6 replies to this topic

[rammandcfc]

Hi all!

Would anyone be able to help out a confused noob please????

I've been trying to learn guitar for a couple of years now... I had an old cheap electric that a mate gave me with a Marshall MG10 cd practice Amp.

Anyway I've always wanted to be able to create something near to John's sound (especially from BSSM era) and have started to get some new gear (I understand I won't be able to get his sound without spending a fortune but just something fairly close would be great!)

I've just bought a nice new Mexican strat which I'm sooo pleased with, I just need a decent Amp for home use that will make the most of my strat (it doesn't sound too great through the MG10 lol).

Also, I've just ordered a DS-2 pedal from ebay, have I done the right thing!? From what I've read that would be wise?!

Do I also need to get a compression pedal? Would a Boss CS-2 (or CS-3?) be a good buy for BSSM sounds?

Like I say I really am quite new to all this so please go easy on me, I hope I haven't asked too many stupid questions!!!!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreaciated!

Many thanks

Ram

[fenderfunk14]

contrary to popular belief, you dont need to spend a fortune in order to get johns sound

ds-2 was a good move

a compressor is nice, but not really necessary. john uses a mxr dynacomp on the album along with some rack compression

a chorus pedal will be helpful, as john plays a lot of those tracks with a subtle chorus effect

and a wah would also be a good purchase


a pedal i've recently tried and fallen in love with is the EHX Knockout Equalizer. For about $70 you can really dial in some amazing tones. with it ive been able to get john's snarly strat sound out of a pretty boxy/dark sounding amp. it's a great product and i highly recommend that you check it out on youtube or in a store.



like everyone else will say...the tone is really in the fingers. work on attacking the strings like john does, and play with the neck pickup on the strat and you'll be there in no time

[surfsunadam]

ff14 is right

take that little video 'John Frusciante Bedroom lick". It's still johns tone, even though he is playing through no pedals and a little fender practice amp.

work on
Rhythmically free and loose, but muscularly strong and controlled right hand and wrist

Strong left hand fingers to press down very hard on the strings

A certain arrogance

Small microtonal bends on 3rds and 7ths

[anachronism]

Get a wah, you'll want one of those. Doesn't have to be a WH10 clone, I'd recommend strongly that you never touch a WH10v2, but that's just my personal bias. He uses the wah pretty heavily in BSSM. Dunlop Crybaby oughta do it for you.

You don't need a compressor, you'll be fine without one. It won't sound as pretty, but it'll still sound right, if that makes any sense.

Chorus is like the compressor, it's something he doesn't dial in heavy enough for you to really need.

With a wahwah and a ds2 you should be able to play all the songs at least and have fun with it. I think most of the BSSM album he just used a compressor to get a fuller sound out of his neck pickup so you'll be alright playing without one, and the chorus was pretty much the same; that's all just gloss.

Basically play a lot, practice those same songs a lot. When you've got them down so well that you're totally comfortable playing them and you're not looking at your fingers or really worrying about what you're doing, you'll be able to get the feel with that gear. Anything else you get's just to please your ear.



AMP:
As far as the amp goes I have a Blackstar HT-5 right now, and I love it. I'm an idiot so I can never get the American/British balance right for whatever I'm playing, but I still love the amp. Before that I had a Fender Frontman 15R, which I still keep even though the clean channel is dead because I like the distortion out of it. Its only settings are loud and off, but it's been a great amp. That said, my brother has a Marshall MG10 (MG10CD?) and I think that amp actually gets the right BSSM sound when I go treb7, mid4, bass6, reverb4. If those settings don't cut it for you, I guess you're shopping for an amp. Try playing Under the Bridge (and don't be too, too picky). That sound's not the hardest to nail.

[rammandcfc]

fenderfunk14, on Mar 30 2010, 01:12 AM, said:

contrary to popular belief, you dont need to spend a fortune in order to get johns sound

ds-2 was a good move

a compressor is nice, but not really necessary. john uses a mxr dynacomp on the album along with some rack compression

a chorus pedal will be helpful, as john plays a lot of those tracks with a subtle chorus effect

and a wah would also be a good purchase


a pedal i've recently tried and fallen in love with is the EHX Knockout Equalizer. For about $70 you can really dial in some amazing tones. with it ive been able to get john's snarly strat sound out of a pretty boxy/dark sounding amp. it's a great product and i highly recommend that you check it out on youtube or in a store.



like everyone else will say...the tone is really in the fingers. work on attacking the strings like john does, and play with the neck pickup on the strat and you'll be there in no time

Thank you all so much for taking the time to help me out!

