Guitar players!

[Maverick]

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

Been playing roughly 2 years.

Guitars:

-Epiphone Les Paul Custom Pro (Alpine White)

-Squier Bullet Strat (that I rarely if ever play) (HSS) (Arctic White)

Amp:

-Peavey Vypyr 30 watt combo

Effects:

-Boss CS-2 compressor (that I never use)

-Big Jam Chorus (An off-brand chorus that's not too bad)

-Boss GE-7 EQ

-Boss Turbo Overdrive (that I rarely use)

-Boss PS-2 Pitch Shifter/Digital Delay

-MXR Phase 90

The Boss and Big Jam pedals where given to me by my dad, I purchased the Phase 90 myself.

 

Ash, is the Phase 90 a script logo reissue ??

 

I love the vintage gear, and I've got a bunch of it - but I decided to get the new reissue script logo Phase 90 and I love it - MXR did a great job with that one

 

About a month ago I put a reissue script logo Phase 90 in my rig. When put before your distortion it gives you a sweet and subtle old school sweep, which is exactly what I wanted.

[Steve Smith]

Hi all

I just believe that the sound that Alex created on Hemispheres is the greatest guitar sound ever achieved, especially on "The Trees". The A major sus 2 chord that Alex lets ring at the end of the track gives me an eargasm every time I listen. There was a lot of processing going on but the basis of his sound was just the 355 through a wound up Hiwatt with the Roland Space Echo/Chorus. The Hiwatts were slightly softer in tone than Marshalls and it suited the ES355 just perfectly. Such a powerful and raunchy yet musical and melodic sound. It is almost like he had to make a sound that would cover both guitar and keyboards, which he did so wonderfully. Eddie Van Halen gave his own tribute to Alex on the song "Pleasuredome" from the VH f**k album if you listen.

Steve

[Steve Smith]

I believe that the Ibanez Tube Screamer and Distortion pedals of the 1970's and 80's were better than the Boss equivalent, I still have both of them. They were cleaner with more raunch and attack. When I am in the mood I just wind up my 1975 JMP100 Marshall head to about 5 on the gain and use an old Tube Screamer with my butchered Tokai Strat copy from 82 with the Seymour Duncan invader in the bridge. That is all you need, anyone agree or have other thoughts?

[Lucas]

I believe that the Ibanez Tube Screamer and Distortion pedals of the 1970's and 80's were better than the Boss equivalent, I still have both of them. They were cleaner with more raunch and attack. When I am in the mood I just wind up my 1975 JMP100 Marshall head to about 5 on the gain and use an old Tube Screamer with my butchered Tokai Strat copy from 82 with the Seymour Duncan invader in the bridge. That is all you need, anyone agree or have other thoughts?

 

Hey Steve, welcome to the forum

 

I have friends that swear by the Tube Screamer or and the Distortion +, but I was never a distortion pedal guy .. I love the MXR 10 Band Eq and the overdrive of a Marshall or Laney . .

 

Do you use an EQ pedal ?? ...

[Steve Smith]

Hi Lucas, nice to hear from you dude.

 

I have an old 6 band EQ pedal kicking around somewhere but for live work I still use my old Boss ME6 pedalboard circa 1992. In combination with the JMP it gives me everything I need. I also use a Jim Dunlop Wah. The EVH Wah was ridiculously expensive and the Dunlop is better. Some people will pay extra for the funky Frankenstrat paint design but sorry not me. However having said that I have a great guitar builder near me who did a lovely Frank copy for me (The one you see me with in my Avatar) for £600. It is actually better than the "Official" Fender replica which costs over a grand. I am not obsessive with complete originality, I had the mid and neck single coils put in to be able to create the out of phase sounds and did not care for the curtain hook strap joints or the reflectors on the back. Eddie always changed his guitars anyway trying different necks and designs, it depends whether you want an exact copy to hang on the wall or something you can use. Anyway sorry for getting off topic, supposed to be discussing Sir Alex here, sorry ha ha. The Boss ME6 is great, I set the Marshall for a hard clean sound, right on the edge of clipping but still clean, and programme the Boss to do the rest. Unfortunately my guitar builder only does solid body guitars, when I first discovered Rush in the late 70's I idolised Alex and dreamed of having a white 355 through a Hiwatt and Roland Space Echo. I am a 50 year old fart now but Alex still remains my first and greatest influence on guitar work because of his incredible sound, his wonderful complex and melodic chord and arpeggio work and progressions and the way he could fill the sound out so full and brilliantly without the need for keyboards. So many other great Prog rock guitar players at the time relied on the Keyboard player in the band, Alex managed to do two jobs in one and he was happy to support Neil and Geddy for the good of the band. That is what makes him so brilliant in my humble opinion.

