Old 09-25-2017, 01:17 PM   #1
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Default El.guitar styles and tones

Hi!

I need some inspiration for electric guitar.
Can you give me any pointers to different styles, tones and sounds that can come out of an electric guitar.

Technique, guitars, gear, fx-chains whatever shows of the diversity of use in music-making
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Old 09-25-2017, 02:25 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by G-Sun View Post
Hi!

I need some inspiration for electric guitar.
Can you give me any pointers to different styles, tones and sounds that can come out of an electric guitar.

Technique, guitars, gear, fx-chains whatever shows of the diversity of use in music-making
Hi Geir, what do you have now, and what type of music would you like to start with? I'm just wondering where the stating point is?

There are so many styles it's hard to know where to begin, so I think more importantly, what do you have now and what do you aspire for, especially in the near future. Things will change as you go, and you could go any direction, or many directions, from this starting point.
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Old 09-26-2017, 03:16 AM   #3
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Hi Geir, what do you have now, and what type of music would you like to start with? I'm just wondering where the stating point is?

There are so many styles it's hard to know where to begin, so I think more importantly, what do you have now and what do you aspire for, especially in the near future. Things will change as you go, and you could go any direction, or many directions, from this starting point.
Thank you Tod!
Yes, it's maybe a too broad question.

I have a Squier Vintage Vibe 60 (and yet, a Yamaha Pacifica 112J)
and know a love the tone of a classic strat.
That means Clapton, Knofler, Gilmor; Fender Twin delux, a little compresssion, some reverb/delay.
I was just about to get a hollowbody Ibanez Artcore AS73 for a reggea/pop-tune, but it didn't work out (getting it, needed the money). Still a little sad about that, but it would not be my goto anyway (I guess)

I know I'm not into high-gain and shredding, not to much humbuckers either. But, then I'm really keen to learn ambient guitar-techniques better.

Then, it's the palette of pedals and fxs. I feel there's some creative use here I still are not aware of.

So, that's something for a start
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Old 09-26-2017, 03:32 AM   #4
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I'll offer the opinion that it's good to learn some gtr "licks" i.e set pieces of maybe just a few notes or maybe six or more, any grouping of a few notes that sounds really good to you, it might be from a classical recording or from a C&W track or a riff from a gtr site on the net, doesn't matter where the short set pieces come from as long as they sound really good to you.

So choose maybe six or more of those to practice until you know them extremely well; 20 minutes or maybe an hour intense practice per day is better than many hours on just one day.

When you know them so very well you can string them together in different ways and orders, use partial bits of one riff in another, vary timing, use slides and bends etc. iow express them in many ways.

The process in a way resembles using familiar tools to produce a variety of things. Kind of similar to how hammer, nails and wood can be used to produce a variety of things from just 3 things.
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Old 09-26-2017, 05:11 AM   #5
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I was just about to get a hollowbody Ibanez Artcore AS73
Believe it or not, I just got one of these yesterday (the amber one). Wonderful guitar. If I think of some tone tips in general, I'll report back.
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Old 09-26-2017, 05:37 AM   #6
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That means Clapton, Knofler, Gilmor; Fender Twin delux, a little compresssion, some reverb/delay.
There's quite a bit you can do without going heavy I guess.

Mod effects - like tremolo, vibrato or rotary sims do liven things a bit (Steven Wilson likes those for cleans, very nice animated tone). Pitch effects - pitchsifter/harmonizer effects, even freebies like Pitchproof, pedal controlled whammy and whammy-alikes like POD builtin Bender effect are neat too if you have idea where to cram those mad two-octave glides. Also phasing, if not too psychedelic. Killswitch is a cool effect too, altough I guess your guitars will need a mod (Gibsony guitars with dual volume controls sort of have them built-in) and is best for distortion. Get a slide too. How bout crazy LFO-controlled filters like good ol Kjaerhus auto filter? Altough it's kinda far out.

There's a ton of stuff you can do, just depends how weird you're willing to sound
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Old 09-26-2017, 06:36 AM   #7
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I'll offer the opinion that it's good to learn some gtr "licks" i.e set pieces of maybe just a few notes or maybe six or more, any grouping of a few notes that sounds really good to you, it might be from a classical recording or from a C&W track or a riff from a gtr site on the net, doesn't matter where the short set pieces come from as long as they sound really good to you.

