Legacy First try at an AC/DC Plexi tone with the Axe FX II

Good job!! You are right, the SG is a crucial part of Angus tone. Did you double track or maybe quad? I don't know what cab ir you use, but I know Angus play Celestions Greenbacks and Malcom Vintage 30. Anyway, great ACDC vibe there bro, keep on rocking!!
 
3 tracks. 2 rhythm, 1 lead.

I don't remember the IR I used (at work can't look). It was what ever came with the Friedman BE preset.

One thing I did to try to get a slightly different tone left and right (an idea I got from ElectronPirate in another thread) was to adjust the tone knob down on the guitar. I did that for the left rhythm track. Not all the way down, but from 10 to 7.

The guitar was a Suhr S4.

I know the SG has a major effect on the tone having tried a few different guitars going into a real plexi. Once I plugged in the SG you really could here how much closer it was to Angus's tone then the other guitars.
 
Now, that's what I'm talking about! This is THE baseline rock tone as far as I'm concerned (Guthrie Govan agrees so I feel good about it.. :)). It sounds great, but I agree it's not quite Angus's tone. When I get off work I'll have to check it out using my headphones / studio monitors alongside his for comparison. What do you think are the differences in his / yours?
 
Great playing and the tone is almost there. Sounds a little bassy to me, as Angus's tone has more presence and bite. Just my take.
 
"Bite" is a good description for what I thought wasn't quite there as well. I just wasn't confident enough to say that not having heard it through my monitors yet.
 
Yeah, listening to it a few times then listinening to the album, it needs to be a little brighter I think. It is that whole playing guitar on your own vs playing in the mix.

This would have been a perfect time to use the reamping ability of the Axe FX II.

Maybe I re-record and save the dry tracks so I can try re-amping to dial it in just right.

I have a feeling the closer I get the less I am going to like the guitar by itself tone as the patch sounds pretty bright on a single guitar track.
 
It sounds great and the playing is fantastic. I agree there is more bottom to the track compared to the original. The guitar, bass and drums are a bit boomy on my BM5a monitors.
 
I hope this won't come accross as being critical. Your playing and chops are good...I just don't think that the raw AC/DC tone was quite there, in my humble opinion.
 
I actually think the basic tone is almost there but the guitars don't have enough ambience. A little less bass and some room and reverb will help it sound less direct.

The "kerrang" and crunch are there, it's just too in your face.
 
I had noticed the in your face sound as well after a few listens. I have heard people do great recordings with a good amount of reverb. For me I always struggle between too much and not enough.

AC/DC has a way with the reverb that really emphasizes the "kerrang" in there tone as well. Anyone have an idea of what type of settings they use reverb wise?

I had actually used the graphic eq on the amp to add a little bass due to the fact that playing alone with no backing track it sounded like it needed it. Again, goes back to the whole guitar alone vs guitar in the mix thing which I struggle with sometimes. I also tweak the 2K on the eq up 2db I think. This seems to be where the heart of the crunch tones live, in the 2k range.

I have now rerecorded saving off the dry tracks (what an awesome feature) so I can play with it a bit. I do enjoy sitting down with the Axe FX (gen 1 or 2) and just trying to replicate those 70's to early 80's tones.

All and all though, I really like the patch with my guitar and will save it as one of my core plexi patches, maybe just add a little more reverb.
 
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Cuervo said:
I hope this won't come accross as being critical. Your playing and chops are good...I just don't think that the raw AC/DC tone was quite there, in my humble opinion.
Click to expand...

I'll get over it ;)

If I couldn't handle negative feedback on clips I wouldn't post them. (I sure hope that statement doesn't come back to haunt me ;) )
 
What's missing is the room the guitars and drums were recorded in on that album. For a sound like AC/DC had then, you need a common room sound. Try using a common room reverb on the drums and guitars that gives it some space, a common space.
Roll off the lows on the guitars, even as high as 120hz. Bring up 2k-3k with a wide bell. Then the bass guitar can be heard and fill in lows that are taken away from the guitars. The 2k-3k boost will give your bite. The room-verb will give you the sense of space missing on the guitars.
Makes the guitars sound huge when it's tight with the bass.
 
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