Aaron, I'm 74. Been playing since 1960. Gigging since 1965. Teaching and recording in studios since 1975. And I'm still gigging. I have a little bit of advise for you. Keep doing what you're doing! You've come a LONG way in a year and a half. When your playing skills catch up to your ear and anaytic mind . . . you're going to be an unstoppable force! My best to you young man!
man, id absolutely LOVE to just hear you tell stories of your experience with people, music, and mental health throughout all these decades, you must’ve seen, heard, and been through so much whether it was beauty or hardship and you’re only 74 years young! still got plenty more time to go. i hope to have that much life too! i’m freshly 18 just starting out my music career so i hope all goes well in the future and if not it’s no worries at least i’ll know i tried and just continue to enjoy it for me. god bless you wayne 🙌🏻
@Hugo Mouto I’ll absolutely agree with you Hugo. I’ve been playing guitar for 36 years & the tone chasing has STILL NOT ended for me. But I’ve learned so much from this channel that I’m realizing how much $$ & time I’ve wasted on buying amps, cabs & overdrive, boost & distortion pedals. I’ve never really considered the speakers really much at all…until I found this channel one late night after being super frustrated with my tone. Got quite a few different new & vintage Celestion speakers & a few different Warehouse Speakers that I’m gonna soon do a tone deep dive at home all alone. And I’m so excited about doing it that my inner nerd may completely possess me from now until forever! I love tone chasing with swapping preamp tubes…and soon, it’ll also be with swapping speakers!!! I fuckin’ LOVE this channel & his curiosity into everything between the guitar headstock all the way to the amp’s power cable & everything in between!!!🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻‼️
I think part of the issues is that players chase the tones they hear on the album, without realizing there is a lot of studio magic going on apart from the actual guitar and amp themselves. Stuff you can't replicate in your bedroom or with your band.
That is why you should apply that to live performances, not studio albums, and find out what was used, rig rundown by premier guitar helps with that, and of course there are artists who refuse to give away all of their secrets, and rightfully so, learning and applying it in your own unique way is fine, but people should stop copying and discover their own sound, so much is available these days yet most sound the same because they copy eachother.
Yeah the fact that it's being microphoned at all is the golden trick, where you place it is the trade secret Just those 2 lone factors dictate MOST of what gets recorded, didn't even mention direct input haha
@@MrShadowofthewind True, but on a lot of albums, the guitars go through a setup of the producers choosing, or something the producer and guitarist choose together. Nirvana being a big case. Kurt used that Mesa Pre-amp - Live its was big and powerful, but Albini stated that for the studio it sounded like sh!t.
In my experience, studios are often seen as magic entities and I think that is kind of unfair. But what is true is that whatever ends up on record is never how you as a player will experience the sound of an amp. All tones we take as references are "recorded tones". Many people would be surprised in how it would actually sound when standing in front of the amp. Recordings never captures what you as a guitarist hear and feel when playing. There are three variables that the studio adds to the sound: 1) The sound of the room it is recorded in: but for a lot of guitar amps this is often not so relevant because many are close miked so that the sound of the room is not really present, and many amps are not recorded in live rooms anymore but in iso booths (with the guitar player usually just in the control room); 2) The microphone and placement: this has a lot of effect on capturing the sound. Moving 1 cm in any direction will have a noticeable impact. The particular microphone used also shapes the sound dramatically as all microphones have their own sonic signature and response. Condenser vs ribbon vs dynamic. And even within a category, a Sure SM57, Audix I5, Sennheiser 421, EV RE20 are all dynamic microphones, but sound dramatically different in their voicing. 3) What happens in the mix. This has the least impact in reality but many ascribe a lot of "magic" to this. Yes it is true that compression and EQ are added to fit things in the mix. But it only levels out dynamics (compressors) or it cuts/amplifies parts of the spectrum already there. Any other variable has far more impact on the tone. For example: if you think the guitarist should have dialed his tone knob down more, it is not something that you can "fix" by just cutting some of the highs with the EQ in the mix. The effect and sound is vastly different because your tone knob, the EQ settings on your amp, etc all interact with the creation of the sound and the response of the components in the chain (like how the tubes respond, how the speaker responds to the load, even how the microphone used to record respond). Whatever you do with EQ during mixing only affects the already existing result of that full chain.
@@santibanks very true. I think it’s very difficult to show through recordings how a valve amp sounds compared to a solid state amp, but when you play through a valve amp loud it just somehow “feels” completely different.
Speaker is the overall filter and final EQ of the guitar, so it’s effect on frequencies is massive. But the amp is also extremely important, especially for compression/overdrive/headroom. The hard truth is that it all matters to differing degrees and in different areas. Find your recipe and have fun
I came here to say that. The amp gives the kind of distortion, its "grain", its bias, the compression, if notes sound articulate, clearly distinguished, ... and the base frequencies that are later cut by the speakers. The speakers cut freqs and yes, they give a very recognizable sound, maybe it's the most important part to mimic? But I don't think a modern Mesa distorted won't sound like an old Fender Bassman distorted, even with the same cabs. Anyway the insight is very valuable as it makes people know the great impact of speakers on tone. Thank you. I also love Nirvana.
Dude, I’m totally with you on this. I would love it if you shared impulse responses of your favourite speakers!!! Would you also share your mic setups for this too? You could start a new series on recording and mixing because you clearly have a good ear and well experienced in this field. Keep the videos coming. I’m loving your content so far 🤘
You're right. Amp doesn't matter . . . when it's clean. If you're using a pedal into a crystal clean amp, the speaker is way more important than the amp assuming the amp can achieve the necessary clean headroom for your application. When you're playing a even a slightly dirty amp, the amp does have a noticeable impact that is only equal to the speaker -- not greater than.
