Guitar Tones!

I bought my 100 Watt Super Lead from my buddy Alex Cora.  This is the same amp I had rented from him for the recording of Sunshine of Your Love and Johnny B. Goode.  I loved the tone and asked to buy it.  This was the main amp I used during Rock N roll Messiah.  It's a hand wired reissue.  The only other amp I used was a 1969 50 watt ‘Smallbox’ Marshall Plexi that I borrowed from my friends at Green Room Productions in Van Nuys. Most of the gear used on this album came from Green Room.  I used a Marshall 1960 BX 4x12 cab (Celestion Greenbacks) and a 2x12 Mesa Rectifier cab (Celestion Vintage 30s).  We used an AKG D224E dynamic mic on each cab.  I did a good portion of the tracks with my 2011 American Standard Strat.  However, I changed the pickups from Mojotone '58 Quiet Coils to Bare Knuckle '63 Veneers mid way through.  I'll go song by song for what I used:

Make Up Your Mind: 1969 50 watt Marshall Plexi with my 2011 Strat (with Bare Knuckle pups) and I boosted the solo with the Archer clean boost pedal.

Candy Flippin' Sweet Heart: The clean tones during the verses were my 2011 Strat (Mojotone pups) into the Super Lead and a Leslie Speaker Cabinet.  The chorus/solo tones are the same guitar and pups into the Super Lead and I used an Analog Man Sunface for fuzz.  

Come On: The rhthym guitars are a 1967 Telecaster into the Super Lead.  The solo was a 1988 American Strat into the Super Lead boosted by a FullTone Ultimate Octave for the octave fuzz thing. 

Song For Wes: Rhthym guitars were the '67 Tele into the Super Lead.  The solo was a 2002 Les Paul Standard into the 50 watt Plexi and boosted with an Xotic Effects SL Drive.  

Snapshot: I used my Taylor 114CE for the acoustic part.  This is an inexpensive guitar but it sounds incredible.  I think it's a 2008?  We mic'ed it with an MXL Revelation.  I used a Hi string guitar in the chorus which was also a Taylor but I don't recall what model. The clean electric is my 2011 Strat (Mojotone pups) into the Super Lead with the FullTone Deja Vibe for the Univibe thing.  The slide part was done on a Les Paul copy called a ‘Big Lou’ with an E-Bow into the Super Lead.

Awol Soldier: The rhthym electric is my 2011 strat (Mojotone pups) into the Super Lead with a vintage A/DA Flanger.  The solo is the same Strat set up into the Super Lead boosted with a FullTone OCD Germanium version. We also overdrove the preamp on the board for a bit of added saturation.  

Higher Level: 2011 Strat (Mojotone pups) into the Super Lead.  I boosted the solo with the Analog Man Sunface.

Rock N Roll Messiah: I used my 1979 Robin Artisan for this tune…the same guitar I used on Sunshine of Your Love. It's the one in the video if you care to see it.  I ran it straight into the Super lead for the rhythm parts and boosted the solo with the Xotic Effects SL Drive.  

So that's the run down of how I got all the guitar tones for the album.  Overall I think it kicks ass.

Special Thanks to Green Room Productions for:

1967 Fender Telecaster, 1988 Fender Stratocaster, 2002 Les Paul Standard, Taylor hi-string acoustic, 1969 50 watt Marshall Smallbox Plexi, Marshall 1960BX 4x12 Cabinet, FullTone OCD Germanium Overdrive, and the Archer Clean Boost

 

Leave a comment