5 best Holy grail tones

[Tawlks]

Lynch - Back for the Attack
Lynch - Under Lock and Key
Malmsteen - Odyssey
Zakk Wylde - No Rest for the Wicked
Andy Timmons - Electric Gypsy

These tones are subject to change on a daily basis..except for Lynch. Those two will remian in the top 2 spots for me.

+1 for electric gypsy.

 

[xXxGhotimanxXx]

Tool - Undertow
Tool - Aenima
Tool - Salival
Tool - Lateralus
Tool - 10,000 Days

Adam Jones, guitarist for Tool, has a very unique tone. Despite that fact that his gear is relatively simple and well documented on the net...his tone is illusive. Must be in the fingers mostly.

J

+1.. Love Adams tone live and on records..

The tone he has on Sober is what first got me into these guys..
The songs are so layered, even after listening to them for years I still hear parts I hadn't heard before all the time.

Self admitted Jones Toanz fanboi, right here

V.

+1.
Adam + Les Paul+wah, flange, delay, boost, EQ, and volume right into the front of the amp + Marshall Superbase + Diezel VH4 = nearly impossible to duplicate tone and a live sound to die for.

J

 

[LP Freak]

VH1
Scorpions- Blackout
Gary Moore- Still Got The Blues
Zakk- No More Tears
Skid Row- Monkey Business


This one always makes the hair on my arm stand up.

 

[Mauler]

I forgot to mention Andy Timmons - Resolution as being THE studio recording that sounds more organic than any other record I have ever listened to.

 

[the rossness]

Van Halen- Pleasure Dome or Little Dreamer
The Beach Boys- Lahainia Aloha
Queen- One Vision (Live at Wembly in 86')
Dokken- Point of No Return
Joe Satriani- Flying in a blue dream (Live in SF)

 

[FourT6and2]

Tool - Undertow
Tool - Aenima
Tool - Salival
Tool - Lateralus
Tool - 10,000 Days

Adam Jones, guitarist for Tool, has a very unique tone. Despite that fact that his gear is relatively simple and well documented on the net...his tone is illusive. Must be in the fingers mostly.

J

+1.. Love Adams tone live and on records..

The tone he has on Sober is what first got me into these guys..
The songs are so layered, even after listening to them for years I still hear parts I hadn't heard before all the time.

Self admitted Jones Toanz fanboi, right here

V.

+1.
Adam + Les Paul+wah, flange, delay, boost, EQ, and volume right into the front of the amp + Marshall Superbase + Diezel VH4 = nearly impossible to duplicate tone and a live sound to die for.

J

I disagree. It's very easy to get that sound. Any modern high-gain amp plus any older lead-spec Marshall (1959 Super Lead, JMP or even a JCM800) will get you that sound as long as you EQ the amps right and use the right speakers. Not hard at all. I got that sound with a Dual Rec. I got that sound with an Uberschall. I got that sound with a Plexi (Opiate and Undertow tones). I got that sound with just the VH4. I got that sound with a Chupacabra. And etc.

I sat in on a jam session and this guy was using a tiny 8" practice amp and he got that sound as well. A good amount of gain + lots of mids = Tool's sound. Of course there are nuances and details that will be missed. But the general feel is there.

The gear he uses isn't special or anything. It's just a bunch of Boss pedals into the front end of a Marshall and a high-gain amp.

 

[Blackie08]

EVH- VH1
EVH- Fair Warning (unchained)
Lynch - ULAK/BFTA
Vivian Cambell- Holy Diver Album (rainbow in the dark)
Jake E Lee - Badlands

 

[billboogie]

Pete Willis/High&Dry
Jimmy Page/Prison Blues/Outrider CD
Ritchie Blackmore/Made In Japan
Robin Trower/Live Anytime
Jimi Hendrix/Wind Cries Mary
Gary Moore/Live Anytime
Keith Richards/Can't You Hear Me Knockin
EVH/1984
Randy Bachman/BTO era Live
David Gilmore/Live Anytime
Iron Maiden/Recent Live Shows
Paul Kossoff/Live
Don Felder's Fuzzy Compressed Eagles Tone

 

[RockNRun]

Van Halen- Little Dreamer

Damn good call, forgot about that one, incred tone.

 

[rlord1974]

Just some quick thoughts. The list is in no particular order and is by no means exhaustive in nature.....

Pulled together as: Player / Band / Album / Song (if relevant)

1.) Jimi Hendrix / Jimi Hendrix / Radio One / Driving South
2.) Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin / Led Zeppelin II / (Any Song)
3.) The Brothers Grimm / AC-DC / Back In Black / (Any Song)
4.) Jerry Cantrell / Alice In Chains / Facelift / (Any Song)
5.) Billy Duffy / The Cult / Electric / (Any Song)
6.) Colin James / Colin James / Bad Habits / Bad Habits
7.) EVH / Van Halen / Van Halen / (Any Song)
8.) Mick Mars / Motley Crue / Dr. Feelgood / (Any Song)

 

[Death by Uberschall]

VH1
Gilmour - all of it
SRV - Couldn't Stand the Weather
George Lynch - ULAK
John Sykes - Whitesnake

 

[xXxGhotimanxXx]

Of course there are nuances and details that will be missed. But the general feel is there.

