please make it into a t-shirt. "With great headroom, comes great responsibility". Love It! And also this is one of the more longed videos on the internet. I haven't been able to find any clean tone lecture on YT. So thank you for creating this video I needed.
I’ve always been a “clean tone first” kinda guy and the past few years been in love with the Hudson broadcast for dirt with a clean amp but it sounded like garbage with an AC30 which I’ve never had great results putting dirt pedals into. So I adjusted THE AMP until the broadcast sounded good and to my surprise when I turned it off I liked that clean tone even better than how I originally set it 😂
Broadcast is just a phenomenal piece of gear. Especially if you are into vintage / amp drive sounds but is also a terrific clean preamp. It always seems to work completely synergistically with the amp it’s going into
These are by far my favorite TPS shows - down to the basics (type of tone, different applications, effects, signal chain) - finding a real practical, basic ' problem ' that basically everyone faces - setting the scenario - exploring different ideas and settings - finding solutions - encouraging more exploration cause there is no final answers. In the end this show is mainly about pedals and all the ways they can get us to sound fancy, but also to solve real world problems in studio/home or gigging scenarios. That is what we come for.
As a bass player, I can agree on everything you guys said about our "natural compressor". On bass it is well known, that finger placement and the way of getting the string to move makes all the differences in bass tone. Even on an old beat up P-Bass. There are tons of tones in there! Well done gentlemen
Agreed, surprisingly there are a lot of bass players who stay put in the same plucking position all night. While there are still subtle dynamic variations available, there is so much more range when you move around between the bridge and the end of the neck, or even over the neck. I guess it's something that came naturally to me when I started.
I have a place I come back to and set bass on amp accordingly Then move around as needed to take or leave room Open notes have less mid compared to 12th fret octave Same with plucking position
makes me think of someone I saw recently talking about McCartney and the Hofner bass. A whole generation went out recognized how good his technique was because it wasn't a particularly well-made instrument and it would compress so easily if you picked it too hard.
Technique in general on bass feels much more variable. It can be fingerstyle, thumb, slap and/or pick. All give a very different sound and energy. You could never imagine a Wailers record with slap or a high energy Clash song with a fat old school soul thumb. Not that compression and pedals aren't super useful and often necessary, but technique can expand the palate so much.
Gotta say, been loving these "back to basics" approach to tone you guys have been showing, we can all learn and grow so much from these videos. Thank you, keep up the amazing content!
I agree they're brilliant. This is purely an observation, (but it might of course sound very critical, sorry). 🙄 Besides Dan and Mick spend hours on these and sometimes if they slip, you can 100% forgive and stay behind them. On to my point. The 1st section has annoyed me. To be honest, I'd be annoyed even if my best friends or greatest heroes slipped into this. That is that they compared two different settings with a totally different playing. What I mean is, we all need to hear and see fair, and if possible identical conditions and scenarios for any camprisons. Moreover, the style of play at 6.55 to 7.08 simply underlines what a dry amp would sound like and also drives home the harshness of the HRD. Then, to add more emphasis regarding the difference with Reverb, Dan plays a different style, which if plays at the beginning, (although still dry), would sound completely different to what he played to demonstrate it. Also, if kept the same, it would certainly show how one needs to adapt when playing without any depth. Last point, (sorryl, it's also a bit strange how the last video released was about an acoustic guitar, which played acoustically would be dry, (depending on room), where it's just you and the guitar. Not a criticism, just an observation.
My ears have always gravitated more toward clean sounds, so i appreciate this. You guys have definitely helped me appreciate overdrive much more, but i also really appreciate this one :)
For me, the basis of a good amp is its ability to produce a clean tone. This transparency lends itself to being the foundation of a pedal platform if desired.
What a massively inspiring episode. Especially the subtle use of modulation with sparkling cleans, such as a subtle chorus, really has me going off on a tangent.
