Okay, just for the record, John Frusciante's tone is one of the best I have heard from any guitarist. He has many tones, but overall he has a signature tone which I just can't achieve, not even very close. I probably should get an American strat and some kind of marshall amp. I dunno, any one here also a Frusc lover!?
basically 50s and 60s strats and 60s/70s marshall tube heads. You will pay huge money for any of these items, about $3000 for a silver jubilee would be a great deal, and a 60s strat in good condition could run you $5000+
That's a 50s re-issue strat, not an actual 50s strat. I'm sure it plays well and everything, and is probably a nice guitar in its own right, and while i'm sure it feels and plays similar to the real thing, it's not the same as a 50s strat.
I have the 30 watt peavey vyper amp. As for guitars, I have many... I have a Michael Kelly Valor, an Ibanez (kinda like 335 style except the body is a little thicker and its full hollow body not just semi-hollow, dual humbuckers), Fender Squier, Hagstrom (probably my favorite... which is weird cause i haven't palyed it in seriously forever, I can't even remember exactly what model it is... it's kinda like an SG body style, single coil pickups), and a custom 335 semi hollow body.
I have the 30 watt peavey vyper amp. As for guitars, I have many... I have a Michael Kelly Valor, an Ibanez (kinda like 335 style except the body is a little thicker and its full hollow body not just semi-hollow, dual humbuckers), Fender Squier, Hagstrom (probably my favorite... which is weird cause i haven't palyed it in seriously forever, I can't even remember exactly what model it is... it's kinda like an SG body style, single coil pickups), and a custom 335 semi hollow body.
I need to sell some of this crap, jeez.
Cool. I love 333s, 335s, and all that "stray cats" semi-hollow stuff. I hope your hagstrom has a bigsby...
Anyway, your weak link is DEFINITELY the peavey vyper. If you're doing anything other than Industrial/electronic type music, or new metal, you absolutely need a tube amp. especially for clean tones, and small amounts of overdrive tones, but even for the really heavy shit. Digital distortion doesn't react the same way as tube breakup, and even the closest modeling isn't close enough. And this isn't a "vintage is better" or "analog is better" thing, just that tubes have a sound, and they play a big part in the sound you're looking for.
No, the hagstrom doesn't ahve a bigsby but the ibanez does. I have an old Music Man Tube Amp my grandpa gave to me, but i never play it lol.
you should definitely play it. It won't be the top of the line amp or anything, but it will sound closer to the tone you want than you'll ever get with the peavey. I've played many amps, and my favorite sound is still from a 1974 Garnet "Stencil 15" amp that i got in 2003 for $80 at a pawn shop, and which sold brand new in 1974 for around only $125, and was a "budget amp", ie: for shitty beginners only. Oh well, between that and my 1964 Danelectro "budget amp" i can get all kinds of mean and amazing tones.
so yeah, dust off the music man, make sure it has a safety ground on the AC cable, and rock out.
I'll give'r a try again... Any more suggestions if I want to buy new stuff?
For now just see what you can get out of the music man. If there's just a volume control and no "gain" then what you should do is put your guitar volume on full, and play pretty hard with a pick, turning up the volume on the amp until you start to get a decent crunchy tone, then if you roll off the guitar volume a bit and play softer, you'll get clean tones. So just by playing harder, or turning up a little on the guitar you can go from clean to a nice breakup with no extra gear and pedals and whatnot. if you're looking for more dirty tones, the quintessential distortion pedal is the "Big Muff" which i think frusciante uses, and other guys like billy corgan and that era of dudes. The problem you may have with that amp is the wattage. If it's higher than about 7 Watts (which is actually quite loud when you're talking tube circuits, it's a math thing...) then you probably won't be able to get a nice breakup until it's way too loud for bedroom/apartment practice levels. For most classic tube circuits, somewhere around the 12 o'clock position on the volume pot will give you the best compromise between clean and crunchy, depending on your attack on the strings.
Do you have any way to record your amp? SM57 mic and a soundcard with a mic pre-amp in it, for example?
I could record it at the studio. It has gain/drive setting on it. I'll just toy around with it, haven't had much time here recently... Man I went to the music store the other day and played through a Marshall half-stack, messed with the crunch, dude, soooo tasty. mmm mmm MMM.
I really want an American Stratocaster Sunburst with a white pickguard, w/ Seymore Duncan SSL-1 pickups. If anyone can find one on the internet for sale with those specs hook me up with a link please!
unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep
Google is your friend
basically 50s and 60s strats and 60s/70s marshall tube heads. You will pay huge money for any of these items, about $3000 for a silver jubilee would be a great deal, and a 60s strat in good condition could run you $5000+
unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep
50s strats for under $1000
That's a 50s re-issue strat, not an actual 50s strat. I'm sure it plays well and everything, and is probably a nice guitar in its own right, and while i'm sure it feels and plays similar to the real thing, it's not the same as a 50s strat.
What kind of guitar rig you have?
I need to sell some of this crap, jeez.
unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep
Cool. I love 333s, 335s, and all that "stray cats" semi-hollow stuff. I hope your hagstrom has a bigsby...
Anyway, your weak link is DEFINITELY the peavey vyper. If you're doing anything other than Industrial/electronic type music, or new metal, you absolutely need a tube amp. especially for clean tones, and small amounts of overdrive tones, but even for the really heavy shit. Digital distortion doesn't react the same way as tube breakup, and even the closest modeling isn't close enough. And this isn't a "vintage is better" or "analog is better" thing, just that tubes have a sound, and they play a big part in the sound you're looking for.
unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep
you should definitely play it. It won't be the top of the line amp or anything, but it will sound closer to the tone you want than you'll ever get with the peavey. I've played many amps, and my favorite sound is still from a 1974 Garnet "Stencil 15" amp that i got in 2003 for $80 at a pawn shop, and which sold brand new in 1974 for around only $125, and was a "budget amp", ie: for shitty beginners only. Oh well, between that and my 1964 Danelectro "budget amp" i can get all kinds of mean and amazing tones.
so yeah, dust off the music man, make sure it has a safety ground on the AC cable, and rock out.
unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep
For now just see what you can get out of the music man. If there's just a volume control and no "gain" then what you should do is put your guitar volume on full, and play pretty hard with a pick, turning up the volume on the amp until you start to get a decent crunchy tone, then if you roll off the guitar volume a bit and play softer, you'll get clean tones. So just by playing harder, or turning up a little on the guitar you can go from clean to a nice breakup with no extra gear and pedals and whatnot. if you're looking for more dirty tones, the quintessential distortion pedal is the "Big Muff" which i think frusciante uses, and other guys like billy corgan and that era of dudes. The problem you may have with that amp is the wattage. If it's higher than about 7 Watts (which is actually quite loud when you're talking tube circuits, it's a math thing...) then you probably won't be able to get a nice breakup until it's way too loud for bedroom/apartment practice levels. For most classic tube circuits, somewhere around the 12 o'clock position on the volume pot will give you the best compromise between clean and crunchy, depending on your attack on the strings.
Do you have any way to record your amp? SM57 mic and a soundcard with a mic pre-amp in it, for example?
unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep
unzip, strip, touch, finger, grep, mount, fsck, more, yes, fsck, fsck, fsck, umount, sleep