Best Regards dude

Steve

[thirteen]

I just believe that the sound that Alex created on Hemispheres is the greatest guitar sound ever achieve.

I God damn love Alex's Hemisphere's tone, which I describe as "Clarity, with balls".

 

Tokai Strat copy from 82

Schweet. Old Tokai's strats have lots of mojo IMO.

[Steve Smith]

Thanks Thirteen.

It has been completely butchered over the years. It is black now.

Yes that FsharpSus 4 chord at the start of Hemisheres through the Hiwatt with the ES355 and the Roland Space Echo/Chorus makes me shit my pants every time ha ha!!!

I don't know if the swirling effect was Alex using a stereo flanger or something that was done in the studio, perhaps anyone could tell me. But for me dude the greatest sound was "The Trees". It is just as you say "balls with clarity". I think maybe what you mean is that it is so powerful yet melodic and sweet enough to play any chord variations without dissonance. Raunchy, powerful but somehow clean and melodic. Alex is a genius when it comes to that. He creates the greatest god like guitar sounds

[rushfanNlv]

Hi all

I just believe that the sound that Alex created on Hemispheres is the greatest guitar sound ever achieved, especially on "The Trees". The A major sus 2 chord that Alex lets ring at the end of the track gives me an eargasm every time I listen. There was a lot of processing going on but the basis of his sound was just the 355 through a wound up Hiwatt with the Roland Space Echo/Chorus. The Hiwatts were slightly softer in tone than Marshalls and it suited the ES355 just perfectly. Such a powerful and raunchy yet musical and melodic sound. It is almost like he had to make a sound that would cover both guitar and keyboards, which he did so wonderfully. Eddie Van Halen gave his own tribute to Alex on the song "Pleasuredome" from the VH f**k album if you listen.

Steve

 

Welcome. I've said this before on this forum but I have found that the key to getting the Hemispheres sound (or the Alex sound in general) is using two identical amps. You'll note that even in the live videos of the period he always has two identical stacks. The key is setting them up for different tones. One amp is nice and dirty but will still clean up with the volume knob and the other is set to a really clean tone. This is how, even live, he gets the grit and dirt but you still hear the clarity of the complex chords. Here is a bit from and article from the GP tour:

 

It’s a really incredible guitar sound.

Yeah, well, I think when you do that, when you get a combination of a few things, too often you mike 1 amp or you mike 2 amps or 3 amps but you set them up the same and you get 1 basic sound. But if you mix it up, you get 1 amp that’s really screaming and another amp that’s crystal clear that you would never think of using that sounds direct almost. Another amp has got maybe more bass to it.

Then something like the Rockman, it’s got that limited compressed sound to it and you can throw them all together. You have a sound that you can fool around with and play with. In some halls, you might push more of the direct sound. In other halls, you might pull the direct sound down a bit. I really think that’s the way to go, and that’s what we ended up doing on this record. I think on Grace Under Pressure, it was a more accurate live guitar sound than we’ve had in the past because we used different miking techniques and whole different approach to sound.

[Polaris]

What does everyone think of the Wylde Audio guitars?

[thirteen]

An 'interesting' take on the SG and Flying V shapes.