As a metal player I do think amps are significant to a degree because you’d want a good high gain amp. However as far as actual tone goes, you are very correct. I was also making the same mistake getting different amp heads trying to tone chase. Once a finally swapped cheap speakers out for greenbacks and vintage 30’s (in my case), finally wallah! All I need to do now is sell some amp heads I ended up not needing in the first place. Great video man.
Great video. So refreshing to hear a guitarist talk about speakers as the source of tone and not about amps or worse the infamous tone wood of the guitar. Instant subscriber keep up the great content
If you use plugins or digital pedalborad you might know that point, the importance of the cabinet is really great when you wanna develop a guitar tone.
I think there's something to be said about if somebody's getting distortion out of the amp primarily, but if they're doing that, there is also a real chance that somebody has created a pedal to recreate that distortion for any other amp to use. There are more dumble in a box type petals than I can count
Absolutely spot on with this video! I recently took my Victory Kraken to my Uncle’s house to try it through all the different cabs he was selling at the time. Jumping from vintage 30s to greenbacks to this and to that, I could not fathom how much the tone was changing just because of the speakers. I took me months to land on my ‘holy grail’ speakers which now sit in an old beat-up Marshall cab that blows everyone’s mind when I turn it up.
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO DO UNPLUGGED!!!!! I LOVE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD AND UNPLUGGED IS JUST THE BEST!! Dude I've been having such a bad time in my life and not only did YOU inspire me to play guitar (And listen to Nirvana) which has made me so happy when things have been rough but you've done it in the best looking and best sounding way. Best music channel on RUclips hands down
Dude I’m so happy to see you reach this tone, I’ve been following your channel for sometime and have helped me so much with tone and my live tone. I give all the credit of my live and recording tone to you. Now let’s see some full never mind guitar covers🎸
Can you go into more detail about how you go about navigating all the different variables that go into chasing particular tones? I’m curious to know how you find the balance between finding the right guitar, amp, speaker/s, amp settings, pedal selection, pedal settings, mic type, mic placement… etc. How do you know which part of the equation needs altering?
Yup! called this from the beginning. I learned this early on with doing Izotope EQ matches to try and clone album guitar tones ha. The speaker (and cab) are definitely the master toneprint of guitar sounds, especially with driven guitar tones. There is SO MUCH information and stuff happening to a guitar tone with the EQ curve of a speaker, even if you just look at impulse response EQ curves. The amount of dramatic variance from speaker to speaker even of the same kind of speaker (aka one V30 to the next V30) is very noticable. Nolly has done a lot of really great videos talking about this as he (and a few others) have collected and documented hundreds of speakers and figured out the secrets of the best V30s especially, as well as greenbacks and other classic speakers.
Given that nevermind is recorded with layers of guitar tracks and that I think those layers switch speaker types a holly grail cab would likely blend speakers. One would have to be a v30 and zomething like g12 65 or 75 in an x configuration. You could also run it in stereo cab setup with chorus effect on one side only to create a sudo layering effect.
Agree that speakers are a major tone shaping device. And even the same speaker can sound way different based on how old or broken in it is. I have several speakers and go back and forth depending on my mood or what I’m playing, but right now I’m enjoying a 50 yr old CTS and a newish but well broken-in V30. Not together, one or the other though a Deluxe Reverb.
so, instead of having a pedalboard, you could theoretically have a whole bunch of different speaker cabs with all kinds of wacky speakers in them that you can switch between?
Never been into re creating anyone’s tone. Agree that speakers are most significant, but amps do matter. Amps like pedals have their own sound characteristics. The amp I use on my left channel, a Fender BJ, attacks and decays faster than the Plexi on my right channel. If you look at the VU meters when recording this is obvious. Great video!
Not to mention he's recreating Nirvana guitar tones, and Nirvana's sound was extremely stripped down (or so they said back in the day). You could probably recreate Nirvana's guitar tone with a couple of guitar pedals (distortion and EQ) running straight into a power amp feeding the speakers. 🤷♂️
Ps yeah tone is in the cone, that's why we're always switching up impulse responses and using FRFR speakers or powered PA speakers to NOT have that speaker coloration, so we can choose our own through the gear using cab emulations. For any given set, I'm using 3-4 different types of/combinations of cabinets & microphones. This is exactly why your impulse response is damn near more important than whatever amp you're using, cabs/speakers (and how they're mic'd) is EVERYTHING. Good vid
My favorite channel on all of youtube. For me as poor student is really helpful to know, that i can nail those tones without spending a fortune. Thanks for these videos.
this is THE video everyone needs to see. It's all about playing, pickups, speakers, and tubes. Amps are gain structures and EQ that can be adjusted, but the tubes have noticeably different qualities, the speakers FOR SURE, the pickups immensely, and then your fingers!!!!!
I have to agree with you on this. I’ve been writing a lot I recorded an album using Mesa speakers on the drive channel and v30 on the cleans I just started my new record with a new amp same cab and there is such little differences the feel is still there but sound is almost the same. My go to for a cab right now is a 1960 cab 2 v30 and two Mesa speakers gives it the best of both worlds using a prs archon as a amp and a bass vi for my main guitar always been inspired by Kurt’s work and your videos are great.