Guys I don’t think you understand just how many players search for the PERFECT clean tone! This is fantastic and will probably get more praise than you ever imagined. Incredibly well done. Cheers mates! 🤙
Way back in my band days in the 60's and 70's, I always wanted my guitars distorted, fuzzed and bloody loud. Recently, I got a great love again for just the sound of the electric guitar. Clean allows you to hear the beauty and clarity of the guitar, the amp, the tremolo, delays, reverbs etc... I still really love the dynamics of real tubes, but cleaner. My current motto is "Clean is the new mean!" I absolutely love great delays and an awesome reverb! We guitarist have such glorious choices today. The right combination needs to make you want to jump right in and wrap those dreamy sounds around you as you get lost in your playing!
This episode was excellent. I love clean tones and finger pick (classically trained) and always feel it sounds flat. I have a Eric Clapton Strat playing through a Fender Hot Rod Jnr. Watching this has convinced me on reverb, delay and compression.
I would actually recommend some multi fx unit, not as something to pit in your rig permanently, but to get a feel for all the different FX - then, the ones you really enjoy, buy good pedal versions of it or whatever, and get into all the requisite tweaking that comes with it. I adore FX, and massive drive as well - but I start each day with my Manuel Raimundo Flamenco guitar, just my skin against the string! The electric guitar is more than just a guitar, and the whole rig should be seen as a single integrated instrument. Anyway, dont mean to teach grandma to suck eggs; I suspect you are way further down the road of skills than I am. All the very best for '22, & if you are ever bored, stick your head in to my awful lil' channel!
Different guitars & tonal differences -- makes me think of the episode with Josh Scott giving the history of fuzz/distortion/OD. He was talking about how the simpler the circuit, the more important each component is. He compared it to soup: if there are only 6 ingredients, all of them are super important to the final flavor (or tone); if there are 56 ingredients, the role each ends up influencing the final flavor less. Seems like a similar thing here. Fewer gain stages means the "guitar/pickup" ingredient plays a larger role in the final tonal flavor.
As a "clean toner", I really appreciated this video. Clean tone is partly in your equipment setup but also "in your fingers". Your demonstration of this was excellent. Thanks guys... By the way, you both have super clean tone playing technique.
This might be one of my favorite episodes. Your’e a natural born educator, Mick. I’d enjoy more of these instructional videos. It should be said you both played superbly on this- gorgeous tones ♥️
Only started watching you guys properly over the last 4 months or so, love the range of topics you guys cover! Some of the playing on this was fantastic and very inspiring. Thanks for all the great content lads 🙂
Thank you guys!! This messing around with the clean sound has brought out some great music and awesome doodles from both of you! Now in my sixties there is nothing better to me than clear clean pure sound. Great show!!
I am a big fan of the clean sound, especially with the Strat. I love the tones you got in this video, some of them are really inspiring! I also love your videos because I learn new things every time I watch to them, you inspire me so much. Thanks a lot for your professional work 😊
Came for the clean tones - was not disappointed - but I have to say both of your playing was out of this world, specifically in the “dynamics” section. I would absolutely love to see more videos focused on clean tones. The tones you guys got with the Hiwatt were incredible. Great episode.
First: EPIC playing. Caught myself close-watching, -listening, -processing, which is deeply satisfying. Also satisfying: those little kid moments of excited validation--derived in this episode from the segment on compressors w/high headroom amps. I feel like I got a gold star thumbed onto my forehead. Cheers!
Thank you for this very in-depth discussion and tasteful playing as always. One takeaway for me...I can save a lot of money by just focusing on my hands with dynamics and technique. Someone like Julian Lage is a great example of using a relatively simple setup but still achieving loads of clean tonal and textural variation and nuances with his hands alone.
Wonderful. Just wonderful. When Mick started playing without plectrum, it provoked an attentive stillness inside. Dan was so honest to say it scared him to play after that. Still, he hit me as a jazz player. Such a musical episode. Also, the fact that tonewise, it was all about subtle tweaks that created the magic.
Brilliant show. And speaking of brilliant - the Heavy Water has been one of my favorites for about a year now, can’t get enough of it. And for truly scintillating top-end, try engaging it together with the Camouflange, set to as subtle a wobble as you can make it. Makes everything *sing* like angels from above.
Awesome episode! The clean tone using the Thorpy boost that feeds back is so good! I have always loved that sound. This makes me picture standing in front of a very loud amp. You can play clean, but if you stand too close the feedback will take over. Love it!
