Warren Dimartini's Distortion Sound

[rattojack]

Can anyone here recomend a distortion unit/system that can give you the sound of Ratt's first two albums? I can get pretty close with what I have, but I would really like to nail that sound from the early Ratt days.

Thanks

[Racerx2k]

Get yourself a Laney AOR head. Ratt used Laneys, early, in their career.

[jgcable]

For home use, just about any decent modeling amp will get you there.
If you are looking for a distortion box to get Warren's tone you will need to tell us what amp you are using!!

[rattojack]

JGCable: I have a Mesa Boogie F-30 tube amp.

[jgcable]

JGCable: I have a Mesa Boogie F-30 tube amp.

You might want to try a Boss GE-7 out in front of your amp. You might be able to shape your exisiting distortion.
Also, I would suggest checking out the Extreme III pedal, the Metal Master, the Uber Metal and by all means... check out a Tube Screamer like the Maxon 808 or the Ibanez TS9DX.

I don't think you will need a major tone change with your F-30. You just need to give it more sizzle and high end.

[catzodellamarina]

The sound was also due to 2 guitars and lots of delay. This gives a wide sound to the distortion.

[toejam]

Also, I would suggest checking out the Extreme III pedal

I just got one of those from Fritz. Holy crap, AMT makes great pedals!

I also used to have an F-30 combo... great amp, like a cross between the old Mark and Subway series meets a Recto, just voiced a little differently and not as much gain as the Recto. It also had a great clean channel with a push/pull bright control on the gain pot.

[lynchfan6]

Soldano SLO100 head. Used extensively by Warren in the last many years, but can easily get those early tones too. "wanted man", "round and round", "looking for love", "lay it down", "slip of the lip", "you're in love"............when playing all of these riffs through the SLO, it is pure magic. Also, newer tunes like"top secret", "shame", and even newer tunes off of collage and Ratt...........the SLO does them all. No wonder Warren favored the SLO for live use for over a decade.

[lynchfan6]

Also, "reach for the sky", "collage" , "detonator", and the late 90's Ratt cd all have Soldano SLO100 on them. Sorry to recommend a head , though,,,,,so for a unit,,,,,try a Soldano GTO supercharger pedal......I heard they make most amps sound a lot like a Soldano. (no substitute for the real thing, though) But there is a guy on the sOLDANO FORUM who used this pedal in front of his Mesa head for a long time before finally succumbing to the SLO. He said it sounded phenomenal in front of a MESA.

[Mordor]

I just got one of those from Fritz. Holy crap, AMT makes great pedals!

I'm interested in amt electronic pedals, expecially the fatal tube and the california sound. In one of his clinic Mattias Eklundh used a fatal tube thru a gorilla amp and the sound he had was great considering the simply rig. Too bad it's almost impossible to find it around here...

[toejam]

I'm interested in amt electronic pedals, expecially the fatal tube and the california sound. In one of his clinic Mattias Eklundh used a fatal tube thru a gorilla amp and the sound he had was great considering the simply rig. Too bad it's almost impossible to find it around here...

Oh yeah, I remember that clinic video. I'd never heard of the pedals before. The Extreme III is definitely a great pedal! Lots of interesting info on their website.

http://www.amtelectronics.com/Company.htm

[RacerX]

Excellent info in this thread!

[Mordor]

Oh yeah, I remember that clinic video. I'd never heard of the pedals before. The Extreme III is definitely a great pedal! Lots of interesting info on their website.
http://www.amtelectronics.com/Company.htm

Lots of nice soundclips too

[chrisolson]

I think the only person who can get "Warren Tone" is Warren... Not trying to start shit, but it's probably true.

[lynchfan6]

That's a given.....even though my Soldano sounds very "Ratt" like when playing the riffs........Warren has a definite style and talent, especially regarding his leads. And I'm sure that he has gone through a lot of different gear throughout his career, but he still sounds like Warren. To make the rest of us feel better,,,,we also have a unique style and process to the way we play. It's inevitable. It's just that some of these guys (Warren, Eddie, Yngwie, etc) have such a natural born talent that their style and way of playing has influenced people around the world. I bet there are a lot of players out there who could be very influential also, but who just never get the chance to get heard by the masses.