Queensryche Empire: God Tone?

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jkdsteve

jkdsteve

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Been blasting the past, since I rescued some of my vinyl from the UK and this one was in there, a two LP version no less.

Spinning it up today on my little tube (snob) amp into my Polks/sub.....man this recording crushes, the guitars are just so there and the bass so authoritative....some of the best recorded tone ever! :rock:

I remember a Guitar mag from back then and the guys talking about the 'aunch' they got on this album..heheheh

This is all SLO right?
 
Great album. The production is top notch. I’m curious about the amps as well. Think there was a thread on this not terribly long ago. Not sure, though. It sounds more Marshall JMP than SLO to me.
 
I think there's a bunch of amps on there, but for the Soldano part of it I think it´s actually the X88 preamp rather than the SLO head. Probably running into a big solidstate power amp like most people did at that time, but around 1990-91 you also see people shifting over to the VHTs.
 
IIRC, DeGarmo used a Soldano X88 preamp and Wilton used a Wizard preamp and they both used Carvin FET900 power amps.
 
Here’s what I found.

this is from Guitar Player Nov 1991 (ah...the good old days)

"For the Building Empires Tour, Chris and Michael ordered a variety of custom-finished axes from ESP. Chris' preference: maple-topped mahogany MII body with original Floyd, SD Screamin Eagle humbucker and Evans Single coil, Ebony fretboard, jumbo frets and 'triryche" logo. Michael: strat-shaped bodies, maple fretboard, crucifix of triryche logo and same pups/tremolo.



For the Empire sessions, Engineer Jim Barton explains:

Bradshaw racks with Eventide H-3000 and a changing array of effects. They developed their own kind of amplification, which is all enclosed. It consisted of two small marshall boxes (?) placed in a huge road case, with the mic slammed up hard against the speakers. I didn't touch them...no EQ....no anything. They both use Marshalls with Celestion speakers....but now Chris has got two Soldanos.

All we did for Empire was program the rack. We didn't use any studio fx at all. Shure SM-58's.

(Also adding They're just fine musicians."



SO there you go. I hope it helps. Looks like Chris used Soldanos and Michael used a Marshall. They don't say what model.
 
Not just god tone, god everything. That album has one of the best productions in rock and metal history. The way the bass and drums lock in for a massive low end is amazing.
 
That album was awesome! I wish there were pictures of their racks somewhere but I cannot find anything on the web.
 
thrashinbatman":3oruqdth said:
Not just god tone, god everything. That album has one of the best productions in rock and metal history. The way the bass and drums lock in for a massive low end is amazing.
Click to expand...


my thoughts too. Eddie Jackson’s bass tone makes the guitars even sing more. it’s really complimenting all around. funny thing is Silent Lucidity is my least fav on it...yet their biggest hit. i felt it was a Floyd knockoff kinda. but Della Brown is money. i listen to it a lot and try to figure out what effects they are using on the solo parts. it’s like Chorus/Flange/reverb. it’s just a great album. i mean, operation Mindcrime is like top 5 maybe all time, but Empire is no setback. after that album though, went downhill fast.
 
Saw that tour. Suicidal tendencies opened.
It was a great show. Crystal clear everything.
:rock:
 
I read something from Wilton once that said they used detune. It was the thickner. I have been using for many years
 
crwnedblasphemy":tzf3115h said:
thrashinbatman":tzf3115h said:
Not just god tone, god everything. That album has one of the best productions in rock and metal history. The way the bass and drums lock in for a massive low end is amazing.
Click to expand...


my thoughts too. Eddie Jackson’s bass tone makes the guitars even sing more. it’s really complimenting all around. funny thing is Silent Lucidity is my least fav on it...yet their biggest hit. i felt it was a Floyd knockoff kinda. but Della Brown is money. i listen to it a lot and try to figure out what effects they are using on the solo parts. it’s like Chorus/Flange/reverb. it’s just a great album. i mean, operation Mindcrime is like top 5 maybe all time, but Empire is no setback. after that album though, went downhill fast.
Click to expand...
Della Brown sound is awesome whatever it is. That icy clean tone is sick. And I can't agree more about the bass tone. I've been listening to this a bit recently too. I want a X88r lol.
 
