Getting that Slash sound

sneauboard · October 06, 2007, 11:01:55 PM

I'd like to know how to get the Welcome To The Jungle sound that Slash uses. Just point me in the right direction. Thanks

Ryan

d95err · October 07, 2007, 04:01:46 AM

Quote from: sneauboard on October 06, 2007, 11:01:55 PM
I'd like to know how to get the Welcome To The Jungle sound that Slash uses. Just point me in the right direction. Thanks

Les Paul - > Cable -> Cranked old Marshall (possibly hot-rodded)

blanik · October 07, 2007, 11:37:25 AM

i read in an old interview that he used the BOSS equalizer as a distortion/sound shaper between his wha and JCM 800... i used to do that when i was a kid and didn't have a distortion so i know it works (you just have to crank the "level" slider on the pedal, it will distort quite nicely)

R.

theundeadelvis · October 07, 2007, 11:54:10 AM

When someone says cranked Marshall, and if you don't have one, check out Run Off Grooves pedals. They have some good emulators there.

boogietube · October 07, 2007, 07:04:55 PM

Gibson Les Paul-Cable- Marshall Silver Jubilee 100 Watt Head (Circa 1987) 4x12 Marshall Cabinet

spud · October 07, 2007, 07:25:11 PM

Didn't he also use a Wah pedal set at a particular sweep that gave that very "puckerred" sound - he does have a unique tone and I think it might be the wah that gives it special something.

Just something I recall from one of the mags when they interviewed him but then again my memory isn't what it used to be...

spud

slideman82 · October 07, 2007, 07:33:06 PM

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah! that's right! The responsable of that sound is that Marshall, boosted on solos by the GE7.

Aguante Slash!

I think it's the last rock'nroll excellent guitar player.

boogietube · October 07, 2007, 07:36:37 PM

Standard Dunlop GCB-95 wah. No mods. A friend of mine has that exact setup. She gets the exact Slash tone.
He plays a lot in the neck pickup position for solos and bridge pickup for rythmn. Of course, he switches it up during solos for tonal variation.
Sean

slideman82 · October 07, 2007, 07:41:19 PM

Sometimes my English sucks, that's because I do not practice!

Frank1974 · October 07, 2007, 07:43:19 PM

When I was young I was a bit of a Slash fan. I used to get his sound with a dunlop crybaby wah going into a yellow BOSS overdrive into a JCM800. It was 99% the same tone and drive. Whether this is what he used I don't know, its what I used to get his sound.

soulsonic · October 07, 2007, 08:23:59 PM

It should be noted that the Silver Jubilee gets it's preamp distortion in a way that's totally different from the 800. It has a diode clipper section, so it's really a different sort of tone. I think that's where alot of his fuzzy top end comes from.

Wasn't someone working on a JFET distortion thing based on the Silver Jubilee? I remember seeing a thread about it.....

Ed G. · October 07, 2007, 08:37:20 PM

Quote from: soulsonic on October 07, 2007, 08:23:59 PM
It should be noted that the Silver Jubilee gets it's preamp distortion in a way that's totally different from the 800. It has a diode clipper section, so it's really a different sort of tone. I think that's where alot of his fuzzy top end comes from.

Wasn't someone working on a JFET distortion thing based on the Silver Jubilee? I remember seeing a thread about it.....

Yep, you said it before I did. The jubilee has that buzzy sound. I think you would get close to it with a DS-1.

tcobretti · October 07, 2007, 08:43:13 PM

I'd build the Soldano simulator that is floating around here. I had a Soldano a while back and it always had that fuzzy and thin Slash tone, which is why I sold it. These pedals are not simple, so you may need to work up to them if you are new to pedal building. I would not build the ROG Thunderchief or Thor for this purpose; to my ears Slash is not a retro amp kind of guy. His tone is way too bright, fuzzy, and high gain to be a vintage amp.

Frank1974 · October 08, 2007, 12:03:16 AM

Quote from: soulsonic on October 07, 2007, 08:23:59 PM
It should be noted that the Silver Jubilee gets it's preamp distortion in a way that's totally different from the 800. It has a diode clipper section, so it's really a different sort of tone. I think that's where alot of his fuzzy top end comes from.

The JCM800 Lead Series (Model 2210 head) I have also uses diode clipping for the preamp distortion. I tried modding it years ago to make it less buzzy/fizzy. I think they changed to diode clipping in the early 80's. And its only kicked in when the lead/boost channel is selected. To me its just a lame attempt to add a lead channel to a normally single channel amp. The original JCM800 was a much better amp than the later versions to my ears.

