Pedals & Effects - Guitar

[Fixxxer]

I was wondering if anyone knows of a good site to find out what pedals and/or effects bands use is their songs.

I find that trying to play a song when you don't have the correct effect or settings for the proper pedal throws me off when I try to play it. When I play 'One' by Metallica, I can play it (all but the solo, surprise surprise) fine but it doesn't sound the same. I'm sure the Marshall stacks and higher end equipment plays a part in that, but even the parts with heavy distortion it doesn't really sound the same.

I was wondering if there were any sites out there that have a list of songs/bands that show you what effects they use and how to configure your equipment the same, or nearly the same.

[MONOLITH]

The distortion/overdrive part is always the hardest to duplicate. Almost impossible. Too many contributing factors. Things like delay, flanger and chorus are much easier, since the tones are usually standardized to some degree and it's just a matter of speed/frequency and depth.

Good luck. I've never see any type of site close to what your looking for. The only time I've seen those kinds of specifics is when a particular artist does an interview and they specifically ask about his gear setup.

I would try going to the specific websites of the player or band, and see if there is info on his specific gear.

I always found trying to replicate an exact guitar sound very difficult, as even different brands of pickups can have a dramatic effect..

[Fixxxer]

I always found trying to replicate an exact guitar sound very difficult, as even different brands of pickups can have a dramatic effect..

I hear ya.

:hmm:

[Rainier]

Pretty much the only way to do it is to do it by ear. For a band like Metallica, you'll probably need a Metalzone dist. pedal, a crybaby, a big muff pi, and possibly a reverb pedal... or a chorus pedal.

Thats as much as I can tell you, sorry I can't be of more help.

[Ronin]

Part of the distortion/metal sound is the fact that it is played LOUD.  Playing it loud really can't emulated because of the distortion created by the speaker cones when they are being driven hard.  You can emulate much of the overdriven tube sounds with pedals but to nail them you pretty much have to drive them hard, too.

It's possible to recreate much of that sound by taking a low power amp with fairly inefficient speakers and drive them very hard.  You'll still get the speaker cone distortion and since you're driving that little amp hard, you'll get your clipping and output tranny distortion, too.

I have a Fender Blues Junior that I play at high volume and put it in the closet.  It sounds great and I can still hear after playing for a while.  It's only 15 watt combo.  But it makes a good overdriven sound complete with speaker cone distortion.

A friend of mine takes older speakers and actually cuts little holes in his speaker cones to make it sound ragged.  I don't care much for the sound but he loves it.

[Fixxxer]

Interesting points, CowBell.

I'll try just cranking up the amp (which, to be honest, I've never really done) and see how that sounds with my Metal Zone or Mega Distortion pedal.

:smile:

[MONOLITH]

He makes a good point Fixxxer. Often the sound is quite different in the same amp, depending on if it's stifled down, or really opened up.

I remember reading a long time ago how some of the early Van Halen albums were recorded with the amps fully opened up in a warehouse by themselves, and eddie playing from two rooms away. (Back then there was a lot of open mike recording, where today there's more direct input)

[Rainier]

I'll try just cranking up the amp

Is it at 11 yet?

and see how that sounds with my Metal Zone or Mega Distortion pedal.

Go with the Metal Zone. Mega Distortion pedals suck.

I remember reading a long time ago how some of the early Van Halen albums were recorded with the amps fully opened up in a warehouse by themselves, and eddie playing from two rooms away. (Back then there was a lot of open mike recording, where today there's more direct input)

Me and the "band" do both. If we have the mixer at the house we'll do direct input, and if we dont have the mixer hook up two mics to the recording panel and do some open mic recording.

Last time I checked we had nearly 150 unfinished tunes... and 0 finished ones (we lack a permenant drummer and we lack a vocalist)

[Fixxxer]

I like Metal Zone and Mega Distortion for different things. For really slow music, Mega Distortion sounds, IMO, a lot better. It has a much deeper and heavier tone than the Metal Zone pedal so with slow stuff (stuff like The Thing that Should Not Be by Metallica), I much prefer Mega Distortion.

But when playing fast, high tempo stuff, the Mega Distortion just sounds like noise so the Metal Zone pedal sounds better.