How Many of You Play Solos?

[Chris McKinley]

When you're playing live, how many of you play solos? If so, what effects do you go to (other than the solo button on the footswitch)? What do those effects give your tone that makes you choose them for soloing?

 

[ak47]

This is an interesting topic so I will help to get the ball rolling...

Remember that coversongs usually require some authenticity in how they are approached. Original material is infinitely more fun to play with though! It all depends on the style / material being played.

Generally I might set up lead channel 1 of my Quad pre just for solos... no other processing required. Then I may switch in my Boss super overdrive for some clip on my picking attack... this shreds it up a bit for the high gain stuff without overdoing things with the preamp. But sometimes I will combine an overdrive and octave fuzz and let loose! My boss noise reduction unit works pretty well to keep noise to a minimum as my rig is very clean anyway.

Alternately I will use a TC chorus / flanger to add some 'electricity' to my lead tone or to give more space and breath to my clean tone if it requires a little colouration / boost for a solo.

Then there are times when some short or long delays may fill things out. Usually fairly subtle as with my approach to reverbs but throwing in a reverse line with my eventide is a trippy piece of fun for the listener too.

So basically.... I use all sorts of approaches and it keeps things interesting both for myself and hopefully for the listener as well. Keeping effects subtle at times and over the top at other times will not tire the listener too much. Mostly we want to hear what the fingers are doing anyway... don't we!?!

 

[TheBlackman]

I play in a cover band with a very wide range of songs from country to metal and do some of the leads. I ususally only use delay and either an OCD or crybaby q-zone for my leads. I lean on the q-zone mostly as it gives me the boost plus the smoothness of the neck pickup sound without having to change pickups. We play the songs our own way so i'm not trying to sound like the cd or anything, i just like the lead tone i get with the amp and a little boost

 

[boogieman75]

My go to is the Addrock Geranium fuzz set as a clean boost. I leave this on a lot. It is really transparent and provides a subtle tone that I could never achieve out of tube screamer type effect. But when I need a TS type, on occasion I kick in the Banzai Fireball II. This thing is a monster with many settings you can tweak. Internal DIP switches to adjust the gain. Mid and treble controls. And a compression switch.

Sometimes I may use a BYOC Distortion + with satisfying results. I may also stick a TS9, Boss DS1 or DS2 in there as well. These OD and Fuzz effects are set as: gain low...level high and tone desired. Depending on my needs and what type of song I am playing those settings change frequently.

I use the mojo vibe on some Jimi tunes and on some really long bends. I use the wah when I solo on the neck pickup of my strats mostly. and to fill in in between verses sometimes

My pedal board, which is pretty consistent as of late goes:

Gib LP Special w/p90 or Strats (2) --> Fulltone Clyde Standard --> Mojo Vibe --> Fireball --> Fuzz --> Heartbreaker, Dual Rec or PV classic 50

I play mostly classic rock and blues so this setup fits the bill nicely

...but i am always experimenting

 

[Sebby123]

I dont play solo solo's but leads none the less and a good amount of them i want to still blend in the mix and cut through at the same time. I set my mark iv to a moderate gain for rythm and for leads i boost it with a bb preamp and delay (tapped to the tempo of the song) the bb preamp helps me cut through while the delay makes a warm reverb type of fliter to help not have nasty highend....

 

[ak47]

Yes.... and then there is the wah-wah.... I never leave home without it!

I play in a cover band with a very wide range of songs from country to metal and do some of the leads. I ususally only use delay and either an OCD or crybaby q-zone for my leads. I lean on the q-zone mostly as it gives me the boost plus the smoothness of the neck pickup sound without having to change pickups. We play the songs our own way so i'm not trying to sound like the cd or anything, i just like the lead tone i get with the amp and a little boost

Great point about doing it your own way too... some of the best cover versions I have heard or been a part of have been a complete re-working of the original.

 

[plumptone]

My band is a 3-piece, and I'm the only guitar player, so by default I'm the solo guy. I have basically two solo sounds, a clean sound and an overdrive sound. For my clean solos I turn the guitar volume all the way up, turn the TBX tone control full on to 10, and use the second position on my strat. I use a dynacomp as a compressor and to boost the signal. amd engage a little delay as well.

For the overdiven solos, I'll shut off the compressor, and hit channel 2 on the amp and engage the graphic eq for boost (on my DC-3). Add delay and phase 90 to taste. Pretty basic set-up for me. Ideally I run a two amp stereo rig, and when I do I'll use either a little light stereo chorus or enjoy the stereo spread from mt delay pedal. Fills things out nicely in the 3-piece format.

