So I've been asked to join a Roadhouse blues band need some good presets

kmanick

Fractal Fanatic
A friend od mine who I had not seen for a while came by my place this weekend and told me he's starting up a roadhouse blues band
and wants me to be one of the guitarists. First of all what does Roadhouse blues even mean? I'm thinking ZZ top dirty gritty guitar blues?
I'm,guessing I'll be playing some of that some Jeff Healey, Stevie Ray, black Crowes ,etc stuff. I played around with the Brit Blues stock patch last night,
really pretty awesome sounding patch. Any of you guys playing this type of stuff out and if yes what are you using for patches?
I'm going to try FRFR with this band and see how I like it (and the rest of the band) likes it with the CLR and the Seismic run together.
First time going down this road in a full band setting. I have my Mark IV but somehow I don't think Mark IV=blues hahahah....
so who else is considered "Roadhouse blues"? Allman brothers? some Trower? I never really got into this type of stuff (I'm not bad at playing it ) but I'm more of
a shred fan, so I don't listen to a lot of it
 
Early ZZ-top (La Grange, Tush, Jesus just left Chicago, Cheap Sunglasses, Just got paid, etc.) is exactly what comes to mind when I hear roadhouse blues. Any of the vintage british and Fender style amps would do great for that kind of thing. Plexi 50, tweed deluxe, super reverb, and AC-15 are some of my favorites. Non-master volume amps turned up loud are what you want for that loose and dynamic gritty thing. Putting any effects in front of the amp will give it a more vintage and gritty vibe too. Try a little slap back tape or analog delay in front. Spring reverb in front will give it a more 50's surf vibe too but keep the mix low or it washes out completely. Settings and cabs will depend a lot on what guitar you're using.
 
Try a double verb, with bass, mid, treble on 7 or so. Put a spring reverb between amp and cab, and look for a 2 x 12 UR cab. Put a ts808 drive in front of the amp for a boost, with little or no gain, to overdrive the amp some more for solos. Tweak to taste!
 
Hmmmm double verb? Jensen speakers in the cab IR? I don't know what Fender used for their speakers (was always a Marshall/Mesa guy)
I own a bunch of the OH and Redwirez IRs anything specific you guys know works well with the DoubleVerb?
 
I would listen to folks like:

bonnie Raitt
George Thorogood
John Hammond
Luther allison
Otis Taylor
Johnny Lang
Lonnie Brooks
Mississippi Fred McDowell

Lots of great tones in those records --

forgot -- Funky Bitch by Son Seals is a must do tune for a road House Blues band

 
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Wouldn't get caught up too much in 'which amp'...there are plenty of mid-low gain to choose from. I'd pick a few that you personally take to, and set them aside for your practices. I'd encourage you getting a different sound than your other guitarist; so maybe bounce between to get where you're distinctive in the mix. Even use different IR's with the same amp to see which fits best.

Depending on what you play for guit-fiddle, you'll have to play with the gain. From my part, I like a little more on tap and dial it back on the guitar.

This kind of music is deceptively complex, it SEEMS like it's one sound, but you have chances for plenty of dynamic playing via PUP selection, volume/tone knob movement...it's more FEEL to me than actual tone. Any good blues jam will go anywhere from roaring to whisper based off of where the band goes...

Plexi is a good choice, but I also like the Super and/or bassman. Badger is there too. SO many choices.
 
Hmmmm double verb? Jensen speakers in the cab IR? I don't know what Fender used for their speakers (was always a Marshall/Mesa guy)
I own a bunch of the OH and Redwirez IRs anything specific you guys know works well with the DoubleVerb?

Yeah I know, a twin reverb is pretty much the last amp you think of as being gritty, but in the axe you can crank it without your ears bleeding. At 85 watts, a real twin reverb gets stupid loud long before it starts to break up with anything but really hot pickups, but it does have a nice grind to it. All the Fender models seem to break quicker than the real deal, but that is mostly because the eardrum breaking volume is not there when it happens. It also separates the amps breakup from the speaker breakup that happens at really loud volumes too. You have to turn up the speaker drive in the amp block and the motor drive in the cab block to simulate speaker breakup.
 
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