A confession....

[Music&Chaos]

I was blessed to be able to listen to some guitar greats as a kid, Vai, Satch, EVH, etc but never got to really listen to Gary Moore. Lately I have been going through various tracks by him and really enjoying myself overall.

His tone is really vintage and chirpy for a shreddy guy.... like what my own has become over the years.

Something about the guitar tone on The Messiah Will Return Again reminds me of the Blues Heritage set I have - a lot.

I would think his set has A2s though and this uses rough A5s. Still, they sound similar with that vintage growl and clarity and kind of scream going on.

Wonder if I popped some A2s in here what they would sound like.

My neck pickup is clearly also not reversed or anything but yeah, as soon as that track came on, it made me think of that set I have.....


Anyway, what a tone monster. Very unforgiving and direct kind of sound that I really enjoy.

 

[PDC]

I really dig the experience of 'discovering' a plyer or a band that was right under your nose back in the day but for whatever reason, you didn't listen to the first time around. Think about it - back then with no internet, you didn't have immediate access to everything - you only really listened to what you reached into your pocket and bought at the local music store. It is cool finding something new and letting it grab you.

 

[Music&Chaos]

I really dig the experience of 'discovering' a plyer or a band that was right under your nose back in the day but for whatever reason, you didn't listen to the first time around. Think about it - back then with no internet, you didn't have immediate access to everything - you only really listened to what you reached into your pocket and bought at the local music store. It is cool finding something new and letting it grab you.

Exactly!!!

 

[Geo]

Same here, I was late to the Gary Moore party a little late also.

One of my faves.

 

[SFW]

I discovered Gary when he released Still Got the Blues. He was on an episode of Rock Line. For those old enough to remember that radio program. I went out and bought the CD the very next day. It is still one of my all-time favorite albums. From there I discovered his back catalog. He has been a huge influence on my playing... though I don't hold a candle to him. His tones on Blues Alive are my benchmark for rock tone.

 

[griff10672]

I discovered Gary when he released Still Got the Blues. He was on an episode of Rock Line. For those old enough to remember that radio program. I went out and bought the CD the very next day. It is still one of my all-time favorite albums. From there I discovered his back catalog. He has been a huge influence on my playing... though I don't hold a candle to him. His tones on Blues Alive are my benchmark for rock tone.

Rockline was the Syndicated show on Saturday nights right ??? or am I thinking of something else ..... ???

 

[DrewJD82]

Oh, I’ll probably ruffle some feathers here, but I actually just put some Gary Moore on my phone last week to dig on at the dog park. I’ve heard so much about this dude’s playing and particularly his tone but never dug on it myself.



Am I missing something here? Playing is fantastic, dude needs no defense there, but that tone sounds like a Digitech 2101, or maybe a Quadraverb GT.



While I found this MUCH better without that horrid chorus, I can’t say this moved the needle all that much for me, I dunno if this was his SLO era, but it just sounds like a Les Paul into a Marshall with too much dirt to me. Like, of course that shit is going to sustain like that, listen to how much fucking distortion is on it!

Or is a thing where his studio work isn’t the stuff I’m supposed to pay attention to? Again, I’ve got no gripes with his playing and totally dig all of it and understand why others do, but the tone I’m just dumbfounded on.

 

[Geo]

Oh, I’ll probably ruffle some feathers here, but I actually just put some Gary Moore on my phone last week to dig on at the dog park. I’ve heard so much about this dude’s playing and particularly his tone but never dug on it myself.



Am I missing something here? Playing is fantastic, dude needs no defense there, but that tone sounds like a Digitech 2101, or maybe a Quadraverb GT.



While I found this MUCH better without that horrid chorus, I can’t say this moved the needle all that much for me, I dunno if this was his SLO era, but it just sounds like a Les Paul into a Marshall with too much dirt to me. Like, of course that shit is going to sustain like that, listen to how much fucking distortion is on it!

Or is a thing where his studio work isn’t the stuff I’m supposed to pay attention to? Again, I’ve got no gripes with his playing and totally dig all of it and understand why others do, but the tone I’m just dumbfounded on.

It's hard for some to appreciate the tremendous blues talent GM was.

It's more than just the different era's of guitar tone.

 

[VonBonfire]

It's hard for some to appreciate the tremendous blues talent GM was.

I enjoy some Gary Moore but I'd definitely call him blues-rock, not blues.

Or is a thing where his studio work isn’t the stuff I’m supposed to pay attention to? Again, I’ve got no gripes with his playing and totally dig all of it and understand why others do, but the tone I’m just dumbfounded on.

Hey it was the 80's, lol.

