For the Love of God tone

Max_H

Max_H

Inspired
Hey folks!

I've been trying to get that sweet singing sustain tone with the Legacy model and can't quite seem to nail it. I use the leggy model with the V30 4x12 cab and the t808 drive acting as a boost. Can anybody point me in the right direction (bass mid treble wise). My attempts sound fairly weak compared to the album tone. Granted there is studio magic involved in the final tone, but i know i can get close with the axe fx alone.

Any hints or tips?

Thank you!
 
I have heard that tone done perfectly with Axe ,I think its a Bogner Red boosted ,the guitar and pickups are very important to ,

a neck hum bucker (Dimarzio) that is smooth fat and a lot of output , i will look for some hints
 
Randalljax said:
I have heard that tone done perfectly with Axe ,I think its a Bogner Red boosted ,the guitar and pickups are very important to ,

a neck hum bucker (Dimarzio) that is smooth fat and a lot of output , i will look for some hints
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Ah fantastic, i have an air Norton s in the neck.


Randalljax said:
he is likely also rolling off the tone control on the pickup to get that flutey sound
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That's what i figured too. I noticed that i do this for my Santana tones as well because of that distinguishable "tubular/round" sound.

guitarnerdswe said:
Back then it was probably a Marshall with a DS1 in front.

http://www.vai.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16153
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Hmmm i tried a plexi treble with the super od for a drive but couldn't get it to sound anywhere close. I'm probably way off with my amp selection.
 
Moke said:
I am putting the final tweaks on two new 'Vai' presets. One preset for the (Studio) solo tone for 'For the Love of God'. And one preset based his 'Live' tones from the 'Were the Wild Things Are' show.
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That sounds fantastic. The 'where the wild things are' show was incredible
 
I abandoned using accurate models of his setup, which was not working. And went with what gave me the desired sonic results. The 'Vai' Purist' will not be amused....lol, but the 'tones' will hopefully speak for themselves.

Steve Vai is another one of those player that sounds unmistakably 'Him', no matter the actual tone. The 'Studio' and 'Live' tones of this tune are hugely different! But you hardly notice because of the performance.

So if you can play like him, (first off, congratulations;)) then you will really love these presets.:)
 
Moke said:
I abandoned using accurate models of his setup, which was not working. And went with what gave me the desired sonic results. The 'Vai' Purist' will not be amused....lol, but the 'tones' will hopefully speak for themselves.

Steve Vai is another one of those player that sounds unmistakably 'Him', no matter the actual tone. The 'Studio' and 'Live' tones of this tune are hugely different! But you hardly notice because of the performance.

So if you can play like him, (first off, congratulations;)) then you will really love these presets.:)
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I'm truly excited to see what magic you've conjured up
 
I could get the EQ of his tone, but the distortion character was not right.....Almost 'fuzz' like on the lower single notes when he digs in.
 
One big component of his sound that hasn't been done on IRs is how he mics his amps. His studio as well as his live rig. Everything is slightly off axis and at an angle. He also blends in other amps outside of his legacy for his studio tone.

Lastly is how he kicks in his Gemini distortion at key moments when he's going for something or needs to kick the amp to 11. It's such an overlooked part of how he can pull off his vai-isms.

Look into those two elements, especially for all the fast legato stuff at the end of FTLOG.
 
This clip from the Dutch #axefest 2013 might get you in the ballpark:

Anand Mahangoe en Alexander van Engelen creating preset 80 while demoing the versatility of the AxeFXII at the Wisseloord studios. Anand played 'For the love of god' by Steve Vai to the Dutch AxeFest audience.



cheers,
Cris
 
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I've gotten some pretty good results with the Leggy model. I use a 4x12 cab with V30s, a FAS boost with tone and drive rolled off, studio comp in front, and delay and studio reverb. My settings for the Leggy are roughly bass and mid 7-8, treble 3-4, drive 3-4, and MV 5-6, sat switch set to 'ideal'.
Works for my RG with DiMarzios. :) as others said, his tone is all about control though, check his vibrato technique out. Makes a huge difference.
 
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