A Perfect Circle - Billy Howerdel's tone investigating

ryansays

New Member
Hey guys, Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to recreate the guitar tone(s) on the APC Mer De Noms album? Like maybe what amp and or cab block would come the closest this sound. I'm not necessarily trying to get an exact copy to do a cover but there are some characteristics about Billy Howerdel's guitar tone that I really like. So just sort of looking for a good starting point or if someone actually has an A Perfect Circle preset I would love to look at it and see whats going on in that patch. Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

http://youtu.be/DDSUu38rMmw
 
Since he uses a Friedman amp......try the Friedman HBE amp into a v30+Greenback cab ir. I use a mix of OH V30(45%) and Basketweave AX mix (55%). Start with default tone controls, maybe dial the depth down a little. Tweak the mids via 5 band passive eq in amp settings--slight "frown" shape. Low cut in cab @ 110 and High cut @ 7000-8000. Gets me damn close with a Les Paul.
 
Yeah research the Friedman Naked amp.. I thought I read he was the one who helped develop that... more scooped than a normal Marsha.
 
Cool thanks for this info. I'm gonna try that out. Yea that would be cool if axe had a Friedman Naked amp.
 
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Let me preface this by saying we REALLY need a Friedman Naked sim in the Axe-fx. With that said, I have the info you desire.

I've talked to Billy about this 2 or 3 times and also talked to Dave Friedman as well.

The Mer De Noms tones were all done through Pod Farm. Yes, you heard me correctly. Pod Farm. Most of Billy's core tone actually comes from his guitar, which is a Les Paul with Tom Anderson H3+ and H1- pickups in it. Believe you me, if you don't use this configuration, you won't get his sound. You just won't.

The Friedman Naked is simply a Marshall Super Lead with some transformer and preamp modifications. It's nothing insanely complicated. Dave used to offer this as a mod you could get done.
 
Billy has also been using an Axe-Fx for a few years. Not sure how he uses it though, whether he uses effects only or what...
 
I don't recall the exact number but on Judith alone he used a ton of guitar tracks in the recording. For some reason 9 seems to stick in my mind. Good luck in your journey. I'm interested in anything you may share with what you put together.
Joe
 
Wow Pod Farm? and 15 years ago guitar software must have bee very primitive so that's impressive. I think they may have discontinued the Naked amp because its not available on the Friedman site. But yea its literally the mass production version of Billy's amp. Hey muudrock I tried your settings and it's definitely on the right track but what do you mean by "OH V30(45%) and Basketweave AX mix (55%)" are those percentages panning? Sorry I'm new to the axe. and how do I know if the 4x12 (OH) V30 is using Greenbacks? Also I found that setting the amp voicing to "Dark" also seems to get a tiny bit closer to that tone. It sort of smooths out the harshness but there is a significant drop in volume.
 
Yea I read about the Tom Anderson pickups and was thinking about getting them but not sure i want to swap out the pickups on my Les Paul. But I might. I am using the .56 gauge Ernie balls that he uses and that definitely is important to the tone. Drop C# tuning of course
 
All the rhythm tracks on Mer De Noms are 9-11 guitars deep. The budget for that record was virtually nonexistent. They basically didn't even get a record deal until after it was done. You couldn't ask for a better example of an album where the end recording is far greater than its origins would make it seem. There's a lot of very clever budget studio tricks at work on this recording.

The Tom Anderson pickups are vital to getting that sound. Probably about as vital as having a Strat is to get The Edge tones.
 
Lol.. this is an old one. I'll look to see if I still have that preset. My original post does have the basic settings.
 
Thank you so much for this. This is a great patch, and the cab is a wonderful addition to my library. This also works great with my 7 string tuned in Drop Ab.
 
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