BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

[Misanthrope189]

Hey guys...any suggestions on how to get a tone like Blue Öyster Cult, Zeppelin and AC/DC? I know how to do good, different metal tones with mids, with no mids, and I can do cleans well, too...I just don't know what would be a good suggestion for those rock type tones...that cleanish, yet seemingly distorted tone...it's like, wicked awesome (thinks about The Ocean) but I can't really get that...it's like a clean...but not a clean...like a gained Fender, maybe?

Thanks,
Nick

[Black Mariah]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

No, like a Marshall. You need an old Marshall NON MASTER VOLUME amp to get as close as possible. Then crank the bastard to oblivion. Most of the AC/DC and Zepplin sounds are power tube distortion in a relatively low gain amp, not preamp distortion. It also helps to be 5' tall and Australian.

[Misanthrope189]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

yeah, I recognize the power tube distortion over the preamp distortion...I don't have an old Marshall head, though...just a triaxis...heh.

Cheers,
Nick

[Newc]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

You can get close with a preamp by setting it for a very low drive and cranking the EQ, which will further serve to overdrive the speakers.
It takes a little experimenting, but I've got a similar sound in my ADA MP-1, though I also have external EQing to help out.
Then there's the constant reminder that to cop Jimmy Page's tones, you gotta know what sort of studio wizardry he used :b
It was not uncommon for him to mic amps from at least 5 different places in a large room of a farm house and mix them down to one track, making any given amp seem to give sounds that it could not possibly give.
Then there's the little-known trick of miking an electric guitar acoustically as well as miking the amp in another room, and mixing them together.
Angus is generally plug and play, but with Malcolm there doubling his rhythms on that big-toned Gretsch, it makes 2 Marshalls sound better than they really were.
Studio tones are nearly impossible to duplicate with just one amp.

Newc

[Ace]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

I've heard somewhere years ago that AC/DC had all their Marshalls set to "7" on all the knobs. I don't know how true this is though.

[Lordofgain]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

You could always get an older Marshall and add a powerbrake or something inbetween so you could crank the volume, but you wouldn't get the speaker breakup you needed.

[Newc]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

I read that Angus sets his EQ knobs to 6. Could be 7 by now - they're getting older [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Newc

[buttheadmane]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

black mariah is right. get a jtm 45 or a plexi amp crank the pre-amp volume to 10. that also works with a jcm 800. nice tone in that
b.j.

[Bad-Brad]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

An SG would help to.

BB

[Misanthrope189]

Re: BÖC, Zeppelin, AC/DC

Thanks everyone, and yeah, I'll just play around and see what I can create. [img]graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

Cheers,
Nick