Whats with the John Petrucci obsession?

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Does John Petrucci's tone float your boat.

  • It's incredible. I'd hit that four ways from Sunday.

    Votes: 59 47.6%

  • Its pretty good.

    Votes: 31 25.0%

  • I'm not phased either way.

    Votes: 23 18.5%

  • Its a bit rubbish.

    Votes: 6 4.8%

  • I'd like to hack at it with a rusty razor blade covered in cyanide.

    Votes: 5 4.0%
  • Total voters
    124
The JP solo thats been putting a smile on my face lately is the one at 9:27 in The Ministry of Lost souls. The way he comes out of the box in that solo just awesome and the best part for me is the run at 9:50.... nothing super special but the tone is just killer. Its so aggressive yet so smooth... his touch is so on point.

Also since his rhythms sometimes get over looked there is one note he plays in Foresaken for the first time at 1:19.... its just one power chord, but man the growl he gets is what makes me love boogies. It has the sizzle, girth and power that just makes me want to squeeze out one more rep when I'm lifting :twisted:
 
Under a Glass Moon I would say is my favorite petrucci solo.

start at 4:35

very technical with some old school blues licks, some quirky LaLonde-isms and that famous Petrucci alternate picking. and come on who doesnt like those whammy bar flicks to a crazy speed picking run and top it off with a sweet satch-scream thingy.

great solo
 
Cant believe no one mentioned the tone on the final Octavarium solo, its soooooooooo smooth, the treble is like dipped in vanilla! haha
 
LTE said:
Cant believe no one mentioned the tone on the final Octavarium solo, its soooooooooo smooth, the treble is like dipped in vanilla! haha
Click to expand...

Seen it live. I pretty much died on the spot.
 
73h Nils said:
LTE said:
Cant believe no one mentioned the tone on the final Octavarium solo, its soooooooooo smooth, the treble is like dipped in vanilla! haha
Click to expand...

Seen it live. I pretty much died on the spot.
Click to expand...

I will see DT live this year. I WILL NOT miss them again.
 
LTE said:
Cant believe no one mentioned the tone on the final Octavarium solo, its soooooooooo smooth, the treble is like dipped in vanilla! haha
Click to expand...

the sustain at the end is incredible!
 
My favorite JP album tones, so far. Images and Words, Awake, Train Of Thought, Suspended Animation, Liquid Tension Experiment 2.
 
Well, for what my 2 cents will be worth at this point....

In a nutshell, I bought a Mesa before I actually heard John play, but I will admit that once I did finally hear him (it blew me away obviously), and, once I found out that he played Mesas also, it did draw my interest to him more.

That being said, I think when you consider the skill, talent, dedication to his craft, and zero ego that this man offers to the music world he is truly one of the greatest. I love DT's stuff overall, but I have to admit that I don't love every single song by them. But that's OK -- I don't have to like every single to admire people, or respect their talent. And let's face it, the prog metal that DT puts out is not for everyone, but who cares -- it rocks.

As for his tone, I prefer his later stuff (TOT and onward), but all of it sounds pretty cool overall. I have tried his Road King settings on my Roadster and I found them to be a bit darker than I like (yeah I know, he had a million more tube combinations in his Road King and whatnot), so I just used them as a guide/alternate setting and went with what sounded best to me.

Finally, here is my general rule of thumb for all my idols over the years -- learn what you can from them, understand what they use and how they use it, and then apply that knowledge to getting your own style and sound.
 
I don't think his new tone fitted the new album's mix at all

and it sounds like he's miced it with a SM57, or just pulled the prescense on a mark IV (I know he uses a Mark IIC+ now)
 
Sorry if im busting in on this at a random point cos theres 4 pages and didnt get through em all .... but concerning the original question:

I think the proof is in the pudding and the core issue you (original poster) have was what you initially pointed out:

"Granted I'm not big on that kind of metal, or any kind of metal for that matter, so I could understand if the issue is with my not being able to appreciate the subtle brilliance of his tone, but I've had a bit of a listen and I just don't see whats so special."


So if you dont like metal, you could never hope to grasp any thought or emotion that is evoked in those who do. That doesnt mean you can't, but it does mean you would need to get to that place first.

I LOVE black teas like english breakfast and darjeeling etc, so much so I can completely taste the difference if the milk or sugar or strength is off by a few ml compared to how I prefer it. But I cant tell the difference between any green teas, despite the fact that there's hundreds of varieties, it all tastes like crappy water to me. If I were to drink it more often tho, I would start on that path to integrating it into my palette and soon it would just be one, much larger spectrum of tea to me.

I like how petrucci sounds including the way he has his rig and tone. I can tell it apart from tremontis sound (another big mesa advert who many wish to emulate) and from santanas sound and from killswitches sound ... but that includes more factors than just their mesa's, its the guitar/pups/gauge & tuning/out boards and off boards/mic's & position etc. and much more, the playing....

I used to find metal a headache and just thought all the tone was the same ultra gain squash with no identity, but when i ended up getting into heavier and heavier stuff, I found that getting an ear for guitar tone that spans both polar ends gave me a better appreciation and creative scope. That also includes going the other way and looking for the (small) goodness in pop/easy stuff like Enrique and pals ... their music might suck mostly, but some of those session guys get beauty sounds occasionally.

yeah, just some thoughts.
peace.
 
I love JP`s tone. The new album sounds amazing. His choice of notes combined with his great tone sends shivers down my spine :lol:
 
EirikBrandal said:
...and it sounds like he's miced it with a SM57...
Click to expand...

yes of course. and he combines it with an old MD421.
this is how his cabs had been miced on the last four albums. :)
btw. this is a very often used combination for guitar recording.
 
I love his tone on Falling Into Infinity, myself. Listen to Lines In The Sand and not wet yourself.

Honorable mentions are 6DIT and Octavarium
 

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