Cool video and nice cinematography. Your insight is appreciated. Speaker and cab are basically EQ so yeah, if you have the right gain structure and timbre (guitar, pickup, pedal, amp), by changing speaker you can definitely make it or break it. I am not tech savvy on this next point, but speakers are also wattage dependent (check what Bonamassa has to say on it), so depending on how much wattage the cone can handle you are going to also change the "body" of the sound (e.g.: flabby bottom end vs solid bottom) and this is a huge component. This said, a more precise title for this video would be " How I get my Nirvana tones". To suggest that any amp can get you ANY sound you want by switching speaker, I cannot say that it is a true statement, and could be pretty confusing for people, especially if you are not showing your chain. Every amp has their own gain staging and eq response that gives it a certain character, no matter the speaker. Now, you could say that you could build some sort of "all purpose" rig that lets you emulate any amp gain and eq response (check out Jim Lill) and with the right speaker you could actually get most sounds. That would be an amp modeler basically. A cool experiment for you would be to replicate the same sound, with different amps to actually prove that you can get the same tone with different amp except speaker, and also what adjustments you would have to do to the chain in order to do so. Finally, aside the first sound sample which was very close, your tones were not as close in terms of EQ, actually quite different (in Bloom, Lithium) even though the character of the sound was definitely there. Did you try any mic position changes or any post production? I think you could have gotten even closer.
I've been saying the same thing for a while as have many others and it's spot on! The one downside is collecting speakers and cabs takes up more room...but IR's don't!
Been down this road at the beginning of my guitar journey and the interesting discovery I’ve made at this point is that I can show up to rehearsal with any of my different guitars, switch up my pedalboard, swap amps when mine dies, and essentially sound like me. Listening back to recordings I couldn’t differentiate probably…maybe the amp. Not that gear doesn’t matter, but rather that when you have your own sound it seems to print through. Obviously the gear has to be appropriate etc.
I always knew that the tone depends very much on the speaker, if not totally, because at the end of the whole chain from our hands and guitar and everything in the middle like effects and amp, at the end is the speaker that filters the whole sound, like applying a specific equalization that the speaker has which is really what's going on if you think about it. The tone is totally in the cone.
It's all important. Player, pick, strings, pickups, pickup height, electronics, cable, pedals, amp, speaker, preamp. Not to mention the gain staging between all these elements. The amp does matter - an Orange will not sound like a Fender (most obvious on distorted tones). Speakers are more important than some of these other elements, but the amp does matter.
My experience with speakers echo's all your points you've made in this video. I sold my Dave mustang cabinets 4 x12 the vintage 30 speakers I those cabs were amazing. Recently I played through all my Amps and they don't sound the same. The tone was coming from two cabs, my mustang cab and my uk made Greenback cabinet. Now I'm on the hunt to buy speakers
To be honest I couldn’t agree more, my Mesa is great I love it, but it doesn’t sound right with the wrong speakers, to be honest I get closer to the tone I want when I use my old WEM dominator.
Damn, you nailed that Back in Black sound. Im pretty new to electric guitar and honestly I didnt really think much at all about the amp or speakers. I put a lot of thought into the guitar, strings, and pedals, but I just got a cheap bass amp and have been using that and honestly I have no complaints, I can get to basically any tone I want by starting with a very full, warm sound and sculpting it with the pedals.
Been playing since 1979 & it wasn't until the last 10 years that the speaker lightbulb went on in my head although I still do put importance on the amp too, but I just never realized about speakers till I owned several cabs & kind of realized by accident. Just discovered your channel today & watched several vids. Great job & quite interesting.
I have the same 1960 Vintage Marshall cab. The guy I bought it from switched 2 speakers from his marshall 1960 lead. which has celestion g12 speakers. This cab is an absolute beast.
As with any signal chain stuff, the closer you get to the end of the signal chain, the more any changes you make matter. That’s why speakers and mics/mic placement have such a big impact on the overall sound.
God I wish there were videos like this for Poison or Black Crowes type stuff. The fact is that the amount of research I've had to do for CC DeVille tone is unreal. And the gear is all so weird and hard to find at this point.
As an amp builder I can confidently say that speakers and transformers are the majority of the tone of an amp. The amp does make a difference to a certain degree, a tweed will sound and feel different than a train wreck. But again you can change your tone so much by switching speaker. Saul marantz the hifi designer said “your sound is 70% your speakers”
I’ve got a Line 6 Amplifi 100fx, an Epiphone Dot and a Fender Nashville Deluxe Tele. That’s all I personally need to nail any tone from Brent Mason to Russ Freeman to Zakk Wylde. Agreed, no one needs to shell out thousands of $$ in order to maximize tonal palettes. Audio technology is a wonderful thing, so long as you know how to utilize it to its potential.
True the speaker is the most important part in the tone , BUT the Amp makes a huge difference if you distort itself No Pedals I bet you, crank that quad reverb and the jcm on 10, NO PEDALS throught the same cab and it will sound different
I 100% agree, that is coming from someone who had around 10 speakers lying around in his little 2 room appartment. I constantly swapped out speakers in my cab, and I also made a bunch of IRs for ease of use. The problem with speakers is that they seem not as sexy as other gear. I think because they are hidden in the cab and no one can see what you are using, most guitarists don't care about speakers. Speaker swapping is also kind of affordable, a good speaker is cheaper than most overdrive pedals.
You're absolutely right that speakers make the greatest impact on tone, but I think you oversold it a little bit. You can't plug a Deluxe Reverb into a Mesa 4x12 cab and get a Dual Rectifier tone. The amp matters, just not as much as most people think. Anyway, great channel!
