EJ Tone update...

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guitartripp

guitartripp

Inspired
My quest is for the perfect Eric Johnson lead tone...I will preface this by saying that if you're not here to help, don't bother hijacking my thread with your petty bs... I could care a less how much gear you've supposedly traded with the guy, etc...

Here is a quick clip of the ending of Trademark (I have not played it in YEARS and it was one take, so please overlook the obvious):



It's still missing something...the chorus I added got it closer...but the sustain is too short. Any ideas?

Anyone that is SERIOUS about helping out, email me at martytripp@icloud.com and I'll send you the preset...its for the Axe FX II btw...
 
You have embedding turned off on your track on SoundCloud so the player can't load it here on the site.

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Can't really say much about the tone. The guitar section is pretty short relative to the length of the clip and buried in the mix. Can you solo it, maybe? It seems to have that nice fuzzy low end that EJ gets in something like Camel's Night Out. Aside, I'm always blown away that he plays that track on the bridge pickup given how warm and huge the tone is.
 
Iaresee...I must be doing something wrong...its set to public, and I used the embed url... Is there something I'm missing?



Chris, if you listen to the album there seems to be a little more 'creaminess' to the tone. At home I play it so loud my Wife leaves the room lol...playing through some krk's...I'm almost wondering if there is a touch of flanger or even wah...but it's really hard to hear. I can grab my stem tomorrow afternoon and post. I will try a better shot at it as well.
 
iaresee said:
You have embedding turned off on your track on SoundCloud so the player can't load it here on the site.

View attachment 31045

Can't really say much about the tone. The guitar section is pretty short relative to the length of the clip and buried in the mix. Can you solo it, maybe? It seems to have that nice fuzzy low end that EJ gets in something like Camel's Night Out. Aside, I'm always blown away that he plays that track on the bridge pickup given how warm and huge the tone is.
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I think I had to just log in to my soundcloud account... Thanks!
 
iaresee said:
You have embedding turned off on your track on SoundCloud so the player can't load it here on the site.

View attachment 31045

Can't really say much about the tone. The guitar section is pretty short relative to the length of the clip and buried in the mix. Can you solo it, maybe? It seems to have that nice fuzzy low end that EJ gets in something like Camel's Night Out. Aside, I'm always blown away that he plays that track on the bridge pickup given how warm and huge the tone is.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've been tweaking the core amp tone for quite some time, dialing it in from the neck pickup...as you might know from my ax8 posts we were going back and forth on...this is what started that thread (along with U2 presets we were working on). If you look on my soundcloud, there is a raw track of the Zenland Intro...I was getting pretty happy with that till I went back to the Ah Via Recordings...I know it's been mixed and mastered, but it sounds SO good!
 
EJ plays so loud almost everyone wants to leave the gig! hehe, just saying that you may be playing say at 90 dB which is loud for a house/room, whereas EJ might have recorded/played at 105 dB, or something like that. electric guitar definitely does strange and amazing things when there is massive volume behind it.

just saying that COULD be the source of the difference in tone. :) hopefully you can figure it out, but sounds close/good to me as it is!
 
Sounds close, but it is difficult to hear the part in the mix. I was listening to your track for the delay and wonder if it should be set higher. And I imagine the preamp in EJ's delay adds to the sound. But I think you're on to something with the wah. Watch his right foot in this live video when he plays the end of the song. Looks like he's going for the wah for parts and then off it for the very end. If not the wah, he's doing SOMETHING on his board....

 
I've seen him several times and I almost think his clean tone is louder. You could be right though. Listen to the last 30 seconds of Trademark and let me know what you think...there's something there that I just cannot pinpoint, and I think it is where the sustain differs...maybe, maybe not ;-)
 
DavidE said:
Sounds close, but it is difficult to hear the part in the mix. I was listening to your track for the delay and wonder if it should be set higher. And I imagine the preamp in EJ's delay adds to the sound. But I think you're on to something with the wah. Watch his right foot in this live video when he plays the end of the song. Looks like he's going for the wah for parts and then off it for the very end. If not the wah, he's doing SOMETHING on his board....

Click to expand...

My favorite version! I will watch this now!
 
DavidE said:
Sounds close, but it is difficult to hear the part in the mix. I was listening to your track for the delay and wonder if it should be set higher. And I imagine the preamp in EJ's delay adds to the sound. But I think you're on to something with the wah. Watch his right foot in this live video when he plays the end of the song. Looks like he's going for the wah for parts and then off it for the very end. If not the wah, he's doing SOMETHING on his board....

Click to expand...

You are right...he only hits the wah on for a few seconds right before the end... I did notice that the chord progressions after the intro are in the bridge position, which I thought was interesting...good to watch it on the iPad Air where I can see it a little better!
 
DavidE said:
Sounds close, but it is difficult to hear the part in the mix. I was listening to your track for the delay and wonder if it should be set higher. And I imagine the preamp in EJ's delay adds to the sound. But I think you're on to something with the wah. Watch his right foot in this live video when he plays the end of the song. Looks like he's going for the wah for parts and then off it for the very end. If not the wah, he's doing SOMETHING on his board....

Click to expand...

I'm using a tape echo, and I think I have it set to 450, maybe even closer to 380, but not sure on the length...ill check that tomorrow morning and let you know...
 
Then I watch this and have no idea. Lol. At 6:15 he mentions that when he uses an Echoplex, he likes what the preamp does to the sound.

 
Your tone sounds very close. It seems to need just a touch more gain or compression driving the front of the amp a little bit more. Maybe it's his fuzzface that your hearing? Just completely guessing here.
 
One thing I hear in your recording... and it's not so much about your guitar tone, is that your track itself sounds a little thin to me, and I think it's because your bass guitar is too clean. His bass has some overdrive or fuzz on it, and it fattens up the whole sound and gives it girth and life.

I also think the guitar could be a touch wetter... a little more delay... but that is just what I hear off the cuff. I didn't give it a super critical listen or anything.

Your tone sounds good, but it just doesn't have that "bigness" to it for me, and I think part of it is the pure guitar/amp interaction that Chris mentions that you get at high volume. Real natural feedback and overtone... there is just no way to fake that. You just have to be LOUD... like cranked up amps loud in a studio or on a stage to really make that happen, and then there is the bass guitar thing I mentioned too.
 
Johnnyh64 said:
Your tone sounds very close. It seems to need just a touch more gain or compression driving the front of the amp a little bit more. Maybe it's his fuzzface that your hearing? Just completely guessing here.
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I have to agree. Maybe add a touch of gain or even a compressor. His sounds a little more compressed to my ear. You're very close though!! His cuts in the mix just a tad more. IMO
 
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