So choose maybe six or more of those to practice until you know them extremely well; 20 minutes or maybe an hour intense practice per day is better than many hours on just one day.

When you know them so very well you can string them together in different ways and orders, use partial bits of one riff in another, vary timing, use slides and bends etc. iow express them in many ways.

The process in a way resembles using familiar tools to produce a variety of things. Kind of similar to how hammer, nails and wood can be used to produce a variety of things from just 3 things.
This is a very good tips!
I sometimes feel I repeat myself much in my arranging for el.guit. And this could help me broaden my horizon.

I guess this is a good place to start:
https://www.justinguitar.com/en/LK-000-GuitarLicks.php
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Old 09-26-2017, 06:43 AM   #8
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Believe it or not, I just got one of these yesterday (the amber one). Wonderful guitar. If I think of some tone tips in general, I'll report back.
Oh.. how do you like it?
And does it give you something the strat can't do?
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Old 09-26-2017, 06:50 AM   #9
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There's quite a bit you can do without going heavy I guess.

Mod effects - like tremolo, vibrato or rotary sims do liven things a bit (Steven Wilson likes those for cleans, very nice animated tone). Pitch effects - pitchsifter/harmonizer effects, even freebies like Pitchproof, pedal controlled whammy and whammy-alikes like POD builtin Bender effect are neat too if you have idea where to cram those mad two-octave glides. Also phasing, if not too psychedelic. Killswitch is a cool effect too, altough I guess your guitars will need a mod (Gibsony guitars with dual volume controls sort of have them built-in) and is best for distortion. Get a slide too. How bout crazy LFO-controlled filters like good ol Kjaerhus auto filter? Altough it's kinda far out.

There's a ton of stuff you can do, just depends how weird you're willing to sound
Yes, I guess keeping things basic will be my main thing.
Deley being a huge creative tool.
Then vol and wah expression.

I guess getting the basic skills right is important. I do have a slide. But slide, bend, trem-arm -I'm not too good at either
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Old 09-26-2017, 07:09 AM   #10
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To practice with delay, try changing the rhythmic feel. Swapping between whole notes and dotted notes is great practice.

As for ambience, you can't beat a bit of prepared guitar!

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Old 09-26-2017, 07:17 AM   #11
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Oh.. how do you like it?
And does it give you something the strat can't do?
It's a different sound being humbuckers and hollow body. I love it right now because it has it's own tone different from LP and Strat.
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Old 09-26-2017, 07:50 AM   #12
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I guess this is a good place to start:
https://www.justinguitar.com/en/LK-000-GuitarLicks.php
Yeh, had a quick look, that site seems good.

Sometimes I would have a kind of 'shopping list' for certain kinds of things like for example something going from low to high on the fretboard or high to low. Or some slow bend combinations or combinations in a static position etc. It's nice to move in any direction at will, with confidence. Long note "runs" don't have to be played fast, but if you play them a lot you will be able to play them fast also, and they can highlight notes on the fretboard that can be used in other ways.

My technique training was mainly heavy metal. I don't play metal anymore but still use the lead gtr technique for other genres, if you like a riff and know it well enough then it's easy to shape it to the song in almost any genre.
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Old 09-26-2017, 08:09 AM   #13
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Morgan is giving good advice about picking up licks. I think figuring them out by ear is best.

Learning the modes is also good. Even if you're not interested in straying away from major and minor keys, they will enable you to play at different positions on the neck so you don't get stuck only having 3 octave positions to solo in, and you'll have routes up and down the neck.
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Old 09-26-2017, 09:01 AM   #14
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I was just about to get a hollowbody Ibanez Artcore AS73 for a reggea/pop-tune, but it didn't work out (getting it, needed the money). Still a little sad about that, but it would not be my goto anyway (I guess)
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Believe it or not, I just got one of these yesterday (the amber one). Wonderful guitar. If I think of some tone tips in general, I'll report back.
I saw your picture in another post today Karbo, and I did a double take. Notice the Epiphone on the left.

