Hey All,

I know it has been sometime since I have updated the old site here but things have been crazy in rock world. I just finished producing my good friends in Burning Empires (Misery Signals/Fall Out Boy) new EP, scoring a few TV shows, as well as continuing work on the new Darkest Hour record! Which of course leaves me little time to write. Never fear I will be back to answer your most burning rock questions but until then please check out the 30th anniversary issue of Guitar World!

Not only is Eddie Van Halen and Tony Iommi on the cover, not only is “Everybody Wants Some” tab-ed out, but yes yours truly’s rig is featured in the Vulgar Display of Power section. Yep if you ever wondered what I am running live or how I am doing it – it’s all there in full glory!

Even the new secrete of the Fender 5150 (3) is out so what is a dude to do!

Write more until then shred on!

The Dude

Check out this video as I profess my love for the Duncan family of pick ups at the Winter 2009 NAMM!

The Dude

Dear Dude,

I know you have mentioned this on your site before but I was looking for more detail. What noise reduction units do you use live and what would you suggest?

Thanks

(UN)Bring the Noise

Dear (UN)Bring the Noise,

A lot of guitarists out there don’t understand that the most important piece of gear on stage may be the one that is designed to make no noise at all. That’s right having a noise suppression pedal or rack unit is a must for any live guitarist. I am sure there are many dudes who haven’t thought hard about it but its true, hitting all those rest notes in your song is just as important as hitting all the other notes. Whether you’re playing screaming loud metal, rocking country, or even new age music, you don’t want your shit to feedback or even make noise when you’re not playing. So what does a dude like myself use to solve this problem? Well it all starts with my favorite piece of gear, and yep it makes no sound at all.

I have tried all types of pedals and rack units in my time. Having switched between using all types of heads, cabs, and combinations of pedals live I have put some shit through the ringer. What have I found? Well if I’m in a pinch and I don’t have my regular rig I may fall back on the old Boss NS 2 pedal. Simple and relatively inexpensive this is the most common noise suppressor I see out there. Most dudes just run it cranked as hard as they can. Now this pedal has gotten me though more then a few live concerts and don’t get me wrong it works (most of the time). But like I said the Boss NS 2, its just my fall back plan.

The unit I use live and swear by is my ISP Decimator Pro Rack G. This rack unit is stereo so it allows me to run two heads through it at the same time. This way I can set the threshold of either head in case one is running hotter then the other. Look this unit works; it cleans up the sound perfectly choking it tight and clean. You can set the sensitivity of each gate as well (something the boss pedal also doesn’t really let you do). This little guy is the secret to cleaning up my live sound on the front end, but its not the only secret.

For years I have been fighting light buzz and stage noise. Every night Darkest Hour is in a new club with different power circuits (shit sometimes we even play off of gas powered generators!). These different circuits and stage/house wiring make each night its own little adventure. Yep it means that every night when I plug in my amp we might have some new noise or buzz to contest with. Dude let me tell you it’s annoying as fuck! I hate stage noise it can take your concert from a 10 to a 7 real fast. But it wasn’t until recently that I discovered another technique that helped fight the war on noise.

The ISP is great but didn’t stop the amps from buzzing totally. To do that I had to rely on my old friend the effects loop. I have written about the many amazing uses of the effects loop but none work better then the one I am about to tell you. See in addition to running the ISP through the front of my rig I also run a separate Hush Super C Stereo Noise Suppressor though the effects loops of all the heads I am running. This allows me to clean up the signal between the pre and power amp of my head, and this is where 90% of my “unexplained” buzz comes from (by “unexplained” buzz I mean buzz that is not obviously associated with pedal or gain noise). By running a unit in the front of the head I can clean up all my pedal noise and by running a separate unit for the effects loop I can control my overall noise reduction even more.

Now, you probably aren’t running stereo heads, 9 or 10 pedals, an outboard effects unit, and fighting a shit load of lights for power every night so honestly the Boss NS 2 may just work for you (Or even the ISP pedal version of the rack pictured to the left).

