Doug Aldrich

[briango2000]

It's all about the voicing on his amps. I talked to him about them at NAMM for a bit and he was very cool. Getting the tone is all about dialing in the master volume and then setting the gain and the lead tone especially in a larger venue. I've had one of those modded heads here and I wouldn't want to play rhythm on it because it was voiced for leads IMO. It's still the sum of all of his gear and his feel and technique.

Brian

Is he using a different head for lead and rhythm? My experience is that if I find a voicing that works for rhythm, it also works for lead. I also find that if my rhythm tone has enough gain for rhythm, it has enough gain for leads. Some guys like that super soaked saturation for leads and it's fun, but you lose all that muted articulation stuff if you go too liquidy.

What do you mean you wouldn't want to play rhythm on Doug's amp? Seriously, I'm asking.

The amp that I had was one that was a Golub modded ones and I didn't care for the way it was voiced. It could have been several variables...speakers, guitar/pickups etc but I jsut didn't care for it dry. Doug obviously has his rig setup in a way that it sounds awesome but I felt like there are other ways to get the tone for me.

Brian

 

[MrDan666]

I also had one too, years ago Brian. It's not just you.. it didnt work out for me either. Those mods are seriously bass heavy.. But it's all preamp bass rather than poweramp bass. So it can get very wooly sounding if you run the gain any higher than 10-11 o clock.

 

[5150clone]

What he needs is couple of BE100's and be done with it!

 

[5150clone]

What he needs is couple of BE100's and be done with it!

 

[Badronald]

It's those Aldrich pups! tight, edgy, somewhat fizzy when i listen to the live stuff. Beach gets a smoother tone to my ear. I still appreciate what Doug is bringing though. I think i too preferred his strat tones.

I have the Aldrich in two of my Stratocasters. There's absolutely no fizz there.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Amp plays a part there too.. again i am just going on what i hear in Doug's tone. Still sounds good, but i do find it is an edgier tight sound with a bit o fizzies sometimes. Maybe it is the rocket fuel pedal.. I was very inerested in it for a while but after listening to a few demos, I find it fizzier sounding than the Gilbert signature box which I find to be the better sounding unit.

 

[zz666]

His tone up until and including Live In The Still Of The Night DVD was killer, everything after that is way to fuzzy, bottom heavy and gained out IMO. I wonder what changed? I know one thing is that Doug became one of the producers, obviously he must prefer it like that. And now that they're tuned down a whole step his tone has turned to mud

Sadly i have to agree. I much prefer his tone on the first two burning rain cds. Those tones are some of my favs of all time. A lot of strats on those albums. Way more percussive with clarity and that string seperation. But who knows, your taste changes your ears change etc. Still my 4th fav of all time

I agree, the early Burning Rain tone and the Live In The Still Of The Night are my fave Doug tones. Was hoping he would revisit that tone for the new Burning Rain album, but alas it's the same as his recorded Whitesnake tone.


I don't think the BE100's sound aggressive enough in the mid range personally

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Anyone tried his pickups? I am thinking of replacing my Dirty fingers with some of Doug's signature

I have a set of Suhr Aldrich pickups in my Edwards Flying V. I'm not fond of them.

 

[zz666]

I have Aldrich's in my LP, best pup Ive had

 

[LP Freak]

I have Aldrich's in my LP, best pup Ive had

I agree. It's like they were made for an LP. I also have them in my V and they sound good but not like in the LP.

 

[zz666]

They're WAY better than the Dirty Fingers, which I had for a while. I would like to try them in my V, Ive had no luck getting the right pup in there.

 

[Burn]

I didn't like the Aldrich pickup set either. They had that boutique-ish refinement that I never got along with. I like my bridge pickups obnoxious sounding

The neck pickup of the set was just way too hot.

It sounds like he uses a lot of gain and/or pedals though. So I'm sure the tight, clear pickups work perfectly for his needs.