Why aren't pros using their amps? - Why are they using dist

[RSVampire]

I have a hard question. Why are pros (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads) never using their amps with gain on them? They always use distortion/overdrive pedals and such. Why are they doing that? There are other great guitarists (Eddie Van Halen, SRV, Jake E Lee, Zakk Wylde) that just use the distortion from their amps (with mods of course). Why do they not use pedals? And another thing, what do overdrive pedals and tube screamers do?

(Edited by rsvampire at 3:20 am on Jan. 14, 2001)

[littlegreenman]

Ya wanna know something funny, when I saw Van Halen last time (about 1995 I think) he had a huge stack of 5150's on stage. *None of them were mic'd though. *After the show, my friend new one of the security guards, and we walked around the stage (not on stage) and got a really good look at all the gear. *Well, in behind the massive 5150 stack stood Eddies Bradshaw rack, plugged into his old faithful marshall amp, the only one mic'd. *I just kind of laughed at my friend who had just bought a 5150 stack to try and get Eddies sound.
I can't explain why alot of guys wouldn't use the dirt on their amps but you know what, I don't either. *I use a rack full of sh*t and enough stomp boxes to keep me dancing all night long. *Why, because I have yet to find an amp that sounds right to me without all the extras, that and I really like having stuff. *It's kind of a disease with me, I just want one of everything. LOL
Jeremy

[alienx]

If EVH uses his old Marshall amp hidden behind his signature amps then I wanna make a guess... He's probably using his old Kramer and MM in the studio instead of the Wolfgangs. His tone in the studio is so much superior to his tone on the stage as far as I can judge from the video of the concert with ex-extreme shouter. This endorsement business can make me sometimes realy sick.

[Vaibanez]

If Marshall, all of a sudden, came knocking at my door saying "We want to build you a signature amp. What would you like it to do?", I'd say " give me the biggest clean tone there is".

Marshall (or any other amp company) will never be able to get the sound of the stomp box an endorsee uses. My guess is they take an existing amp and tweek it as close as possible. Then let the player hook all the toys to it untill their nipples are hard.

J>

[littlegreenman]

I think most big companies don't really care that much if an endoresee actually uses their product as advertised just so long as it gets promoted as "-----" (insert name here) equipment. *If they are getting the promo that individual can give it, they are happy. *How many 5150's would sell if it was just another generic amp, not Eddies signature model. *They don't care if he uses them in the studio, people can't see that, on stage, why would they care if he actually used them as long as they can be seen and people believe that's what they are hearing. *
Jimm hit the nail on the head. *An amp company will never be able to reproduce Vai's or EVH's sound in just a single amp so what do you give them? *You give them the absolute cleanest sounding amp you can, one that will showcase their sound!
Well, that's just my opinion.
Jeremy

[oooo]

If you go to the guitar gods web site, EVH's rig is there. *If you look real good he has a Boss OD pedal. *Vai uses the DS-1 sorta like a lead boost and sets his amp with a lower gain, so he's using both the tube amp and solid state pedal. *I think satch does the same. *Personally I've been using a ds-1 set really low (gain and tone) as a lead boost, I find it adds a better attack to my sound when soloing. *I agree with "littlegreenman" I'd play anything if the endorsment was right... I'd find a way to make it sound good! LOL

[rgr]

Back to the original topic,

Why are pros (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Randy Rhoads) never using their amps with gain on them? They always use distortion/overdrive pedals and such. Why are they doing that? There are other great guitarists (Eddie Van Halen, SRV, Jake E Lee, Zakk Wylde) that just use the distortion from their amps (with mods of course).