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Old 09-26-2017, 09:54 AM   #15
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I saw your picture in another post today Karbo, and I did a double take. Notice the Epiphone on the left.
hehe, nice one tod! I have a Korean Gretsch with a bigsby but it drives me crazy trying to keep in tune.
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Old 09-26-2017, 01:07 PM   #16
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even freebies like Pitchproof
Is there something you can buy which is better than pitchproof? The #1 suspect who should be doing this doesn't even seem to offer one

Harmonizers are one of those holy grails we need to see get to the pc, Amplitube's is ok too
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Old 09-26-2017, 03:37 PM   #17
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I have a Squier Vintage Vibe 60 (and yet, a Yamaha Pacifica 112J)
and know a love the tone of a classic strat.
That means Clapton, Knofler, Gilmor; Fender Twin delux, a little compresssion, some reverb/delay.
I was just about to get a hollowbody Ibanez Artcore AS73 for a reggea/pop-tune, but it didn't work out (getting it, needed the money). Still a little sad about that, but it would not be my goto anyway (I guess)

I know I'm not into high-gain and shredding, not to much humbuckers either. But, then I'm really keen to learn ambient guitar-techniques better.

Then, it's the palette of pedals and fxs. I feel there's some creative use here I still are not aware of.
Yeah, pedals have come a long way since my day. I had a few, chorus, distortion, and Volume. I used Volume a lot, all the time in fact, but not much of the others. The chorus was okay but I didn't play a lot of stuff that required it. I never liked the distortion pedal but I have a small Roland amp that I could get some good sounding natural distortion, so I blended that with my clean amp to get the sound I wanted.

As far as softamps, I've found it hard to find one that has a good clean sound. I've tried several of the free ones, but they're all designed for the distortion. I've got "Guitar Rig 5", and I can get a passable clean sound with that, but it's not great. For me, I want the good clean sound first, then add in the other stuff.

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hehe, nice one tod! I have a Korean Gretsch with a bigsby but it drives me crazy trying to keep in tune.
Actually once you get used to it, there's not much problem. It's true, bending strings takes it out of tune all the time, but I've learned how to just wiggle the Bigsby a little and it's right back in tune again. Heh heh, it can actually add a little extra to the end of a riff.

Since we're all pretty much guitar players, I've got a little story to tell you about that Bigsby that you might get a kick out of.

I was playing at a club in Great Falls MT and I had a good buddy that was playing in another club across town, kind of a jazz club. He was always after me to come down and sit in, and I finally got a night off while he was playing, so I put my guitar in the back of the car on the floor and wen down to the club.

When I got there I decided to just leave the guitar in the car and check it out first. As it turned out it was a slow night so my friend was just finishing up when I got there. So I had a couple of drinks with him and decided to go back to where I was staying.

When I got to the car, I unlocked it and got in. The first thing I noticed was the glass that was all over the front seat. And it dawned on me, "OH NO". Yep, it was gone. I was sick, as you can imagine, and felt totally lost. I knew the chances of getting it back were next to nil.

The next day I went down town and bought another guitar so I could keep going with the gig. In the mean time I let the police as well as the sheriff know about it, but I was sure I'd never see it again. The club owner who was a very good friend of mine, also put out some feelers out to the, "ahehm", "under the table" type folks.

At any rate, about 2 weeks later, I got a call at the club from a policemen, he said he might have my guitar and that he got it in a rather strange way that would cost me $200 to get it back (I don't remember the exact words). He said if I was willing, he'd meet me in back of the club in 15 minutes. 15 minutes later, he shows up behind the club in a blue and white police car with the full lights on top.

I got in, and the guitar was in the back seat, I could tell right away it was mine, the case had all kinds stickers on it, LA, Seattle, ect.. So the first thing he asked me, was if I could identify it. I said absolutely, and he asked how.

I told him, if we open it up and loosen the strings I can show him. He told me to proceed, so I took the guitar out of the case, and as I was loosening the strings, I explained to him that I had a nickel under the spring of the Bigsby to raise it slightly to where I liked it.

Heh heh, well of course the nickel was there, so I immediately packed it up, and as I was going out the door, I told the policeman I'd pay him later.

I always felt bad about that, having lied to the cop, but it wasn't long that cop got caught and was kicked off the force.