The Boss NS2 is the most common noise suppressor unit that I see dudes rocking these days. Unfortunately it never really seemed to kill the entire buzz for me clean enough so I continued to explore more options. For me the only definitive way to control stage and amp noise is to use noise suppressor units in front of my head as well as in the Effects loop but, if I had to suggest any one unit for its ultimate rockness it would be the GSP Decimator Pro Rack G from ISP technologies, nothing sounds like nothing better then the pro rack G!

The Dude

That’s right first Washburn and now Randall. Recently, I took some time to hang with Jody and the good dudes of Randall Amplifiers while at Darkest Hour’s House of Blues show in Chicago. In this installment of Randall TV I go over the main features as well as little known secretes of the Randall MTS head, talk about my new love for the duel effects loop, and take some time to walk through the pedal board set up I’m currently running. If you see the Randall MTS in a music store try it out! But until you get a chance to hear how sick the MTS sounds check out the episode.

The Dude

The first installment of Washburn TV featuring yours truly can be viewed at the Washburn TV You Tube page. The good people at Washburn Guitars came down to our Chicago, IL date with At the Gates to film some footage, do a short interview, and party down. Lets just say we got all three taken care of! 

The Dude

Dear Dude,

I want to build an Isolation Cabinet that fits a 4×12 cab. I was watching the Darkest Hour webisode #2 video a long time ago and you were showing one off at the studio you recorded in. That ISO Cab looks like one of the best ones I have seen. Is there anyway you can tell me how to build that one or get me some designs of that Isolation Cabinet? I have looked at a ton of how to guides on the web and all I can find are temporary ones or ones that only fit 2×14’s and it is very frustrating. I am trying to start a home studio and it would greatly help me and my neighborhood out.

Thanks,
Quiet Riot

Dear Quiet Riot,

We did record the Deliver Us guitars in an Isolation Cabinet, or Isolation Booth. It was because the studio was part of a bigger studio so many sessions used the rooms next to and below us. In other words it was like recording at home except everyone around you was also recording. My point is you wanted everything to be isolated. The Iso. Booth is basically a box inside a box. You build a big wooden box and then inside that box you build another box. You need to have air in between them because air is the best isolation material. A guitar cab is miked in the center box and then doors are closed so that the guitar is closed in and the sound is closed out. It looked pretty hard to build and to be honest the guitar was still pretty loud outside of the booth. Since dabbling in the world of home recording I have fought the Isolation Cabinet wars, and here are some methods I use that are less complicated, and keep the neighbors from killing me:

The Guitar Blanket: I mic a 4X12 speaker cab with a Sennheiser 609 and a shure 57. I put my guitar cab in a separate room (you can even have the guitar cab in the same room with you, as long as it’s not facing you because you don’t want the noise of you playing the guitar to bleed into the mics). After the cabinet is miked, I place 3 sleeping bags over the cab. You have to be careful to not displace the mics, I use Z-bars because they don’t fall all over the place like stands usually do. I’ve been able to run a marshal 800, Randall MTS, Peavey 5150 all at around the volume setting of 3 or so and get a loud sound to tape with out even coming close to waking up the neighbors. I have not heard any noise or tonal loss from this method. If you cant get your vintage head to distort up that quiet I suggest a power break as I have mentioned in other posts.

The POD: Dude, the purpose of a pod is to replace the need for miking and loud noise. To be honest part of the guitar tone on Deliver Us is from a line 6 Pod. The producer, Devin Townsend, blended it with 3 other sounds to make the overall sound of the guitars on that record. My point is they sound good and we didn’t even need the booth. You
can get tons of great sounding guitars from those pods with out any of this trouble. When I record I probably use the Pod for half and the Guitar Blanket Method for the other half.

Randall Isolation 12’ Speaker Cab: This is the professional proposed solution. I have seen some sick metal bands use this live to isolate the sound of their guitars and I have been lucky enough to use one a few times. They are cool and do work. I don’t always like the same speaker sound so I stick with my guitar blanket method but the Isolation speaker cab does work and is a good solution to check out.