EVH has an OD in his rig but "supposedly" never uses it, SRV used a tube screamer, Zakk Wylde uses a SD-1 (super overdrive, same pedal SSV used in the PAW days, definitely the sound on FTLOG). *Don't know about Jake E. Lee but I'll bet he used something, at least for solos. *Most of these guys are using amps that will give them a good bit of crunch on their own, they are just using the pedals as a boost, especially for solos, to hit the amp harder which will give you more compression (sustain) and a fuller sound. *I find that is the only way to get the sound I want. *The DS-1 that Steve and Joe use and the Distortion + that Randy Rhoads used are not super high gain pedals, they are better for hitting an amp that is already dirty with a bigger, slightly dirty signal. *There is a big diference between these pedals and something like a Boss Metal Zone which, IMHO, obliterates the tone. *

The line between distortion and overdrive is kinda hard to draw but basically overdrive is a smoother, more tubelike form of distortion. *The Boss SD-1 is a really cool pedal to use with a hot amp, it's circuit generates alot of even order harmonics. *

Hope this helps,
Roger *

[jeff l]

Yeah,
* * * *As Roger mentioned the Boss SD-1 is great as a clean boost (or a slight amount of O.D. added to the amp's overdrive) pedal. Also, I dunno exactly how Steve uses his DS-1....Does anyone here know if he uses it as a stand-alone pedal or does he compliment the Legacy's overdrive with it?

* * * * * * *

[oooo]

Jeff I, this is a quote from Steve I got from www.vai.com (http://www.vai.com/FanForum/answers03.html *)

* * * *"With my set-up, when the distortion pedal is turned off the amp is a little dirty sounding. Kind of a chunky rhythm tone that I use as a basic sound for all the songs. If I back off the volume on the guitar the sound clears up enough to use it for cleaner songs. When I crank the volume on the guitar and hit the pedal it's usually pretty distorted but smooth. The way I set the knobs on the DS-1 are tone control to about 9 o'clock, level at about 11 o'clock and the distortion to about 11 o’clock. If your amp is set very clean then crank the distortion on the pedal all the way up but smooth it out by bringing the tone way down, maybe to 7 or 8 o'clock. The basic sound is in the tone but most improtant is the way you hit the notes. The real tone is always in your head and fingers."

[jeff l]

Thanks, ooo.
* * * * * * * * * * I did'nt realize the DS-1 blended well with an amp's overdrive. It sounds like he has quite a specific little recipe there! *

[jono]

Oh Puh-Leeze - Every "serious" musician knows that tone is a combination of having really cool leather cowboy boots and washing your hair every day :biggrin:

oh and Satch shaved his head to improve the speed of his Legato - he has enough tone to get by without hair

[oooo]

Hummm... does that work in reverse? *I think Slash has enough hair to get by without tone. :biggrin: *Makes sense to me.

[rgr]

jeff,

That recipe is not very specific at all, Lynch uses it, Satch uses it, Rhoads used it (rest his soul), Hammett uses it, etc...

The amp and distortion/overdrive brands may vary but that is pretty much how they get their tone. *

Before all the "boutique" amps started circulating:

Lynch(Dokken/early Lynch Mob days) used Marshall Super Leads (sometimes hot-rodded) and DS-1s and TS-9s.

Satch (early) - see Lynch with DS-1.

Vai - see above with SD-1 and/or DS-1, now Legacy with DS-1.

Rhoads used Marshall SLs and a MXR Distortion +.

Hammett - TS-9 through Boogie Mark X (not exactly sure which ones) or through an ADA MP-1 through a Boogie power amp. *

SRV - TS-808 or TS-9 through old Fenders or old Marshalls.

Eric Johnson - TS-9 or an occassional Fuzz Face through old Marshalls. *(yeah, I know, he uses Fenders some too)

Mike Keneally - DS-1 through Rivera Knucklehead

etc...

Actually alot of Vai's tone comes from the cowboy boots with rhinestones that he used in the DLR days, I hear he still wears them for recording.

Roger

[bob oakman]

Roger, I bought me a pair of those boots when PAW first came out. They didn’t help me… but the chicks dug ‘em. :biggrin:

[Christopher Chen]

Damn I love those Green Boots on the back of the PAW cover!!

And Jake E Lee no pedals???? Haven't you guys seen that spectraflex Advert?