What a FAT......

Dave_Mc

Guthrie Govan's tone's been pretty fat since he used Cornfords etc. Also greg howe. A ton of the shredders went to cornford a while back, I think. Vinnie Moore's newer stuff, too. EVH since he went with the 5150 pretty much.

I'd have said there was definitely a move away from the hot rod marshall thing to the darker, more modern-sounding amps (quite some time ago, too). But I admit since you put me on the spot I'm finding it quite difficult to actually think of specific examples >:D<

guitarfishbay

at 3:33 he says he uses a tube driver pedal in to the Stiletto clean as a lead tone. There is a massive 3 part video on the Mesa channel where he runs through his rig including his Lonestar head. But I'm wondering if the OP vid is the pedal, the low end chords are really smeared sounding, like you'd get on something like a fuzz pedal, but dark and fat

Catthan

The Lonestar dirt channel IS dark and fat.
It's one of the 2 best features of the amp if you like that sort of thing and you play in a mix like that.
(The other feature is the clean channel)
The BB AT uses pushes the amp but also tightens it up a bit.
Playing a LSS since December, I'd say it's anything but modern.

guitarfishbay

But in the OP vid he might be using the Stiletto. It is hard to tell, but it looks like the amp controls are on the bottom, like the Stiletto. On the Lonestar head the controls are at the top.

guitarfishbay

Actually, he has both. But in the Mesa rig run down he said the Tube Driver was the main tone on Resolution, and Deliver Us is track one on that album, so I reckon the tone the OP wants is a Tube Driver pedal into a Marshall type amp, or the Stiletto of course!

guitarfishbay

This is a cool quick comparison of the sounds he uses from the Lone Star, Stiletto, and Tube Driver.

mrn1989

Anybody got one of the Tube Drivers? be keen on trying one

p90fool

ICBM;319016" said:

But then I'm biased...

Haha, amp tech joke!

Sorry.

Clarky

can't say I'm fond of that tone.. the low end is too loose and flubby for my taste.. but that's a Mesa thing..

that said, I do like Dual Recs when you have something in fornt of it that cuts / contains the low end coming from the guitar [like a Tube Screamer set clean / Graphic EQ / Parametric EQ].. then the Dual Rec really starts hitting the spot for me..

guitarfishbay

On a real DR you don't even need the pedal unless you want modern high gain. Run the presence low, gain below 11:00 and treble at least 13:30+ mids also above 12:00. On modern running the bass at or even below 9:00 is pretty typical for a tighter tone too. Providing you've got hot/bright pickups and a decent pick attack that will get you a nice 'tight' (for a DR) tone without an overly saturated/loose low end. As you add more gain from the amp the low end gets bigger and more saturated, I never run it above 12:00 personally and that is still plenty of gain for me.

The higher you run the treble the tighter the amp gets, but you need to adjust the presence to compensate. Though some ace tones can be had with treble nearly off and presence cranked up to compensate... very fat. DRs are so cab dependent on Modern mode though IMO, only Recto cabs with Mesa V30s seem to respond 'correctly' for my tastes. The boom and fizz just don't seem to sit right with other cabs for red/modern, though orange/vintage can sound incredible through greenbacks. All IMO, and OT lol.

Anyway I'm pretty convinced that he's using the Tube Driver in the first clip, not the Mesa gain.

ICBM

The reason the Modern High-Gain mode needs (if you think it does!) a pedal to tighten it for lead tones and is so cab dependent is because that mode turns off the power amp negative feedback (ie damping). That's one of the things that makes the classic/clichéd Dual Rectifier tone so different from any other high-gain amp and why it changed the sound of music. That, and the re-introduction of valve rectifiers, were unheard-of for any modern 'distortion' amp at the time.

The other Mesa models in these videos don't go that far but are still much looser than most other high-gain amps. Which is exactly why I like these tones...

Clarky

hmmmm... interesting stuff...

although I've never been a fan of Mesa's, I'm using a Dual Rec on the album I'm recording right now and it sounds wonderful..

so I guess another big part of all this is context.. in a musical sense..

ChrisMusic

@Clarky said:   ... I guess another big part of all this is context.. in a musical sense..

That is so very true, and a part of the "tone" jigsaw that is either missed or underrated by many, myself included.

The main sound on Deliver Us, the track in the OP is Tube Driver into clean channel on the Mesa Stiletto Deuce 2, into 2x 212 Rectifier cabs with Mesa spec V30s.

Obviously that is then miked up and run to into the desk, then recorded, and mastered, then squashed onto YouTube and played in your room on whatever you are listening on, so it will never be quite like being there   

guitarfishbay

@Clarky

This is a Dual Rec, most likely a rackmount 2 channel, with probably quite a bright sounding strat with Joe Barden Rails pickups... I think it is one of the best live guitar sounds ever - even at 240p lol.  Just absolutely massive, the whole band sound massive for a trio.

ChrisMusic

Interestingly, if you compare it with the version shot at a guitar clinic in Jakarta in 2012 which was posted by @guitarfishbay, you can hear just amp gain into a 4x12, probably recorded straight onto a DSLR and uploaded on YT.  I expect he is using whatever amp is supplied closest to spec on the Asian clinic tour.  Here are the two videos again if you want an easy comparison.

Having said all that I think the Laney powered video posted earlier sounds great, it is about the song and the emotion.  The difference in gear is subtle, you are listening to Andy Timmons, the musician, and he is really what dictates the sound, from composition to technique (etc)...

IMHO - he could play a biscuit tin, strung with wet spaghetti, and it would sound great  

Clarky

ChrisMusic said:

@Clarky said:   ... I guess another big part of all this is context.. in a musical sense..

That is so very true, and a part of the "tone" jigsaw that is either missed or underrated by many, myself included.

The main sound on Deliver Us, the track in the OP is Tube Driver into clean channel on the Mesa Stiletto Deuce 2, into 2x 212 Rectifier cabs with Mesa spec V30s.

Obviously that is then miked up and run to into the desk, then recorded, and mastered, then squashed onto YouTube and played in your room on whatever you are listening on, so it will never be quite like being there   

funny really... a few months ago I was cutting some guitar parts for a song and my regular go to amps just weren't working.. they were somehow too much.. but dialling back the gain didn't nail it either..

so I tried something a little different.. a 65 Bassman dialled up hot [by it's own standards] with a Tucana 3.. and in that context, two amps that I'd normally never take a second glance at really hit the spot..

Clarky

guitarfishbay said:

@Clarky

This is a Dual Rec, most likely a rackmount 2 channel, with probably quite a bright sounding strat with Joe Barden Rails pickups... I think it is one of the best live guitar sounds ever - even at 240p lol.  Just absolutely massive, the whole band sound massive for a trio.

I'll be sure to check that out later when I'm in the studio..

ChrisMusic

^^^  That sounds immense, even through my iMac speakers, good call @guitarfishbay

ThePrettyDamned

I'm not a huge fan, but he has bloody excellent tone and sense of musicality, if that makes sense.

I'd love to meet him.

Clarky

great song… love that tone too.. really suites the song / style..

you can really hear the strings.. has a kinda single coil quality to it