Aaron. You gotta do some videos on how to build guitars. I’m currently trying to build my own accurate Cobain Jaguar. So any tips with that that i can use for my build? I also love your Ferrington. Which i also plan to build. Any tips with that?
Bro how did you only just appear in my recommended- your channel is fire Also being a filmmaker I got extra respect for you as I can really empathise with the drive to make your content as stylised yet human as possible
A fellow Quad Reverb owner. I got mine almost given to me by a band signed to CBS in the 80s ,it was just too big si I got it cheap, it has the best reverb ever and 4 Celestion 25watt green speakers. It handles everything at bar volume, bass,guitar,drumn machine, microphone for screaming extremely well. Great viddy . Pickup in the guitar make a mighty big difference too. For those on a tighter budget just get hold of a graphic EQ pedal.
This is totally right. You can try it yourself using virtual amps and IRs. Same sh*t happens here: get good IRs you love, and the ampsim doesn't matter much.
I own a Ceriatone JM50 and a Marshall Origin50. The Marshall plugged into a 2x12 cab with G12-65 Creambacks sounds stellar, I just got hold of a Marshall Origin 2x12 cab which is loaded with a pair of Seventy 80’s. Same amp settings in both cabs, the result is mind boggling. The 70/80’s cab sounds just so muddy, boxy, boomy, and gainey. The G12-65 cream backs however, crystal clear and a complete different sound. But here the thing, the Ceriatone JM50 and the Ceriatone SSS sound fairly similar in both cabs. So it isn’t just speakers but some amp mojo as well
Have you tried a Line 6 Helix? You can choose your speakers and mic placement. Would be cool to see you try to “Recreate that tone” on a Helix for comparison 🙂
His opinion of what "when I first started playing" means will change. I've been playing 20 years, and I'd say the first 5 years was when I first started.
I don't speak english (i'm from Argentina), but watched the whole video anyways, your videos' production are just amazing, love your channel! PD: Sorry if it's not well written, I'm an amateur and i'm trying to write without translator
Ahh sweet, I will! Jim Lill also did a fantastic video covering this as well. Im glad people are starting to pay attention to cones. Back in the day, nobody cared...
Interesting, but I have to disagree. I have tested amp-comparisons extensively. for example the Bob Marley „chucka“ is very close with a HotRod, but only really possible with a Twin (and Jensen). I then went on and looped my guitar-solo and played it through different amps, but used same mic and cabinet. Orange, Marshall, Fender, … very big difference. Maybe the speaker has more influence, yes. But the amp has influence too. PS: I heared that G12M-70 would deliver the best Nirvana-Sound. I don‘t like them very much (for anything else). I‘d use the G12M Greenbacks instead.
really the only thing that matters with the amp is whether it's a british style amp or an american style amp. ie, lots of mids, or not a lot of mids. usually you can compensate with pedals while I agree that changing speakers does a lot, some amps do sound really different through the same set of speakers
dude this intro might be the best sound I've ever heard, not tone, not riff. just the most pleasant auditory information to ever be processed by my brain
Aaron, I'm 74. Been playing since 1960. Gigging since 1965. Teaching and recording in studios since 1975. And I'm still gigging. I have a little bit of advise for you. Keep doing what you're doing! You've come a LONG way in a year and a half. When your playing skills catch up to your ear and anaytic mind . . . you're going to be an unstoppable force! My best to you young man!
man, id absolutely LOVE to just hear you tell stories of your experience with people, music, and mental health throughout all these decades, you must’ve seen, heard, and been through so much whether it was beauty or hardship and you’re only 74 years young! still got plenty more time to go. i hope to have that much life too! i’m freshly 18 just starting out my music career so i hope all goes well in the future and if not it’s no worries at least i’ll know i tried and just continue to enjoy it for me. god bless you wayne 🙌🏻
This channel has quickly become one of my favorites. You are hands down the best at recreating Nirvana tones!
@Hugo Mouto
I’ll absolutely agree with you Hugo. I’ve been playing guitar for 36 years & the tone chasing has STILL NOT ended for me. But I’ve learned so much from this channel that I’m realizing how much $$ & time I’ve wasted on buying amps, cabs & overdrive, boost & distortion pedals. I’ve never really considered the speakers really much at all…until I found this channel one late night after being super frustrated with my tone. Got quite a few different new & vintage Celestion speakers & a few different Warehouse Speakers that I’m gonna soon do a tone deep dive at home all alone. And I’m so excited about doing it that my inner nerd may completely possess me from now until forever! I love tone chasing with swapping preamp tubes…and soon, it’ll also be with swapping speakers!!! I fuckin’ LOVE this channel & his curiosity into everything between the guitar headstock all the way to the amp’s power cable & everything in between!!!🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻‼️
I think part of the issues is that players chase the tones they hear on the album, without realizing there is a lot of studio magic going on apart from the actual guitar and amp themselves. Stuff you can't replicate in your bedroom or with your band.
That is why you should apply that to live performances, not studio albums, and find out what was used, rig rundown by premier guitar helps with that, and of course there are artists who refuse to give away all of their secrets, and rightfully so, learning and applying it in your own unique way is fine, but people should stop copying and discover their own sound, so much is available these days yet most sound the same because they copy eachother.
Yeah the fact that it's being microphoned at all is the golden trick, where you place it is the trade secret
Just those 2 lone factors dictate MOST of what gets recorded, didn't even mention direct input haha
@@MrShadowofthewind True, but on a lot of albums, the guitars go through a setup of the producers choosing, or something the producer and guitarist choose together. Nirvana being a big case. Kurt used that Mesa Pre-amp - Live its was big and powerful, but Albini stated that for the studio it sounded like sh!t.
