Boss DS-1 Satch and Vai Tones...

[Lonely Raven]

Has anyone here really nailed the Satch and Vai tones with their
Boss DS-1 pedals?

From what I read in the forums, we are all mad gear heads and I see
G.A.S running rampant here. I'm trying to not let myself get carried away
with that again (especially after having $5500 worth of Mesa Boogie
stolen!!), and I'm trying to trim down my setups. I'd really like to see
if and how you guys have nailed the Satch and Vai distortions and tones
with a DS-1 specifically.

I mean, I've had about a dozen different JS guitars, and half a dozen
Jems over the years. Right now I have a JS-6, Jem7VWH, UV777BK,
as well as some Ibanez mods I'm rebuilding, plus one of each generation
of Boss DS-1. So I think I have the core of the gear.

So where's the tone?

P.S. Just for arguments sake, lets ignore the fact that 90% of Joe's and
Steve's tone come from their playing skill...I'm just investigating gear
right now! Thanx!

[power freak]

What amp do you have I find that the tones that JS and SSV get are form 'layering' the distortion so that the amp is alredy pretty dirty and then the DS-1 pushes it over the edge!!!

Freak

[RaspberryJam]

In this interview Joe Says he uses '9 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 2 o'clock' on his DS-1.

http://www.satriani.com/2000/about/c...usictoyz.shtml

[Lonely Raven]

Yeah, we discussed that article a few years ago here in the forums.
But it's not just the knob settings that do it. Though I'm happy to say
my settings by ear were almost dead on with what he was using. So I
know I'm close, I just don't hear it quite yet.

Right now I'm playing a Legacy 100watt head (rarely as it's so loud)
and a vintage Magnatone amp which has 4 completely seperate tone
circuts that truely sound like 4 different amps. One of them really sings
with the DS-1 pedals plugged in.

But maybe your right Freak, maybe I need to layer the distortion more.

Anyone have some recordings they've done that sounds pretty close?
What gear did you use?

[Jeff]

I have a JCM 800 and a DS-1, and I have yet to come even close to a Satch tone....

Maybe it really is in the fingers.

[scoden]

I have gotten very close to a Vai / Satch like tone using my mesa boogie single recifier in the vintage channel with gain on 5...El34 tubes.....an mxr eq set for a slight mid boost and a marshall guv nor...(newer model) set with gain / volume half way.....it def has that singing tone...even at low bedroom settings........Good Luck

[scoden]

I also wanted to add.....the Ds 1 I used in this same set up doesn t have enough gain to make the lead tones sing.....my previously stated setup has gobs of sustain...cant wait to try it with my new JS 1200

[davester1234]

Originally Posted by Jeff

Maybe it really is in the fingers.

aye my friend, it is.

[Jeff]

The more and more I listen to Satch's tone, the more and more I start to dislike it. It just sounds like it doesn't really know where to go, it's just sort of fizzy fuzzy bassy kind of sound that's. It's not quite a tube distortion, and it's not quite a transistor distortion....weird.

[frankfalbo]

Maybe it really is in the fingers.

Actually, there's truth in that for this particular post. Although we are trying only to debate the gear here, the premise is getting the "vai" or "satriani" sound. And any time you're cascading two gain/breakup stages, it really is important how you attack the strings, and even things like pickup height and such. Because each gain stage is a multiplier. There's like an exponent factor. So that if your picking hand is a lot stronger than Joe's you might fuzz out the DS-1 a little more, and wash out the preamp. Which in turn, makes you lower the preamp gain or output on the pedal, etc. Plus with gain it's so crucial that you have the relationship between the pedal and the preamp balanced just right. And those controls are darn sensitive. "4" on the pedal distortion is so much different than 3.5 or 4.5, and that makes it hit the amp differently. All that being said, I can't figure out what the attraction is to the DS-1, but all this talk makes me want to try one again.

[jemsite]

alot of discussion on this if you SEARCH ...glen

[the second eye]

Pick-ups have a lot to do with tone, don't they?

[mo biscuits]

Originally Posted by Jeff

The more and more I listen to Satch's tone, the more and more I start to dislike it. It just sounds like it doesn't really know where to go, it's just sort of fizzy fuzzy bassy kind of sound that's. It's not quite a tube distortion, and it's not quite a transistor distortion....weird.

i love satch's tone most specifically on the title track to "surfing with the alien" whenever i hear people mention his tone i always have to wonder what particular song or album they are talking about cause it seems to me he has a million different tones

[Lonely Raven]

In my case (as well as many others), I have the correct guitars,
which have the correct pickups.

As for cascading the gain stages, this is an excerpt from the preview of
the new JS Peavey amp:

Work on the JSX amp began with the Clean channel, which Satriani wanted to be lively with a flexible EQ but, most importantly, free of any distortion. The result is a purely clean channel that resists breaking up. As Satriani noted, this is especially imperative for players who use pedals for their distorted tones. "You have to start with a completely clean channel to get pedals to sound true. That way, you get the best articulation, the least amount of noise and a really nice, singing tone."

Glen, yes this has been brought up many times before, and I hope to
be more thourough then any of the other previous posts. Besides, if
we don't rehash some things, you might as well stop all new posts and just
archive the forums.

[jemsite]

noone is saying *not* to post, but it makes alot of sense to search and continue discussion if possible imho ...glen