Hi Fenderfunk14, glad I haven't made a mistake with the DS-2! Think I'm going to leave the compression for now then and maybe look at that in the future. (I'm making a note of all the gear you mention so I'll have a browse for them!)

I'll look into the chorus pedal and wah thanks, it's good to know how he gets these sounds!

I had a look at the Knockout equalizer on youtube, that does look very impressive too! I've got so much to think about now, it's great to see what's available..

Yeah the technique is something I really need to work on, it's going to be great practising with this gear now though, gives me even more incentive to practise

Thanks again!

[rammandcfc]

surfsunadam, on Mar 30 2010, 01:21 PM, said:

ff14 is right

take that little video 'John Frusciante Bedroom lick". It's still johns tone, even though he is playing through no pedals and a little fender practice amp.

work on
Rhythmically free and loose, but muscularly strong and controlled right hand and wrist

Strong left hand fingers to press down very hard on the strings

A certain arrogance

Small microtonal bends on 3rds and 7ths

Hi surfsunadam! That bedroom lick video is great isn't it, I hadn't seen it for a long time and never realised before you said that he is just playing into the practise amp! Just shows what can be done doesn't it!

Thanks for the technique tips I think it's going to take some time for me to get good at this, but it's going to be a fun journey, I appreciate the advice. Like fenderfunk14 said also, I think I need to attack more, I tend to hold back a bit on that at the moment, proably cause it's still a bit new (and I'm scared of hurting the new guitar lol )

[rammandcfc]

anachronism, on Mar 30 2010, 10:01 PM, said:

Get a wah, you'll want one of those. Doesn't have to be a WH10 clone, I'd recommend strongly that you never touch a WH10v2, but that's just my personal bias. He uses the wah pretty heavily in BSSM. Dunlop Crybaby oughta do it for you.

You don't need a compressor, you'll be fine without one. It won't sound as pretty, but it'll still sound right, if that makes any sense.

Chorus is like the compressor, it's something he doesn't dial in heavy enough for you to really need.

With a wahwah and a ds2 you should be able to play all the songs at least and have fun with it. I think most of the BSSM album he just used a compressor to get a fuller sound out of his neck pickup so you'll be alright playing without one, and the chorus was pretty much the same; that's all just gloss.

Basically play a lot, practice those same songs a lot. When you've got them down so well that you're totally comfortable playing them and you're not looking at your fingers or really worrying about what you're doing, you'll be able to get the feel with that gear. Anything else you get's just to please your ear.


AMP:
As far as the amp goes I have a Blackstar HT-5 right now, and I love it. I'm an idiot so I can never get the American/British balance right for whatever I'm playing, but I still love the amp. Before that I had a Fender Frontman 15R, which I still keep even though the clean channel is dead because I like the distortion out of it. Its only settings are loud and off, but it's been a great amp. That said, my brother has a Marshall MG10 (MG10CD?) and I think that amp actually gets the right BSSM sound when I go treb7, mid4, bass6, reverb4. If those settings don't cut it for you, I guess you're shopping for an amp. Try playing Under the Bridge (and don't be too, too picky). That sound's not the hardest to nail.

Hi anachronism! Thanks also, that's a wah added to my shopping list, I'll checkout the Dunlop crybaby, cheers!

Yes that does make sense about the compressor, you guys have given good advice here as I'll hold off on that for a while and see what I can do. I just can't wait till the ds-2 turns up so I can really start getting to grips with it all and like you say practise a lot!!!

That Blackstar HT-5 sounds great, just looked at a review It's good to hear what amps people have used and what they prefer. I'll take a look at the Fender Frontman 15R too. Yes it is the MG10CD I have, it seems a reasonable little amp to me (not that I know much!) I'm going to try the settings you suggested and see how I go, that's really helpful thanks! I'll have a mess around with it on UTB and see what I can get it sounding like!

Thanks again to all of you for being so friendly and helpful, no doubt I'll be back to pick your brains again!!