Adam Jones tone on a budget (not anymore) for Tool cover band

[mermer]

Hi all,

I will play in a Tool cover band and need to (!) build a budget friendly and easy rig.

The candidates for the guitar are: Edwards Les Paul Custom or Used ESP EII Eclipse. In any case I can change the pickups to Duncan Distortion/59.

For the amp/pedals: Quad Cortex OR a Synergy Diezel VH4 or Friedman IR-X/IR-J oriented rig with pedals. Synergy / Friedman seem to be cheaper at the beginning but with the pedals it tends to come closer to the price of a Quad Cortex.

I am open for any suggestions, would like to hear your experiences as well.

Many thanks!

 

[CrystalSky]

Hi all,

I will play in a Tool cover band and need to (!) build a budget friendly and easy rig.

The candidates for the guitar are: Edwards Les Paul Custom or Used ESP EII Eclipse. In any case I can change the pickups to Duncan Distortion/59.

For the amp/pedals: Quad Cortex OR a Synergy Diezel VH4 or Friedman IR-X/IR-J oriented rig with pedals. Synergy / Friedman seem to be cheaper at the beginning but with the pedals it tends to come closer to the price of a Quad Cortex.

I am open for any suggestions, would like to hear your experiences as well.

Many thanks!

I mean if you tried QC and it works for you, it would be a good swiss knife for upcoming projects too. But I am not smart and don’t even play well, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

 

[mermer]

I mean if you tried QC and it works for you, it would be a good swiss knife for upcoming projects too. But I am not smart and don’t even play well, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

I did not try it before, just gathering options

 

[CrystalSky]

I did not try it before, just gathering options

I am just going with logic here. Synergy rig would be more or less one trick pony for this gig. QC can be a multipurpose rig. People say it sounds quite nice. Worth going to a shop nearby, nowadays those Neural products are everywhere. Plus they now have smaller iterations like Nano and Mini, so might be even cheaper.

 

[CoreyW]

If I were trying to cop an Adam Jones rig, my first item would be his Epiphone sig.

 

[japetus]

Since you are talking about IR stuff, I am assuming you are recording and playing live with some good PA systems? As far as a guitar, whatever Les Paul you like and plays the best to you. There are a ton of badass 90's LP studios with ebony boards that sound great.

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

If I were trying to cop an Adam Jones rig, my first item would be his Epiphone sig.

+1. Played one a few months ago and it was really hard not to bring it home. Only reason I didn’t is that I already have an LPC. Was a killer guitar.

I think the Marshall he runs is important to the sound which gets expensive with a Diezel too so maybe I’d lean QC. Honestly I bet a Marshall JVM would be killer for Tool stuff and there are some deals on the used market

 

[Sixstringflannel]

You can pick up some of the less desirable artwork Epi AJ LP’s for a good price then run a QC and have multi amp + multi cab style setup that would do a really good job. The Epi’s are pretty darn good, I’ve played both.

 

[teestone]

Any LP with a JB in the bridge. As mentioned, a JVM would be serviceable and affordable. A Boss BF-2 and DD-3 and maybe an EQ and Boost to manage the dynamic changes between parts. Learn to use the volume knob for all the nuanced transitions and/or deploy a volume pedal.

 

[GuitarVacation]

I’d go Synergy VH-4 with an LP, hot bridge.

My LP has the trusty JB/Jazz combo, I’d feel well equipped with the VH-4 module.

I know you want a less than giant rig, but I’d be really tempted to run 2 cabs, hell my old ass uses 1x12’s all the time anyway. Be cool to have the 2nd gained up Marshall sound with the Diezel. Power amp would be the toughest part to do to run both without significantly growing the footprint and expense.

you have a 20 watt Marshall head and an extra 1x12 kicking around? Probably not, and I’m probably already going overboard for what your after.

 

[DanTravis62]

Since you are talking about IR stuff, I am assuming you are recording and playing live with some good PA systems? As far as a guitar, whatever Les Paul you like and plays the best to you. There are a ton of badass 90's LP studios with ebony boards that sound great.

This is the real question, you can get close to that tone on a budget a myriad of different ways.


The question is what kind of PAs are the venues going to have?

If you're going to have incredible sound reinforcement, the modeler or IR system will be great. If you aren't? It's going to sound like shit.

