Shreddy CLEAN tone?

DC11GTR

DC11GTR

Inspired
Perhaps not site to post it in, but since I’ll be using on my FM3, it doesn’t NOT belong, lol

I’m looking for a good starting point for a clean tone that sounds good with super fast playing. Perhaps Steve Morse like? Maybe? Or one of those thicker jazzy sounds, though I’m using a JS-1000, and that’s JS for Joe Satriani, not John Schofield.

I rarely used a clean tone when I was coming up, at least one that wasn’t soaked in delay and chorus. Aside from a few speed bursts, I rarely played anything fast with that kind of sound. It never sounded very good. My amp purchases were based on dirt and I doubt I even tried the clean tones on any amp I bought back in the day, haha. It’s not too different now that I use an FM3, so I’m very much a n00b when it comes to clean sounds.

Would it be an amp thing? Or a pedal thing? I never used a compressor in my guitar life, so maybe that the trick? If it helps steer me in the right direction, I’m using a pair of Kali IN5s.
 
I dabbled with a few, but only for a nice clean tone in general, not so much a "shreddy clean". The Shiver preset sounds really great but what it appears to lack for that "thing" I'm looking for might just be what makes it easier to play fast with higher gain. In which case, I might actually be looking for something to cover up my rusty technique, haha.
 
Clean amp, compressor and then turn up the Input Trim to taste. For more (sharper) definition try to swap the tonestack for the Brit Silver one. And for this type of sound (if I understand you correctly) a 1x12 IR might work best because of the directness and focus.
 
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I did a combination of both and am getting some nice results. I hadn't tried the ODS-100 clean before and DAMN!! The 1x12" IR is a really nice touch, too.

I'm basically trying to get my chops back to what they were in the late-90's, or at close as I can get, and don't want the gain to cover it up like I'm sure it used to do, haha.
 
DC11GTR said:
I’m looking for a good starting point for a clean tone that sounds good with super fast playing.
Click to expand...
At the risk of sounding preachy, I don't think you're looking for a clean tone that sounds good with super-fast playing. Instead, you're looking for super-fast playing that sounds good with a clean tone. You pretty much said that here...

DC11GTR said:
I'm basically trying to get my chops back to what they were in the late-90's, or at close as I can get, and don't want the gain to cover it up like I'm sure it used to do, haha.
Click to expand...

In other words, making it easy to play super fast won't serve your goal. Instead, just dial up a clean tone, and practice playing fast. Anything you can play super-fast on a clean tone, you can play super-fasterer on a dirty tone.


There are guitarists who can play super fast and don't even use an amp. ;)
 
You don't sound preachy, but that is actually what I'm looking for so I can accomplish the other half of the first part of your response. As for the second part of your response, I'm not trying to make it easier. I really am trying to make it sound better. Like a hotter clean sound. Shredding with high gain amps whips your muting into shape and with my limited experience of clean sounds, muting is barely needed. It could simply be a volume thing. I don't know. It's similar in how tones in the realm of EJ are great for that, but playing super shreddy though that tone sounds like crap to me. And for the last part of your post, yep. That was me when I first started. For about a year and half. My first time through an amp was... Not clean, haha.
 
DC11GTR said:
Shredding with high gain amps whips your muting into shape and with my limited experience of clean sounds, muting is barely needed.
Click to expand...
That's one of the wonderful things about playing clean — your hands are more free to make the strings ring out because they're not so busy trying to prevent other strings from ringing out. Your hands can be more open when addressing the strings.

DC11GTR said:
It could simply be a volume thing. I don't know.
Click to expand...
Volume is part of it. With high gain, you have lots of even sustain. It's sort of like you're playing a clarinet instead of a guitar. With clean tones, your best bet to approach that sustain is with volume and compression.


Let's see. Clean tones... fast playing... ever try chicken pickin'?
 
Use Leon Todd had a video I believe that show cased a fairly clean tone using 2 compressors that would sustain similar to an overdriven sound that sounds like would be perfect for you. Calling @2112
 
Rex said:
That's one of the wonderful things about playing clean — your hands are more free to make the strings ring out because they're not so busy trying to prevent other strings from ringing out. Your hands can be more open when addressing the strings.


Volume is part of it. With high gain, you have lots of even sustain. It's sort of like you're playing a clarinet instead of a guitar. With clean tones, your best bet to approach that sustain is with volume and compression.


Let's see. Clean tones... fast playing... ever try chicken pickin'?
Click to expand...
I’ve dabbled…

The lengthy reason I’m doing this is because I’m using the Cracking The Code series to add a USX motion to my arsenal. I can play 250+ with a DSX and my fastest motion going from one to the other puts my hand in a Gypsy-Jazz kind of position. Completely off of the bridge and strings. So, nothing to mute with. I want to gain speed cleanly so that I know I’m doing it right, and “hot” enough that I can learn how to deal with the lack of being able to mute with my right hand.


Use Leon Todd had a video I believe that show cased a fairly clean tone using 2 compressors that would sustain similar to an overdriven sound that sounds like would be perfect for you. Calling @2112

Love his Fractal Lessons! I’ll dig that one up!!
 
Yeah, I was a shreddy mofo before I retired but the one player I couldn’t get the hang of was Eric Johnson. I’d fly through Satch, Vai and Petrucci licks no problem but couldn’t figure out why EJ was so difficult. 5 minutes after joining the site my brain exploded and now I’m making it my mission to nail the Desert Rose and All About You solos flawlessly at least once! But I want to get there properly and there’s no better way to do it than what you get from that site!
 
Al DiMeola I believe played on a clean channel of a Mesa Boogie. At times he had a beautiful clean sound that he played fast runs on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom