How To Get GREAT Guitar Tones! (All The Secrets + Tips & Tricks)
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- Опубликовано: 17 фев 2022
- Thanks for watching this video on how I get my guitar tones. This video covers all the gear that I use, my signal flow and settings as well as various tips and tricks plus "secrets" on how I achieve great guitar tones! Let me know in the comments if you have any additional questions!
York Audio Impulse Responses: www.yorkaudio.co/
RedSeven Amp Central Reactive Load: • AMAZING Reactive Load!...
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#guitartone #secrets #tipsntricks #tutorial #walkthrough #processing #mixing #impulses
I love your £20K chain and when you say "as simple as possible".
Love that you keep the tone accurate to the source. As I wanna hear reviews/gear as raw as possible, thanks for that!
Yes! That's what we wanted to know. Thank you for sharing with us.
You’re a terrific RUclips presence Jon!
I learn so much from your channel and your demos, that I’ve actually purchased a ton of gear based on your demos and recommendations…
Thanks Jon and all the best! ✌🏼
Excellent video, super detailed and to the point!
Thank you for sharing. Very useful info.
Super helpful. Thanks man!
simple accurate tips, thanks man !
Great video! Please do a video sharing your battles with ground, electronic and electro magnetic noise, I’m sure lots of folks are suffering with that right now. Also it would be nice to share what’s the expected noise floor out of a tube amp. Cheers!
I confess that I sometimes visit your channel even when I have little interest in the amp that you may be featuring...just to enjoy the always incredible tone and awesome riffs. It’s rock heaven I tell you!
Thank you! That makes my day!
Amazing Video!!!! 💪😃
Excellent Video, Cheers
Great video! I will probably try some elixirs now and I picked up that york audio demo cab pack for a dollar. I'll definitely be buying more
Hello! A have the same noise problem with my monitors for a year now, since i moved to another apartment. I picked another cables, which helped, but didn't remove it fully.
Thank you so much for pointing to the solution, i'm on my way to the shop haha!
Cheers from Russia!
Fascinating and important content. The specific parts covering minimisation of noise are of particular value to many who venture into this side of recording and production. For some, though, a good chunk of the work will involve cleaning things up in the DAW after recording.
I only use elixir strings as well. I get asked a lot about my tone. I also tell them it’s also in the fingers. The picks the delays setting etc. Great video and very informative!!!!
Thanks for the wonderful video & I think I have the same USB Ground loop issue as well. I have a crackling sound every once and awhile that's just driving me CRAZY. Thx again & Peace! X-Mann
Elixirs are great! For the longest time I couldn't find any strings that would stand up to my absurdly acidic hand sweat, I'd be going thru strings like nothing. I finally gave in and bought elixirs and haven't looked back since. The optiweb line is a must try for sure!
Awesome video! How would you approach getting a good thrash tone with 2 guitarist for live application with a full band. Have both guitars as close to each other as possible? Or have one take care of low mids and the other high mids. Keep up the good work!
This is the real deal rubber meats the road meat and potatoes true blue run through! Best video I’ve seen on this topic. Thanks so much.
Thanks for showing you setup
I’ve never seen such an insane collection of hardware!
I have the same experience using York IRs, they are superb especially for recording in my view, im using with a cheaper PodGO and I find good results matching the cab to the Amp model (eg Placater with Friedman York IR or Panama with 5150 York IR). I admit though I was too much influenced by playing with EQ and post effects in the DAW rather than fixing it at source, so that's good advice there, especially just changing the mic options on the IR if you don't like the sound!
John, love your channel. Great information and excellent chops! Question: Would you use this same set up for live tone? If not, how would you create a similar sounding, "low noise", high fidelity live sound?
Thank you soooo much for the iDefender+ tip! The "hours and hours" of noise-hunting? .... been there, done that. Hope this helps!
(just as shutting down my WiFi access point helped a GREAT deal, when recording or reamping)
So, like, John discusses his guitar recording setup. He emphasizes the importance of a good guitar with Elixir strings and well-set action. John uses various pickups, such as Seymour Duncan, EMGs, and Fishmans, and swaps them out when needed. He highlights the significance of confident playing for a great tone.
John's main audio interfaces are the Fractal Audio XFX3 and Line 6 Helix Rack, which he uses for modeling, effects, and routing. He often records with amp modeling presets but records dry DI tracks for reamping. When reamping real amplifiers, he uses the XFX3 with a reactive load.
John's PC setup includes an Intel Core i7 processor, SSD drives, and a dedicated audio USB filter. He positions the PC away from his guitars to reduce electromagnetic interference. He recommends using high-quality impulse responses (IRs) for cabinet and mic tones, preferring York Audio IRs. He advises minimal post-processing, relying on amp and IR tweaks instead of EQ. Double-tracking guitars and panning for heavy rhythm parts is his key technique.
Overall, John emphasizes getting the right sound at the source and keeping the recording process simple and straightforward.
I really liked this video. Especially the part about not turning to eq, but going back to the source tone. I do the same thing. Sometimes I even record with my line 6 helix looper as the first block. It allows me to scroll through amps and Ir’s to find the tone that matches the mix overall. It equals instant glue and less tweaking in the mix stage. Very helpful for me at least🤘🏼
😢😢 we
Eliminating noise at the source, that sounds like a way better idea than when others boost the signal to make the signal to noise ratio higher.
Thanks for sharing, love your tone and playing !🎉 do you think the audio interface(like focusrite , apogee…) is necessary for metal song mixing? Or just use FX3 ?
Those York Audio IR’s you use sound great!
Youve got great playing and tones
Hey John, thanks for the insight you have some of my favorite guitar tones! Quick question... when reamping your DI tones don't you need a reamp box? or does the Axe FX work as one. I have an Axe Fx II and wondering if I can just use that. Thanks!
Love this content!
Do you ever use a real cabinet? Favourite?
Just bought the york audio mrsh 4x12 with t75s and man, they really sound good, i’ve always found the v30s to have certain tone i havent really liked
A comparison video between the Fractal LB2 and the Red Seven amp central would be nice.
Cheers
Great Video btw, why you changin from Owhammer to York Audio IR´s?
Elixirs are the best. I’ve used them for at least 15 years. I’ve tried others, but always ended up going back to Elixir. I ended up just buying a box of them. I hardly hear anyone talking about them either.
I think the price is the deterrent for most people. I tried them on my acoustic and love them
call me crazy but the reason I don't use elixers is I don't want whatever they are coating it with rubbing against my fingers being absorbed through the skin. Obviously who knows how good it is to soak up normal metal strings anyways but people have been doing that for much longer.
As someone else mentioned, I think the price is why most people don’t use them but they seem to be one of the top picks among professional touring guitarists
I agree as well. Only been using them for about a year but I do find I like them better and seems like they hold up longer tonewise
@Anouyz ehhh, you gotta live without fear bro. Don't let things like that bother you, I really don't think any bad chemicals are going into our skin using coated strings. I could be wrong, I'm no scientist. But I don't worry about that. I do like these strings alot still
Hi Jon, great video. I think one of the most important aspects of a great tone is the signal level of your input. For example if you're using your Les Paul Custom where do you pad your Axe-Fx? 0db, 6db, 12db or 18db? Do you change it up for different guitars? Thx
Thanks! I never change the default DI levels tbh
Thanks voor de tip over USB ground loop. Heb dit ook als ik Helix met USB verbindt met pc. Wellicht dat de idefender deze noise kan weghalen.
Hello! Regarding PC noise, I've dealt a lot with that during recordings too. If you can, try playing with the angle the PC tower is sitting at. With mine, the noise is MUCH lower when the tower is at 90 degrees to the pickups. Seriously, I went nuts with metal panels, aluminum wrap, steel mesh screens, and all sorts of weird stuff. Most of the solutions I tried ended up getting tossed out, and the PC was just repositioned away and at an angle to me, sort of like what you have shown, but turned 90 degrees. So when I'm in my recording position, the PC is both behind my desk, and perpendicular to my pickups, meaning the front or rear panel is pointed directly at my pickups.
Thanks for sharing this video, and best of luck!
Great vid Jon! Do you apply the low cut after your guitar signal, amp tone or after the recorded tone? You always have such a tight sound.
Just in the daw when everything has been recorded
The amount of gear this dude owns is unbelievable Jon how do have that much cool gear ?
2:47, Dimebag would completely disagree with you 😂 I read an interview where he said that he plays trying to get pieces of the string with the power of his strokes ... Just kidding, another killer video Jon. 👏
Ernie Ball Strings are not bad at all, they offers coated strings too in the same price range of elixirs.
I personally use the Coated Titanium Reinforced or Paradigms.
Those strings are long lasting and to my ears the sound is not “dead” at all, neither on the standatd Slinky range.
A non coated string needs some “fast fret” (or similar products) treatment, that’s the only way to give them more life.
Anyway great tips Jon, rock on!