Well that's the story of my Bigsby, hope I haven't bored you.
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Old 09-26-2017, 03:48 PM   #18
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Actually once you get used to it, there's not much problem. It's true, bending strings takes it out of tune all the time, but I've learned how to just wiggle the Bigsby a little and it's right back in tune again.
My experience with this one (had it for 6 years now), if I even touch it has issues. I'm experienced at the tricks of the trade with tremolos but I think I just got a crappy guitar, it sounds decent when recording but everything else not so good. To top it off, while tracking my other band member, he brought over his gretsch solid body (also bigsby), it wouldn't tune at all, I wouldn't allow him to use it, it was that bad. Stroke of bad luck I guess. Had my gretsch been better, I'd likely not bought the Ibanez but it does seem better in every way.

Now both my strats, I can go pretty wild on those tremolos and pretty much never an issue and those are floating AM Std bridges. Based on the difference, chances are I'll never touch a bigsby again.

Quote:
Well that's the story of my Bigsby, hope I haven't bored you.
Cool story and glad it worked out but that cop sounds shady.
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Old 09-26-2017, 04:14 PM   #19
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It's true, bending strings takes it out of tune all the time...
Yep, even using only fingers for string bending can make tuning go out pretty quickly.

A pro-tip that's prolly been mentioned at some point but putting graphite dust in the grooves of the nut allows the strings to flow freely back and forth through them rather than "catching" which helps quite a bit in my experience.

One small container of that stuff is not expensive and should last years, I only apply it per string set change or once again if needed.
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Old 09-26-2017, 06:43 PM   #20
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Yep, even using only fingers for string bending can make tuning go out pretty quickly.

A pro-tip that's prolly been mentioned at some point but putting graphite dust in the grooves of the nut allows the strings to flow freely back and forth through them rather than "catching" which helps quite a bit in my experience.

One small container of that stuff is not expensive and should last years, I only apply it per string set change or once again if needed.
Yep, that and making sure the back bridge is truly floating.

Also you can just loosen the string enough to pull it out of the groove, and if you don't have graphite, you can use the end of a regular pencil and still get results.
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Old 09-26-2017, 08:22 PM   #21
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Also you can just loosen the string enough to pull it out of the groove, and if you don't have graphite, you can use the end of a regular pencil and still get results.
It's worth doing bc even the initial tune up of the guitar is faster, and then easier to maintain.
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Old 09-26-2017, 09:25 PM   #22
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A very good friend of mine and mentor who passed away not long ago played Fender Strat's and Jaguar's. He said he discovered the secret to keeping them in tune. Don't file straight grooves in the nut. Shape them like an hour glass, rounded on both sides. I've never tried it but he swore by it and I never heard any of his guitars ever go out of tune.
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Old 09-27-2017, 12:07 PM   #23
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Since we're all pretty much guitar players, I've got a little story to tell you about that Bigsby that you might get a kick out of.
I thought you were a key-player mainly.
Nice story
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Old 09-27-2017, 12:24 PM   #24
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I thought you were a key-player mainly.
Nice story
Thanks my friend, the Bigsby story is probably my most memorable of all my road stories.

actually I played both keys and guitar when I played my singles. I also had a trio in the late 60s where I played both keys and guitar and even some sax.

Other then that, I was mainly a guitar player.
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Old 09-27-2017, 02:19 PM   #25
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Hi!

I need some inspiration for electric guitar.
Can you give me any pointers to different styles, tones and sounds that can come out of an electric guitar.

Technique, guitars, gear, fx-chains whatever shows of the diversity of use in music-making
The Joshua Tree by U2 has some really great innovative stuff by The Edge regarding feedback and delay. I'd imagine you're familiar with it, but if you haven't looked closely at it, it's worth checking out again.

The guitarist for The Cure was featured in some 90s guitar mags for exemplary "textural" guitar - neither lead nor rhythm, moody but indispensable. Disintegration is the album I'm thinking of; Pictures Of You specifically but the whole album has lots to be found.

An eBow can be a lot of fun to play around with. Kind of expensive if you're not going to commit, but I've never regretted my purchase.

