Doug Aldrich tone

[StanHavars]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been diving deep into the tone and gear of Doug Aldrich, and it got me thinking… how much of that sound actually comes from the gear vs the player?
We all know he’s used everything from hot-rodded Marshalls to stock Marshalls to killer pedal setups, but there’s still something in his playing that’s hard to replicate.

For those of you who’ve tried chasing his tone—what made the biggest difference for you? Amp choice, pickups, pedals… or technique?
Curious to hear what’s worked (and what didn’t) for you all.

Here some photo's of Doug's amps. I did not included Doug's signature Blackstar amp because I think that his sound a lot more complex that this amp can do.
There is also one photo of SUHR DA100 prototype I really don't know why that didn't workout but I'm sure that this amp could have been the thing. A lot of his Marshalls are SUHR mod anyway.

 

[StanHavars]

Here some more....

 

[Dave L]

Well, I have to say boosting my OD100 SE+ with a Furman PQ4 unsurprisingly sounds a fair bit like him to my ears, but I´ve never sat down to try and nail it. I know there are some real fans of his here, though!

 

[mixn4him]

Ive had his pickups in several LP’s and thru a good Marshall its there..

 

[SoooRad]

Doug's tone always has a bit of a unique slur to it ( I don't mean that in a bad way). Like it drags without being behind. Kind of neat.

 

[jabps]

Here some more....View attachment 443719View attachment 443721View attachment 443722View attachment 443723View attachment 443724

Was also supposed to have an ENGL sig amp and a Marshall sig amp. There's actually a few prototypes of the Marshall floating around. And of course the ENGL Artist was supposed to be Doug's sig amp as well. Weird that whatever caused those deals to fall through only to end up with a sig model from Blackstar.

 

[StanHavars]

Well, I have to say boosting my OD100 SE+ with a Furman PQ4 unsurprisingly sounds a fair bit like him to my ears, but I´ve never sat down to try and nail it. I know there are some real fans of his here, though!

I'm not surprised. The OD100 SE+ is brutal amp

 

[StanHavars]

Was also supposed to have an ENGL sig amp and a Marshall sig amp. There's actually a few prototypes of the Marshall floating around. And of course the ENGL Artist was supposed to be Doug's sig amp as well. Weird that whatever caused those deals to fall through only to end up with a sig model from Blackstar.

Wow, I didn't really know that. Was it particular series from the ENGL and Marshall or totally different thing?

 

[jabps]

Wow, I didn't really know that. Was it particular series from the ENGL and Marshall or totally different thing?

The ENGL Artist amp was supposed to be his sig. They just released it as the Artist when the deal fell through. IMO it's the most Marshally sounding ENGL, fantastic amp. Owned one for a bit and wished I had kept it.

Here is a link to Reverb where one of the Marshall DA prototype's was sold years ago - https://reverb.com/item/6801474-doug-aldrich-owned-marshall-dla-100-prototype

The guy in In Flames used one of the two prototype's for years until recently. Again who knows why the deals fell through, probably money. Doug kinda reminds me of Lynch when it comes to doing gear and having sig amps that fall through and get released as something else ala Peavey XXX.

I think his two core amps are the Suhr and Cam modded Marshalls and he's just never going to get away from them.

 

[DanTravis62]

The ENGL Artist amp was supposed to be his sig. They just released it as the Artist. IMO it's the most Marshally sounding ENGL, fantastic amp.

Here is a link to Reverb where one of the DA prototype's was sold years ago - https://reverb.com/item/6801474-doug-aldrich-owned-marshall-dla-100-prototype

The guy in In Flames used one of the two prototype's for years until recently. Again who knows why the deals fell through, probably money. Doug kinda reminds me of Lynch when it comes to doing sig amps that fall through and get released as something else ala Peavey XXX.

Yep. The engl artist is incredible value moneywise too.

It's basically a pcb version of the same modded jmps doug (and in flames dude) use with 2 masters.