Mick...Completely non-guitar related comment, so I hope you don't mind.... your specs.... thin fairly soft pieces of plastic, with small metal hinged joints pinned into the front and sides. you are pulling them on and off, one-handed, repeatedly which will pull them out of alignment quicker than swinging a guitar around by it's neck. They will require a new set-up every other day. And then you start twizzling them around holding them by the end of one side. This causes enormous (relative) stress on those joints and pins, causing very premature wear, making them go out of shape and come loose etc. This is a habit you see frequently and it invariably costs the owners significant expense and frustration over the course of a few decades. As a guitar player and musician, you have taught me so much, and I am deeply grateful. As a Dispensing Optician of too many years standing, allow me to give you some friendly advice..... Pack it in. Find some way to break the habits, and your frames will last longer, hold their shape and fit so much better. And I'll be able to watch and concentrate on, your highly informative videos without wincing and cringing all the time.
Thanks Sean, no doubt you know glasses far better than I do, but two years in and they’re rock solid! However, new ones incoming so they’re for recycling anyway. Sad. Cheers!
Love this episode. Seems like most guitarists are seeking dirty tones and as a result, “clean tone” has come to mean stiff, cold, sterile. In reality, great clean tones should have all the same elements that great dirty tones have: compression, sustain, aggressive harmonic content and swirl. One hurdle to jump when facing the leap from a great dirty tone back to a great clean tone is that overly efficient speakers, overwound pickups, and amps dialed in (biased hot) to sound good overdriven, make that leap backwards a bit tricky. Mix in boost pedals, EQ’s and compressors, and we are trying to add back what’s been taken away. While so much of this is subjective, I find that it is far better to achieve an amazing clean and dirty tone if you get the clean tone right to begin with, rather than vice versa. As we all know it’s a game of weight and balances and we are always robbing Peter to pay Paul. And then, after you get it all just right, you listen to a Kenny Burrell play Midnight Blue with just a Gibson and tweed Deluxe and your own complicated setup sounds like processed cheese in comparison. It’s maddening! Love the show, love the pedals, love the camaraderie. Great sounds here!
Perfect timing, thanks guys. I have played for 43 years, and my default is no pedals (apart for a solo boost and maybe a wah) into a heavy crunch sound. Use the volume with a cap on to get cleans. However, just hit 50 and I have bought a number of pedals including a compressor, delay and chorus and realised I should try clean as the base sound. This has really helped. I definitely need to get me an eq pedal. You can teach an old dog new tricks
Recently upgraded my partscaster with cheap Alnico pu's & 500K pots, discovered the sound I didn't know I'd been looking for for years; been playing it naked 'cept for a touch of reverb since
Keep thinking about the content of, and returning to watch this episode (like so many before) and being floored by the wonderful questions you pose/examine. Great stuff as ever team.
I just bought a leslie cab because it was cheaper than a neo vent. I'm so glad I did! I've loved your channel for probably 3 or 4 years, much love keep up the good work!
Clean tone lover here and my $.02 is that it’s a process to learn to think of your “clean” tone as a variety of clean tones just like your variety of OD tones. The clean, crisp tone required to lay a funky Strat groove is different from the full and warm clean needed for single note solos or tasty comping which is different from the snappy sizzle that comes in handy when chicken-picking is the Special of The Day. I always have a crisp clean, warm clean, and a solo clean on the palette (with reverb, delay and chorused for each). An EQ at the tail of the chain gives you that final push to get over the band without breaking eardrums AND makes it easy to switch between songs and parts that feature fingerpicking vs those that are plectrum powered.
These are the videos I come back to again and again, picking up something new each time as my own ear and skill progress. It’s videos like this one, breaking down the fundamentals, that got me to subscribe in the first place. Love this one! Thanks guys!
Brilliant show !! I love clean tones, and while I get a few sweet sounds from my non-strat, non-tele, non-LP guitars, and non-fender deluxe, non-marshall, non-hiwatt amps, I'm going to watch this a few more times and gather ideas.
I love really clean clean tones. My favorite is with a '62 Strat Reissue and my Mesa Boogie Lonestar Classic in 100 Watt mode. That is my clean heaven for ever...