The Old’ REAMP: The re-amp is all the rage with producers I talk to these days. Basically it means that every time a guitar is tracked there is an additional direct signal that is tracked at the same time. The guitars are grouped together so the DI and Amp track match perfectly. This means that later the DI track can be run into any amp or guitar sound and re-recorded. This is so you can lay down your tracks with whatever sound you have at the time be it POD or 5150 in your bedroom closet and later replay that DI signal through any sick guitar rig at any studio in the world. Whenever I do serious home recording I record a DI signal. I mean you never know a good DI can give you the tools to make that good recording sound amazing.

The more you experiment and the more you play around with home recording the more you will realize you can make most any guitar set up sound cool you just have to use your ears to tweak those knobs. Its like guerrilla sound warfare, use whatever gear you have as many ways possible. Its how you learn to adapt to using all types of musical/recording gear and give you the ability to make a recording in your home people will think you spent millions on.

The Dude

Dear Dude,

I just bought a Marshall JCM 900 head and I am about to get the 1960 speaker cabinet. I also have a LINE 6 POD XT, a few analog pedals (Boss Metalzone, Marshall Jackhammer, Morley’s Bad Horsie, etc…) and have some questions that I’m sure you can answer.

Can the JCM900´s distortion be heavy or crunchy enough to play modern metal (IE Arch Enemy, Darkest Hour, ETC)? If not, is it better to play with my POD XT through the head’s clean channel? Would that result in a good sound? Or should I use my analog pedals instead?

When it comes to soloing, how would you boost the signal? Especially if it is the amp’s distortion that I’m using. What other equipment do u think I should get to improve my metal sound?

Thanks,
Metal Head

Dear Metal Head,

Whoa buddy, that’s a lot more then one question. But thankfully all these questions are intertwined in one man’s quest for the perfect metal tone. I will walk you though all these questions, but I got to warn ya, its not going to be pretty.

The JCM 900 is a tricky beast. There are many different types (IE the SLX model which is more gain, the duel channel model, the single channel model etc.) and let’s not forget they make 50 and 100-watt versions. I have used and abused JCM 900’s all over the world because it’s usually the amp that shows up when I request an 800 (most people don’t know there is a huge difference between the two). Even though there are many different types and styles of 900 my advice will always be the same: Dude, I’m sorry, but you should get a different head all together.

Whenever I’ve had to use a Marshall 900 for DH it’s always been nothing short of a disaster, and I have never seen a professional metal band of any type use one. Before answering this letter I wanted to try and give the 900’s the benefit of the doubt, so I called my main man, and uber producer, Paul Leavitt of Valencia Recording Studios (Senses Fail, Gwen Stacy, The All Time Low) for his advice. Paul is the only man on earth I have ever heard make a 900 sound good, but alas, after a few seconds on the phone with Paul I knew he was going to agree with me. Had he used a 900 on a good sounding metal recording? Yes, but only to layer over other guitar sounds. He was really happy with what adding this tone to the overall sound did for the recording, but both Paul and I both agreed the 900 sound just wasn’t great for metal in general. It sounds awesome for rock and punk but doesn’t have the nice low end, full gain, and overall drive that other modern gain amps have for metal.
If you are insistent on sticking with the 900 I would suggest playing around with a different tube set up. I have always found that installing 6505 or 6L6’s (which Paul suggests too) can actually add more low end, girth, and gain to the way most Marshall’s sound. As far as distortion pedals go I have always had good experiences with the Ibanez (and especially Maxon) tube screamers and have even used the Zakk Wylde MXR custom distortion pedal in their place. But neither of these pedals are going to make a 900 sound like a rectifier, 5150, Randall MTS, or even Marshall 800. I just haven’t stumbled across a pedal can do that!

Also, in my experience running a POD for distortion into an amp doesn’t ever sound good. Usually it is too muddy, too distorted, and kills most of the low end. In fact you would probably get a better over all metal sound if you just ran the POD directly into a PA (but lets not get into that because playing live with no amp might work for Mushuga but won’t for most people!).

Is there a possibility I am off my rocker and you have the best sounding JCM 900 in the world? Yes, absolutely. Don’t let my words discourage you from experimenting. And hey if you can make it sound cool then shit even email me back because I would love know what you were able to do. But, based on my extensive experience with many models of the 900 and the experiences of most of my peers, none of us think this is the right head for metal. What are good heads to start with? I believe you did ask what other equipment would improve your metal sound. Here are a few that are worth trying: Marshall JCM 800, Marshall JCM 2000, Peavey 5150, Peavey 5150 (2), Peavey 6505, Randall MTS, Krank Revolution, Mesa Duel, Single, and Triple Rectifier, Mesa Mark IV, and Mesa Stiletto.

