8 string tonal problems

[NDer]

K guys been playing guitar for 10 years and like im sure a lot of you from reading these forums were inspired by tosin to pick up an extended range guitar.

At the time I had an ltd ec1000 and a 6505, and I've seen a lot of others on here trying to find a balanced 8 string tone on. the 8 string I picked up after doing very little research on was the sc 1000. An irritating guitar for more than its tone, but the tone is bothering me the most. You either get a warm round tone or a mellow warm round tone and nothing else. I have taken this thing to every boutique shop in town and raw input into any amplifier from modern or British high gain, blues reverbs, or jazz clean amps there is no variety on the tone from the axe.

in other words it has nothing to do with the 6505.

So here is my question and why it belongs in the gear thread. After speaking with a friend in a local shop, he suggested that tosin uses a shitload of signal processing to get The distortion clarity and Chrystal cleans. What pedals ( eq, tubescreamer, signal) and brand should I consider before I sell this piece of shit for being completely useless?and pick up any other extended range guitar.... Or would that just be easier?

 

[Mazzy]

Have you looked into replacing the pickups? Tosin has used PODs and the Axe FX, but it doesn't take "a shitload of signal processing" to get a usable sound from an 8-string. You should be fine going directly into the 6505. I would definitely boost with a tubescreamer or other overdrive, but that's not going to work any miracles if you can't get it sounding good directly from the amplifier.

 

[robotsatemygma]

Eh, you could just have a "dud" of a guitar. Like a that wrong combination of woods... but I dunno. I've had guitars that played amazing and just sounded lackluster compared to others.

But we're going to need more info to help you out. You said you play through a 6505. What cabinet are you running through? What speakers? FX?

You said it was a SC1000? I'm not familiar with that... do you mean a SC608B? What pickups are in it? If they're EMG... might want to go with passive pickups. You'll bring out more of the wood tone versus active pickups that run on a "preamp" tone.

2 notable 8 string players that come to mind use digital processing for their tone (Tosin and Stephen Carpenter).

One thing you can try, is CRANK your treble and mids and mess with the volume and tone on your guitar. That way the amp starts sounding more of the overtones (which is in these frequencies) while using the guitar's volume and tone to further control the amount sent. Since the tone pot is essentially rolling off the amount of treble and mids sent through the signal.

You should also play with pickup height, as well. If you can't get a tone you like from any of the 2 things above, then you might want to look into upgrading the pups or ditching the guitar all together.

An OD in front, or a clean signal boost will help a lot too.

 

[NDer]

did I mention I hate solid state? My childhood was spent on wothless ss amps one right after the other with shitty nasal tone and electronic clipping.i refuse to buy another line 6 product after failure to deliver on over 2k worth of gear and software over the years

walked into guitar center with no hope of saving this guitar and no faith in guitar center to have the solution, but this kid I met... Really badass, we messed with a few different pedals and sequences and found that the easiest solution was the correct one. Ibanez tubescream boss comp boss noise suppressor and graphic eq. Peavey 6505+ lead channel low at 6 , mid 4, high 7, gain 5, presence 7-8 resonance 5-6. That tone
... Awesome

Still had a hard time with the clean tone I was looking for. I think I can find it with the help of that geq

And replace the guitar... It really is a shitty design.

 

[NDer]

Yeah sorry I got the name mashed up with the ec 1000. And im really not a fan of Scott carpenter

I'll give those other suggestions a shot. Didn't have my phone o me before so I didn't try it yet.

The cab is 1x12 as it is a combo variant closed back and idk what speaker kind off top of my head.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

i refuse to buy another line 6 product after failure to deliver on over 2k worth of gear and software over the years

Like they said, Tosin DID use a Line 6 POD to record some of the tones you seek. So don't rule out any of their processors like the POD X3 or POD HD

 

[NDer]

Well I found an analog solution so if I can't refine ot further I'll give them a shot but not until then

 

[sage]

And im really not a fan of Scott carpenter

Yah, me either, but Stephen Carpenter is the shit.

 

[getaway_fromme]

^ lol. Also, you really need a tube screamer or OD in front of the amp to get those kind of tones, practically innovated with PODs. It will completely change the character of your distortion tone. I was never happy with an amp until I got a tube screamer in front. Sold many very expensive amps. I don't think you really need an eq or compressor though.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

. You either get a warm round tone or a mellow warm round tone and nothing else.

Like others have said, the Tube screamer is the cure for this. Turns a spoon into a knife.

 

[Mazzy]

did I mention I hate solid state? My childhood was spent on wothless ss amps one right after the other with shitty nasal tone and electronic clipping.i refuse to buy another line 6 product after failure to deliver on over 2k worth of gear and software over the years

You want to sound like Tosin? Then don't hold yourself back with opinions like this. He recorded with a POD.

 

[NDer]

And I record with a toneport, I wouldn't really consider my view about line 6 opinion, just experience. Maybe I've had a bad one but ill look at them in the future since it seems to work for you guys.