One of my favorite clean tones, particularly for playing open chord arpeggio stuff, is to turn a Fender or Music Man amp up to where it’s mildly breaking up, and then just roll the guitar volume knob back until the breakup is gone. Then you get this beautiful clean tone without much spikey transients, but much fuller sounding than if you just set the amp at 3. You don’t want to turn the guitar volume down too much because you don’t want to lose too much top end. But if you do it just a little bit, it sounds amazing to me.
Goodness Cripes! THANK YOU for this episode (and really, all the episodes!). Over the last few years, I have found myself using less and less overdrive. More and more, I'm finding more reward & satisfaction from clean tones with delay and reverb, and an occasional splash of modulation. It's very easy to spend an entire evening with nothing but clean tones. Loved the Clean Feedback!
I know it may be a bit of heresy, but i preferred the sound of my solid state JC77. Beautiful clean sound, (plus it’s beautiful chorus). I gigged with it for over 30 years. It cuts through the mix, more than loud enough when needed. It’s covered with dings, and had various things spilled on it, and it never let me down. And it took any pedal very well. I still have it.👍
Certain solid state amps have phenomenal clean tones, and Roland is one of those. The problem I always had is when they break up and all that transistor's fizzy buzz come out. But with anything in music you need not to justify what you like.
@@gbbruno596 They are not all good and not all bad. I love my tube amps and hybrids also. I just feel the outside pressure is unwarranted. Trust your ears.
You have the best video here with the best title ever. This simply goes to show that you do not need to have any distortion or overdrive in your electric guitar sounds and tones. As an electric guitar player myself, I have to admit that I am pretty horrible at using distortion pedals with overdrive in them. I own a Boss ME-80 multiple effects pedal and it is amazing. Basically, the pedal itself has all kinds of settings that you can set up in which they are both in the clean and distortion/overdrive sound formats. Since I have been mostly going back to the basics, I do clean tones on my electric guitar all the time. I really do love the dirty distortion/overdrive sounds but they are a bit too loud for both of my ears. The trouble is that I don't know how to use distortion in general all that much but no hard feelings whatsoever. As far as the electric guitars go, I have always loved Fender Stratocasters as well as Fender Squier Stratocasters of all types as those are my go to gears that I prefer over any other electric guitars out there. My go to amps are Vox Valvetronix and Fender Blues Junior as they are both small and easy to carry. Those two amps provide the best clean sounds and tones as possible. Otherwise, thanks for this and please keep up the amazing content! Have a nice day.
Gorgeous tone's on this episode gents. Really fantastic playing by both-of you. My ideal clean tone: Suhr Strat (Lollar pickups) - Fender blackface Princeton-reverb - use a touch of spring reverb - subtle DD-500 tape delay. I can get lost in that tone for hours. Add Boss DC-2W for even-more Wow-factor.
I'm a tuned-way-low death metal guy, but as a guitarist, I love clean as clean can be tones just as much as high gain goodness. My core rhythm guitar sound is a Crate BV300H, which has an insanely beautiful clean sound once you get an eq pedal in the mix, I have an MXR 10-band, an RV-5 on spring setting, and an MXR Stereo Chorus set at its slowest speed in the fx loop, and those pedals are 100% always on, and a BB+ Preamp with gain at zero, volume at 10, and a little extra treble from the tone knob, the BB+ is right up front after my wah, and channel A is always on, and stays totally clean and belly with lots of chime, the BB's channel B is when I actually do want a little breakup. The Blue Voodoo has an outstanding high gain distortion, but best of both worlds, cuz I'm totally in love with the clean channel on that thing! My lead guitar setup has probably an even cleaner tone, it's a stereo setup between my Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212, and my Fender M-80 Chorus 212 with a Radial Twin City, I run the reverbs on both amps almost at full capacity believe it or not, sometimes I wonder if the knobs aren't calibrated to the spring tanks properly cuz it's not crazy amounts out of either amp, idk, but both at 9/10 are right where I want them anyway, so it never really bothered me, and then I have a Source Audio EQ2 so I can run two different eq curves independently to each amp. The chorus function on the M-80 sadly disables when running the stereo fx loop, cuz it has a phenomenal chorus sound, I just can't use it the way I have it set up :( my newest pedal is a Jackson New Wave chorus, but I've been having difficulties finding something in it for an always-on chorus like I'm used to on my rhythm rig, I've had to mess with the internal level controls to get it just right, I still need some time dialing it in, but for now my lead rig core tone doesn't have an always on chorus yet. Crystal clear clean tones are great, but you at least need some reverb, if not some subtle chorus ;) and an eq will probably always elevate any clean tone.