[Steve Smith]

I am sorry rushfanNlv I just have to disagree with you about the live sound thing. I am sure you know more than me on this subject and I hope I can just give my opinion thanks. You are very right about the studio work Alex did but I believe for live it was only one type of sound he was trying to create. If I can try to explain myself, the "Utopian" sound that all guitarists are seeking is what I call "total dynamic control". That is to be able to achieve a sound of Guitar and amplifier combination where they have complete control in their fingers. What it means is to be able to play very softly and have a pure almost clean sound and when they really attack it to have every bit of power and complete sustain without the sound ever breaking or getting "fizzy". Fizz is a guitarist's worst enemy, Gary Moore was very good at demonstrating this ability. That is why we still use valve amplifiers which overdrive in such a warm and progressive way and give "dynamic empathy and control". Alex created this by using a Hiwatt (softer tone than Marshalls) with his semi acoustic 355. Alex never used the 355 in stereo live. He was quoted in Guitar Player magazine from 1980 that he had the 355 rewired to mono saying "If I was in a quieter band with more instruments I would maybe use the 355 in stereo". He wound up the Hiwatt to give just that powerful raunchy sound without going to distorted and used EQ and tone boost for the solos. Ally that with the Roland Space Echo/Chorus and the Hemispheres sound was very possible with only semi acoustic guitar and the Hiwatt with the right effects. Of course he switched to a Fender Twin (I think) for the "very clean sounds" but that is not the same as running two different amp settings at the same time. Sorry if you think this complete bull. Just my opinion dude, take care XX

[Polaris]

Hey everyone, check out what I got on Wednesday! It's a 2004 MIM Fender Telecaster. It's strung with the Ernie Ball Beefy Slinky set of strings (11-54s, the thickest gauge I'm willing to use!)

 

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee441/Skippy3457/Mobile%20Uploads/image1_zpspaig9yyy.jpg

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee441/Skippy3457/Mobile%20Uploads/image1_zpskwhbii2l.jpg

Edited September 4, 2016 by Polaris

[LittleRushmonkey]

Hi guys,

I have a question :) . How would I tune my guitar to c g d e g b tuning? I tried but my string snapped so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

 

Cheers :)

[HemiBeers]

Hi guys,

I have a question :) . How would I tune my guitar to c g d e g b tuning? I tried but my string snapped so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

 

Cheers :)

Hmm are you tuning it down to that or up to that? If you're tuning up, it may just be too much tension on the string to take. If that's the case, replace the string with a lighter gage string. If your g string broke (no thong remarks please), then replace it with a b string. Either that, or use extra light guage strings.

 

Simply said, if you're string is breaking it's screaming 'OUUUUUCH!' before it breaks.

[Ancient Ways]

Hi guys,

I have a question :) . How would I tune my guitar to c g d e g b tuning? I tried but my string snapped so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

 

Cheers :)

I'm curious, what's the point of going from g,b,e to e,g,b tuning on the bottom three strings?

[stoopid]

Hi guys,

I have a question :) . How would I tune my guitar to c g d e g b tuning? I tried but my string snapped so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

 

Cheers :)

I'm curious, what's the point of going from g,b,e to e,g,b tuning on the bottom three strings?

 

I assume it's a lowered tuning, and either gives you easier and different chord shapes to utilize, or for the purpose of having a different selection of notes available. The tuning appears to be open G (why the C?), and I assume barring with a slide gives you an interesting selection of sound with that (major?) tuning.

 

Now that I think about it, not sure the purpose of this tuning at all unless it's very specific to some chord shapes being used.

 

Alt tunings are fun if you have nothing else better to do. :D

Edited October 19, 2016 by stoopid

[JARG]

Hi guys,

I have a question :) . How would I tune my guitar to c g d e g b tuning? I tried but my string snapped so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

 

Cheers :)

I'm curious, what's the point of going from g,b,e to e,g,b tuning on the bottom three strings?

 

I assume it's a lowered tuning, and either gives you easier and different chord shapes to utilize, or for the purpose of having a different selection of notes available. The tuning appears to be open G (why the C?), and I assume barring with a slide gives you an interesting selection of sound with that (major?) tuning.

 

Now that I think about it, not sure the purpose of this tuning at all unless it's very specific to some chord shapes being used.

 

Alt tunings are fun if you have nothing else better to do. :D

 

Standard tuning is challenging enough for me, thank you very much. :)

[HemiBeers]

Hi guys,

I have a question :) . How would I tune my guitar to c g d e g b tuning? I tried but my string snapped so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

 

Cheers :)

I'm curious, what's the point of going from g,b,e to e,g,b tuning on the bottom three strings?

 

I assume it's a lowered tuning, and either gives you easier and different chord shapes to utilize, or for the purpose of having a different selection of notes available. The tuning appears to be open G (why the C?), and I assume barring with a slide gives you an interesting selection of sound with that (major?) tuning.

