Key to Cantrell's tone? (Besides his amps & fingers)

[glassjaw7]

I mean, I could play through Jerry Cantrell's rig and sound damn near identical to him. In fact I think I could sound more like him to a listener in a blind test if I were playing through his rig than he would if he were playing through say a micro Marshall stack.

That is a very good point sir I agreed with you before but now I agree even moreso. That is hard to argue with.

Thanks man. I went on a bit of a rant there.

I just realized I could have made my point in one question and one answer: Does a fuzz pedal sound different than a chorus pedal?

Yes, it does. Two different pieces of gear resulting in drastically different tones. Much more different than the difference between say you and me playing the same Pantera riff through the same rig.

 

[Jimmie]

I mean, I could play through Jerry Cantrell's rig and sound damn near identical to him. In fact I think I could sound more like him to a listener in a blind test if I were playing through his rig than he would if he were playing through say a micro Marshall stack.

That is a very good point sir I agreed with you before but now I agree even moreso. That is hard to argue with.

Thanks man. I went on a bit of a rant there.

I just realized I could have made my point in one question and one answer: Does a fuzz pedal sound different than a chorus pedal?

Yes, it does. Two different pieces of gear resulting in drastically different tones. Much more different than the difference between say you and me playing the same Pantera riff through the same rig.

I never listened to anyone who sucked and said, "Wow, they suck but have a great tone" callouses on the tips of your fingers, pick attack, and whats in your heart is the first step, then how to tune your sound into whatever it is that you're playing through is secondary. Just spend a day at a guitar center, (if possible) and listen to some true suckage, then that one decent player comes in and that same amp that sounded so horrible in the wrong hands, all of a sudden sounds like magic.
at least thats my take on it..
Jimmie

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

I am going to buy a old Randall tube head.

So which old Randall do we all think it is?

 

[EXPcustom]

I am going to buy a old Randall tube head.

So which old Randall do we all think it is?

RGT100

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

I am going to buy a old Randall tube head.

So which old Randall do we all think it is?

RGT100

thanks

 

[Heritage Softail]

I mean, I could play through Jerry Cantrell's rig and sound damn near identical to him. In fact I think I could sound more like him to a listener in a blind test if I were playing through his rig than he would if he were playing through say a micro Marshall stack.

That is a very good point sir I agreed with you before but now I agree even moreso. That is hard to argue with.

Thanks man. I went on a bit of a rant there.

I just realized I could have made my point in one question and one answer: Does a fuzz pedal sound different than a chorus pedal?

Yes, it does. Two different pieces of gear resulting in drastically different tones. Much more different than the difference between say you and me playing the same Pantera riff through the same rig.

I never listened to anyone who sucked and said, "Wow, they suck but have a great tone" callouses on the tips of your fingers, pick attack, and whats in your heart is the first step, then how to tune your sound into whatever it is that you're playing through is secondary. Just spend a day at a guitar center, (if possible) and listen to some true suckage, then that one decent player comes in and that same amp that sounded so horrible in the wrong hands, all of a sudden sounds like magic.
at least thats my take on it..
Jimmie

That sums up my Saturday at the music store.

IMO, we are frequently calling "tone" what should be called something else. A tone is just a note. There is amp voicing, compressions, bass, treble, dynamics, attack... so many other words to use. Tone is overused and means very little. The way 'we' use the word tone is a bastard use of it. Since it is made up, there is no way to really define it. It means whatever you want it to.

And tone is for sale. By Fender, selling the soul of tone. Saw that advert on the back of some guitar rag.

If we compared this to some other art form, say sculpture, it would be obvious. I can have a rock and chisel and hammer... and produce no art. Someone else can with proper skills can make it art. But the rock is still a huge piece of granite. I make a horrible mess of it, someone else will make a work of art. IMO the amp and guitar are the chisel and the granite. Tune a guitar to open A and strum the thing, you get the tone. It will be identifiable as a Rec, or Herbie, or Blackface if set up typically. Anything beyond that added by the player is technique.

 

[glassjaw7]

I mean, I could play through Jerry Cantrell's rig and sound damn near identical to him. In fact I think I could sound more like him to a listener in a blind test if I were playing through his rig than he would if he were playing through say a micro Marshall stack.

That is a very good point sir I agreed with you before but now I agree even moreso. That is hard to argue with.

Thanks man. I went on a bit of a rant there.

I just realized I could have made my point in one question and one answer: Does a fuzz pedal sound different than a chorus pedal?

Yes, it does. Two different pieces of gear resulting in drastically different tones. Much more different than the difference between say you and me playing the same Pantera riff through the same rig.