Now I just use the JCM800 as a slave to my Laney VH100R.

soulsonic · October 08, 2007, 11:56:36 PM

Quote from: tcobretti on October 07, 2007, 08:43:13 PM
I'd build the Soldano simulator that is floating around here. I had a Soldano a while back and it always had that fuzzy and thin Slash tone, which is why I sold it.

Really? Thin and Fuzzy? The SLOClone I built isn't like that at all; it's thick and deep. Maybe it's because mine uses EL34s. Or maybe it's because it uses relays and not that opto switching. Or maybe it's because it doesn't use Orange Drops. Or maybe because it's all hand-wired on eyelet board instead of an etched PCB.
Now that I think of it, there's alot of things I did differently.... I must have gotten lucky, cuz everyone tells me mine sounds better than a Soldano.
I'm going to build a rackmount one soon.
I've also been planning on doing one based on a Silver Jubilee, but I haven't been able to justify it yet. Amp components are expensive. I need a good day job to feed this habit.

Bernardduur · October 09, 2007, 06:59:40 AM

I heard somewhere he used a P90 filled Les Paul for most of his work

GibsonGM · October 09, 2007, 07:55:37 AM

Hi Ryan,

Another piece of info that might help these guys point you to a pedal-type solution would be what kind of amp and axes you're using....I know you said you have that washburn, right? Pickups will affect things, esp. for the "Welcome to the Jungle" pinch harmonic sound....single coils ain't gonna do it!

For a piece of the tone you're seeking, I'm thinking of a Dunlop Crybaby wah with a pot mounted exterior to dial in a '%^&*ed wah' setting at times, too....it's pretty subtle, but there, as in the opening chords for the solo in November Rain...

~Mike (the guy who's always buying all the jacks and diodes down there, LOL)

petemoore · October 09, 2007, 08:53:50 AM

Do what Slash did.
Better yet, do your thing like every crunch-rock guitarist has done since ever..get a sound kinda like a sound...
The room makes a huge difference A combination of wood, cement, some carpet usually gets good results, adjust response to taste/venue, Slash tracks often sound quite 'roomy'...and mic'd, something like a 200 seat theatre or better.
WTTJ intro sounds like there's a complex shaped, large room, perhaps a room with a hall helping deliver the pressure waves from the speaker to the mics.
Speakers and mics expensive, lets first look at speaker specs, reviews, pamphlets...
Then you have your amp, whether the 'bought as who's?' amps deliver the same response as 'who's-it's amps' can remain a mystery, whatever it is it is subject to be looked at literally and logically, the transformers and tube choices, as well as voicing, all should be looked at, and pass the final 'in the field' tests...ie can you find something better'?
By the time you get through the speaker and amplifier fine-toothed-combing, you'll probably be having fine cables and will have tested what sound like hot/trebly humbucking pickups.
50w 1/2 stacks may get very convincing with a LP and cable [-echo/verb], at high enough volumes there seems to be an 'air-resistance' compression effect, ...some 1rst draft theory: the air resistance increases when being pushed into zones of extreme pressure differences, the feedback from these air pressure zones are seen by the speaker and the amp and cause them to function differently, such as increased compression... not stated very well...but sounds close enough for the 'gotta have a 1/2 stack to get that' explanation.
That said, a 1/2 stack doing that is very to extremely loud, probably so loud that a scaled down version would do a much more convincing job at 'usable' sound levels.
But the room, the air, the speaker, the amp, the pickups, guitar type, cable, [booster or OD?]...everything in the chains and around them have to do with the sound character.

slideman82 · October 09, 2007, 09:36:01 AM

Quote from: Bernardduur on October 09, 2007, 06:59:40 AM
I heard somewhere he used a P90 filled Les Paul for most of his work

Mmmm I don't think so, I've always read he used Duncan's on his les pauls... grrrrrrrrrrrreat combination, whit those fingers, too!!!!

loki · October 09, 2007, 01:50:52 PM

well he uses Duncans on *some* of his Les Pauls, Slash notoriously doesn't care much about what pickups are mounted on his guitars as long as they sound good...

and btw his main recording guitar is actually a Les Paul copy made by LA luthier Chris Derrig... he's been using it since Appetite for Destruction. dont know what pickups are on it though...

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Getting that Slash sound