In my experience, studios are often seen as magic entities and I think that is kind of unfair. But what is true is that whatever ends up on record is never how you as a player will experience the sound of an amp. All tones we take as references are "recorded tones". Many people would be surprised in how it would actually sound when standing in front of the amp. Recordings never captures what you as a guitarist hear and feel when playing.
There are three variables that the studio adds to the sound:
1) The sound of the room it is recorded in: but for a lot of guitar amps this is often not so relevant because many are close miked so that the sound of the room is not really present, and many amps are not recorded in live rooms anymore but in iso booths (with the guitar player usually just in the control room);
2) The microphone and placement: this has a lot of effect on capturing the sound. Moving 1 cm in any direction will have a noticeable impact. The particular microphone used also shapes the sound dramatically as all microphones have their own sonic signature and response. Condenser vs ribbon vs dynamic. And even within a category, a Sure SM57, Audix I5, Sennheiser 421, EV RE20 are all dynamic microphones, but sound dramatically different in their voicing.
3) What happens in the mix. This has the least impact in reality but many ascribe a lot of "magic" to this. Yes it is true that compression and EQ are added to fit things in the mix. But it only levels out dynamics (compressors) or it cuts/amplifies parts of the spectrum already there. Any other variable has far more impact on the tone. For example: if you think the guitarist should have dialed his tone knob down more, it is not something that you can "fix" by just cutting some of the highs with the EQ in the mix. The effect and sound is vastly different because your tone knob, the EQ settings on your amp, etc all interact with the creation of the sound and the response of the components in the chain (like how the tubes respond, how the speaker responds to the load, even how the microphone used to record respond). Whatever you do with EQ during mixing only affects the already existing result of that full chain.
@@santibanks very true. I think it’s very difficult to show through recordings how a valve amp sounds compared to a solid state amp, but when you play through a valve amp loud it just somehow “feels” completely different.
not only do you recreate the tone but you also add such a cinematic touch to them and i think thats whats so appreciated
Toon Town!
This whole channel is one of the best examples of what happens when a guitarist goes "down the rabbit hole." And I love it.
“Secret to nailing ANY guitar tone” is pretty much having money
Dude's been playing guitar less than 2 years and has invested thousands of dollars into gear... that's commitment.
hes also a producer tho, so even if he stops playing the gear wouldnt go to waste.
Like $100k I bet!
Sounds normal to me
Is it possibile to know all these things with less than 2 years of playing?
@@ols-c6410 he's also sound engineer so... yeah , the sound has no secret for him I'd say.
Speaker is the overall filter and final EQ of the guitar, so it’s effect on frequencies is massive. But the amp is also extremely important, especially for compression/overdrive/headroom. The hard truth is that it all matters to differing degrees and in different areas. Find your recipe and have fun
I came here to say that. The amp gives the kind of distortion, its "grain", its bias, the compression, if notes sound articulate, clearly distinguished, ... and the base frequencies that are later cut by the speakers. The speakers cut freqs and yes, they give a very recognizable sound, maybe it's the most important part to mimic? But I don't think a modern Mesa distorted won't sound like an old Fender Bassman distorted, even with the same cabs. Anyway the insight is very valuable as it makes people know the great impact of speakers on tone. Thank you. I also love Nirvana.
Dude, I’m totally with you on this. I would love it if you shared impulse responses of your favourite speakers!!! Would you also share your mic setups for this too? You could start a new series on recording and mixing because you clearly have a good ear and well experienced in this field. Keep the videos coming. I’m loving your content so far 🤘
Yes, I second this..Please make IR's for all the CABs!!
You're right. Amp doesn't matter . . . when it's clean. If you're using a pedal into a crystal clean amp, the speaker is way more important than the amp assuming the amp can achieve the necessary clean headroom for your application. When you're playing a even a slightly dirty amp, the amp does have a noticeable impact that is only equal to the speaker -- not greater than.
I think this video might change your mind: ruclips.net/video/wcBEOcPtlYk/видео.html
Lol'd
Turns out amps do nothing at all, and it's almost entirely speakers
@@alf5617 But he shows in the video how the topology of each amplifier actually changes the tone
@@ImpostorModanica does he really
i never thought i would hear you play AC/DC but that was amazing
As a metal player I do think amps are significant to a degree because you’d want a good high gain amp. However as far as actual tone goes, you are very correct. I was also making the same mistake getting different amp heads trying to tone chase. Once a finally swapped cheap speakers out for greenbacks and vintage 30’s (in my case), finally wallah!
All I need to do now is sell some amp heads I ended up not needing in the first place.
Great video man.
The unplugged tone is so on spot … congratulations!!
The way you record to tape sounds absolutely gorgeous.. I'd listen to any song with that intro guitar tone
@@T.ELEGRAM-ME bruh yer fake yer name doesn't even match smh
Great video. So refreshing to hear a guitarist talk about speakers as the source of tone and not about amps or worse the infamous tone wood of the guitar. Instant subscriber keep up the great content
If you use plugins or digital pedalborad you might know that point, the importance of the cabinet is really great when you wanna develop a guitar tone.
I think there's something to be said about if somebody's getting distortion out of the amp primarily, but if they're doing that, there is also a real chance that somebody has created a pedal to recreate that distortion for any other amp to use. There are more dumble in a box type petals than I can count
This has revolutionized the way I look at tones
i loved the intro for this one because it sounded like a "western" like thing. also can't wait for the future interviews.
