Dominic Miller MESA Lonestar Rig - My Songs Tour 2023 - Fractal FM9 Patch

EmptyRoom Sessions

EmptyRoom Sessions

Member
Hello everyone,

I recently saw Sting live and could not get over how good Dominic Miller's rig sounded. He played a telecaster pretty much the entire set through two Mesa Lonestars and 2x12 rectifier cabs (in stereo). His main tone was pretty clean and compressed--yet it still sounded full and punchy. When he switched to a dirtier rhythm tone the sound still remained pretty clean and squished yet there was just more to it--it's difficult to explain but it sounded fantastic. It almost sounded like he was simply boosting his clean channel with a tube screamer. He briefly used a warm lead tone for the King of Pain solo.

His embellishments using delay & chorus were perfectly timed and genuinely tasteful. There were various moments where he simply played a D chord and it completely blew you away--he has fantastic instinct. The Live in Paris version of Englishman in New York is a perfect example of what I'm on about.

Needless to say I was inspired to create a patch similar to his rig for the My Songs Tour using the Mesa Lonestar in the Fractal FM9. I played some Police & Sting riffs to give you the general idea of the sounds I dialed in. Enjoy!

Patch Overview:
-Amp Blocks: Two Mesa Lonestars (Clean) panned hard L & R
-Cab Block: Two 2x12 Mesa Rectifier Cabs panned hard L &R (York Audio)
-Compressor: JFET
-Delays: Stereo BBD & Multitap Delay
-Reverb: Recording Studio C
-Chorus: Analog Stereo
-Pitch Block: Dual Detune
-Paraemtric EQ: used for driven sound and lead tone
-Drive Block: Suhr Riot used only for lead tone

Guitar: Nash T-52
Processor: Fractal Audio Systems FM9
Recorded in cubase direct stereo out via USB-C

Video Link:

-LAG
 
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Miller is a great player and composer. I enjoyed his interview with Rick Beto…



EmptyRoom Sessions said:
His main tone was pretty clean and compressed--yet it still sounded full and punchy. When he switched to a dirtier rhythm tone the sound still remained pretty clean and squished yet there was just more to it--it's difficult to explain but it sounded fantastic.
Click to expand...

He might have been using the class-A setting. It is warmer and very full sounding and eases into distortion very gradually.
 
EmptyRoom Sessions said:
Hello everyone,

I recently saw Sting live and could not get over how good Dominic Miller's rig sounded. He played a telecaster pretty much the entire set through two Mesa Lonestars and 2x12 rectifier cabs (in stereo). His main tone was pretty clean and compressed--yet it still sounded full and punchy. When he switched to a dirtier rhythm tone the sound still remained pretty clean and squished yet there was just more to it--it's difficult to explain but it sounded fantastic. It almost sounded like he was simply boosting his clean channel with a tube screamer. He briefly used a warm lead tone for the King of Pain solo.

His embellishments using delay & chorus were perfectly timed and genuinely tasteful. There were various moments where he simply played a D chord and it completely blew you away--he has fantastic instinct. The Live in Paris version of Englishman in New York is a perfect example of what I'm on about.

Needless to say I was inspired to create a patch similar to his rig for the My Songs Tour using the Mesa Lonestar in the Fractal FM9. I played some Police & Sting riffs to give you the general idea of the sounds I dialed in. Enjoy!

Patch Overview:
-Amp Blocks: Two Mesa Lonestars (Clean) panned hard L & R
-Cab Block: Two 2x12 Mesa Rectifier Cabs panned hard L &R (York Audio)
-Compressor: JFET
-Delays: Stereo BBD & Multitap Delay
-Reverb: Recording Studio C
-Chorus: Analog Stereo
-Pitch Block: Dual Detune
-Paraemtric EQ: used for driven sound and lead tone
-Drive Block: Suhr Riot used only for lead tone

Guitar: Nash T-52
Processor: Fractal Audio Systems FM9
Recorded in cubase direct stereo out via USB-C

Video Link:

-LAG
Click to expand...

Sounds fantastic! Nice work.
 
That sounds damn good!
Question about the patch itself. Is running two of the same amp panned L & R any different than running one amp into a stereo cab block panned L & R?
 
rcm78 said:
That sounds damn good!
Question about the patch itself. Is running two of the same amp panned L & R any different than running one amp into a stereo cab block panned L & R?
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Probably not a big difference no, but there’s just more sound to my ear, you have a full amp and cab in your right ear and full amp and cab in your left, so to me it adds to the punch.
 
EmptyRoom Sessions said:
Probably not a big difference no, but there’s just more sound to my ear, you have a full amp and cab in your right ear and full amp and cab in your left, so to me it adds to the punch.
Click to expand...
Are you using any stereo effects before the amps?
Are both amps the same settings?
 
The very last tube amp I owned was a Boogie Lonestar that I had an amp guru perform some mods upon. That amp was incredible. It's sort of an optimized Twin, but with more warmth and dimensionality. When I got the AxeFX II, I kept the Lonestar for about two months, but then sold it once I had dialed in the AxeFX tone I liked. In the AxeFX III implementation, that default Lonestar is very close to my modded amp, and I only make minor adjustments to the mids. When layering amps, it's my go-to for the clean side. Absolutely brilliant model. I only miss that amp in terms of it being such a nice looking cabinet with an impressive brand logo. In its flight case, that beast was insanely heavy.
 
unix-guy said:
Interesting chord voicing on the first chord of Every Breath You Take.

Any idea if that's how it was originally played?
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I don’t think so. When I saw Dominic Miller playing live he was playing it the way Andy Summers originally plays it. I dropped it two semi tones to make it easier to play for the video.
 
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