This is what I'm talking about...I've yet to hear anyone nail it. Heard lots of people claim to nail it, but haven't seen/heard any evidence...just lots of posts like this one. Also, I've seen the few videos you have up and, like most, although the tone is similar...it's just similar. No offense intended. If you've got some audio/video to back it up, I'll eat my words gladly . But until then, I stand by what I wrote.

J

 

[stephen sawall]

Of course there are nuances and details that will be missed. But the general feel is there.

This is what I'm talking about...I've yet to hear anyone nail it. Heard lots of people claim to nail it, but haven't seen/heard any evidence...just lots of posts like this one. Also, I've seen the few videos you have up and, like most, although the tone is similar...it's just similar. No offense intended. If you've got some audio/video to back it up, I'll eat my words gladly . But until then, I stand by what I wrote.

J

What about the fact Adam's sound changes over the years. I have seen every tour since the beginning and the live sounds and recorded sounds have changed a lot over the years.

Bottom line is no one has ever completely copied anyone's sound. It is just not a possibility .... you can get close to many peoples sounds ... but never duplicate.

Even if you played Adams riffs on his rig you are not going to sound exactly like him. In fact you will sound very different.

 

[twenty4_7spy]

VHII - Light up the Sky, DOA
Accept - Balls to the Wall
BS - Neon Knights, and also NIB - off of the Live Evil album
ZZ Top - the entire live side of Fandango, the Rev captured at his absolute BBQed best
Ratt - Lay it Down
Robin Trower - the entire Live! album, here's one that would benefit from a remaster/remix

 

[skoora]

ZZ Top - the entire live side of Fandango, the Rev captured at his absolute BBQed best

God, that is a good tone. Super fat and raw all at the same time.

 

[xXxGhotimanxXx]

Of course there are nuances and details that will be missed. But the general feel is there.

This is what I'm talking about...I've yet to hear anyone nail it. Heard lots of people claim to nail it, but haven't seen/heard any evidence...just lots of posts like this one. Also, I've seen the few videos you have up and, like most, although the tone is similar...it's just similar. No offense intended. If you've got some audio/video to back it up, I'll eat my words gladly . But until then, I stand by what I wrote.

J

What about the fact Adam's sound changes over the years. I have seen every tour since the beginning and the live sounds and recorded sounds have changed a lot over the years.

Bottom line is no one has ever completely copied anyone's sound. It is just not a possibility .... you can get close to many peoples sounds ... but never duplicate.

Even if you played Adams riffs on his rig you are not going to sound exactly like him. In fact you will sound very different.

So true...on all accounts. Good example of this is that Dunlop gear video...there's a part where the tech is hitting some notes on Adam's guitar and it sounds like dirt.

J

 

[supersonic]

ZZ Top - Afterburner
Brian May- Any
Eric Johnson - Tones
SRV- Couldn't Stand The Weather
EVH- 5150 (Live Without A Net)

 

[polaris20]

AIC - Dirt
Candlebox - Candlebox
AC/DC - Back In Black
SRV - InStep
EVH - Early Stuff

Great list! That Candlebox record has killer tone on it, I almost forgot how sweet it was.

Especially the clean tones. As for me, going through my iTunes catalog:

Nuno Bettencourt: Waiting for the Punchline - just a dirty, raw, skanky tone. My favorite of his.
John Petrucci: Train of Thought - Roadking at this point, sounded nice and heavy
Ty Tabor: Please Come Home, Mr. Bulbous - Ty could play through a kazoo and sound good. I've got no idea what he was even using at this point.
Steven Wilson: In Absentia - at times powerful, at others delicate and ethereal
Adam D.: Times of Grace - just an awesome, tight modern tone.

 

[mrkmas]

first 5 that come to mind are

david gilmour - The wall
metallica - black album
gnr - appetite
randy rhoads - Blizzard of ozz
Mick Mars - Dr. Feelgood

Notable mentions:
David Gilmour ( any floyd or solo album)
iron maiden
eric Johnson
B.B. King
Joe Bonamassa
Robin Trower
Satriani
cant forget hendrix
clapton

 

[some dude]

Dirt
Hetfield on the Black Album
Iommi on the Live in '75 bootleg
Hetfield on Ride the Lightning

Clean
Hetfield on MoP

There's plenty of other great tones, but those are probably the one's that have influenced my tone the most.