 

[Jak0lantern01]

I only play certain solos as they are on the album, it depends on how critical to the song it is. Sweet Child o Mine needs to be pretty close. Certain other tunes I like to improv around the sound of the original. A lot of artists do this live with their own material already. I did an improv solo for Mountain Song by Jane's Addiction, wish it had been recorded. Everyone told me how awesome it was afterward, but I can't remember what I ever did. :lol:

 

[Old BF Shred]

Everyone told me how awesome it was afterward, but I can't remember what I ever did.

Oh, do I ever hear you on this one!

Don't you just hate it when that happens? :shock:

 

[Jak0lantern01]

Yeah, it's one of those funky solos with lots of cool stuff going on, I never know what fx I'll use until I'm into it. Ah well, the stuff of legends. :roll:

 

[Sixstringpsycho]

I play in a cover band that covers Hank 3 to Pantera, I also play in an original project as well. For both of these bands I usually solo with only a bit of boost from an OD pedal. on certain song I will use a little reverb or chorus, others such as some of our 80's covers I will use some delay. On my original work as stated earlier, I will use what ever my heart desires because i have the freedom too but normally its just some boost, a couple songs i use a Whammy npedal for some "computer meltdown" sqeauls and such. My board consists of a whammy, delay, chorus, and of coarse a wah pedal. I use alo of Wah as well

 

[srf399]

About 30% of my playing is solos. I basically just "Bennie Hill" the base player and the drummer then follows suit.

 

[ak47]

About 30% of my playing is solos. I basically just "Bennie Hill" the base player and the drummer then follows suit.

So you guys chase the bass player around at quickframe speeds while wearing just your underwear?!?

Should post it on Youtube... :lol:

 

[Chris McKinley]

...and patting him on the head repeatedly.

 

[mesadude]

I solo all the time, and have been doing so since the mid '60's. I'm the lead guitar player for every band I've ever been in.

If I just bring a MKIV combo amp or the Road King to a gig, I'll use a TC-Electronic G-system for my effects, and that's about it.

If I bring more than the MKIV, like a Dr. Z amp or two, I'll also include an amp switcher and some fuzztones. A Keeley TS-9, Keeley BD-2, a Zendrive and an Xotic RC Booster. I add these to the loops in the G-system, leave them all on, and turn the loops on the G-system on & off as I want to use the effects. Actually, using these carefully can enhance the Mesa's tone.

The G-system takes care of all my phasing/flanging/chorusing/reverb/echo/whammy/pitch additions. The G-system tone is great. It rivals any of these type effects I've ever used, and it's all in one package that's really easy to carry around; and built like a tank.

MeZadude 8)

 

[demigod_shredder90234]

I play origional music. Im running a Triple XXX so theres no solo button. I use a Maxon OD9 for that extra boost then depending on the song may include phaser, wah, or delay.

 

[TemporarilyStairs]

I generally keep it fairly simple (now that I'm doing basically all originals 365) When I used to run my rack rig, I had a few solo patches but generally I used the G-Major to give me a few basic things: a subtle but noticeable delay, some verb, a little bit of a boost/focus in the mids, and a volume boost. Now I accomplish the same thing via the modelers, but with a switch of amp models sometimes. Chorus is fun sometimes too

 

[SBG200]

Stiletto ace here. I basically have 4 sounds overall, any of which are used for playing solos depending on the song/genre:

1. Ch1 (fat or tite) with the gain up just enough for slight grind and easy vol pot cleanup
2. An in-between sound by adding some low gain (~10:00) from a BD-2 on top of #1
3. Tite gain, everything straight up except for bass maxed
4. 2+3 for over-the-top sustainy leads

Vol boost taken care of by either the solo switch or vol pedal in the fx loop. Occasionally I'll throw in an Electric Mistress, delay, or wah, but for the most part, I keep the leads un-effected.

 

[fishyfishfish]

Hey. Right now I use a Dual Recto in our band, and when I solo I usually use a little delay and sometimes a wah pedal. Recently I have dug out my old BB pre-amp for a solo boost and it is working pretty good. Almost forgot: I also use a Micro Vibe on some slower bluesier tunes.

 

[Erotomaniac1928]

For overdriven solo's, I'll generally add light compression for sustain, very light chorus and then be pretty liberal with my delay depending what mood I'm emulating. Reverb levels are pretty much that same as rhythm. I'm always aiming of a warm sounding lead, which is good or bad depending on who you ask.