I have to say to many other people this would have to be the hardest show to record, but the way you worked with the headroom, dynamics, and nuanced playing was Inspirational. Kudos to both of you!! P.s. love what you did with the Heavy Water!!
Great show. I play clean quite a bit and my Fender Vibrolux reissue amp is wonderful for that. But I recently needed a small, (very) affordable amp for practicing with my band (which we do at low levels) and found a used Randall solid state amp that actually works really well for clean sounds despite their rep as a hard rock kind of amp. It would be great if you looked at some solid state amps like Quilter, DV Mark, etc, that Jazz guys are using for gigs that are solid state, super light, and have killer sound.
One of the best suggestions I have for a good clean tone and for general technique is to back off your guitars volume knob to 7 or so. (Feel free to have your boost, overdrive, eq, even fuzz turned on while doing this.) The main thing that makes clean tones spiky and uninspiring is that the volume is too loud on your pick attack, so there’s nowhere left for you to go. All you can do is play quieter or softer. But if your volume knob is turned back to a new midrange where you can play BOTH softer and harder, BOTH quieter and louder, you open up new possibilities in your tone and technique. Now your picking technique will determine changes in tone, and you can even pick hard without running into the volume wall. And if things are going to break up in a good way, backing off that volume means your picking dynamics can hint at that overdriven tone awaiting you. Then just turn up that volume knob and dig in with your pick!
And here I am, the guy that NEVER touches his volume and tone pots🙄. I learned so much watching this, especially using the effects dialed back a bit. Thanks lads!
I assume it is because electric guitar has been a relatively new thing for me after decades of acoustic playing, I tend to find myself gravitating towards clean tones so I really appreciated this topic. A compressor and a delay can keep me happy for long periods of time
Beautiful tones, as always! I love just plugging straight into my deluxe reverb. There’s something magical about the pure tone of the guitar and the amp. As a side note, Mick should play with his fingers more! That sounded great!
Hey fellas. I have become more interested in gear and tone in the last year. I was very fortunate to find your show first when I searched. I cannot believe how much I have learned. And after a year of disappearing down the gear rabbit hole, I am still experimenting with pedals obviously but have my main rig sorted. My supersonic 22 amp and fender player plus tele sound beautiful. Add my nobels overdrive and boss sd1 and that is gain pretty much sorted for my tastes. Um now playing around with delays and reverb (cheap at the moment) but what a wonderful journey. Really love this and all you other videos. Thank you so much for the benefit of your knowledge. I am now knee deep in tutorials on truefire and My joy of the guitar reignited. Truly thank you. Gavin
I really love the clean tone of a Les Paul especially in the middle position. This trait of Les Pauls is something that is widely neglected. But they were originally designed for clean sounds. Thank you for this video!
@@JesseJuup Thank you for your answer. Definitely true. Do you remember Boon Gould of Level 42? He played funk music on a Les Paul, e.g. the tune Hot Water. Just fantastic.
Thanks for this video! Getting an amazing clean tone takes some effort. We always put so much effort into our heavier tones it’s easy to forget the clean tone. It’s more than just the guitar plugged into the amp.
Awesome to see Karl Longbottoms guitars in the video too! That Tele looks stunning. Karl makes amazing guitars, I had the pleasure of demoing some last year and I loved playing them, the T style was insanely good.
I know this was mainly about tone, but your playing was just so divine. What a pleasure to listen to. Thanks! I preferred your single coil tones, so that was a revelation too.
I've got the Harmonious Monk a few days ago - and it was real magic to hear the same tones in my own room as in your shows. Loving it! Thank you Dan and Mick!