Sounds like you might learn to bend; if you do, i might suggest incorporating some fast rhythmic bends into your practicing (as well as the classic guitarist's bent 5th over a bar or two of course). The Cure provides another example here on 100 Years; if you don't nail the rhythm on this one, your cover will sound like crap (ask me how I know that...).

Off Topic:
Tod, you know Frank Chiaverini?
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Old 09-27-2017, 09:24 PM   #26
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I thought you were a key-player mainly...
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...I was mainly a guitar player.
To say the least. I recommend any player to check Tod's sig links.
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Old 09-28-2017, 04:23 AM   #27
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Thanks my friend, the Bigsby story is probably my most memorable of all my road stories.

actually I played both keys and guitar when I played my singles. I also had a trio in the late 60s where I played both keys and guitar and even some sax.

Other then that, I was mainly a guitar player.
Wow, that's quite impressive
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Old 09-28-2017, 04:25 AM   #28
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The..
Thanks!
I'll check these out when I have the time.
(Have heard all I guess, but not with these ears.)
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Old 10-10-2017, 10:49 PM   #29
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Hi!

I need some inspiration for electric guitar.
Can you give me any pointers to different styles, tones and sounds that can come out of an electric guitar.

Technique, guitars, gear, fx-chains whatever shows of the diversity of use in music-making
Well... Besides for playing technique you can check out this free vst plugin:

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=2409

"The Shred Suite features 6 versatile amp heads ranging from warm, sweet, clean tones to hair-raising metal thunder. Perhaps the most interesting feature of Shred is the feature that allows you to create a head that suits you: AcmeBarGig's 'Frankenamp' technology allows you to select the parts from any of the other heads and mix and match them for a sound all your own. You like the bass from the Marvel head? Add its bass knob. Want the Gain of the Shred Head? Add its Gain section.

Shred comes with 6 built-in stereo out rack effects and a cabinet / room simulator."


***

I have spent, and will continue to spend, many hours trying all the different pre-settings, and tweaking the nobs thereafter, on any given guitar part.

I'm always astonished on how many completely different tones I can get... Once I find a tone that fits with the general song project, I sometimes choose to go back and play the guitar part again; this time I play with the VST active so I can really get the most out of the plugin settings. This forces me to refine various playing techniques.

I know this sounds a bit crazy, but i have learned a great deal about how to couch the electric guitar into a song by using the above methodology. I only have one guitar and no amp... So this is the best I found to learn about "...tones and sounds that can come out of an electric guitar..."
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Old 10-11-2017, 04:24 PM   #30
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I would be interested in what kind of clean sounds you can come up with RDBOIS?

It appears to only be available in 32 bit?
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Old 10-11-2017, 05:39 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by Tod View Post
I would be interested in what kind of clean sounds you can come up with RDBOIS?

It appears to only be available in 32 bit?

The 32bit vst work fine, no problem, even with the 64bit DAW. I don't know how it all works, but I don't need to do anything special; I just load up the 32bit and Reaper does the rest (a bridge of sorts?).

Sometimes I run 3-4 instances of the 32bit SHRED and still no problems. Not all VSTs will let you run multiple instances...

Clean tones for electric are not so bad. Lots of BLUESY type settings. But it does better for dirty guitar stuff, IMO.

Beyond the presets, you can change the ROOM type/padding and shape (this does a great deal on the sound), change the amps, the distance of the microphone from the amp (letting in more of the ROOM and less amp), add reverb, stereo delay, and the regular amp mojo.

Clean acoustic is not so good.

The dirty (distortion) electric tones are multiple; many presets to choose from.

Try it and let me know what you think.

Ohh for clean electric I also like Free Amp 3. You can't run multiple instances, unless you trick REAPER by loading many copies of the VST (e.g FA3_1.dll ; FA3_2.dll ; FA3_3.dll and so on... Reaper sees them as independent plugins.

http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php...e_Amp_3&id=580

Sounds? Well... all the DI electric sounds (clean and dirty - second half of the song) on THE CARNIVAL were produced with SHRED: https://soundcloud.com/consciousgrooves/the-carnival

All the DI electric sounds for THE CURE - A FOREST *cover* were produced with FREE AMP3 :https://soundcloud.com/consciousgroo...t-cover-french
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Old 10-11-2017, 05:41 PM   #32
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Clean but 'present' tone to me is all about getting the compressor just right. If not two of them, one for the attack and one for the sustain (a slower comp with a big knee and more gain reduction).

