FX for "glassy" clean sounds ?

[Xavier]

Hi all,

My question is could I make my electric clean guitar to sound glassy-cleaner-than-clean. Here's an example of what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OdpYcRKVj4 . Just go to 2:27 where the solo starts

This recording was done using Armstrong low impedance pickups, and the guitar was connected to the mixing desk via a Shure line converter , for what I've been told.

The AMZ Mosfet booster (which I use extensively) already does a bit of this, it adds some brightness / clarity -which I love-, so maybe it would be a matter of turbo-charging this feature, and possibly with some kind of potentiometer ?

Plugging the guitar directly into the board gets a similar effect, although too boomy (and noisy if you push highs up). I think this must be some kind of impedace changing device, but I am not sure.

Would anybody have a suggestion on how to approach this ? Thanks in advance !

[Mark Hammer]

The modern traditional approach to creating "glassy clean" tones often involves an exciter circuit, of which there appear to be 3 variants.

1) tap the clean signal, highpass filter, boost, and blend back in;
2) tap the clean signal, highpass filter, frequency-double, and blend back in;
3) tap the clean signal, highpass filter, distort (which implies gain), and blend back in.

All three involve a wholesale exaggeration of the middle and upper harmonic content in the original signal.  Because all the lower-order harmonic content is omitted, the tone appears to remain "clean", but with an added crispness.

Note that: a) it takes pickups with wide bandwidth to do this, which means either single coil or low-impedance pickups of some sort; and b) it takes speakers with wide bandwidth to be able to hear it.

[bwanasonic]

Listening to the Alan Parsons track, it reminds me experiments I did with a contact piezo mic on the headstock mixed with the strat pickups. Direct into a mixer with some compression and EQ and a little reverb.

[pinkjimiphoton]

to me? it's a ge fuzzface on a strat with the guitar turned way down into a clean amp with reverb, but the strat needs to have a maple neck. i know it sounds crazy, but  get that clean sound always with the fuzz on...adds compression and harmonics, i guess...

you can get a sound like that with a dim c pedal, too...a chorus without a sweep, kinda. boss me 5's did that sound great, too...buffer, little chorus, little reverb.  jmo

[earthtonesaudio]

That solo sounds like its double tracked with a piezo equipped guitar.

[Mark Hammer]

It also sounds like a chorus with some sort of treble boost is used as well.

[familyortiz]

The acoustic simulator setting on the ZOOM products gives what I would describe as glassy clean. (Zoom 606, G7, etc.)

[markeebee]

Solo sounds to me like a strat on switch position 2 through a Jazz Chorus amp.

JC amps - the definition of 'glassy'?

[Ben N]

Strat + Orange Squezer + DEM in Filter Matrix position (similar to Dimension C) is how I would do that. I don't hear anything special in the eq. Then again, this is Youtube through laptop speakers, so...

[garcho]

Aural Exciter in a rack mount?

[Mark Hammer]

Solo sounds to me like a strat on switch position 2 through a Jazz Chorus amp.

JC amps - the definition of 'glassy'?

Given the 1982 release date of the tune in question, that pretty much pegs it, doesn't it?  You will note that the JC120 has a line out.

[Xavier]

Wow thanks for all the replies !!

I can tell you this is a Les Paul Custom with special low impedance pickups, plugged straight into the board via a Shure line converter. I know because the guitarist you hear in the link (Ian Bairnson) told me how he got the sound . Certainly no amps or effects were involved although I am not sure if some aural exciter was added in the mix.

After reading you I understand there's no way to lower the Z of my high Z pickups ? or maybe I'm getting the concept wrong ?

Otherwise I'll try some of your suggestions like adding some "exciters" or playing with eq

Thank you !!!!!

[gmoon]

Telecaster with a Fender amp in medium breakup.  Pretty much the definitive "glassy" sound. Think Roy Buchanan.

I'm sure you can get there with a Gibson and F/X, but it's kinda swimming upstream...

[sugonidamaso]

woody's acoustic simulator,reverb (or delay)&compression

[wavley]

Oh no, not this again!

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=79112.0

[earthtonesaudio]

low impedance pickups, plugged straight into the board

This explains it totally, and it tells me a lot about my perception of electric guitar sounds at the same time!

Typical high-z solidbody electric guitars into typical amps produce a frequency output with a strong mid-hump and treble that essentially disappears after maybe 5kHz.  The guitar in that recording is basically flat, way beyond 5kHz.  Maybe flat up to 10kHz, but at any rate approaching the YouTube/cheapspeakers bandwidth limits.  That's why I was hearing this as a regular guitar PLUS a piezo-equipped guitar.

To get this sound with a typical high-z pickup you need to:
a) filter out the mid hump (easy, just use a passive filter)
b) extend the treble (impossible, you can only "fake it" by synthesizing harmonics i.e. with an aural exciter)

The easy way to get this sound is with a different pickup.  Piezo comes close but will be more boomy and harsh.  A carefully compressed blend of piezo + high-z magnetic pickups may get you pretty close.

[Quackzed]

the solo is also double tracked, or rather theres a harmony guitar part... that may be some of the high end 'shimmer'...
with an eq to filter mids and lows, as well as a buffer with very hi-z in to extend the treble response should get yu close...
also youll need to cut alot of low and mids at the amp and turn the amp up to compensate...
my thinkin, guitar---> buffer -->eq-----> p.a. with full range speakers ie tweeters....

[Gurner]

I'm surprised nobbody has stated the obvious....to emulate a low impedance pickup use an onboard guitar buffer - in most cases, it yields an instant decent recovery of the high end of your signal (& often associated with 'glassyness', crystal-esque)...but you really want *that* low impedance sound (& it does have one helluva aural signature), then erhm a low impedance pickup is really the only way in my opinion.

I've wound a few myself...and the difference (vs a traditional high z pickup) is like that feeling you have immediately after having excess ear wax syringed at the doctors!

[Mark Hammer]

Yes and no.  I've had onboard preamps at various times and they certainly preserve whatever treble thepickup has.  However, the inductance and hence resonance of the pickup is different for low-impedance vs high-impedance pickups.  So a preamp/buffer helps, but you're not starting out with the same "raw material".

[Gurner]

Yes and no.  I've had onboard preamps at various times and they certainly preserve whatever treble thepickup has.  However, the inductance and hence resonance of the pickup is different for low-impedance vs high-impedance pickups.  So a preamp/buffer helps, but you're not starting out with the same "raw material".

Which is why I used the term 'emulate'  (i.e. to retain as much of the raw material - the highs - that are otherwise shunted to ground via the capacitance of the guitar cable when using a trad mag pickup  ....once those highs are gone they're gone....not that there was ever much of the highs there in the first place vs a low impedance pickup). Also I did then say it's just better to a low impedance pickup - which really does have a completely different vibe vs a trad mag through a buffer - but like I say, the OP was after a sound-a-like so isn't likely to be an option.