When I try this on my Axe III I come out of output 3 into the input of the amp, line out of my load box into input 3 and I set up the preset as you did but I get a loud feedback loop noise
7:50 can you measure the standard string action (the height of strings) of your guitars? Also the heigh from the strings to pickups. It would be amazing.
11:40 as I remember well, you used a lot Own hammer IRs. Why did you changed to York IRs? Are York better overall?
Thank you so much for sharing ur configs.
At 1:44 you mention have low action with little or no fret buzz, could you make a video regarding how you set up your guitars to have those two elements? Or could you maybe redirect us to a video that is pertinent for us low tuned metal guys (rather than the thousands on videos on how to set up a Strat or a Les Paul in E standard).
Also the playing with confidence part REALLY makes a big difference. I was re-traacking parts of a song this week and my earlier demos sounded really tame because i wasn't playing with vigor, probably because i was trying to minimize noise and didn't really have the riff practiced well enough. When i re-tracked playing with more confidence and aggression, those parts really jumped out and sounded SO much better!
So do you use the amplifier head loop to the Axe Effects or Axe Effects loop to the amp? (if the Axe even has one)?
Jon, man can you do a video comparing Fishman Fluence Moderns against Lundgren's Black Heavens? Trying to decide which ones to order.
Yeah, this is great. It's way beyond an amateur bedroom noodler like myself but it might inspire something later if I ever talk my wife into a dedicated guitar zone. I'm also curious about how you get your bass and drum tracks. Would love to see a "behind the scenes" of putting one of your tracks together.
Still, I just love the way you play, the riffs, the tones, all of it.
Great video...one of my favorite channels to watch...quality and tone always awesome.
Ok, that’s basically all gears setup but apart that (even if not related to hardware) do you sometimes use drop-D tuning ? …or drop-C for low string..
I’m curious….the Red Seven reactive load box…does it not have cabinet emulation too? If it does , I’m wondering why one would need so many IR’s or even anything other then speaker emulation into the DAW from the load box….does it compare and do the same thing as the UA Ox box? Lastly, in your opinion, is the Axe FX III as good sounding to your ears as having amps/load box/ 3rd party IR’s? I guess what I’m getting at, is for recording purposes, couldn’t the Axe FX III be an ‘all in one device’ that would make any and all other pieces of hardware/software unnecessary ( demoing other amps/gear notwithstanding) ?
It's interesting how you have your setup, your tones are great!
Do you ever just plug straight into an amp with no loads/effects/modellers and record that way for any projects?
I haven't done that in ages. It's just way more convenient for me this way and it sounds great consistently
Would you mind showcasing some of the Fractal tones you use on your “scratch” tracks? I’m wondering if its worth the investment…
Wondering if John or anyone else has experience with this Two Notes Torpedo Reload. Like John, I prefer to handle my IR's in the DAW so not having them on the DI/load box is fine with me.
Just interested to know how it compto otherwise it's no longer the new kid on the block and I wonder what improvements might have been made.
I wonder what monitors do you use for tracking?
That was really interesting.
BTW, do you have guitars with Dimarzio CrunchLab and Liquifire pickups? What do you think about them? I think they have a little too much bass. But what are your thoughts?
I had them in my old PRS SE 277. They sounded good but you have to be careful with the bass, like you said.
@@SonicDriveStudio nice, thanks :)
What set of Elixir strings do you recommend? You are right about Ernie Ball.. they do sound a little dead. Im looking for something a little more exciting.
Hey Jon,
When you're just plugged into the axe FX or Helix.. (say for jamming or laying the bare tracks) what is the signal chain from there on?
Directly into speakers? Into an audio interface or a mixer maybe.
Thanks!
Into a little Yamaha mixer and into my Adam A77Xs. I do use Sonarworks for room correction but that doesn't work for the direct monitoring of course.
Nice video! But why do you record mono signals with stereo tracks though? 12:41 min
all those background amps for a simple string plug?
Hey Jon (is it Jon ?) I tried Elixirs for a while: they are bright and brilliant and are long lasting for sure (I use their Bronze on acoustics). I have a critic though: they tend to peel after a while where the plectrum hits the coated strings, which make them look bad, although the tone remains very good. My personal faves for electrics are D'Addario NYXL and Duesenberg (yes, the make great strings too...!).
Both brands have resisted several YEARS on 2 of my guitars (that I don't play everyday I admit). But: no rust, oxydation or loss in tone or tuning... My 2Ç ;-)
It's Jon, yes :) Sometimes they peel a little but as you said it's not an issue. I used to use D'Addario in the past and they are miles better than Ernie Ball imo.