Great chemistry. Consistently high quality. Hell’s bells, I just like the noises Mick & Dan make when they explore their instruments together. 😋 Bravo!
Thanks for the validation of my long held view that a balanced and clear "clean tone" (before any modulation or even reverb) provides the "proper" basis for the addition of modulation exploring overdrive options. I try to keep the base guitar articulation intact as "dirt" is added. I've (today) rediscovered that at that point turning off all but the OD(s) results in a superior over driven tone as well.
Hello, Le-Gents--one of the toughest lessons I learned as a young guitar student was that my full, bottom-end rich, chimey clean tone did NOT usually translate directly into a beautiful distorted tone. I think I was *much* older when I learned that the bass knob also moves in reverse.
When it comes to humbuckers, my favorite thing is an early PAF style like the Seymour Duncan Seth Lover or the Gibson NHS (Memphis Historic Spec), but wired in parallel, unlike the more common later style of wiring in series. It's the best of both worlds between single coil tone and humbucker noise cancelling. Oh, also, the Lace Alumitones. You should check those out if you haven't.
If you're looking for headroom try turning the volume all the way up and use the drive as your volume. Hey presto you have a no-master-volume amp. You'll probably back off from that a bit but it will radically change the tone of your amp.😉
Mike Hewett - That's what I do too, especially when using a lower wattage amp, such as my Vox AC15. It allows me way more head room than one would expect from a small amp.
Great video dudes! The ultimate clean tone for me is playing unplugged! And I think one reason people often don't like dry, clean tones is when they don't like their pure tone of their guitar made loud. If you start with a guitar that sounds great unplugged, I think you have a much better chance of enjoying playing it clean too.
You know, something I'm thinking about whilst watching this, especially during "Thing 6", talking about plectra, is that you lads really think primarily like lead guitar players, and not like rhythm guitar players. When you are playing rhythm, providing that base layer of sound, your aims and concerns about tone and technique are quite different than when you are a lead player, providing that top layer of sound. As a rhythm player, a solid clean tone is the basis of everything I do, and how I generate my dirty tone is very much in relationship to my clean tone. If my dirty tone is entirely divorced from my clean tone, then I can't make a smooth transition between the two. And I specifically use extra light to light picks, and very rarely even medium picks. I use the larger rounded triangle size (which gives me more choices as to the flexibility of the length of material between my fingers and strings)--typically, the heaviest plectrum I will ever use is on the order of 0.60-0.63 mm in thickness, and I will often choose a 0.50 mm or even 0.38 mm pick, if the music calls for even more subtlety in my dynamics. A rhythm player really exists in the middle of the music, not out front, not in the back or on the bottom. And a lighter plectrum in a lot of ways does what a compressor does--it gives you cushion.
Wonderful show gentlemen! I may watch this one a few times! Using multiple amps and all of the suggestions were great! I hope you will do more of these type shows, although I enjoy all of your content. It would be great if you could feature the newer pedals from EHX, and JHS. So many great new pedals from JHS 3 series and the new EHX stuff like the nano memory man!!! Get busy guys! Lol
I have been playing fingerstyle for 30 years for exactly the reasons you demonstrate in this video. Once I heard guitar's tone without the clicking of the pick, I could not go back. I have had to incorporate some classical methods in order to play faster lines, but now that I've done that, there are no disadvantages for the styles I play. On another note, I love this show, but I have sold all my effects pedals. No matter how cool the pedal I always lose something. I play through a good buffered ABY box for a wet dry rig with clean and dirty amps and couldn't be happier.
Another fine episode, D&M. I'm a bit disappointed that Dan didn't use his wonderful "the compressor is overdrive for your clean tones" phrase. Maybe on Monday's live show?
Im in love clean with good clean tone. I agree quality of all components is heard. Great clean valve amp, maker of valves, existence of any buffered pedal on the pedalboard (avoid those unless you know what you are doing), great reverb,some sustain pedal. Every component is heard. Softness of fingerplay evennon soloes, or width and material of pick.Age or material of strings. And lastly but not lewst, the make of a speaker and cabinet. Even size of cabinet for the same sized speaker.
