Queensryche Empire Tone

Bronco

Bronco

Well-known member
Been listening to this a lot recently...love the tone! IMHO the perfect amount of gain, clarity, and eq. Anyone have any idea what DeGarmo and Wilton were using back then? I've heard a couple of Kemper clips from Big Hairy Profiles that sound pretty spot on (Bogner Fish and ADA MP-1), which would make sense since it was 1990 in the hey day of racks.

Thoughts?
 
Fairly sure it's Soldano.....have a GP or GW from that era with DeGarmo and Wilton on the front somewhere, remember them raving about the crunch they got on Empire. in a video interview from same era too.

Totally agree..epic tone! \m/
 
From http://ampsandgreenscreens.com/2013/06/16/interview-with-michael-wilton-of-queensryche-61013/

Amps: I understand you used a lot of gear from the Mindcrime/Empire-era for recording. How was it going back to that, and did it have any impact on your writing mindset for this record?
Michael: Yeah, I still have all my old amps and guitars. We recorded the guitar parts for the album at my place, Watershed Studio where I have my arsenal of Marshall amplifiers, the JCM 800s that were used on Mindcrime, and for the tried and true lead sound we used the Roland JC-120. You know, (former guitarist) Chris DeGarmo and I have used that amp on so many different songs. It’s one of those things that just works great, and I hope they still make them!"

EDIT:
Derp! Wrong album.
 
they always had good taste in tone.. I always read they used modded marshalls or marshalls for that record.
 
Guitar World Nov. 1990:


I can’t even remember what I’ve got in my rack," says Wilton. "I think I’ve got an FET 900 Carvin power amp, a Tubeswork Mosvalve power amp, a Wizard preamp, an ADA preamp, a Yamaha compressor..." He considers for a moment, and resumes: "Oh yeah, I’ve got an Erickson audio flanger, an ART EQ, a Yamaha SPX 90 II, a Yamaha SPX 900, an Eventide H-3000 S, a Passac eight-channel mixer, a Korg tuner and two Furman power conditioners. "I’m probably leaving some things out," he says. DeGarmo agrees. "The rig I’m using is monstrous." "I’ve got a Carvin FET 900 power amp, a Soldano preamp, a Unity 8 Passac mixer, a SPX 900 Alexicon PCM 70, an ART multiverb, a BBE Sonic Maximizer, a t.c. electronic spatial expander for chorusing and flanging effects, a JBL compressor, and a rig which allows me to patch other amplification devices into my set-up. It was built by Allan Holdsworth. It’s all digital; everything’s 16 Bit processing or higher. I’ve also got one of the new Eventide H-3000 S harmonizers."


I have an interview from GFtPM and chris mentions that a traditional marshall head was their base sound...so who knows what that would mean haha
 
I believe I remember seeing Degarmo's rack on that tour and it was the same he described above, Soldano preamp/Carvin poweramp setup.
It was one of the first racks I heard live that would spillover effects when changing patches. Sounded amazing live, even with the sonic maximizer in it :D They supposedly used the live setup for that album, but who knows. Thier core rhythm sounds were generally Marshalls.
I always thought the Rage for Order tones were amazing. Not super gain by any means, but perfect blend of gain, tightness and aggression
 
Amazing that now probably all of that can come from a 2u rack plus another 2u for a power amp.

But all of those guys had great tone. The bassist too; sounds killer.
 
Saw the Empire tour. One of the best shows I have seen.
What's funny is even though I was a guitarist. I just remember hearing 'the songs ' and didn't pay attention to the guitar tones. Helluva show. :yes:
 
thenine":1gi3ns1m said:
Wilton was also one of the first XTC guys I think
Click to expand...

Either him or George Lynch. I think I remember reading liner notes from the Sacred Groove album saying Lynch was using a proto XTC in the studio - but I could be mistaken
 
Well if the GW interview is correct, then at least ADA MP1 and Soldano X88...my Kemper is on the way, and I've got some Big Hairy Profiles of each that hopefully will do the trick :thumbsup:
 
Wilton and his XTC came in on the Promise Land CD. I remember this being the album they all brought their ADAT's with home recordings to the studio and patched together the album. Wilton said they striped everything down to his LP Custom and the XTC.
 
mixn4him":38cz1iqg said:
Wilton and his XTC came in on the Promise Land CD. I remember this being the album they all brought their ADAT's with home recordings to the studio and patched together the album. Wilton said they striped everything down to his LP Custom and the XTC.
Click to expand...

I've read that he also used a Marshall Jubilee for a lot of the tones.
 
I have a magazine interview with Degarmo and Wilton and they actually thought, listening back, that the lead tones sounded annoying to them.
 
Great tone! Listening to it now since seeing this post.

A big improvement from the thinner tone of Mindcrime, plenty of attack \m/
 
JTyson":1em1f8fc said:
It was one of the first racks I heard live that would spillover effects when changing patches. n
Click to expand...

I used a Rocktron Intellifex Ltd to get that spillover when we used to do covers of them back in the day... :rock:
 
cardinal":2l9e9acw said:
Amazing that now probably all of that can come from a 2u rack plus another 2u for a power amp.
Click to expand...


Plus a million dollar studio equipment, loads of talent, experience and work spent on mix etc. ;)

But you are right. I should consider this when I get my next GAS attack :doh:
 
danyeo":1cegi1ix said:
I have a magazine interview with Degarmo and Wilton and they actually thought, listening back, that the lead tones sounded annoying to them.
Click to expand...

Can't get that. :confused:
 
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