I have noticed that on the nanowebs a lot, but optiwebs seem to do that less, IME. Still, the only strings that last without rust or anything for more than a day or two for me. They last until they break! Love them.
@@SonicDriveStudio Agreed... Although I recently tried a set of Ernie Ball 10-48 and they seem to have made improvements. Pyramids are nice too, with a very good price/performance ratio. Cheers !
Hey! Curious to hear your opinion that do you get better sounding results when recording a real tube amp with load box and IR or with modeller like Helix etc? Is there a big difference between these two ways? Pondering if I should jump back to tubes for recording, but I can’t mic it at my place so I would be dependant on IRs anyways.
I recommend checking out my blind test videos and judging for yourself :)
@@SonicDriveStudio Those are so close to each other. Holy shiet! Do you prefer Ownhammer IR or York nowadays?
I did the same fault when buying a PC with glass panel! The only way to get around with this issue is when recording to lower the CPU Maximum processor state to 70% through the power settings on the balanced power plan. And when needing full PC cpu power for mixing etc I choose the High Performance power plan. Another fix for windows users is to disable of C1E, C3 and C6 states in BIOS (or UEFI if you have a newer board).
Thanks! What happens when you disable those C states? And why would this help?
Who are you dude I would love to just have one of those AMP heads on your shelves there amazing amount of guitars are those all yours ?
Hello! Quick question: You almost always use IR's with your recordings, right? When you're reamping the guitars directly to the DAW, the sound is horrible (raw and harsh because there's no Cab). Can you record the sound like that (raw) and then, after recording the amp, insert an IR Loader and try out different IR's? Or is the raw recorded sound so bad that no IR will "repair" it after? Do I have to record it WITH the IR Loader and IR? Thanks!
I usually record with my axe fx and monitor/record through an IR while also recording a DI track alongside through USB
How do you make your drums?
I always feel like I need a high cut. Especially with models. Usually between 10k-16k, depending on how steep the curve is. Now that I'm running an SV20 into a load, it's not that incredibly important anymore.
That is with running IRs in the Helix / Stomp. Haven't tried running an IR in a daw yet but I can't properly listen to that without delay anyways :p
It's kinda subjective but I never use a high cut. Never....
Let me know what you guys think and if you have any further questions!
When tracking a left and right guitar, how many times do you end up tracking one of the guitars before you decide "this is as tight as I can get it"? Obviously it will very by riff but do you usually nail it within a few takes or does it take an hour or more? Love your videos and your riffage and rhythm sense is sick af.
Simple? This how we use to do it; guitar, amp, mic the speaker, input monitor to 2 inch 24 track tape and press record. Of course, you need the studio room etc and amp on 11 (ref: spinal tap). A great desk EQ and hot single to tape for compression. What where the results? the greatest guitar tones every produced. Don't get me wrong - love the vid fascinating.
9:41 I can see a USB dongle to remove IEM. Did it work for you ?
IEM are such a pain for guitars and I can't find any option than putting my PC 5 meters away from the recording source.
If you have any tips to face IEM I'd like to take them.
PS: I also tried DANTE soundcard, it helped a little bit but the issue was still there !
I discuss it all in the video tbh
which type of elixir strings?
In general, do you apply any reverb on heavy rhythm tracks or are they normally dry?
Sometimes very subtle room reverb but not often. Usually dry
which pups were in the standard 60s LP? and what did you end up putting in it?
ruclips.net/video/c74jMT5esYk/видео.html
Elixirs are the best!
@everyone - Elixirs are really great, but please don't forget that they wear out nickel frets much faster - put em on steel frets and not on a vintage guitars pls :)
Really? Why is that? I've never noticed anything like that tbh
woah you have Mud Killer from Silas CF
John could you write the name of the device to avoid grounding on the usb cable please. I can not find it
Ifi iDefender+
@@SonicDriveStudio thanks for this video and your help! 😃
Dude how do you afford all that great gear are those amps all yours?
2 Words.... Fractal Presets. I would buy yours...
Also, what is it about the York stuff that made you switch? I Like his stuff AND he is such a cool guy but I run into an issue. I only have the free Mesa 2x12 and the 5153 packs but to me there seems to be a "comb filter" or through a can kind of vibe with them. I don't hear it in your videos or on his samples. I know people say you should use different brands but I like the idea of using one brand for consistency across different cab/speaker types.
I haven't had any issues whatsoever with the York stuff. What are you loading them into and are you doing blends by any chance?