Love this topic and your show. For too many years I sought guitars with pickups that would push an amp into distortion and amps that would do this easily. I played virtually everything with some or a lot of crunch. Maybe ten years ago I had an epiphany of sorts and began to dial it all back, first approaching and then seeking a purer sound. Call it evolution. This has since become my "tone" of choice. Lower output pickups and higher headroom amps have become what I seek. I have become quite appreciative of single-ended amps, five watts or so. They possess the quality of being highly touch-sensitive and responsive to my particular style. As many single-ended amps have no tone stack or control, which is part of their simple charm, I use a Tech 21 "Q-Strip" for EQ adjustment. My 1960 Gibon GA-5T "Skylark" is wizard, and like some other things, it's much better when wet. (Fender Tre-Verb, Calalinbread Bellypock Deluxe) plus a touch of dual compression (Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Deluxe and Xotic SP). What an amazing improvement in tone, touch, and everything that makes playing electric guitar so satisfying this change has made available to me. I find that I am a better guitarist and a better, more original musician when playing clean and that the subtlety of that range of sounds is more esthetically rewarding. Of course, a good crunchy/distorted sound is still desirable for some things, but not for as many things as I thought before. This episode of your show is brilliant, ace. Many thanks and cheers, guys.
Hey guys…I love this subject. Clean sounds are such a big part of guitar and you really dig into it in this video. Thanks so much for another great video gents
I think more and more I'm coming to the conclusion that, as far as possible, sticking with the same guitar, pedals and amp and learning all of the subtleties of it is the way to go. So knowing where on the volume and tone knob you get the best clean tone. Knowing what combo of pedals work with that guitar. I fell into the trap of having a guitar or pedal or amp for different tones and it's just a pain in the erse. Get a rig that sounds great, stick with it, learn it, make music!!
@@ThatPedalShow I've bought a few t shirts and hoodies so I suppose I have sort of taken you out... so it's not really our first date... Anyway, you know what I mean though I think. I've spoiled myself, saving and spending my money on lovely guitars and amps and pedals. But more often than not find myself trying this one, trying that amp, seeing what it sounds like with that pedal. All to the detriment of actually making some music! I've sold 3 guitars this week as I intend to get down to a twangy thing and a syrupy thing ,with two amps and a decent sized board. End of story. Learn it, love it, make music!
5:00 Great intro, you have not even mentioned compressors yet but now I think I finally understand the purpose of a compressor and why people associate them with sustain.
After 5 weeks in hospital i'm able to watch all of the TPS shows i missed the last weeks. As a clean tone fan this is heaven for me. Great one TPS! Btw. Lot's of guitarists didn't play with that big amount of distortion or dirt we think or recall in our memory.
![Let’s Talk About Fender Strats [Sounds, Bridge Setup, Pickups & More] - That Pedal Show](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-ndkUzSGKNA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Let’s Talk About Fender Strats [Sounds, Bridge Setup, Pickups & More] – That Pedal Show](/img/tr.png)
![How To Set Your Amp For Pedals [Gain, EQ, Volume & FX Loops]](/img/n.gif)
please make it into a t-shirt. "With great headroom, comes great responsibility". Love It!
And also this is one of the more longed videos on the internet. I haven't been able to find any clean tone lecture on YT. So thank you for creating this video I needed.
I'd buy that one!! Thanks for another great video. As a guy who plays with a lot of pedals but not a lot of dirt I find this subject fantastic.👍😎
I’ve always been a “clean tone first” kinda guy and the past few years been in love with the Hudson broadcast for dirt with a clean amp but it sounded like garbage with an AC30 which I’ve never had great results putting dirt pedals into. So I adjusted THE AMP until the broadcast sounded good and to my surprise when I turned it off I liked that clean tone even better than how I originally set it 😂
Ha, awesome!
I find that pedals sound great into the normal channel of a Vox AC amp, but not into the top boost.
The broadcast is my favorite pedal of all time.
