Plus Distortion Tips

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kapellmeister74

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I’m working on a Defenders-era Priest tone. I know Glenn Tipton used a D+ at some point during that time, but I’m not getting anywhere close to that sound with the Plus Distortion. I read everything I could find and watched hours of videos about how he, Dave Murray, and Randy Rhoads used theirs, but everything I try just sounds bad. Any ideas?

I got a pretty convincing 70s Priest tone within minutes using the Treble Boost into the 50W Plexi Normal, but I’ve been at it for a week with the Plus Distortion and am no closer than when I started. I’ve tried high and low drive settings into every model of 1987/1959/2204 with every imaginable amp setting, but I’m not getting anything that sounds close. It definitely sounds better into the normal channel or into the high treble channel with the bright cap turned way down, but I’m getting better, closer results with less fuss using other drive models.

It’s been 15+ years since I played through an actual D+ pedal, but I don’t remember it being that hard to get a decent sound. Either I’m missing something (probably), or the model isn’t representative of the actual pedal (unlikely, given the quality of the other effects). Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
This hardly counts since it's been more like 50+ than 15, but I had one in my rig for a fair while back then, and honestly didn't care for it. Wasn't going for anything like Priest though, and that was then, so
 
sprint said:
Guitar?/Pups?/Cab?
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Les Paul with PAFs. I tried a Charvel with a JB briefly. I have another with a Super Distortion I’ll try next. For cabs, I’ve tried every factory Marshall 4x12. They all sound different, of course, but they don’t really change what I’m getting out of the drive.

With the drive maxed, I have to back way off on the amp gain to keep it from splatting, and it’s really noisy. With the drive lower, I can keep the amp gain higher, but it gets dark and flubby. It doesn’t really boost the way an SD1 or a Rat would.
 
kapellmeister74 said:
I’m working on a Defenders-era Priest tone. I know Glenn Tipton used a D+ at some point during that time, but I’m not getting anywhere close to that sound with the Plus Distortion. I read everything I could find and watched hours of videos about how he, Dave Murray, and Randy Rhoads used theirs, but everything I try just sounds bad. Any ideas?

I got a pretty convincing 70s Priest tone within minutes using the Treble Boost into the 50W Plexi Normal, but I’ve been at it for a week with the Plus Distortion and am no closer than when I started. I’ve tried high and low drive settings into every model of 1987/1959/2204 with every imaginable amp setting, but I’m not getting anything that sounds close. It definitely sounds better into the normal channel or into the high treble channel with the bright cap turned way down, but I’m getting better, closer results with less fuss using other drive models.

It’s been 15+ years since I played through an actual D+ pedal, but I don’t remember it being that hard to get a decent sound. Either I’m missing something (probably), or the model isn’t representative of the actual pedal (unlikely, given the quality of the other effects). Any help is greatly appreciated!
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Here's what I do and it works well for me. Try it and see if you like it. I think from that era to get that sound with a Dist +, the missing element is the MXR 10 band eq. Tom Scholz, Randy Rhoads, used MXR eq's 6 or 10 band and EVH used a Boss 10 band eq, & I think George Lynch did too except he used tube screamers. Put it between the Dist + and the amp model. Start pushing slightly starting @ 250hz with a major hump 500hz through 4K and back down. Adjust to taste. See if that gets you in the ballpark. The eq is acting kind of like a boost, sort of like stacking boosts.
 
rcknrllmn said:
Here's what I do and it works well for me. Try it and see if you like it. I think from that era to get that sound with a Dist +, the missing element is the MXR 10 band eq. Tom Scholz, Randy Rhoads, used MXR eq's 6 or 10 band and EVH used a Boss 10 band eq, & I think George Lynch did too except he used tube screamers. Put it between the Dist + and the amp model. Start pushing slightly starting @ 250hz with a major hump 500hz through 4K and back down. Adjust to taste. See if that gets you in the ballpark. The eq is acting kind of like a boost, sort of like stacking boosts.
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The drive block contains a builtin GEQ that I use quite a bit with various drives, mainly in "pre" position, but it can also be set to "post". I have no experience with a real D+ and its not a model I gravitate to, but, the OP's guitar/pups/cab are not anything outside the norm so maybe there is an inaccuracy in it.
 
sprint said:
The drive block contains a builtin GEQ that I use quite a bit with various drives, mainly in "pre" position, but it can also be set to "post". I have no experience with a real D+ and its not a model I gravitate to, but, the OP's guitar/pups/cab are not anything outside the norm so maybe there is an inaccuracy in it.
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There is also one in the amp block. I use that one a lot. Typically set pre to the amp model to get the tonal effect I want. Then if I want to refine further will use a PEQ block post amp. There are so many eq options to shape your tone in the Fractal, it is amazing.
 
Attached is a PEQ block file that approximates a real vintage MXR Distortion Plus' frequency response, though of course minus the non-linear aspects (don't remember the D+'s gain knob position, likely at 0 I'd guess, done many years ago?).

It sounds good to me as I use it with amp block gain rather than using the Distortion Plus'/Drive block's solid state gain, maybe it'll help?
 

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Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. The EQ did the trick. In fact, it’s doing most of the heavy lifting; the D+ just adds a little bit of oomph.

DJD100 said:
Attached is a PEQ block file that approximates a real vintage MXR Distortion Plus' frequency response, though of course minus the non-linear aspects (don't remember the D+'s gain knob position, likely at 0 I'd guess, done many years ago?).

It sounds good to me as I use it with amp block gain rather than using the Distortion Plus'/Drive block's solid state gain, maybe it'll help?
Click to expand...

Thanks for this! I need to update my firmware first, but I’m looking forward to trying it out.
 
Consider the above as a filtered clean boost, and push your amp block's input by upping the PEQ's level as desired.
 
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