It's excellent. Ive used it on a bunch of my punk band's records. Obviously a different style of music but it gives you a good idea of the sound.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1ChYfubik1/

 

[jabps]

Yep. The engl artist is incredible value moneywise too.

It's basically a pcb version of the same modded jmps doug (and in flames dude) use with 2 masters.

It's excellent. Ive used it on a bunch of my punk band's records. Obviously a different style of music but it gives you a good idea of the sound.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1ChYfubik1/

Yep. Few years back when I was flipping amps for fun I had that, loved it. Flipped it for a Mezzabarba Trinity and couldn't rid of that thing fast enough. To me, the ENGL just blew that thing out of the water.

Lots of punch, beefy and Marshally sounding is about the best way I could describe.

 

[DanTravis62]

Yep. Few years back when I was flipping amps for fun I had that, loved it. Flipped it for a Mezzabarba Trinity and couldn't rid of that thing fast enough. To me, the ENGL just blew that thing out of the water.

Lots of punch, beefy and Marshally sounding is about the best way I could describe.

It flies way under the radar for what it is, sound quality wise

It's like a huge, beefy, aggressive classic marshall sound

I don't think ENGL has done a very good job of marketing it, as it's quite different from most of their amps tonally - I think people just assume it's like the special edition or fireball and move on. It 100% isn't. It's a JMP on steroids.

 

[grimmchaos]

I love how huge his strats sound on the live Dio stuff from 2002-2005. I spent a night going down the Youtube rabbit hole and I started playing my strats more (and fell in love with them all over again).

Also, not that I need more amps, but I did always want to try the Engl Artist.

 

[jabps]

It flies way under the radar for what it is, sound quality wise

It's like a huge, beefy, aggressive classic marshall sound

I don't think ENGL has done a very good job of marketing it, as it's quite different from most of their amps tonally - I think people just assume it's like the special edition or fireball and move on. It 100% isn't. It's a JMP on steroids.

Bingo!

 

[DanTravis62]

I love how huge his strats sound on the live Dio stuff from 2002-2005. I spent a night going down the Youtube rabbit hole and I started playing my strats more (and fell in love with them all over again).

Also, not that I need more amps, but I did always want to try the Engl Artist.

You should definitely give one a go if you have the chance - I was really surprised at how great it is.

It isn't like their more modern amps at all. It's 100% like a modded jmp - classic marshall sound.

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

Yeah I've had the Engl Artist and Blackmore and the Artist in particular is amazing. Never had any issues with either in 8 years of combined use but some say Engls are trash build quality. Never opened one up to look as never even had to replace so much as a preamp tube. Killer JMP tones for sure and a great clean channel to boot.

 

[DanTravis62]

Yeah I've had the Engl Artist and Blackmore and the Artist in particular is amazing. Never had any issues with either in 8 years of combined use but some say Engls are trash build quality. Never opened one up to look as never even had to replace so much as a preamp tube. Killer JMP tones for sure and a great clean channel to boot.

They are an absolute nightmare to try and fix if anything goes wrong, and the ENGL customer support is basically non-existent. I literally wont take one in to fix.

That said, they sound great and I own one. It does feel like i'm sitting on a timebomb though.

Just in case people want an "in the room" style recording, here's the lead channel of the Artist. Notice how it's aggressive and snarly, but not modern sounding like a Savage or Powerball

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

Yep that is the sound. But in the room the low end really punches like a good 2203.

 

[DanTravis62]

Yep that is the sound. But in the room the low end really punches like a good 2203.

Yep, that is the key. It's hard to capture the "nut shakiness" that it has, but that's part of what sets it apart from the more modern engl amps and makes it feel a lot more like the vintage marshalls

To actually convey that low end I would have to do a very complicated multi-mic setup, which is way more time-consuming than is worth it for me

Phase correcting 5 microphones is something i'm only going to spend that much time on for someones record or reamps or something like that