If you aren't going to have incredible sound reinforcement, you're going to need a cab or dedicated power amp FRFR or something

 

[japetus]

This is the real question, you can get close to that tone on a budget a myriad of different ways.


The question is what kind of PAs are the venues going to have?

If you're going to have incredible sound reinforcement, the modeler or IR system will be great. If you aren't? It's going to sound like shit.

If you aren't going to have incredible sound reinforcement, you're going to need a cab or dedicated power amp FRFR or something

I'd just get a LP Studio and probably a 5150 inonic combo, a delay and a wah as a "budget rig" for Tool

 

[DanTravis62]

I'd just get a LP Studio and probably a 5150 inonic combo, a delay and a wah as a "budget rig" for Tool

Any LP or LP-type with a JB would be fine

I'd be way more finicky about the amp tone - probably have to do a synergy plus power amp or maybe even a full VH2

You could probably get away with a VH4 pedal into a marshall of some kind as well

 

[japetus]

Any LP or LP-type with a JB would be fine

I'd be way more finicky about the amp tone - probably have to do a synergy plus power amp or maybe even a full VH2

You could probably get away with a VH4 pedal into a marshall of some kind as well

Some say the end is near...some say we we'll armageddon soon...

 

[mermer]

If I were trying to cop an Adam Jones rig, my first item would be his Epiphone sig.

+1. Played one a few months ago and it was really hard not to bring it home. Only reason I didn’t is that I already have an LPC. Was a killer guitar.

I think the Marshall he runs is important to the sound which gets expensive with a Diezel too so maybe I’d lean QC. Honestly I bet a Marshall JVM would be killer for Tool stuff and there are some deals on the used market

I also think about the Epiphone AJ Signature. In the used market they ara similarly priced with Edwards (Made in Japan) LPC copies that is why I though maybe I should get an Edwards instead of an Epiphone. Being a silverburst it's nicer to carry it on the stage but the quality / playability of the guitar would be more important from my side. I will check some Epiphone's in the local store.

The same reason I bring out ESP EII line. They are a bit more expensive then Edwards, Epiphone's in the used market but I feel that the guitars are on another level as well. The issue is most of them come with EMG's so I need to but some pickups and pots.

A used Gibson Adam Jones Standard might also be an option. I do not aim to go with the cheapest option, instead trying to get the most bang for the buck, being sub €2000, Les Paul style guitar so I enjoy using it in the studio as well.

You can pick up some of the less desirable artwork Epi AJ LP’s for a good price then run a QC and have multi amp + multi cab style setup that would do a really good job. The Epi’s are pretty darn good, I’ve played both.

For the amp setup, this is exactly what I thought. I am sure it will be easier but I am also thinking about getting two synergy modules and running them at the same. I do not know how much difference will there be. As far as I understood the PA system is good so any solution will go directly into PA with cab sims. The bass player said he used a quad cortex in the same stage two weeks ago and it sounded very good so I expect the PA system to be good. The question is, how much of a difference will there be between Quad Cortex and Synergy.

 

[anomaly]

Doesn't Adam Jones use a recto as well as the VH4 and Marshall. It's a three amp rig to my understanding?? With the VH4 being the main tone.

 

[mermer]

Doesn't Adam Jones use a recto as well as the VH4 and Marshall. It's a three amp rig to my understanding??

I watched them live in 2022 and there were 2 Diezel's and 1 Marshall on stage.

 

[GOHOINC]

Doesn't Adam Jones use a recto as well as the VH4 and Marshall. It's a three amp rig to my understanding?? With the VH4 being the main tone.

He used mesas in the past before he had diezels. Maybe a bit after. But live has been diezel and marshall for a very long time. Studio he still uses amps beyond the marshall and diezel I believe.

 

[anomaly]

I watched them live in 2022 and there were 2 Diezel's and 1 Marshall on stage.

Ya, I've seen pics of his rig in the past and usually it included a 2 channel recto as well. Maybe he's ditched it in recent years??

 

[mermer]

Ya, I've seen pics of his rig in the past and usually it included a 2 channel recto as well. Maybe he's ditched it in recent years??

Yes maybe. I think a diezel and a marshall would nail it very good but the question is Synergy vs Quad Cortex from my side