the chasis out of the shell hahha.

Isaac
Austin Virtuoso Guitars

 

[screamingdaisy]

I'm in the middle of finding that most Mesa amps that sound thin and bright with V30s tend to thicken right up with MC-90s (Mesa version of a Classic Lead 80). The MC-90 produce more low midrange than the V30s do, thus giving a thicker sound. Plus they're a naturally dark speaker, which helps tame some of the top end and smooth things out.

I've never tried it with a Stiletto, but it might be worth checking out.

 

[gummx97]

try changing string gauges to add that in the mix of suggestions. you'll be surprised between the difference in tone between .009 and .010 string gauges, or if your hands can handle it, go try .011's.

 

[srf399]

Maybe just pick up a Shiva for leads. I went with a Carvin Legacy II for the same reason. I love the Stiletto for the hazy tone though. Go stereo

 

[Riff Blister]

Wow, an old post. Man, the things that can happen in a years time.
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer last September. I had surgery in January and so far I am clean.
My band of almost nine years hung it up at the end of last year too so I am back to jamming at home or some times with friends or my band mates.

As far as the Stiletto goes, new speakers really improved my tone. I'm done with the V30s for sure. I am super happy with the Scumback M75s that I have talked about in other posts.

Maybe just pick up a Shiva for leads. I went with a Carvin Legacy II for the same reason. I love the Stiletto for the hazy tone though. Go stereo

Well, I did buy my Budda SD-45 last fall and that is one killer amp. I do not have the thin lead issues with that one. I only got to gig with it a few times unfortunately.

 

[Paulie]

I'm in the middle of finding that most Mesa amps that sound thin and bright with V30s tend to thicken right up with MC-90s (Mesa version of a Classic Lead 80). The MC-90 produce more low midrange than the V30s do, thus giving a thicker sound. Plus they're a naturally dark speaker, which helps tame some of the top end and smooth things out.

I've never tried it with a Stiletto, but it might be worth checking out.

I Love the C90 with my Deuce I for these exact reasons. I have one in a 1X12 3/4 open back cab and find that I'm going to it more often these days. I'm thinking of picking up a few more to put in a 2x12. I don't mind the G12T-75's with my Deuce either. Like many others, I'm getting fatigued with the V30's.