I’m sure there were always people asking Dimebag why he didn’t use a Marshall amp and a Les Paul guitar. At the time Dean guitars and Randall Amps were not the cream of the crop, but he found something that was different and made it his own. So please experiment, that’s how you will eventually find your unique sound, but since you asked this dude, I’m going to serve up some rough justice and tell you the JCM 900 is not the best head for playing modern metal.

The Dude

Dear Dude,

I always hear people saying that a cranked tube tone is the best. I’ve been to plenty of live shows but the amps were usually miked into the house PA, never needing them to ever be turned past 3 (not saying they weren’t). I’ve always had solid state or hybrid amps, but nothing as loud as the 6505 I just purchased. When I’m at home I play at around level 3, so I could totally see myself blowing a speaker or losing sound quality around 6 or 7. I’m wondering if I’m putting my cabinet, or even head, in harm’s way by really letting the thing crank? My current setup is an ESP viper, 6505 head, and a Basson 4×12 cabinet.

Thanks,
Crank it to 11?

Dear Crank it to 11,

Live volume and more directly, stage volume is a battle fought every day in clubs throughout the world. This battle pits would-be guitarist against the ever knowing (or at least ever-claiming to know) house sound man. Now, if you are lucky enough to travel with your own sound guy (like myself, wuz up Johnny!) then you will get the distinct pleasure of battling the same person night after night! So how loud is too loud? Is there such a thing as to loud? And what’s a reasonable stage volume? Can playing too loud damage your gear? These are questions I have asked myself many times, and here is my take on where you should set that dial.

I am very familiar with the 6505. I have had all models of the 5150 line as well as a few different versions of the 5150 II and the 6505. I have mentioned before that it’s my safety amp because if you get them in relatively good condition they all tend to sound relatively the same. Not something you always want in an amp but it does get the job done. On the 6505 (the distorted channel we are talking about here) there are two volumes you need to be aware of, the Pre Amp (PRE) control and the Master Volume control (POST). Your overall volume and tone for this amp is basically the blend of these two knobs.

I have never run a 5150/5150II/6505 live with the POST volume louder then 5 (and 5 is pushing it, I usually have it at around 4) and I usually run the PRE volume at around 4 or 5. I use a tube screamer or Ratt pedal for extra distortion. I don’t like how the preamp gain sounds after it gets past 5 on those amps. If you listen when you crank that up you also get all sorts of extra high and ultra low end that to me just makes it sound too muddy. I see other dudes out there making the grave mistake of cranking up that PRE knob way too loud. Just to be clear, you can’t “cover” up sloppy or inconsistent playing with more gain. Don’t fall into this trap. Metallica, Magedeth, ACDC, Van Halen, Slayer, Anthrax, all the great shredding bands play with minimal gain in order to have each note sing. Even Dimebag who did play with a shitload of gain made sure it was still clean and clear so watch out with that PRE knob on the 6505, its not just a distortion or volume knob.

I would say if you run your head consistently or even a few times with the POST on 7 or higher you may damage that head. I doubt you’ll fuck up a speaker cab but it is possible. The quality of the tone and overall sound on most modern amps tends to deteriorate when you turn them up too loud. See, the idea of cranking up a tube amp comes from the olden days when you had to crank it up to get any distortion. Now amps are made to get those sounds at minimal volume and they don’t really have the same characteristics as their older counterparts, so cranking them up doesn’t add anything to the over all sound quality.

If you have an older amp and want that crazy ass sounding rock distortion, but don’t want all the volume, you can always look into what is called a power break. Marshall makes a really good one. I got into the power break when I had my experimental stage involving Marshall JMP’s. They were loud as fuck (like, I mean, too loud to even play a show with) but it was the only way to get that sound I wanted. The power break worked great for me. It’s designed for the specific purpose to allow you to run those tubes hard and still get overall volume control.

