A quick post to say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011. Expect more tone, more guitarists and just more guitar information from Guitar Tone Overload.
In the first few weeks of this new year, I will complete a two part series about the tone of Eric Clapton, organize a match between a stock Boss DS-1 and two of its most popular mods and reflect upon the use of reverb, both live and in the studio.
So, stay tuned and have a wonderful year!
Neil Young has just released a new album entitled “Le Noise”. Produced by Daniel Lanois of U2 fame, it is full of old school dirty and gritty fuzz tones enhanced by lush delays and modulation effects (more about the recording here). You can listen to the songs featured in “Le Noise” thanks to this awesome youtube video directed by Adam Vollick:
40 years ago today, the man who started it all died a rock star death in London:
Jimi Hendrix - Picture courtesy of Wired
The tone of Hendrix is still a mystery today even if everybody is now convinced that his fingers were mainly responsible for it.
Anyway, in order to approach his godly sound a good place to start is Roger Mayer, Hendrix’s own guitar electronics guru. He still makes pedals today, make sure to visit his website. In particular, his series of fuzz is similar in spec to what Hendrix was using in the 60s.
A more mainstream manufacturer, Dunlop, has a series of three pedals in its Hendrix line. Here is a Guitar World video demonstrating them. It comes close enough…
To conclude, here is a link to a funny video of the Jimi Hendrix Experience visiting a street of Paris and positively scaring off the passers-by. This video was apparently buried in some archive vault until now…
So long Jimi!
A quick post to tell you that I haven’t posted this week because I was busy working on a new look and here it is.
I hope you like it, all feedback welcome.
Boss DS1 Match: Stock vs Keeley vs Analogman
The Boss DS-1 is one of the oldest distortion boxes on the market. Released in 1978, it is revered by some and loathed by others. Being a distortion, it offers more gain and more “hair” than a traditional overdrive pedal. Is it often used with a clean amp but it can be used to boost [...]
How to use Modulation Effects Part 1: the Phaser
There is a lot of effects that fall under the “modulation” category on the ground that they send your tone swirling or oscillating. In this series of posts, I will try to unravel the mysteries of effects such as phaser, flanger, chorus, leslie/univibe, vibrato or tremolo. These effects, if used well, can spice up your [...]
Timeless classics: the Big Muff
Question: what do David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) and Jack White (the White Stripes, The Raconteurs) have in common? Answer: they are all avid users of the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff pedal and a lot of their recordings would not have been the same without the raunchy, dirty, gritty, fat tone of “the [...]
Timeless Classics: The Ibanez Tube Screamer
I thought it was about time to write my take on the most famous overdrive pedal ever: the Ibanez Tube Screamer. This little green machine and its clones are ubiquitous because they do two things extremely well: Used against a clean amp, a Tube Screamer will go from a bluesy to classic rock tone that [...]
The Proco RAT 2 (or how to make your strat or tele sound fat) – Updated
I would like to introduce this “Timeless Classics” series about effects with a pedal that I discovered quite recently (about two years ago) after trying and owning a lot of distortion/overdrive pedals: The Proco Rat-2. The Rat 2 is the granddaughter of the RAT, released at the end of the 70s and whose 1985 reissue [...]
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