what makes a good lead/ solo tone?

[jlomonac]

hey! i have a DR roadster combo, i love my riff tone/clean tones, but i can't seem to get the right set up for an awesome lead/solo sound. i use a tube screamer in front, and timefactor on the loop for extra flavour to the sound haha. anyone has any suggestions/pointers? i listen to a lot of dream theater, jason becker, satch, Vai, etc etc, but i still like petrucci's lead tones.

 

[ccwhiskey]

i will give this a shot for you since no one else has, my lead sound is ch 3 100 w in the back, set to spongy, pres 2 bass all,mid 2, treb 230; gain 3 in the clock positions, master about 930 ,now all i use is ch 3 for lead and rhythm ,the big difference is i use a boss gt 8 for some delay and chorus connected in the 4 cable method ( you can get info on the boss gt forum how to do this) forget the tube screamer ect!!! when you solo just use the solo button on the mesa foot switch my clean is ch 2 set w/ volume matching ch 3 . i get a killer tone for dream theater ect ,some say perfect match!!! NOW YOU"LL HAVE TO READ UP ON STUFF BUT THATS THE BASIC IDEA!!! one important thing i forgot is ch 3 set to vintage and 2 clean , if you need some questions answered il try my best to help... cc PS ...the master amp volume will be all you need to adjust when you play out and get used to the solo function ,volume ect........and the gain on ch 3 shouldn't need to go past 3 o'clock.

 

[jlomonac]

hey thanks! finelly somebody answers!!! hehehe, i'll give it a try tonight and report back! i find that my lead tone improves without the TS9 since the TS9 makes the sound a bit more fuzzy.

 

[ccwhiskey]

the eventide you have should be great for the delay and chorus,but i don't know how you should run it so you can change patches ,im sure there is some way ,cause for rhythm i use delay and chorus ,on some leads i change the delay ,but the basic amp sound i have matches dream theater.,and the only thing you would need to do is learn about the solo function on the amp and mesa foot switch. the pure amp tone sounds way better and john petrucci's amp sounds very clean and pure he just colors it with the delay and chorus and if you adjust your amp you can get the same distortion sound he has without a tube sreamer ,but try all if you like.