Volume is all about moderation. You want the guitar to sit well with whatever you’re doing. If your just jamming at your house or recording I would say put the PRE volume at 4 to 6, depending on how hot your guitar is, and put the POST volume at like 3 or so to jam or record. If you’re rocking with a band then push that bad boy up to 4 or 5 with the POST volume. A 5150, 5150II, 6505 should be loud as shit when placed on the distorted channel, POST volume at 4, and PRE volume at 5. If yours isn’t then maybe it needs new power tubes or there is something else with your set up that might need tweaking. I frequently change the power tubes on my heads. It’s expensive but it absolutely affects the overall sound.

It’s good to know that most pro musicians don’t run their actual amps that loud. You might see them on stage with a wall of amps behind them but most of the time only one head and cab is turned on. Shit, I have seen some big, big, big metal bands play with walls of amps but have their actual live sound coming from small combo amps or even pods. Many musicians prefer to run their amps quiet I think most notable, Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. I have read more then a few times that he prefers his stage volume very quiet and I think few can argue with the power that is Rage live. Keep all this in mind when you enter the battlefield of volume and live music. You want to find a good combination of your tone, your volume in relevance with the other instruments, and of course your overall sound in the front of house (or live room).

The Dude

Dear Dude,

I play in a death, thrash, speed metal band from Denver, CO. We mix both distorted and clean sounds live but have had many problems doing so. Do you have any tips for creating a good clean tone live? It seems like it is always louder then my distorted tone and just makes everything sound lame when the distortion is quiet and weaker then the clean sound. Both myself and the other guitarist use Krank Revolution guitar heads with Marshall cabs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Mr. Clean

Dear Mr. Clean,

Getting that perfect balance between your distorted and clean tones live can be a real pain in the ass. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen bands play live who have that great clean or acoustic part come in, and all of the sudden the guitars get real loud (the clean tone just cuts through) making the distorted guitars seem weak and washed out in comparison. So, what is the best way to get a nice clean sound and still get that killer distorted tone?

I’ll put it right out there on the table; this problem is so hard to deal with sometimes I try my hardest not to have to deal with it at all. In other words, I can honestly say that my constant frustration from getting that good clean tone has affected the way I write songs. So, is there no hope? Of course not, here are the 3 time tested ways I get around this problem when I, indeed, have to face it.

1. Duel Action: This is actually the professional solution and to me the best sounding, but unfortunately, for you and your boy, it means getting another guitar amp. Yep, the best way to get both that killer clean tone and crushing distortion is to use two amps. Just like the way I suggest running two heads together (using the whirlwind A/B box), the same concept follows for your perfect clean/distorted set up. Your best bet is to get a nice combo, I really like my Vox AC 15 but any fender, Marshall (pref. JCM 800, 900, or JMP combo) or Orange will sound killer. In theory you can use any amp that has a good clean sound. A combo works well because you don’t need volume or tubes to break up and usually you don’t want to have to set up an entire half stack just to get that clean tone live. Running two amps lets you set the distorted volume way louder then the clean. It also allows your soundman to dial in two different levels with two different mics. Using this system is really the only way that I have seen the dynamics of clean to distortion tones really pay off live. It allows you to get two distinctly different tones and blend the volume and kick of both so that you can switch appropriately between the two.

2. Pull out the pedal: The second solution is one that I actually currently employ live. It involves one piece of gear, the Ernie Ball Volume Pedal. I like the volume pedal because, it not only backs off on the gain when you sit back on it, but it also backs up on the volume. Using a volume pedal to get your clean tone gives you a way to make sure the dynamics between clean and distortion are very clear. It makes sure that when you slam that volume pedal down live that all the power and volume of your amp comes back too and that gives your overall sound that push you want it to have when switching from a clean to distorted tone. (Be warned if your running a noise gate this could cause problems. You may need to back off the gate or even turn it off before you decide to roll back on the volume pedal).

