How do you define and set up "modern clean"

JeDu

JeDu

Member
To me, "modern clean" sounds are the cleans heard within a modern metal or prog context. Most of the presets I have studied are built on models of older amps such as the spectrum of Fender or AC models and older cabs, and achieve their "modern" touches through the effects chain.

I've tried using Mesa models (too dark for my clean tastes) or the Shiva model (too brittle for my clean tastes), all with various cabs, and have tried old standard Fenders through more metal oriented cabs, but always find my way back to old school amp/cab combinations.

I'm curious what amp/cab combinations others use to achieve their "modern clean" tones and what how they define "modern clean".

I've done many web searches for "modern clean guitar amp" or similar and have not found any constructive result.

Thanks.
 
Try the Solo 100 Clean based on a Soldano 100 head. Also, you might play around with changing the Power Output tubes to something like KT88 for max headroom. Low on the Gain and don't dime the Master Volume.... maybe 6 or 7.

Sean Meredith-Jones
 
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JeDu said:
o me, "modern clean" sounds are the cleans heard within a modern metal or prog context.
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I'm lost what else I need to do to get close to this tone by @Marco Sfogli

I think I've tried every amp in the unit, uncountable number of IRs, boost/drive pedals, etc... Each time I think I'm close I'm nothing but miles away from it. I just don't know what else to do! Help!
 
Chromatizm said:
I'm lost what else I need to do to get close to this tone by @Marco Sfogli

I think I've tried every amp in the unit, uncountable number of IRs, boost/drive pedals, etc... Each time I think I'm close I'm nothing but miles away from it. I just don't know what else to do! Help!
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To my ears, that’s more of an edge-of-breakup tone. Bump up the gain a bit.
 
I'm there with Matt, the ODS-100 is really nice. Check out the factory ODS-100 preset, especially the "Ford 1" scene with the modeler turned up to stage volume, then play with the guitar's volume knob rolling it up and down. It'll clean up nicely, then go into a power-amp compressed sound that sustains.
 
Moke said:
What guitar/pickups are using?
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Single-coil mode of Fishman Abasi neck pickup. Clearly not a proper strat sound (should be close to Tele tone), so I experiment a lot with input trim and EQing the input when I feel like overall the tone is close
Than I turn on the record and hear that clarity and bloom and realize - not even close again
 
If you mean the tone at the beginning of the video, there's a little grit behind it when he digs in. If you don't have that dialed in, it won't sound right.

If you mean the tone that kicks in at 1:01, there's plenty of distortion there, along with a second guitar playing harmony. You could get close to that with a pitch block.
 
Chromatizm said:
Single-coil mode of Fishman Abasi neck pickup. Clearly not a proper strat sound (should be close to Tele tone), so I experiment a lot with input trim and EQing the input when I feel like overall the tone is close
Than I turn on the record and hear that clarity and bloom and realize - not even close again
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Apologies for continuing the rabbit trail...I chased the clarity and bloom of a strat neck pickup only to discover that the 'secret' of that clean tone I was searching for, Lincoln Brewster's clean, was a dirty tone with the guitar volume rolled off. Marco turns up the volume @1:00 in the video when switching from the neck to bridge pickups.
 
JoKeR III said:
Apologies for continuing the rabbit trail...I chased the clarity and bloom of a strat neck pickup only to discover that the 'secret' of that clean tone I was searching for, Lincoln Brewster's clean, was a dirty tone with the guitar volume rolled off. Marco turns up the volume @1:00 in the video when switching from the neck to bridge pickups.
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I wasn't sure whenther he cranked the volume knob or stomped a footswitch.
 
Rex said:
I wasn't sure whenther he cranked the volume knob or stomped a footswitch.
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He definitely did the knob roll. Yes, it's clear that he uses dirty amp and rolls back the volume on the guitar, and that's what I used - not the Fenders, but all sorts of high-gain amps, Wrecks, new Revv, 5150... All of them :) Like I'd create a preset with all channels if 5153 and try to get this sound on all channels, but I still believe it is IR more than the amp... Any ideas would be appreciated :)
 
smj said:
Hold up… @JeDu wants modern cleans and @Chromatizm is wanting classic strat edge of breakup. Very different situations.

Sean Meredith-Jones
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Not a problem, I was hoping for conversation as part of my question was how do “you” define modern clean. Mainly checking to see if my definition aligns. I do have tones that I am happy with, generally based on a Twin amp with mild clean boost and a basket weave 4x12. With so much energy in the amp business in modern high gain, I’ve been surprised that clean typically reverts back to 50s and 60s standards.
 
Have you tried to add a germanium fuzz as a first block in your chain (after the input of course)? It adds something glassy to the rolled off clean tone.
 
not a modern guy by any standard... personally live on the fenderish "dirty cleans"... but I'm a child of the Eighties and I think that is where what I think of as the modern clean was borne: what I'd call the crystal clean. the jc120 imo gets you most of the way there... and ss clean really was the clean sound of the 80s... but that sound has evolved to something "more clean(er)"... and I can't seem to get that w/o using the thing that I think I first saw either @yek or @fremen (sorry I don't remember which) do... which was taking some highs and bypassing the amp/cab and sending them to an eq. that to me is the "ultra clean clean" or perhaps "just so fresh so clean... clean... clean...". Again, not a modern guy and no golden ears... but when I hear the super clean in a lot of modern metal that is what I would guess I'm hearing. Perhaps a lot of metal bands mixing in di with their signal? i dunno.
 
mzajac said:
those types of cleans might just be DI with no cabinet
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But his clean tone here is definitely not clean. Try something bright like the AC20 without any grit to it, so back off on the master volume, but when he digs in there’s some distortion. I would try a Klon for a light boost
 
JeDu said:
Not a problem, I was hoping for conversation as part of my question was how do “you” define modern clean
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Yes, that was the idea behind my post - for me, modern cleans are exactly like in Marco's video. Not really clean, seems like these days everything has to have a little dirt in it.
 
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