Awww shoot....thanks guys! you really are being too kind.

I think that I am going to try and tweak the tone of that clean intro rig to get it to sound better.
It was kind of a challenge to get the tapped harmonics to jump out on a "clean amp"!
I was eq'ing it with allot of mids and highs to help it out, and when I'd try to add some lows to get the tone to fill out more, the harmonics would get lost!
So I put the Gray Comp on at the front of the rig and that definitely helped, but it's still too "thin" sounding to me.

If I get it closer to the real song, I'll be redoing the intro...cause it's FUN TO PLAY! (and I wont rush it next time )

And like allot of you, Van Halen was the reason why I picked up the guitar in the first place. I am officially known to all of my friends as the "VH expert" or the "VH nut"!
Even my mom call's me to tell me if she hears something about VH on the news or on the internet! That, and Star Wars...I guess she thinks that I never outgrew either of them! (and she's right)...


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Lol!!!!!!!!! This is WAY funny Mike & may the force be with you in 2013 son!

X

Honestly mikefront, your playing is what is working the magic in that clip! I think the Singtall Krunch patch is a killer classic Marshall tone in a very general sense. You can go in lots of directions with it, and with you at the wheel it totally goes in a Van Halen direction as well. Mad props bro!

With you as well, Lord X-der!!!!!!!!



You are too kind sir...too kind!
And YOUR playing on "Somebody get me a Doctor" has me wanting to jam on that tune too (and try to NAIL IT half as good as you did)!

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Well done! Did you use any eq's ect - I am trying singtall's presets today and they all sound a bit trebly to my ear even on my humbuckers. Am comparing mine to yours (singtall's krunch)Anybody having the same issue and maybe knows how to correct it without messing up the preset?

Thanks

btw they still sound so Great! just a bit trebly to my ears - maybe it has to do with my guitar - there is the perfect distortion but smooth feel that i searched for so long

It could be your particular guitar/pickup combo. But yes, overall I agree it is a bit trebly and has a very pronounced upper-midrange bump. Personally or me, it is an ideal sound signature but that is my preference. I will add though, that these are the frequencies that I've found are what is needed to cut through a mix. I don't know how many times I've dialed up a glorious woody brown sound in my basement, and then showed up to the gig and have our engineer tell me it's getting buried.

Step one of course is make sure all your rig settings are backed up and stored securely. The rig files are so small you can afford to save every iteration. I start with the amp controls, and if they can't get me where I want, carefully begin to tweak the para eq's. A/B the crap out of everything at every stage of the process, and every time you think you're close, save a new copy of the rig. Happy tone hunting!

I should also add, I don't believe tone is *all* in the fingers as some would say, but I do believe a good part of it is. This is a perfect example of that. Mikefont is really doing something special with this preset, with his guitar and his fingers. I can't get the Singtall Krunch patch to sound like that. When I use it, it has more of an 80's arena rock tone. Somehow it turns into a brownsound when Mikefont gets a hold of it. Maybe he can let us in on his secret!

LOL...my secret is to stand on one foot when playing....but I aint gonna tell you which foot!



Seriously though, I appreciate the compliment!
The guitar that I used for it was my old Kramer Focus 2000 (alder body/maple neck/rosewood fretboard) with a SIN EVP humbucker bridge pickup.

@ Mountainking...I just used the preset straight. I did not alter it or add any extra eq.

And actually FWIW, I was VERY aware of my technique when playing this tune. The dynamics of how hard or soft I picked the strings at certain points, rolling back on the volume knob and picking lighter on the cleaner parts, slight palm muting at certain times instead of letting the chords ring out too much, etc.. are all part of it.

I think the slight palm muting when playing a chord is one of the keys to getting the sound into the "brown" range (along with that midrange bump that you mentioned)!

When I play, my pick hand is almost always slightly resting on the bridge. This way I can roll it forward to palm mute...a little forward for slight mute, or way forward for full on mute. And I practically NEVER strum the strings in the middle (like over the neck pickup). When I do, I find that I dont control my tone or unwanted strings from ringing out as well.

And that's my insight on getting the "brown sound" with playing technique...FWIW

Rock on my bruthas!

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Thanks for the reply Jason. I think you mentioned a great point there,I am mainly listening to the guitar only and not mixed with other instruments,so that is something I will surely keep in mind. I agree though - Singtall's presets are ace, you can go from clean to lead in one single preset just by volume knob manipulation alone and thats great