Lead and rhythm tones

[mightyboy88]

Hi guys, lets have a discussion on how we all get our lead and rhythm tones.

Personally for lead i have a compression and clean boost going into a blackstar ht distx set for a lead setting with heavy mids and a high volume with gain almost halfway up.

I then use an eq pedal after the distx to attenuate the volume and scoop the mids out for a rhythm tone, and i remove the compression and switch the clean boost into a tubescreamer set for slight gain and high volume.

I also have a volume pedal to control overall volume levels( placed after the eq pedal)

** Apart from my ht distx, all the other "pedals" are actually from my boss gt-10. I place the ht distx in the effects loop of the gt-10 and use it as my main distortion


I used to have my distortion unit setup for a rhythm tone and then boosting it with a eq pedal placed after the drive units for more mids and volume. However, i realised that on certain amps this can lead to feedback and harsh clipping. Somehow when u have too many pedals engaged at the same time at high volumes there is always some feedback going on. Hence i switch to my current method of having lesser "pedals" engaged at high volumes.

I have not tried my new setup at gigs or practices yet. Do you guys foresee any problems with using this method?

What methods do you guys use to get a variation between your rhythm and lead sounds? Care to share ?

 

[CyanideJunkie]

Old school method:

If I'm using my Les Paul, my bridge humbucker's volume is always set at a lower volume with the tone knob rolled down a smidge compared to my neck humbucker(fully open) for rhythm tones. If I want to switch to lead, just a flip of a switch will do.

If I'm using my Tele, it's just the volume & tone knobs and me, since both pickups are wired to the same controls.

 

[Likui]

for my rhythm I plan to use the blackstar ht blackfire which will be arriving next mth, I'll probably use a scoop setting with ISF to the USA side max gain fury channel, then for lead i'll use my wampler triple wreck, I use a moen effects commander to switch between the 2.
But i'm considering other pedals also like toneczar openhaus or okko dominator for rhythm

 

[Godspeed64]

I raise the level of my bridge pickup so that when I swap between pups, I get a volume boost. Just personal for me I prefer the bridge pup tone to cut better whilst the neck pup for sludgy-fuzzy leads.
Rhythm tone is usually an SD-1 (MIJ) for the mellow stuff, or a Si Fuzz Face for more dirt. For leads I would kick on my Ge Fuzz Face set at higher volume levels to cut through better, or if I'm using the Si portion for rhythm, the SD-1 acts as a fantastic pre-dirt boost.
The fuzz factory is sometimes used when I have more lead-like rhythms (eg. Plug in Baby, Sleep Now In The Fire).

Just a short demo but Youtube kinda clipped the audio even more.

 

[mightyboy88]

wow godspeed u seem to be a great fan of fuzz. hahah nice tone and nice playing, the SD-1 seems really really thick as a booster. Very nice. Thanks for all the sharing.

I guess another great way of getting a good lead n rhythm tone would be to have two different distortion pedals individually for rhythm or lead, like likui and godspeed.

Cyanide I tried this method before but it doesnt work for me coz i want my rhythm sound to be thick oso with saturation, rolling off the volume knob reduces alot of gain and not so much of volume for me. But i do roll off my volume knob abit and throw more gain into the drive so that i can play around with the gain variation abit. Hahah

Are you using amp distortion? Does the characteristics of the volume knob vary differently from amp and pedal distortions?

 

[keithC]

wow Godspeed thats some tone you got there, may i ask what amp is that? tube?
fuzz sure is interesting... needa research on si vs ge type fuzzes...

 

[Godspeed64]

All solid state. Thanks for the comments guys.
Oh wow speaking of volume knobs, here's how I use my Night Train:

Gibson SG.............................Vox Night Train!

Gain on NT is maxed, and I only need a volume knob to get from clean to rhythm to max saturated lead tones. Kinda makes me wish I had 1 volume knob instead of 2 (like a strat). And I need a treble bleed mod as well.
But well, Voxes are the kings of clean-ups!

 

[Rokken]

i'm using a strat. rhythm=bridge pickup, lead= mostly neck + abit of bridge. that's all.

 

[wck]

Godspeed: Your fuzz is power man and the SG into the night train sounds like a good combo.

Using a strat with low output pickups and a blackstar HT-5.

Low gain rhythm: Skrewball or blues driver.
Mid gain rhythm: Skrewball + BC108 fuzz face. Sometimes I stack the BD-2 with the skrewball.
Hi gain rhythm: Goose fudge 73

Lead would be a whatever I have for rhythm + my zendrive in a low gain setting that has a mid and treble boost. When I use the fuzz face I do use the volume knob for clean up/ boost also.

 

[CyanideJunkie]

Cyanide I tried this method before but it doesnt work for me coz i want my rhythm sound to be thick oso with saturation, rolling off the volume knob reduces alot of gain and not so much of volume for me. But i do roll off my volume knob abit and throw more gain into the drive so that i can play around with the gain variation abit. Hahah

Are you using amp distortion? Does the characteristics of the volume knob vary differently from amp and pedal distortions?

I use a mix... If the amp at the venue I'm playing at has a good dirt channel, I use it with my vox v810 in front of it to give it more push. If not, I have my marshall guv'nor mk I to supply the distortion. IMO the tapering effect of the volume knob varies slightly between amp and pedal distortion... I find that it sounds best with amp distortion as it sounds more organic, but it could just be me being a traditionalist lol...

Your picking style/dynamics can also play a significant part on your sound... A thicker sound can be achieved just by hitting your strings harder and closer to the neck pickup where the string vibration is stronger.