Absolutely spot on with this video! I recently took my Victory Kraken to my Uncle’s house to try it through all the different cabs he was selling at the time. Jumping from vintage 30s to greenbacks to this and to that, I could not fathom how much the tone was changing just because of the speakers.
I took me months to land on my ‘holy grail’ speakers which now sit in an old beat-up Marshall cab that blows everyone’s mind when I turn it up.
interesting... so what ends up being your holy graal speaker ?
Secret sauce speakers 🤔
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO DO UNPLUGGED!!!!! I LOVE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD AND UNPLUGGED IS JUST THE BEST!! Dude I've been having such a bad time in my life and not only did YOU inspire me to play guitar (And listen to Nirvana) which has made me so happy when things have been rough but you've done it in the best looking and best sounding way. Best music channel on RUclips hands down
Dude I’m so happy to see you reach this tone, I’ve been following your channel for sometime and have helped me so much with tone and my live tone. I give all the credit of my live and recording tone to you. Now let’s see some full never mind guitar covers🎸
Thanks Aaron, can’t wait to see yr next vid about that cab/speakers.
Brilliant Aaron - the Tone is in the Cone. Killer channel - love your attitude and approach. Cheers.
Can you go into more detail about how you go about navigating all the different variables that go into chasing particular tones? I’m curious to know how you find the balance between finding the right guitar, amp, speaker/s, amp settings, pedal selection, pedal settings, mic type, mic placement… etc.
How do you know which part of the equation needs altering?
Yup! called this from the beginning. I learned this early on with doing Izotope EQ matches to try and clone album guitar tones ha. The speaker (and cab) are definitely the master toneprint of guitar sounds, especially with driven guitar tones. There is SO MUCH information and stuff happening to a guitar tone with the EQ curve of a speaker, even if you just look at impulse response EQ curves. The amount of dramatic variance from speaker to speaker even of the same kind of speaker (aka one V30 to the next V30) is very noticable. Nolly has done a lot of really great videos talking about this as he (and a few others) have collected and documented hundreds of speakers and figured out the secrets of the best V30s especially, as well as greenbacks and other classic speakers.
Dude, I love the things you choose to play on your guitar. It just weeps emotion. I love it.
Given that nevermind is recorded with layers of guitar tracks and that I think those layers switch speaker types a holly grail cab would likely blend speakers. One would have to be a v30 and zomething like g12 65 or 75 in an x configuration. You could also run it in stereo cab setup with chorus effect on one side only to create a sudo layering effect.
Agree that speakers are a major tone shaping device. And even the same speaker can sound way different based on how old or broken in it is. I have several speakers and go back and forth depending on my mood or what I’m playing, but right now I’m enjoying a 50 yr old CTS and a newish but well broken-in V30. Not together, one or the other though a Deluxe Reverb.
so, instead of having a pedalboard, you could theoretically have a whole bunch of different speaker cabs with all kinds of wacky speakers in them that you can switch between?
Never been into re creating anyone’s tone. Agree that speakers are most significant, but amps do matter. Amps like pedals have their own sound characteristics. The amp I use on my left channel, a Fender BJ, attacks and decays faster than the Plexi on my right channel. If you look at the VU meters when recording this is obvious. Great video!
Hard agree with everything you said
1000%
Not to mention he's recreating Nirvana guitar tones, and Nirvana's sound was extremely stripped down (or so they said back in the day).
You could probably recreate Nirvana's guitar tone with a couple of guitar pedals (distortion and EQ) running straight into a power amp feeding the speakers. 🤷♂️
Simping for that next video
Hear hear
I finally found a quad reverb. Ugh I need to find a vintage cab with old speakers loaded in next
That nirvana tone is sick
Ps yeah tone is in the cone, that's why we're always switching up impulse responses and using FRFR speakers or powered PA speakers to NOT have that speaker coloration, so we can choose our own through the gear using cab emulations. For any given set, I'm using 3-4 different types of/combinations of cabinets & microphones. This is exactly why your impulse response is damn near more important than whatever amp you're using, cabs/speakers (and how they're mic'd) is EVERYTHING. Good vid
My favorite channel on all of youtube. For me as poor student is really helpful to know, that i can nail those tones without spending a fortune. Thanks for these videos.
Amazing video as always! 👏🏻
Love your vids also!
Kurt did not used his 1982 twin reverb on Unplugged Show. He used a silverface.
Yea, I think it goes, cab, speakers, eq then amp from most change to least, then further down the line the guitar type and pickups
this is THE video everyone needs to see. It's all about playing, pickups, speakers, and tubes. Amps are gain structures and EQ that can be adjusted, but the tubes have noticeably different qualities, the speakers FOR SURE, the pickups immensely, and then your fingers!!!!!
I have to agree with you on this. I’ve been writing a lot I recorded an album using Mesa speakers on the drive channel and v30 on the cleans I just started my new record with a new amp same cab and there is such little differences the feel is still there but sound is almost the same. My go to for a cab right now is a 1960 cab 2 v30 and two Mesa speakers gives it the best of both worlds using a prs archon as a amp and a bass vi for my main guitar always been inspired by Kurt’s work and your videos are great.
This channel has really stoked me. I absolutely love this
One of the most helpful guitar videos i have watched thank you for this information
Cool video and nice cinematography. Your insight is appreciated. Speaker and cab are basically EQ so yeah, if you have the right gain structure and timbre (guitar, pickup, pedal, amp), by changing speaker you can definitely make it or break it.
