Help finding a particular tone

[sk8erps]

Hey all, I need some help dialing in a Tim Mahoney from 311 tone. I have a Single Rectifier series 2 into a Stiletto cab with a PRS SE Custom 22 with a JB in the bridge and an Alnico II in the neck. I can get close but am missing something. That really low end air pushing sound is what I'm missing. Any help would be awesome. My settings are def odd but are close to the sound.
Modern Mode but just switched from Vintage 2 days ago.
Master: 10:00
Presence: None
Bass: 3:00 (just below actually)
Mid: 9:30
Treble: 12:00 (just above)
Gain: 4:00 (Yeah I know! Not supposed to be this high. Only way to get the saturation needed.)
Does this seem drastic to anybody other than me? lol

 

[sk8erps]

I dropped my pickups down a bit yesterday and am getting closer. I've got them set at around 4/32. Does that seem too low? Will that effect the pickup output or tone too much? I also dropped the bass to 2:30 but anymore and I lose that percussive sound.
So am I getting no response b/c nobody cares for Mahoney's tone or isn't sure how he's getting it?

 

[Elpelotero]

Are you sure you're not mistaking the bass in the mix? Pnut's bass tone really dominates all of their mixes. It's a very present, thick bass.

 

[Elpelotero]

Also look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VavcwwmJn-k&list=FLHs6QqytHBBz3ATf-PVQJZw&index=159&feature=plpp_video

 

[YellowJacket]

Are you sure you're not mistaking the bass in the mix? Pnut's bass tone really dominates all of their mixes. It's a very present, thick bass.

It's probably the bass. When I jam on guitar by myself, I definitely scoop the mids and crank the bass. It gives a 'bigger' sound. When playing in a band, I turn up the mids, turn down the gain (slightly), and drop the bass.

 

[sk8erps]

Thanks everyone. I've seen that rig rundown vid. Too bad he doesn't tell how he sets his amps( although he has Diamonds now). I saw them twice this past summer and was directly in front of Tim's rig. He has such air pushing low end and saturation. Even when the guitar is playing alone he has this tone I just can't totally nail. P-Nut is thunderous and that def adds to it all but that guitar sound eludes me.

 

[cheameup]

im not super familiar with his tone, know a few songs , but running bass that high will take away from saturation imho .also gain that high will mush it out even more and lose the bass defintion and push . but again everyone's rig and ideal tone is different so go with what you reckon . but if gain at 4 oclock isnt adding a butt load of saturation something is wrong somewhere

don't forget recordings and live the tone will be sculpted by the engineer . what is coming stright out of the cab is proabably a different story

if you are after more saturation/crunch I recommend tryig a tung sol v1 pre amp tube. I've just swapped mine out and its added allot more saturation and crunch to the tone

 

[sk8erps]

Oh, I've got a ton of saturation at 4 o'clock I'm just shy of getting the tone though. If I drop the bass I lose the percussive sound and feel which is really important to this tone. What would you recommend trying? I think I may take my amp to to get looked at b/c these are drastic settings and I didn't have to set things like this in the past as far as I remember. I'm sure I'm chasing something this amp isn't capable of but I'm trying. We're awll truyin'. Ya knaow? (if anybody knows what that's from, lol)

 

[sk8erps]

If you go to 3:00 there is a good example. How does he get that low end saturation without woofiness or harshness.
http://youtu.be/tmYJweHKx5E

 

[sk8erps]

Just saw the part about the tung sol. I'm going to pick one up. I have $200 credit at my music store. I'll be needing new power tubes soon anyways. Thanks for the help.

 

[cheameup]

If you go to 3:00 there is a good example. How does he get that low end saturation without woofiness or harshness.
http://youtu.be/tmYJweHKx5E

your recto should pull that tone in the clip @ 3min eaisly ,its more than capable of it .it is it's bread and butter


I'd drop the gain to about 2 oclock.
bass to about 12.30 ,
mids up to about 10.30
keep treble around 12 ,
presence about 9 oclock on channel 3 modern and I reckon you'd be there .

oh and give it a whack of volume if your not already

but again thats my rig . everything plays a part

 

[sk8erps]

I now have my amp dialed somewhere between what cheamup suggested and what I had and I'm as close as I'm gonna get. IMHO, it's sounds pretty awesome! Thanks for the help. I'm in an apartment with cool neighbors but can only crank it a little. I also worked a little on pickup height and that def helped. There's a picking technique he's got to get that percussive sound, that helps a lot too. I'm still going to get that tung sol and hear how that sounds.

 

[sk8erps]

BTW, I got a JHS Little Black Buffer for Gearmas from my wife. It did wonders to my tone. I have a decent size pedalboard that was sucking my tone like mad. The buffer totally restored my tone. Next up is my Loop-Master true bypass strip I have ordered then I get to spend hours on cables. Mogami 2524 with GLS flat right angles and Switchcraft 280's. I like the playing part so much more :lol:

 

[boss4]

There's a lot more involved in a band's studio/live rigs. Mics,mic placement,mix board eq, sound engineering, cabinets, guitars, pickups, cables, effects, fingers/technique, etc, etc, etc. The quest for tones that have "secrets" behind it with just a guitar/amp setup is kind of ungrateful. But dont get me wrong, if that objective makes you moving, just go for it!

 

[sk8erps]

Yes, all of that does come into play. I've spent hours if not days researching stuff like cables. I saw 311 this past summer twice and heard the tone straight out of the cabs from about 20 feet away standing right in front of them before the band started playing. The tone was unreal. Nobody has a tone like this. It even sounds great when his tech plays. I'm looking for that live sound he has. I'm pretty much there with using a Solo 50 vs a '94 Triple Recto 8)

 

[Neptical]

He had the older 2-channels ( saw it in person a few times)..and think that was his best tone to date. Hell, even remember he had the Mark IV in the Grassroots days. I've owned a Single Series 1 and the basic tone is there, but getting it to move like the power section of the Duals and Triples is what it won't do (obv) that fattens it up. The best thing to do is experiment with different cabs/speakers to get some air moving..although in my experience I found it to run out of headroom just on the verge of getting there.

 

[sk8erps]

I couldn't agree more. I'm pretty happy with how I have it now. I'll never get a triple tone out of a single but I'm as close as I'm gonna get.

 

[cheameup]

glad you've gotten closer to the tone you want. we have all spent too much money on our rigs not to be happy if you ask me

yeah I've just finsihed a long run of dialing in my pedal board. just finished it off with a pedal power . its great not to be messing around with it anymore and just playing it . that said I need 1 more long , good quality patch lead for it . had to use 1 cruddy lead cause I couldnt find a good one long enough.needs to be 50cm gonna have to make one myslef out an old guitar lead

A good buffer's a must if you run all true bypass pedals . I have a clean boost on all the time at unity gain to push the signal through

 

[Neptical]

No doubt,just make sure to keep the signal as clean as you can. They're tone suckers once you start using pedals.

 

[sk8erps]

What cable and plugs did you use for your pedalboard? I'm getting Mogami 2524 with Swithcraft 280's and 228's. The buffer and Pedal Power 2+ totally saved my tone and my pedals are silent and work great. 2 things I'd advise anyone to get.