Then drive that into a tiny bit of a 'tube' distortion, be it your amp or a good crunch sim. Even clean, I want a wee bit of bite if I play hard.


One fun thing to do in Reaper if you want to experiment.. hook up a tremolo Rate slider with parameter modulation to be affected by the volume of the guitar. It can get into frequency levels that alter the pitch of the note, it can get you a really cool effect that you can learn to 'play'. A little delay and verb and you got yourself something really mean.

I also love fade in chorus effect (full wet). Again Reaper parameter modulation for the win, but I know pedals for this exist. My digital pedal board has one built in, not sure if it's emulating anything specific but it does a good job.
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Old 10-11-2017, 06:26 PM   #33
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Clean but 'present' tone to me is all about getting the compressor just right. If not two of them, one for the attack and one for the sustain (a slower comp with a big knee and more gain reduction).

Then drive that into a tiny bit of a 'tube' distortion, be it your amp or a good crunch sim. Even clean, I want a wee bit of bite if I play hard.


One fun thing to do in Reaper if you want to experiment.. hook up a tremolo Rate slider with parameter modulation to be affected by the volume of the guitar. It can get into frequency levels that alter the pitch of the note, it can get you a really cool effect that you can learn to 'play'. A little delay and verb and you got yourself something really mean.

I also love fade in chorus effect (full wet). Again Reaper parameter modulation for the win, but I know pedals for this exist. My digital pedal board has one built in, not sure if it's emulating anything specific but it does a good job.
These are all interesting ideas Fergler, any chance you can provide an mp3 of how these sound, preferably with just some short solo guitar sounds?

@RDBOIS: Thanks, I enjoyed your songs.
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Old 10-12-2017, 08:06 AM   #34
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Nice ideas. Thanks!
When digging a little in on el.guitar fundamentals,
it seems like I need to do my basics better,
bends and vibrato.
That's quite different compared to classical guitar (that's my background).
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Old 10-13-2017, 08:59 AM   #35
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Nice ideas. Thanks!
When digging a little in on el.guitar fundamentals,
it seems like I need to do my basics better,
bends and vibrato.
That's quite different compared to classical guitar (that's my background).
I also started on classical guitar (i.e. my first 10-15 years of playing).

Then I bought an acoustic guitar which forced me to learn new playing techniques.

But, when I got my first electric it was like WTF?! I suddenly felt like I was a beginner all over again.

Bends and vibrato, yes, but there is sooooo much more differences in technique with the classical guitar. Off the bat, what I really needed to get under my skin (so to speak) was letting the pick-ups do their work.

You see as a classic guitar player you are used to getting the sound out of the instrument by poking away at the instrument. With electric, all a sudden, you got yourself a friend that will assist you at getting the sound out, and sometimes this friend has a mind of its own?! You have to learn how communicate with this friend so it can translate a message to the instrument. Then, together you coax the instrument to say something intended. Not the best analogy, but I'm sure you get where I'm going.

Here is a list of a few things that need attention (according to my own bias experiences...):

1) You don't need to push so hard on the string with the left hand fingers. In fact, you'll find that if you push a string to hard on the fret the note will actually play off key!? Well, perhaps not on every instrument, but it is safer to have a gentle touch, just enough, to get the correct note. For some reason, the classical and acoustic seem more "forgiving" when fingers push hard on the frets... The gentle touch is especially difficult for long time acoustic guitar players, like myself, who for practical reasons, needs to tune the open G and B strings a few cents lower so they sound in tune when doing chords. Yeah yeah the guitar need new frets and all...

2) A shifting attention to details. With the classical guitar you must always focus on what every finger on the left hand is doing; they all have purpose, all the time, always. With the electric... Bahhhh... At times it's more a "mindful ruff approximation", because details are needed elsewhere. For example, take the "power chord" and "heavy metal" tone. In that instance it is more important how you are attacking the strings with the right hand. You need to master the art of "down picking" (something very different than bend and vibrato) while at the same time "palm muting". Palm muting is an art of its own and you'll find that once the distortion is cranked to the roof the details of the left hand fingers don't matter as much...