I am not tech savvy on this next point, but speakers are also wattage dependent (check what Bonamassa has to say on it), so depending on how much wattage the cone can handle you are going to also change the "body" of the sound (e.g.: flabby bottom end vs solid bottom) and this is a huge component.
This said, a more precise title for this video would be " How I get my Nirvana tones". To suggest that any amp can get you ANY sound you want by switching speaker, I cannot say that it is a true statement, and could be pretty confusing for people, especially if you are not showing your chain.
Every amp has their own gain staging and eq response that gives it a certain character, no matter the speaker.
Now, you could say that you could build some sort of "all purpose" rig that lets you emulate any amp gain and eq response (check out Jim Lill) and with the right speaker you could actually get most sounds. That would be an amp modeler basically.
A cool experiment for you would be to replicate the same sound, with different amps to actually prove that you can get the same tone with different amp except speaker, and also what adjustments you would have to do to the chain in order to do so.
Finally, aside the first sound sample which was very close, your tones were not as close in terms of EQ, actually quite different (in Bloom, Lithium) even though the character of the sound was definitely there. Did you try any mic position changes or any post production? I think you could have gotten even closer.
so dope to see u here bro
@@dominic5602 😄🙏
You should make and sell some IR-files with all those great speakers.
Agreed! It's really hard to find some of IR's of old speakers..
Was just about to make the same comment! It would be a good way to support his gear habit, too
I've been saying the same thing for a while as have many others and it's spot on! The one downside is collecting speakers and cabs takes up more room...but IR's don't!
I love your content man. Your passion bleeds through
i just love your work man
Thanks 😀 Glad you enjoy it!
Been down this road at the beginning of my guitar journey and the interesting discovery I’ve made at this point is that I can show up to rehearsal with any of my different guitars, switch up my pedalboard, swap amps when mine dies, and essentially sound like me. Listening back to recordings I couldn’t differentiate probably…maybe the amp.
Not that gear doesn’t matter, but rather that when you have your own sound it seems to print through. Obviously the gear has to be appropriate etc.
Man… I’ve been checking every day for a new vid.. thanks for all your work Aaron! Hopefully come as you are and drain you intro tones soon 🙏🏽
Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing information!!!!. Thanks Aaron.
Love what you're playing at the start of your video
I always knew that the tone depends very much on the speaker, if not totally, because at the end of the whole chain from our hands and guitar and everything in the middle like effects and amp, at the end is the speaker that filters the whole sound, like applying a specific equalization that the speaker has which is really what's going on if you think about it. The tone is totally in the cone.
Right on the money brother. Nice video. I’m starting to watch you everyday lately. Your becoming a regular 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉good job bro
The intros you make are so fucking good
Learning soooo much from this channel keep up the amazing work 🔥🔥🔥
Just gotta say, you have legitimately the best videos out there. The quality is just phenomenal man
It's all important. Player, pick, strings, pickups, pickup height, electronics, cable, pedals, amp, speaker, preamp. Not to mention the gain staging between all these elements. The amp does matter - an Orange will not sound like a Fender (most obvious on distorted tones). Speakers are more important than some of these other elements, but the amp does matter.
My experience with speakers echo's all your points you've made in this video. I sold my Dave mustang cabinets 4 x12 the vintage 30 speakers I those cabs were amazing. Recently I played through all my Amps and they don't sound the same. The tone was coming from two cabs, my mustang cab and my uk made Greenback cabinet. Now I'm on the hunt to buy speakers
To be honest I couldn’t agree more, my Mesa is great I love it, but it doesn’t sound right with the wrong speakers, to be honest I get closer to the tone I want when I use my old WEM dominator.
Damn, you nailed that Back in Black sound.
Im pretty new to electric guitar and honestly I didnt really think much at all about the amp or speakers. I put a lot of thought into the guitar, strings, and pedals, but I just got a cheap bass amp and have been using that and honestly I have no complaints, I can get to basically any tone I want by starting with a very full, warm sound and sculpting it with the pedals.
Been playing since 1979 & it wasn't until the last 10 years that the speaker lightbulb went on in my head although I still do put importance on the amp too, but I just never realized about speakers till I owned several cabs & kind of realized by accident. Just discovered your channel today & watched several vids. Great job & quite interesting.
I have the same 1960 Vintage Marshall cab. The guy I bought it from switched 2 speakers from his marshall 1960 lead. which has celestion g12 speakers. This cab is an absolute beast.
this is wild news, thanks bro
As with any signal chain stuff, the closer you get to the end of the signal chain, the more any changes you make matter. That’s why speakers and mics/mic placement have such a big impact on the overall sound.
God I wish there were videos like this for Poison or Black Crowes type stuff. The fact is that the amount of research I've had to do for CC DeVille tone is unreal. And the gear is all so weird and hard to find at this point.
Man I really like your video production it is amazing
As an amp builder I can confidently say that speakers and transformers are the majority of the tone of an amp.
The amp does make a difference to a certain degree, a tweed will sound and feel different than a train wreck. But again you can change your tone so much by switching speaker.
Saul marantz the hifi designer said “your sound is 70% your speakers”
Hey you became my favorite Nirvana source. Keep going.
I’ve got a Line 6 Amplifi 100fx, an Epiphone Dot and a Fender Nashville Deluxe Tele. That’s all I personally need to nail any tone from Brent Mason to Russ Freeman to Zakk Wylde. Agreed, no one needs to shell out thousands of $$ in order to maximize tonal palettes. Audio technology is a wonderful thing, so long as you know how to utilize it to its potential.
