Help me dial in an insane 80's lead tone out of my 6505+ head!

[rhoadsfan11]

Hey guys, I was hoping you could help me get an insane 80's lead/shred tone out of my 6505+.... I'm aiming for Steve Vai's tone in the guitar dual in the movie Crossroads.

[djpharoah]

That was a Marshall afaik - the 6505+ is a great high gain head but will require some serious tweaking to get that sound. It's great for hard rock and insane heavy metal however with a 10band EQ in the fx loop I'm sure you can get in that ball park.

That and like crazy chorus + delay

[rhoadsfan11]

Hmmm. Alrighty I do have a sweet boss digital reverb that works great. Any recommendations for an eq pedal?

[Hellbat]

First, you are going to need Stevie's fingers. Then the amp and settings you use won't matter much...

[djpharoah]

Hmmm. Alrighty I do have a sweet boss digital reverb that works great. Any recommendations for an eq pedal?

Is that what you're really after though? It's gonna be really hard to get that Marshall sound from it - it'll get close but remember it's more of a high gain metal amp. You can dial in some great lead tone but it'll take some tweaking to get Steve vais' tone from it. It's a great head though - just a beast I really miss mine.

EQ wise I'd recommend the MXR 10Band http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/m10...and-graphic-eq

[jgcable]

Agreed. The majority of Vai's tone is in his playing style. He doesn't play with as much gain as you would think.

[rhoadsfan11]

Yeah.. I need that type of sound for my playing style. I'm thinking about picking up the carvin xb100.. That's what vai used through the 80's. Killer amps.

[jgcable]

Yeah.. I need that type of sound for my playing style. I'm thinking about picking up the carvin xb100.. That's what vai used through the 80's. Killer amps.

The closest out of the box Vai tone I have ever owned was the Carvin Legacy. Just add an Intellifex or a good quality delay in the loop and you are 1/2 way there.
I think the Bogner Ectacy 101B is another amp that is very close to Vai's tone. Vai's tone is certainly EL34 based and very organic.

[rhoadsfan11]

Great advice. Thanks man. I will look at the legacy's as a second amp head. Looks pretty affordable as well.

[Electric]

EQ wise I'd recommend the MXR 10Band http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/m10...and-graphic-eq

+1

[Hellbat]

Yeah, more seriously Vai doesn't use oodles of gain, especially on his rhythm tones. That new Legacy 3 head should get you in the ballpark but really it's all about his touch, technique, and pick attack. If you can mimic those three things you could get close with anything from a JCM800 to a Uberschall.

That is around the time he was using x100B's with a boss SD1.

Also another +1 on the MXR 10 band. Their 6 band is a good option too if you want to stick to 9V boss style power supplies. (The 10 band uses an 18V supply.)