@@SonicDriveStudio originally I was loading the mixes either into Helix (floor & native) then tried using Nad-IR and Libra in my DAW. I’ve also loaded into my FM9. I’ve also been trying making mixes in Libra (using MPT).
Not sure about anyone else, but YA impulses seem to be the only non-colored ones. Ownhammer has thicced up lows, ML seems to have a resonance peak, things like that. The limited but still highly varied options are great too imo. Mix some natural phases and you just go :D
@@void_snw maybe the resonant peak with the ML stuff is why they sound “papery” to me?
im still wondering how did you get those tones with an axe 2 and ownhammer irs... (I always hated ownhammer secretly)
and yeah, how tall is your action on the 12 fret?
You don’t use LPF on your guitars?
Which Elixirs? Polyweb, Optiweb, or Nanoweb?
Nanoweb
Honest question, is this your full time job or is it just a hobby?
Not saying it as a bad thing, just curious on how you aproach buying all this gear. :)
“I try to keep everything as simple and basic as possible” he says😂😂😂😂😂😂
If you want to shield against EMI, try aluminium foil instead of copper as it is much more efficient for whatever reason.
Interesting! I've thought about wrapping my PC in that (aside from the fan areas). Might try that soon. Thanks
@@SonicDriveStudio I've tried shielding a strat that way recently after seeing one of the pickup manufacturers mention that a thin aluminium foil stops more EMI than a thick copper plate, and it worked great.
These days EMI is much more of a problem than electric buzz, so the difference in shielding is becoming apparent.
I'm gonna do that to all my guitars with the next string change, even EMG ones.
Stopping EMI is such a pain. The only guitar I own that doesn't pickup any EMI has a DiMarzio D Activator 8 (its no more or less shielded than my other guitars). My EMG equipped guitars are the worst offenders!
I also had noise from the PC coming through my audio interface. Turned out to be my cheap monitors creating a ground loop. Easy fix was cutting the ground in the audio cables.
Dumb question. Are all the amps and guitars just for this RUclips channel, or do you records local bands there? Like a proper studio.
marshall jmp 1 good sound
link to the usb filter please. u mentioned too quickly.
Ifi iDefender+
@@SonicDriveStudio would any type of USB ground lift work for this or is that one doing something very specific?
@@void_snw not entirely sure. I think the iDefender cuts the ground but they claim to do it in a special way.
@@kasperfauerby7389 good luck with it, it can be quite a pain. I forgot to mention it in the video but the ground switch on the reactive load is also important.
hui the idi defender + is 60 bucks...
This is a great video and is produced very well.
But who can afford all these items? Were talking like $5,000.00 without a guitar or guitar amp?
Hum……no idea what you are talking about. Would this work? I just take My EC1000 connect cord to amp, play guitar.
Nothing wrong with that. Plug and play! If that works for you that's totally fine of course
@@SonicDriveStudio Ha, I was just having some fun. However, of all your amazing amps……..which one without any processing, eq…just cord straight in thru a real cab, no cab sim, with minimal tweaking just sounds great to your ears?
@@gibsonguitarplayer all of them! With the right cab.
Man, you must have over $100,000 in gear in your studio. How?
Not nearly as much as that
@@SonicDriveStudio Still impressive. That's a guitar players dream studio.
Shockingly, the guitar itself has less to do with recorded sound than speaker impulse response and microphones
Do you really not have a real interface and any microphones?, just surprising to me since you're obviously heavily invested in tube amps.
Define "real"
@@SonicDriveStudio one that isn't part of an all in one product for guitar playing. I am not questioning the quality of the AXE fx as I know they make really good stuff but it just surprised me that you have so many amplifiers yet don't have the desire to mic any cabinets for real.
Layering & EQ. It's everyone's secret.
Not mine
What do you do for a living? There's like 120K $ sitting in that room.
But what is the Krabby Patty secret formula?!?!?!
No idea what that means
@@SonicDriveStudioman doesent know the spongebob
@@pipespeeps5349 that is correct
Crazy, what you guitar people go through to get that extra 10 percent, Iant immagine spending that much money on a sound. As a hobby dubstep producer that does like the sound of electric guitars, I just grab my AGSC Plugin, andd use the amp and cab simmulations in there. I can even save my favorite tones conveniently as presets and all that cost me like a hundred fifty bucks or something. I rally doubt that the difference in sound is worth the unsumms of money and time spent, but I respect what you go through for your sound. I mean, I do sometimes just sit there an entire day fiddling with serum for a singular Bass preset I:m making so I guess it makes sense. Just that that also only ever cost me a total of 180 bucks. You gotta love how much money liking unnatural sounds saves you lol