Personally I think his best tone was his '59 LP into a Marshall like you see in the Thin Lizzy live in Sydney performance. Some of the greatest rock music ever played live IMO. 3:19

 

[Geo]

I enjoy some Gary Moore but I'd definitely call him blues-rock, not blues.

Those faces he was making while playing were definitely blues faces.

 

[DrewJD82]

I enjoy some Gary Moore but I'd definitely call him blues-rock, not blues.

Hey it was the 80's, lol.

Personally I think his best tone was his '59 LP into a Marshall like you see in the Thin Lizzy live in Sydney performance. Some of the greatest rock music ever played live IMO. 3:19

THAT’S what I’m lookin’ for!

 

[Texsunburst59]

Gary Moore is one of my favorite guitar players ever too.

I got to see Gary in the late 70’s when he was touring with Thin Lizzy.

I remember he had great Marshall tone back then, and I don’t know if he was using an overdrive or distortion pedal back then .

I do know in the 80’s and ‘90’s he started to use different OD’s and distortion pedals, and would stack several of them .

I do agree some of his later tone could get kinda processed sounding, but I think he used too much OD/Dis. and modulation in front of of his amp.

Here’s some of the pedals he used.

 

[VonBonfire]

THAT’S what I’m lookin’ for!

Dude has the fastest trills I've ever seen a guitarist display. Insane chops. And dude was versatile too. There is a video somewhere of him even doing some nice jazz style licks. You might like the tone here as well:

 

[Speeddemon]

Oh, I’ll probably ruffle some feathers here, but I actually just put some Gary Moore on my phone last week to dig on at the dog park. I’ve heard so much about this dude’s playing and particularly his tone but never dug on it myself.



Am I missing something here? Playing is fantastic, dude needs no defense there, but that tone sounds like a Digitech 2101, or maybe a Quadraverb GT.

You know what it reminds me of; the tone of one of the guitars on Priest's bonus track "Prisoner of your Eyes"... where it sounds like someone skipped the amp altogether in the studio and just hooked up a Rockman or other mediocre distortion pedal directly to the mixing desk... That grating high-end... The 80's DI sound basically...

Especially from 3m19s onwards:



but on the subject of Gary Moore, ain't nothin' wrong with this tone (given that it's 1990: )


Whole bunch of Soldano's behind him.

 

[WizardAmpIphoneClip]

Also shows how wasted Thin Lizzy were to chase Gary away on more than one occasion

 

[Music&Chaos]

The tone here is really solid - and this open, chirpy, singing sound is more like what the Blues Heritage set I have is.....now that I think about the name.... I wonder if it was a purposeful homage I didn't catch - like when I bought the 'Poundcake' set lol.







Everyone mentions that the magnet is flipped in Greeny but no one talks about the neck pickup itself being swapped, having the polepieces and slug reversed - which ALSO affects the tone. I see repro sets that look like normal pickups instead of having you flip the poles - wrong.

 

[legend71]

Peak Gary Moore for me will always be "The End of The World." I liked him better as a proto metal guy than as a bluesman. Still got the Blues is a great record though for sure. After he did that thing with Bruce and Baker, he went full on blues rock and I lost some interest. I prefer John Norum and John Sykes over him, but he was a massive influence in Europe on many of those guys and I dig him.

 

[DrewJD82]

Dude has the fastest trills I've ever seen a guitarist display. Insane chops. And dude was versatile too. There is a video somewhere of him even doing some nice jazz style licks. You might like the tone here as well:

Hahahahahah the tone is great but the amp hiss in the beginning is fucking awesome.

I knew there had to be other tones he was known for aside from what’s on those two songs, I’ve heard too many people I’m a fan of geek out over him. The vid @Music&Chaos posted is outstanding as well, that’s like RIGHT where it’s at for me. I like enough treble in there that there’s some sting to be felt if one wants to bite.

 

[The Polish Hammer]

Rockline was the Syndicated show on Saturday nights right ??? or am I thinking of something else ..... ???

I do believe it was a Sat night show.
I was in high school 90-94 and it came on at like 10pm or something.
PYX 106 (here in the NY area) was the station that had it.

 

[Music&Chaos]

Hahahahahah the tone is great but the amp hiss in the beginning is fucking awesome.

I knew there had to be other tones he was known for aside from what’s on those two songs, I’ve heard too many people I’m a fan of geek out over him. The vid @Music&Chaos posted is outstanding as well, that’s like RIGHT where it’s at for me. I like enough treble in there that there’s some sting to be felt if one wants to bite.

Hearing that tone is making me appreciate the set I have in my Les Paul. I was messing about with the magnets but after hearing that and recalling the stock sound - I gotta get the original mags in there.