3) Shifting the focus of the hand to body to ear relationship. As a classical guitar player you have internalized a relationship where you hands are doing something that is felt on you body (i.e. not only the hands, but the guitar itself is vibrating on you knees and lower body), and where you ears must focus on the instruments' location to adjust the tone. With electric you lost 99% of the messages coming from the body of the instrument (i.e. speaking of a hard solid wood electric) and almost of the sound is now coming from a speaker located near-far away from you. The brain needs re-wiring the hand to body to ear relationship to figure out how to adjust "tone" in real time. Moreover, the actual setting of the AMP and the various tone PEDALS also need to be accounted for in that relationship. This takes time and practice... This is why in my other post I suggested getting a plugin like SHRED and playing through all the various presets, trying to figure out what your body needs to go to get into the various tonal sweet spots. Only then will you be able to intentionally add (i.e. dial in) a specific tone when arranging a song, to a specific style/genre.

4) Speaking of "bends and vibrato"... In my opinion one the best doing this is David Gilmore of Pink Floyd. I remember reading something he said about his technique. It goes something like this: bend the string to get to the note, then stay there for a bit, and once it has settled there add a small amount of vibrato to top it off, in a subtle way. I had to go back and listen to some of his epic solos and WOW I can hear it! I had never noticed it before he mentioned it. It is soooooo subtle that it can be missed (me think the the brain is happy/content to hear the bend and will rest on the note/key of the final location, but will leave the vibrato to the emotional body). He also said something about "silences" being an import note to play in solos...

5) The electric guitar may suck you energy... As a classical guitar player I could play for hours, no problem. But when I started to play electric, for some strange reason I felt exhausted after an hour or two. Especially if I crank the distortion and play hard rock/metal. This may be a special case, I don't know, I've never talked about it to anyone before... It has gotten better with time, but still does a number on my nervous system, so to speak. Perhaps someone born and raised with the electric guitar feels different?

6) Different picks can produce different tones. Strange thing for a classical guitarist to get accustom to...

7) Don't discount the tone nobs on the guitar... I used to never play with them; the classic didn't have them so I didn't think much of them; at first.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. I need to go water the turnips in the garden.

As one classical guitarist, learning to get the most of the electric, to another, I hope this helps a bit?
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Old 10-14-2017, 02:13 AM   #36
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Originally Posted by RDBOIS View Post
I also started on classical guitar (i.e. my first 10-15 years of playing)...
Wow, that is putting into words many of my subconscious experiences with approaching electric guitar. Thanks a lot!

Palm muting: Indeed. That's one thing I don't master yet.
When bending and vibrato, I seem to make unwanted sounds on other strings. Maybe a little high action is problematic regarding this as well?

Bends: Yes, Gilmore, I've been aiming at his playing here. So, much expression. So, articulate.

About feeling and el.guit: Yes, there's a difference here. Ac.guitar has this natural enchanting healing sound. El.guit. is a little different.
As a analogy, I compose on my crappy real piano, can't do it on my perfect Yamaha P80 digital.
And, it's a little the same for el.guit, I need a little magic in the tone to get inspired and keep going.
I have a Digitech RP 55 for rehearsing. But it's a little flat and uninspiring. Playing with the idea of a real amp to get that good feeling, but, then it's comp, eq, delay, reverb pedals (that I don't have)
I like my recording chain. Guit > MP566DI > dbx 767 (compressor) > AD then IKM Amplitube Fender Delux (+delys/reverb)
But, I'm not a fan of sitting with my PC for making songs.
When rehearsing, arranging and recording I'm not so picky.

I'm not 100% satisfied with my Squier Vintage Vibe 60's tone yet. Will do a tone-knob-mod to get tone on all positions. I'm uncertain about the pickups, will try to go over setup and see if changes here can get things right. Looking for that classic vintage fender sound. Now it's a little icy and too much attack, not too much sustian, of course keeping the vibrato is part of that I guess.
But, I love the feel of this guitar (that is pretty new to me over the Yamaha Pacifica 112J).
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Last edited by G-Sun; 10-14-2017 at 02:19 AM.
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