True the speaker is the most important part in the tone , BUT the Amp makes a huge difference if you distort itself No Pedals
I bet you, crank that quad reverb and the jcm on 10, NO PEDALS throught the same cab and it will sound different
Dude!!!! This's so cool!!!!! You're awesome!!!! All your recreations are amazing!!!!
I 100% agree, that is coming from someone who had around 10 speakers lying around in his little 2 room appartment.
I constantly swapped out speakers in my cab, and I also made a bunch of IRs for ease of use.
The problem with speakers is that they seem not as sexy as other gear. I think because they are hidden in the cab and no one can see what you are using, most guitarists don't care about speakers. Speaker swapping is also kind of affordable, a good speaker is cheaper than most overdrive pedals.
this channel is taking off. Incredible detail!
You're absolutely right that speakers make the greatest impact on tone, but I think you oversold it a little bit. You can't plug a Deluxe Reverb into a Mesa 4x12 cab and get a Dual Rectifier tone. The amp matters, just not as much as most people think. Anyway, great channel!
Speakers and pickups are #1 and #2 respectively. Great video!
Aaron. You gotta do some videos on how to build guitars. I’m currently trying to build my own accurate Cobain Jaguar. So any tips with that that i can use for my build? I also love your Ferrington. Which i also plan to build. Any tips with that?
If the amp is clean the tones come from the pedal and cone.
But i heard lot of edge of breakup when he play the jag.
Even in the box you'll come to find the key to tone is all in the impulse response. Great video really appreciate the craft
Thanks for sharing, very cool, now the search for the ultimate speaker begins!
Bro how did you only just appear in my recommended- your channel is fire
Also being a filmmaker I got extra respect for you as I can really empathise with the drive to make your content as stylised yet human as possible
Some of the best gear advice ever given!
A fellow Quad Reverb owner. I got mine almost given to me by a band signed to CBS in the 80s ,it was just too big si I got it cheap, it has the best reverb ever and 4 Celestion 25watt green speakers. It handles everything at bar volume, bass,guitar,drumn machine, microphone for screaming extremely well. Great viddy . Pickup in the guitar make a mighty big difference too. For those on a tighter budget just get hold of a graphic EQ pedal.
Yes. Cabs make a ton of difference!
This is totally right. You can try it yourself using virtual amps and IRs. Same sh*t happens here: get good IRs you love, and the ampsim doesn't matter much.
I own a Ceriatone JM50 and a Marshall Origin50. The Marshall plugged into a 2x12 cab with G12-65 Creambacks sounds stellar, I just got hold of a Marshall Origin 2x12 cab which is loaded with a pair of Seventy 80’s. Same amp settings in both cabs, the result is mind boggling.
The 70/80’s cab sounds just so muddy, boxy, boomy, and gainey. The G12-65 cream backs however, crystal clear and a complete different sound.
But here the thing, the Ceriatone JM50 and the Ceriatone SSS sound fairly similar in both cabs. So it isn’t just speakers but some amp mojo as well
Very honest video. Keep up the good work
Have you tried a Line 6 Helix? You can choose your speakers and mic placement. Would be cool to see you try to “Recreate that tone” on a Helix for comparison 🙂
His opinion of what "when I first started playing" means will change. I've been playing 20 years, and I'd say the first 5 years was when I first started.
What song are you playing at the beginning of this video??
It’s amazing
I don't speak english (i'm from Argentina), but watched the whole video anyways, your videos' production are just amazing, love your channel!
PD: Sorry if it's not well written, I'm an amateur and i'm trying to write without translator
Your English is really good!
@@cryptkeeper5 Thank you! i'm trying to make it even better, i still have some mistakes, but it's all about practice
You're doing really well!
"I don't speak english"
- procede a escribir un inglés con léxico casi perfecto
Man I wish you were around when I was still obsessed with Nirvana in high school
A vid on your recording / mixing process would be great. Capturing that tone is another important part.
Glenn fricker did an excellent video regarding speakers, I'd check it out!
I second this, him and Kohle are great! Also love Scott from Chernobyl Studios
true
Ahh sweet, I will! Jim Lill also did a fantastic video covering this as well. Im glad people are starting to pay attention to cones. Back in the day, nobody cared...
@@AaronRash I actually JUST sent a couple of those videos to someone on discord! Great stuff
Awesome content, I enjoyed this one. Keep it coming.
Interesting, but I have to disagree.
I have tested amp-comparisons extensively.
for example the Bob Marley „chucka“ is very close with a HotRod, but only really possible with a Twin (and Jensen).
I then went on and looped my guitar-solo and played it through different amps, but used same mic and cabinet.
Orange, Marshall, Fender, … very big difference.
Maybe the speaker has more influence, yes.
But the amp has influence too.
PS:
I heared that G12M-70 would deliver the best Nirvana-Sound.
I don‘t like them very much (for anything else).
I‘d use the G12M Greenbacks instead.
Brilliant as always. Favorite channel!
really the only thing that matters with the amp is whether it's a british style amp or an american style amp. ie, lots of mids, or not a lot of mids. usually you can compensate with pedals
while I agree that changing speakers does a lot, some amps do sound really different through the same set of speakers
dude this intro might be the best sound I've ever heard, not tone, not riff. just the most pleasant auditory information to ever be processed by my brain
I want dude to start releasing the music he makes in his videos. His original content. He might become my new favorite artist.
Very valid when looking for recorded tones.
I would love to see you using ANY of those amps plugged to a MESA Recto cab and make it it sound like a metal amp