Disco 2000 guitar tone

JamieWakeham

Lockdown boredom has seen me buying a few pedals - I've always been a guitar-straight-into-amp guy and it's fun playing with a few new ways to shape my sound!  So I don't yet have a particularly extensive library of tones in my head.

What's being used on the main guitar riff in Disco 2000 by Pulp?  That huge, almost monolithic drive?  Is it a Rat-type pedal?

UnclePsychosis

According to an old press interview:

Mark (Weber) uses a Gibson 345 Stereo, Les Paul Standard and a Gibson Firebird through a Marshall JCM 900 which has been restyled a "Warhol" for reasons unclear, and a Fender 1965 Twin 4x12. Mark has more than enough pedals to make up for any shortages elsewhere, with a preponderance of Lovetones: a Doppelganger, Meatball, Brown Source, and Big Cheese. Also nailed to the barn door that serves as pedal board are an MXR Phase 90, Boss Digital Delay, Coloursound Dod Equaliser, Tone Bender, Nobels Tremolo, and a Korg Wah.

I suspect that a Rat into a Marshall amp should get you reasonably close but Pulp were definitely a "studio magic" band so I suspect it's many things all at once. 

monquixote

I've always thought that was a great guitar sound.

UnclePsychosis

All of Pulp's records had some great sounds on them. Amazingly Richard Hawley sometimes plays/played a Peavey 5150!! 

stickyfiddle

Fantastic song  I used to use a Rat with my old band and got close enough for drunk folks. Don't forget the record has synths and/or mellotron overlapping all the time, so you're not only hearing guitar. Either way, I wouldn't overthink it too much.

That said, if you're in the mood for buying pedals, @ThorpyFX 's Bunker is a Brown Source update and sounds like it would get you pretty damn close

JamieWakeham

Thanks, all. It's not that I'm trying to copy that exact tone (wonderful though it is) - it's just that I'm trying to configure my mental map of what pedals make what noises.  I'd suspected that this was likely to be a Rat or similar, so I'm pleased I got that in the right ballpark...

What I could really do with is a short video of a fairly bland amp and many pedals played into it one after the other: this is a Rat, this is a Tubescreamer, this is a Guvnor... it seems such a useful idea that I'm sure someone must have done it!

simonhpieman

JamieWakeham said:

Thanks, all. It's not that I'm trying to copy that exact tone (wonderful though it is) - it's just that I'm trying to configure my mental map of what pedals make what noises.  I'd suspected that this was likely to be a Rat or similar, so I'm pleased I got that in the right ballpark...

What I could really do with is a short video of a fairly bland amp and many pedals played into it one after the other: this is a Rat, this is a Tubescreamer, this is a Guvnor... it seems such a useful idea that I'm sure someone must have done it!

Might seem obvious but a cheap multiFX, Zoom multistomp or something, is a really good way to experiment with a bunch of popular pedals. Can't remember if it's got a guvnor but it's got a tubescreamer and a really great RAT

sergio

simonhpieman said:

JamieWakeham said:

Thanks, all. It's not that I'm trying to copy that exact tone (wonderful though it is) - it's just that I'm trying to configure my mental map of what pedals make what noises.  I'd suspected that this was likely to be a Rat or similar, so I'm pleased I got that in the right ballpark...

What I could really do with is a short video of a fairly bland amp and many pedals played into it one after the other: this is a Rat, this is a Tubescreamer, this is a Guvnor... it seems such a useful idea that I'm sure someone must have done it!

Might seem obvious but a cheap multiFX, Zoom multistomp or something, is a really good way to experiment with a bunch of popular pedals. Can't remember if it's got a guvnor but it's got a tubescreamer and a really great RAT

simonhpieman said:

JamieWakeham said:

Thanks, all. It's not that I'm trying to copy that exact tone (wonderful though it is) - it's just that I'm trying to configure my mental map of what pedals make what noises.  I'd suspected that this was likely to be a Rat or similar, so I'm pleased I got that in the right ballpark...

What I could really do with is a short video of a fairly bland amp and many pedals played into it one after the other: this is a Rat, this is a Tubescreamer, this is a Guvnor... it seems such a useful idea that I'm sure someone must have done it!

Might seem obvious but a cheap multiFX, Zoom multistomp or something, is a really good way to experiment with a bunch of popular pedals. Can't remember if it's got a guvnor but it's got a tubescreamer and a really great RAT

FWIW this is the main reason I bought a Mustang GT40 amp. It has a large list of amps and pedals (although the non-fender ones have their names obfuscated it's easy to find out what they are actually emulating). With the app it's easy to mix and match elements to try and approximate classic sounds.

JamieWakeham

Back in the 1990s I had a Zoom 2020 (my nephew has it now).  It was surprisingly capable, but if I remember correctly the effects had names like Overdrive#1 and Distortion#3, which wasn't very helpful!