DR_JJ said:
Hey all and merry christmas. Got a big surprise this morning in the form of a new dual rectifier and rectifier 2x12 cab. The tones I have got out of it so far are very pleasing but because I am coming from a solid state line 6 spider I have limited knowledge of how to EQ the tones I am after. I'm trying to get Van Halen and Satriani type lead tones but dont know where to begin. Any tips greatly appreciated.
Also, will I be needing a tube screamer to reach these tones.
Cheers,
Joe
Well done - great gift.
When Mr Satriani visited Australia he did a clinic at my friends super store in Sydney where he was the manager and as such was asked to supply Marshall amps and Boss OD1 pedals (apparently Joe was travelling light on this trip...
Anyway before the gig we heard him trying stuff out - you know what - we all said "the tone is
all in his fingers, he could've used any amp and any pedal and it would still sound exactly like Joe". It was amazing.
Granted a Dual Rectifier sounds different to a Marshall
but they do have a lot in common as well and if you get the guitar and playing technique right 99% of people won't pick any difference.
To help out I would definitely use a guitar with humbuckers, something like DiMarzio PAF Pro/FRED pickups...
I have an older 2channel recto so I'd pick the "vintage" orange channel, set gain up pretty high, like 3 o'clock, treble between 1 and 3 or clock, mid pretty well off or there abouts, bass at about 12 o'clock and presence well let's start with 12 o'clock.
You should definitely also use the guitar volume, even if you crank the gain on the amp, just lower the guitar volume (even if it's on very low!). Just balance the guitar volume and amp gain see how you go.
At home I wouldn't use bold, go with spongy and probably rectifier tubes not diode rectification. Otherwise it'll get very loud and I think these settings are more on the money. (I switched to Mesa 5881 tubes to help lower the volume at home but that's another story).
If it feels like a strain trying to play leads and you find yourself trying to eek out every bit of juice from every note then a pedal will help a Boss OD1, TubeScreemer, etc etc, just set the distortion or overdrive pretty low if not zero and just use it to boost the amp and fatten up the leads.
The other 99% of it comes down to how you play