I never listened to anyone who sucked and said, "Wow, they suck but have a great tone" callouses on the tips of your fingers, pick attack, and whats in your heart is the first step, then how to tune your sound into whatever it is that you're playing through is secondary. Just spend a day at a guitar center, (if possible) and listen to some true suckage, then that one decent player comes in and that same amp that sounded so horrible in the wrong hands, all of a sudden sounds like magic.
at least thats my take on it..
Jimmie

I hear what you're saying. See, what you guys are describing as tone is what I feel is style and technique. To me, tone is simply the sound coming from the amp/speakers. Much like there are great electricians and very poor ones, but either way they wire a house, they are still creating electricity. (unless they just cause fire and burn the house down ) Bad analogy? Yeah probably, but that's the point I'm trying to make.

I have this Fender combo that ONLY sounds good with the treble all the way off at 0. (It's broken) If you turn the treble to 1 or higher, the amp gets this awful, ice picky buzzing going on. I'm sorry, but no one could walk into the room and make that sound into a good "tone". No matter how magical their hands are.

Now on the flip side of that. You say you've never thought of a bad player sucking but having good tone? Well set your amp so it sounds great and tune up your guitar. Hit an A chord or play a simple riff. Now hand your guitar to a novice and have them play that A chord. It's probably still going to sound great, despite their inexperienced touch or bad dynamics. Does a player sound better if they are good at doing it? Of course! But a mediocre or even bad player can sound decent through great gear. It's all subjective anyway. And I've made my point several times now with solid examples and I don't expect everyone to agree. That's what is great about music. It's all about personal preference and differing ideas about why we love it and how we describe it.

 

[TOStudent]

Jerry playing a old Randall tube head.

Ive never seen or heard of him playing a Randall.

Anyone know what tube head randall made that sounded like that.
The RG I could see.

Cool video though.

 

[David_kessler]

RG-100HT

 

[skoora]

I teched for Billy duffy and Jerry for a Cardboard Vampires show a several years ago. The both requested a backline of JCM 900s with Vintage 30s. Both used pedalboards. Duffy used mostly Boss pedals. I remembered Jerry having a RAT distortion and a Boss Distortion in the mix. He used his pedals to flavor tone on different songs but relied on the amp for most of it. Duffy had a Boss OD-2 but he says he only uses it if the Head does not produce for him.
(He did not use it that night)

no... that's not true...
THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This made me LOL

Awesome, me too. Plus that video with Layne brought back so many memories. I just can't get into the new AIC even though sonically it's nice. There's no real personality present in the vocals which is what Layne brought by the truckload.

 

[Jay Strange]

He's fantastic songwriter that knows who he is as a player.
For me, his tone is in the chord progressions he links together
and moody solo work.

 

[Ventura]

I mean, I could play through Jerry Cantrell's rig and sound damn near identical to him. In fact I think I could sound more like him to a listener in a blind test if I were playing through his rig than he would if he were playing through say a micro Marshall stack.

That is a very good point sir I agreed with you before but now I agree even moreso. That is hard to argue with.

Thanks man. I went on a bit of a rant there.

I just realized I could have made my point in one question and one answer: Does a fuzz pedal sound different than a chorus pedal?

Yes, it does. Two different pieces of gear resulting in drastically different tones. Much more different than the difference between say you and me playing the same Pantera riff through the same rig.

I never listened to anyone who sucked and said, "Wow, they suck but have a great tone" callouses on the tips of your fingers, pick attack, and whats in your heart is the first step, then how to tune your sound into whatever it is that you're playing through is secondary. Just spend a day at a guitar center, (if possible) and listen to some true suckage, then that one decent player comes in and that same amp that sounded so horrible in the wrong hands, all of a sudden sounds like magic.
at least thats my take on it..
Jimmie

MEGA +1

I will also say, being a 'studio savvy kinda guy', I've listened to a LOT of AIC over the years, and in particular, their latest release. Why did I listen to this latest release in particular? For the very reason this thread started - his tone is awesome... One thing is super obvious to me in listening to the recorded tracks - LAYERING. And lots of it. A comment was also mentioned earlier about mids - f'n rights there's a LOT of mids in everything in the mix. As for live sound? Can't comment with accuracy, but I can tell you the Fish Pre, some old school JCM's, road worn 4x12 loaded with V30's (made in England) and real greenbacks are probably helping a lot.

A lot has to do with his attack and style... But there's a lot of layering, and a lot of depth and thought went into the textures of the guitar mix (specifically). I also remember reading in GW prior to the release that Cantrell was really intent on using specific guitars (his G&L's, old school SG, etc), his "usual repertoire" of amps/cabs, and lots of "studio time" to get the sonic results he was aiming for.

That's all I have...
V.

 

[stephen sawall]

Jerry playing a old Randall tube head.

Ive never seen or heard of him playing a Randall.

Anyone know what tube head randall made that sounded like that.
The RG I could see.

Cool video though.

That amp belongs to a friend of mine ... it has no tubes in it. Jerry was just borrowing the amp. To be honest I am pretty sure that is a big part of the earl albums. It sure sounds like it to me. This commit is not based on the video in any way. The Randall is the key ??? ....