Tom Morello - Calm Like a Bomb Tone

Jipps0525

Power User


Referencing the cool heavy wah sound that gets played throughout. This possible with the FM9? Is it just Wah + Octave on a downtuned guitar? Or is it just Wah and downtuned guitar?
 
I remember reading, possibly incorrectly, he played through a JCM800 and ran most of his effects through the effects loop, including the wah. If that's true, try placing the wah block between the amp block and the cab block. However, for Calm, it sounds like the bass guitar is doing the wah effect. I think Tom is running his Whammy set to either +1 or +2 octaves and is using a tremolo pedal while sweeping up on the Whammy pedal.
 


Referencing the cool heavy wah sound that gets played throughout. This possible with the FM9? Is it just Wah + Octave on a downtuned guitar? Or is it just Wah and downtuned guitar?


Not looking to toot my own horn but, here's my cover band doing it live:



Bass is doing the wah.
Guitar is single coil NECK position (very important)

For this I have the pitch in front, delay in front, super short with enough feedback to be tapping the one string, letting the delay and kill switch create that tremolo-esque sound, while slowly riding the expression pedal up in pitch for those intro/verse parts.

Dual delays (same as the intro/verse + Longer delays ) for the 'solo', and again riding the expression pedal up and down.

It kind of depends on the song, sometimes the effects sounds better in front sometimes better in the loop. But for was, yes it's, it's in the effects loop like @Fat Biscuit says. No wah on guitar in this song though.

The way I have it setup for this is song is that everything's in standard, until the pre chorus/chorus, that's when I hit a second pitch setting (octave) to get the low A. I do this because I play the one guitar for the entire rage set and sometimes we switch between songs really fast without time to change guitars, even then, my spare guitar is in standard or drop D since 99% of the rage tunes are in that tuning.
 


Referencing the cool heavy wah sound that gets played throughout. This possible with the FM9? Is it just Wah + Octave on a downtuned guitar? Or is it just Wah and downtuned guitar?

I might be wrong but don't you think this wah is taken directly in a parallel circuit from the bass guitar's signal, not from the guitar ?
 
Not looking to toot my own horn but, here's my cover band doing it live:



Bass is doing the wah.
Guitar is single coil NECK position (very important)

For this I have the pitch in front, delay in front, super short with enough feedback to be tapping the one string, letting the delay and kill switch create that tremolo-esque sound, while slowly riding the expression pedal up in pitch for those intro/verse parts.

Dual delays (same as the intro/verse + Longer delays ) for the 'solo', and again riding the expression pedal up and down.

It kind of depends on the song, sometimes the effects sounds better in front sometimes better in the loop. But for was, yes it's, it's in the effects loop like @Fat Biscuit says. No wah on guitar in this song though.

The way I have it setup for this is song is that everything's in standard, until the pre chorus/chorus, that's when I hit a second pitch setting (octave) to get the low A. I do this because I play the one guitar for the entire rage set and sometimes we switch between songs really fast without time to change guitars, even then, my spare guitar is in standard or drop D since 99% of the rage tunes are in that tuning.

so cool! awesome job. so maybe I could try octave down on my variax and then wah in the fm9?
 
You guys were killin' it! Sooooo groovy!
Thanks GiRa!
I might be wrong but don't you think this wah is taken directly in a parallel circuit from the bass guitar's signal, not from the guitar ?
Yes, bass for sure is doing the wah in this song, not guitar.

so cool! awesome job. so maybe I could try octave down on my variax and then wah in the fm9?
Thanks! So there's no wah in this song on guitar. Unless you mean to say you want to play the bass wah part on guitar...or are you saying you have a bass and want to do the bass part of this song?
 
Thanks GiRa!

Yes, bass for sure is doing the wah in this song, not guitar.


Thanks! So there's no wah in this song on guitar. Unless you mean to say you want to play the bass wah part on guitar...or are you saying you have a bass and want to do the bass part of this song?
Sorry, I meant play the bass wah part on guitar lol
 
Sorry, I meant play the bass wah part on guitar lol
Then I'd recommend an octave down using the pitch block to start before an amp/cab block, then adding a wah, try the wah in between the amp and cab block first, that usually gives it a stronger wah effect (less gain though).

If not, then try the wah out in front of the amp. that's all it really is. have fun!
 
I'm in a Rage Against The Machine tribute band called "Rise Against The Machine". I have all the exact gear that Tom Morello uses. I choose to use my FX9 for the effects rather than the analog effects. I just recently bought the FM9 and I'll be programming it to run the same effects. I have a 1988 JCM 800 50-Watt 2205 amp, an Arm The Homeless replica, and a Telecaster. He runs ALL of his effects through the effects loop.

I saw Tom perform 3 years ago and he invited the crowd to join him on stage while he performed "Killing In The Name". Afterwards he left the stage and the crowd was just kinda mingling on stage. I took that opportunity to look at his amp settings. I took a pic and now I have his exact tone locked in.

Anyway, there are 2 ways to play "Calm Like A Bomb".
  1. You can play it exactly the way Tom plays it. He uses an extra guitar that is in standard tuning and drop tunes the 6th string to B. He has 2 pickups with a pickup toggle switch. He has both pickups turned up to 10, and toggles very rapidly between both pickups during the verses while using the Whammy 2 octs up. During the chorus when Zack says "Whatcha say watcha say what" he turns off all of the effects and plays on the B string. During his solo all it is is the Whammy with a Digital Delay set to about 500ms.
  2. If you don't have a guitar that you can drop the 6th string to B, you can you the Fixed Haromony setting 1 Oct down during the chorus. Everything else is the same.
So to make is simple:
  • Tom's way: Drop B guitar, Whammy 2 Oct up, and delay
  • Alternative Way: Regular Guitar in standard tuning, Fixed Harmony 1 Oct down during Chorus, Whammy 2 oct up during Verses, and Whammy + Delay during the solo.
The Bass Guitar is using a Wah and an overdrive pedal
 
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