What's the secret to super clean tone with gain and sustain? (tim henson/polyphia style)

[gabito]

Compression, clean-ish amp emulation, and probably the sound is not as clean as it seems (a bit of gain is probably there, but you can’t hear it in a full mix).

Also they’re very good players. That’s the most difficult part I guess… like VERY good.

It might be not 100% accurate but Tim Henson mentioned that he was just using an AxeFx preset (I think it was Boutique or something that used a Matchless emulation) in one video I saw a few years ago.

 

[ArtDecade]

Also live, Polyphia does use real amps (live they use Marshal heads and cabs), so its not just about having a modeler.

“They fell in love with the sound of the 800s,” Marshall Product Specialist & Demonstrator Steve Smith explained. “They’re probably going to use them as power amps for their Quad Cortex for the response and feel.”

Wait, Polyphia are using Marshall amps now?

 

[Badlander1994]

“They fell in love with the sound of the 800s,” Marshall Product Specialist & Demonstrator Steve Smith explained. “They’re probably going to use them as power amps for their Quad Cortex for the response and feel.”

Wait, Polyphia are using Marshall amps now?

Isn’t the reissue 800’s loop notoriously shitty? Doesn’t seem like it’d be the first choice for this application.

 

[Emperoff]

“They fell in love with the sound of the 800s,” Marshall Product Specialist & Demonstrator Steve Smith explained. “They’re probably going to use them as power amps for their Quad Cortex for the response and feel.”

Wait, Polyphia are using Marshall amps now?

- Hip band loves and praises X amp
- Hip band actually uses the amp only as a poweramp for the modeller

Hhmm... sounds familiar

 

[Shask]

Yeah, I would say compression and EQ. You should be able to squash the signal, but keep the level low enough to not break up the amp.

 

[StevenC]

Another thing. The selector switch is your friend. I find both humbuckers on works best for me in this application.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

- Hip band loves and praises X amp
- Hip band actually uses the amp only as a poweramp for the modeller

Hhmm... sounds familiar

Just have fun with it????????

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Wasn't the Keely 4 knob compressor the hip compressor for these kinda tones?

 

[narad]

Are people still trying to do the tween tapping thing?

 

[Captain Shoggoth]

Are people still trying to do the tween tapping thing?

Same principle as shred guitar. It had its heyday in the 80s, but it was never gonna go away once it had entered the mainstream lexicon of guitar and become so ubiquitous.

 

[JediMasterThrash]

The clean tapping has been around forever. Metallica's One has a right-hand tapping in the opening clean solo on the 17th fret and I've always had trouble getting those notes to pop in a clean tone (the EMG buckers high compression/output is probably the secret there). Satriani's been doing it since Not of this Earth. It's still a technique I like to have in my portfolio, and want to have some tonez to make it sound good. And then there's just the general clean but sustained tone of the bluesey axers.

Just check out the Merry Axemas (Vai produced christmas album), many of those axers have that super clean but gained/sustain tone to them.

 

[ArtDecade]

The clean tapping has been around forever. Metallica's One has a right-hand tapping in the opening clean solo on the 17th fret and I've always had trouble getting those notes to pop in a clean tone (the EMG buckers high compression/output is probably the secret there). Satriani's been doing it since Not of this Earth. It's still a technique I like to have in my portfolio, and want to have some tonez to make it sound good. And then there's just the general clean but sustained tone of the bluesey axers.

Just check out the Merry Axemas (Vai produced christmas album), many of those axers have that super clean but gained/sustain tone to them.

I think you want it to be something magical... but gain or not... it is just compression.

 

[CanserDYI]

Does Tim and the other fella mostly use single coil or coil tapped tones?

Daaaaamn. Imagine being Scotty LePage good at guitar and still being called "the other fella" on the guitar forums

 

[Drew]

compression alone doesn't seem to help, I crank my compressor up to "inf" and it can sustain but still doesn't pump the signal enough to get it to punch and sing. It's gotta gain and soft clip a little bit to get that

Just a hunch, as I've spent zero time chasing this tone since it really isn't for me, but does your compressor have a threshold control? Pumping and sagging tells me you're hearing heavy compression with a threshold set low enough to really mash down on the note.

 

[gabito]

Does Tim and the other fella mostly use single coil or coil tapped tones?

I remember Scottie "the other fella" LePage saying he uses the pickup selector's 4th position, which according to him sounds closer to a strat's neck pickup. That'd be middle pickup + coil tapped neck pickup.

They change pickups all the time during songs though.

 

[ArtDecade]

Daaaaamn. Imagine being Scotty LePage good at guitar and still being called "the other fella" on the guitar forums

To be fair, I usually just say the pretentious one and the other dude.

 

[tedtan]

For clean two handed taping, check out Stanley Jordan. He’s pretty much owned this category since the early to mid 80s. Here’s Elenor Rigby, but any of his songs will feature clean 8 finger tapping, sometimes on two separate guitars at once.




Also, the first clean tapping on a 7 string guitar that I know of is Reb beach on the intro (the first 30 seconds or so) to Winger’s Baptized by Fire.

 

[ArtDecade]

Winger.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Daaaaamn. Imagine being Scotty LePage good at guitar and still being called "the other fella" on the guitar forums

I bet that's how Marten Hagstrom feels

 

[ArtDecade]

Izzy Stradlin would like to have a word.