James Santiago's Cliff's of Dover

DukeOfPrunes

Experienced
James Santiago's Cliffs of Dover

Question for EJ Tone experts:

In the following clip, James' starting base tone using his jumpered Plexi is quite unique.

I have tried a fair amount to get that base tone, but to no avail.

Is it possible to get this tone using the Plexis in the Axe Fx 2?

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Guitar Player - Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" - YouTube

Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:
Try this:

Axe-Change - Download Preset - Plexi EJ Strat - by SarasotaSwing

My attempt at Eric Johnson’s lead tone. Optimized for the bridge pickup in my 24 ¾” scale Strat, which is a DiMarzio Virtual Solo (Lace Holy Grails in the neck and middle). It’s a medium output pickup, rated at 280 millivolts. Volume and tone are wide open, strings are pure nickel .09s. I used James Santiago’s Echoplex IR (posted on AxeChange and in User Cab slot 100), 4-knob Tube Driver, jumped 100-watt Plexi, and the mono tape delay. There are wah, 5-band passive EQ, and reverb blocks in there, but they’re all bypassed. The settings for the Tube Driver, delay and amp I got from various close up photos of his rig. I did not use a Marshall cab IR. Why? Because I hate them all. ;-) To my ears the high-end fizz is horrible, and I was looking for the smoothest highs possible, so I used my old standby, the 1x12 EV, Factory #8, which makes everything sound good. One important thing to note: my “studio” (a.k.a. the living room) has tile floors, very little on the walls, and leads directly into my large kitchen, which also has tile floors. Adjust the delay mix according to taste. I’m going FRFR into an RCF NX12-SMA.
 
Try this:

Axe-Change - Download Preset - Plexi EJ Strat - by SarasotaSwing

My attempt at Eric Johnson’s lead tone. Optimized for the bridge pickup in my 24 ¾” scale Strat, which is a DiMarzio Virtual Solo (Lace Holy Grails in the neck and middle). It’s a medium output pickup, rated at 280 millivolts. Volume and tone are wide open, strings are pure nickel .09s. I used James Santiago’s Echoplex IR (posted on AxeChange and in User Cab slot 100), 4-knob Tube Driver, jumped 100-watt Plexi, and the mono tape delay. There are wah, 5-band passive EQ, and reverb blocks in there, but they’re all bypassed. The settings for the Tube Driver, delay and amp I got from various close up photos of his rig. I did not use a Marshall cab IR. Why? Because I hate them all. ;-) To my ears the high-end fizz is horrible, and I was looking for the smoothest highs possible, so I used my old standby, the 1x12 EV, Factory #8, which makes everything sound good. One important thing to note: my “studio” (a.k.a. the living room) has tile floors, very little on the walls, and leads directly into my large kitchen, which also has tile floors. Adjust the delay mix according to taste. I’m going FRFR into an RCF NX12-SMA.

Got a chance to try the preset, getting real close. I think his Plexi is maybe one of kind and probably not that easy to cop. Still missing that base tone with singing over tones. His Plexi was cranked to 7 and even with a Hotplate, sounded extremely rich with those tubes excited.

Thanks again.
 
I'm working on an EJ sound and I found adding the tape pre in the chain helps with the sustain, my chain goes 4 knob tube driver set like ej, then tape drive, mono tape to jumpered plexi. It sounds more like alien love child album since I use PRS hollow spruce but very close
 
I'm working on an EJ sound and I found adding the tape pre in the chain helps with the sustain, my chain goes 4 knob tube driver set like ej, then tape drive, mono tape to jumpered plexi. It sounds more like alien love child album since I use PRS hollow spruce but very close

Yes, I've been using James' EP3 IR in front, then a Mono Tape Delay, then the 4-knob Tube Driver (just like EJ's chain) into a 50 or 100 watt Jump Plexi, but still, to no avail. I've noticed that when James starts the video with the his jumped Plexi on its own, the tone his amazing. The singing overtones are very difficult to cop as of yet. Just wondering if someone has been able to get that initial base tone.

Even Rick Graham's tone is not there to my ears and his playing is stellar. Maybe it's impossible to replicate with the Axe Fx II? I hope not...
 
Back
Top Bottom