 

Now that I think about it, not sure the purpose of this tuning at all unless it's very specific to some chord shapes being used.

 

Alt tunings are fun if you have nothing else better to do. :D

 

Standard tuning is challenging enough for me, thank you very much. :)

no shit...it's like relearning math. Making different chord shapes is one thing, but then when soloing you throw out all those standard patterns learned over the past decades.

Edited October 19, 2016 by HemiBeers

[LittleRushmonkey]

Hi guys,

I have a question :) . How would I tune my guitar to c g d e g b tuning? I tried but my string snapped so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

 

Cheers :)

I'm curious, what's the point of going from g,b,e to e,g,b tuning on the bottom three strings?

 

I assume it's a lowered tuning, and either gives you easier and different chord shapes to utilize, or for the purpose of having a different selection of notes available. The tuning appears to be open G (why the C?), and I assume barring with a slide gives you an interesting selection of sound with that (major?) tuning.

 

Now that I think about it, not sure the purpose of this tuning at all unless it's very specific to some chord shapes being used.

 

Alt tunings are fun if you have nothing else better to do. :D

 

Standard tuning is challenging enough for me, thank you very much. :)

no shit...it's like relearning math. Making different chord shapes is one thing, but then when soloing you throw out all those standard patterns learned over the past decades.

 

I'm doing because I bought some guitar tabs for an artist called Plini and one of his songs is in this tuning :) .

[Ancient Ways]

Hi guys,

I have a question :) . How would I tune my guitar to c g d e g b tuning? I tried but my string snapped so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

 

Cheers :)

I'm curious, what's the point of going from g,b,e to e,g,b tuning on the bottom three strings?

 

I assume it's a lowered tuning, and either gives you easier and different chord shapes to utilize, or for the purpose of having a different selection of notes available. The tuning appears to be open G (why the C?), and I assume barring with a slide gives you an interesting selection of sound with that (major?) tuning.

 

Now that I think about it, not sure the purpose of this tuning at all unless it's very specific to some chord shapes being used.

 

Alt tunings are fun if you have nothing else better to do. :D

 

Standard tuning is challenging enough for me, thank you very much. :)

no shit...it's like relearning math. Making different chord shapes is one thing, but then when soloing you throw out all those standard patterns learned over the past decades.

 

I'm doing because I bought some guitar tabs for an artist called Plini and one of his songs is in this tuning :) .

Cool. I'm assuming there are some unique chord shapes in that song requiring this tuning. Can you confirm?

[stoopid]

I'm interested in that bottom C tuning. Now I'm thinking this isn't for slide or barring, it's probably for playing a particular accompanying root note on that lowest string and arpeggiating chords on the remaining (probably utilizing a lot of open strings).

[HemiBeers]

I'm interested in that bottom C tuning. Now I'm thinking this isn't for slide or barring, it's probably for playing a particular accompanying root note on that lowest string and arpeggiating chords on the remaining (probably utilizing a lot of open strings).

Soundgarden's Burden in my Hand is kind of similar with C G C G G E. Fun and easy song to play with alot of barring. That tuning gives sort of it sort of mandolin sound. Thayil uses alot of odd tunings. Edited October 20, 2016 by HemiBeers

[stoopid]

I'm interested in that bottom C tuning. Now I'm thinking this isn't for slide or barring, it's probably for playing a particular accompanying root note on that lowest string and arpeggiating chords on the remaining (probably utilizing a lot of open strings).

Soundgarden's Burden in my Hand is kind of similar with C G C G G E. Fun and easy song to play with alot of barring. That tuning gives sort of it sort of mandolin sound. Thayil uses alot of odd tunings.

 

I can see that, with the lower strings dropped for an open C5, but with the tuning posted the lower C seems out of place.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

Got a new addition to the stable a couple of months ago. Finally getting around to posting pictures.

 

About a year ago I was talking about having a Carvin PRS-type built, and I pulled the trigger earlier this spring.

 

As for the name on the headstock, the guitar building section of Carvin split off into a separate company this year, and now they're known under the name of Kiesel.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/1001001/Guitars/carvin2a_zps8micwpki.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/1001001/Guitars/carvin4a_zps1rerrhvo.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/1001001/Guitars/carvin3_zpsyai04pbr.jpg