3. Better have a good knob turner: The last solution is one that I have seen bands at many levels try to use. But, it only works if you have your own trained and professional soundman. This third solution involves sampling the clean tracks from your record and using those samples live. This gives the overall sound of your live show a nice produced feeling and when done right can sound amazing. It does however have its limitations: it leaves a lot of room for mistakes, it means the drummer must play with either a click or the sample live if the part involves any other instrumentation, and It gives you the unfun ability to never change anything. It also relies solely on the competence of your live soundman so don’t try this with a guy who doesn’t know your songs or doesn’t know what he or she is doing because this option done wrong can leave you standing on the middle of a stage looking at a crowd with no sample playing.

Remember when you’re playing live and switching between distortions and clean it’s really all about one thing, dynamics. I mean that’s the reason you wrote the clean part in your song anyway, so it can have dynamics against all the distorted rock! So make sure you nail that component live. When done right there is nothing more sick then the dynamics that come from songs that weave in and out of distorted and clean guitars.

The Dude

Dear Dude,

I own a Krank Revolution and Marshall JCM 900 head. I would like too know how to run both heads through one cab. Is there any advantage in doing so? I love the tone of both heads and would love to create a single tone from both of them. I have a Mesa standard cab. I get confused with all the ohms and shit so I was wondering if you could help me out?!

Thanks,
Double Shot of Rock

Dear Double Shot of Rock,

Ow….you are so close my friend. So close to the true secret of LIVE rock toneage! Translation; mixing the sound of two or more heads is the real secret to nailing that sick guitar tone live. I have been running stereo guitar heads live for almost 12 years. I originally saw guitarist Ken Olden, of Damnation A.D., run two Marshall JCM 800 at the same time and I was sold. It sounded so full, so loud, so raw, and yet so under control that I had to try it. Once I did my young rock mind was blown. Here are the best ways I have found to run duel heads live:

First, you really shouldn’t try to run two high gain and high powered amps through one cab. I think it probably would be possible to run both through a guitar cab that could be set to stereo (in other words you would be using the two jacks on the back of standard Marshall Cabinet instead of just the 4 or 16 ohm side). But I have never really tried it, because, like I said, I think it’s a bad idea. If you want to blend the sound of the two heads, then you want the extra width of sound that is added when you use two cabinets. That’s how you get the sound of two half stacks at once. This allows you to run one on one side of the stage and another on the other side giving your audience your blended tone in true stereo. Trust me, just go out and buy another cab.

OK, so now you have two cabs and two heads. For me the classic set up was two JCM 800’s, then I changed to two Peavey 5150’s, and later found that I actually liked the sound of one 5150 and one JCM 800. Recently I switched to the Randall MTS heads. Since you can customize them a bit more, it allows me to use the same heads but different preamp modules. Now I can get that blended sound on 3 guitar channels and if I ever want to just have the same sound doubled I can do that too. But either way, my set up will work with whatever heads, or combination of combo amps and half stacks, I use.

I have three time tested ways of spitting signals. The first is simple; I use a Whirlwind A/B box. They are fucking amazing. You can use them to split a signal or combine a signal. They allow you to switch one off or toggle between each. It’s really cool if you’re running two heads and two cabinets at the same time on two different sides of the stage. You can really fake the sound of two guitars better this way (its not perfect but it’s pretty good). I used to use two different overdrives for my 800’s so I would go from my guitar > Boss Tuner > Whirlwind AB >> two tube screamers >> two Boss Noise Suppressors >> two amps.

Sometimes I use the stereo split of my Line 6 pedals (and this will work with most stereo splitting pedals). This does not give you the options that the A/B box does and I am convinced there is some tone lose this way, but I have done this overseas and on many tours when, well, everything else breaks. This is a good way if you need to do this on the fly.

The third way is now my current mode of split-a-tion, if you will. Right now I run through all my effects and then send them to my Decimator ProRack G Noise Suppressor. I use the stereo split on the noise gate to run to two Randall MTS heads. I am also running a Digitech GSP 1101 as my effects in the loop’s of the heads so that gives me the ability to make all my delays and effects true stereo (again if your running your cabs on two different sides of the stage you will now get that stereo sound of those effects live). This is my new way but I am not yet convinced it is better then the original Whirlwind A/B.

There ya go dude, my advice go buy another cab since you have Mesa check out a Marshall, Randall, Emperor, or an Orange cab to compliment that. Oh, and turn that shit up loud!

The Dude

*Read the Gear Guru's take on this letter here.