One of my favorites since I was a kid. I believe Michael used a couple different Marshall heads but that’s all I really know.
 
The cleans sound like JC 120 to me. Mindcrime is a masterpiece of a record, their zenith. But Empire was good, too. I remember reading somewhere around the time Empire came out that a lot of guys who were mixing front of house for big bands where using that album by playing it over the loudspeakers before gigs to help them get a good mix.
 
LP Freak":34tn65q5 said:
Here’s what I found.

this is from Guitar Player Nov 1991 (ah...the good old days)

"For the Building Empires Tour, Chris and Michael ordered a variety of custom-finished axes from ESP. Chris' preference: maple-topped mahogany MII body with original Floyd, SD Screamin Eagle humbucker and Evans Single coil, Ebony fretboard, jumbo frets and 'triryche" logo. Michael: strat-shaped bodies, maple fretboard, crucifix of triryche logo and same pups/tremolo.



For the Empire sessions, Engineer Jim Barton explains:

Bradshaw racks with Eventide H-3000 and a changing array of effects. They developed their own kind of amplification, which is all enclosed. It consisted of two small marshall boxes (?) placed in a huge road case, with the mic slammed up hard against the speakers. I didn't touch them...no EQ....no anything. They both use Marshalls with Celestion speakers....but now Chris has got two Soldanos.

All we did for Empire was program the rack. We didn't use any studio fx at all. Shure SM-58's.

(Also adding They're just fine musicians."



SO there you go. I hope it helps. Looks like Chris used Soldanos and Michael used a Marshall. They don't say what model.
Click to expand...


If I'm reading this right it says they both used marshalls and celestion speakers for Empire... then he mentions that chris has soldanos "now" i.e. when the record was done but not during recording
 
someone needs to email peter collins and ask specifics

sm58 is interesting. has less compression. i like them
 
Like many players they had Lee Jackson Modded Marshalls, and Jose A modded Marshalls but no clue as to which ones they used.
 
Yup, saw the Empire tour at Joe Louis arena in Detroit. Was incredible!
 
I saw them on the Empire tour, too. Great show, one of my top 3 shows of all time. While I like Mindcrime as an album better, Empire was such a step forward in many ways, especially the quality of the recording and the production. Della Brown... oh yeah... I still do use this album when I'm testing studio monitors. There's such great depth to the sounds.

I'd always heard that the album (as well as Mindcrime) was all Marshall. I'm not sure I believe that, though. Wilton's parts, yeah, OK, I'll buy that as a Marshall. But some of DeGarmo's parts... IDK, at least not for Empire. There were just so many different guitar sounds there. I can buy that some of the cleans are a JC120. Definitely some H3000 and a Tri-Stereo Chorus in there, too, as well as some Lexicon... I'm just talking guitar sounds. So, I can believe that they just programmed their racks and were probably using the same effects rig on the tour.

Of course, I don't really know, but I could see some Soldano in DeGarmo's Empire tones. I have seen some pictures from either that tour or one not very long afterwards where there were a few Wizards in the backline (likely under the stage, at least from the picture I saw). I could see that, too.

I would be really curious to find out, though. Empire's been one of my favorite albums from that era since it came out. I've been listening to Queensryche since Rage for Order and was blown away the first time I heard Mindcrime. Great stuff, up to an including Empire. :rock:
 
Agreed Empire has a fantastic sound in every aspect and Mindcrime still is one of the best albums ever. With Empire you hear it was big business back then. For sure an expensive production. Rock still mattered. Man I muss those times!
 
What's a Seymour Duncan Screaming EAGLE ??
Does he mean Demon ?
I always thought they used JB's.
 
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