AC30 check out a Crowther Hotcake was designed by Paul Crowther specifically to use with AC30
Broadcast is just a phenomenal piece of gear. Especially if you are into vintage / amp drive sounds but is also a terrific clean preamp. It always seems to work completely synergistically with the amp it’s going into
These are by far my favorite TPS shows - down to the basics (type of tone, different applications, effects, signal chain) - finding a real practical, basic ' problem ' that basically everyone faces - setting the scenario - exploring different ideas and settings - finding solutions - encouraging more exploration cause there is no final answers. In the end this show is mainly about pedals and all the ways they can get us to sound fancy, but also to solve real world problems in studio/home or gigging scenarios. That is what we come for.
Thanks Vlad!
As a bass player, I can agree on everything you guys said about our "natural compressor". On bass it is well known, that finger placement and the way of getting the string to move makes all the differences in bass tone. Even on an old beat up P-Bass. There are tons of tones in there! Well done gentlemen
Agreed, surprisingly there are a lot of bass players who stay put in the same plucking position all night. While there are still subtle dynamic variations available, there is so much more range when you move around between the bridge and the end of the neck, or even over the neck. I guess it's something that came naturally to me when I started.
I have a place I come back to and set bass on amp accordingly
Then move around as needed to take or leave room
Open notes have less mid compared to 12th fret octave
Same with plucking position
makes me think of someone I saw recently talking about McCartney and the Hofner bass. A whole generation went out recognized how good his technique was because it wasn't a particularly well-made instrument and it would compress so easily if you picked it too hard.
Technique in general on bass feels much more variable. It can be fingerstyle, thumb, slap and/or pick. All give a very different sound and energy. You could never imagine a Wailers record with slap or a high energy Clash song with a fat old school soul thumb. Not that compression and pedals aren't super useful and often necessary, but technique can expand the palate so much.
I use a EQD Warden in the beginning, and Secret Preamp at the end of my chain to get nice cleans that’s really fill the room.
Gotta say, been loving these "back to basics" approach to tone you guys have been showing, we can all learn and grow so much from these videos. Thank you, keep up the amazing content!
I agree they're brilliant.
This is purely an observation, (but it might of course sound very critical, sorry). 🙄
Besides Dan and Mick spend hours on these and sometimes if they slip, you can 100% forgive and stay behind them.
On to my point.
The 1st section has annoyed me. To be honest, I'd be annoyed even if my best friends or greatest heroes slipped into this.
That is that they compared two different settings with a totally different playing.
What I mean is, we all need to hear and see fair, and if possible identical conditions and scenarios for any camprisons.
Moreover, the style of play at 6.55 to 7.08 simply underlines what a dry amp would sound like and also drives home the harshness of the HRD.
Then, to add more emphasis regarding the difference with Reverb, Dan plays a different style, which if plays at the beginning, (although still dry), would sound completely different to what he played to demonstrate it.
Also, if kept the same, it would certainly show how one needs to adapt when playing without any depth.
Last point, (sorryl, it's also a bit strange how the last video released was about an acoustic guitar, which played acoustically would be dry, (depending on room), where it's just you and the guitar.
Not a criticism, just an observation.
It's probably been said before - but this is like being in a master-class... and it's completely free! Thank you.
Thank you Eddie!
It’s only free if you aren’t supporting them on Patreon or in the pedal show store. Invest if you can.
@@testinguk_Admin true. I've been thinking about that.
My ears have always gravitated more toward clean sounds, so i appreciate this. You guys have definitely helped me appreciate overdrive much more, but i also really appreciate this one :)
For me, the basis of a good amp is its ability to produce a clean tone. This transparency lends itself to being the foundation of a pedal platform if desired.
What a massively inspiring episode. Especially the subtle use of modulation with sparkling cleans, such as a subtle chorus, really has me going off on a tangent.
Guys I don’t think you understand just how many players search for the PERFECT clean tone! This is fantastic and will probably get more praise than you ever imagined. Incredibly well done. Cheers mates! 🤙
Way back in my band days in the 60's and 70's, I always wanted my guitars distorted, fuzzed and bloody loud. Recently, I got a great love again for just the sound of the electric guitar. Clean allows you to hear the beauty and clarity of the guitar, the amp, the tremolo, delays, reverbs etc... I still really love the dynamics of real tubes, but cleaner. My current motto is "Clean is the new mean!" I absolutely love great delays and an awesome reverb! We guitarist have such glorious choices today. The right combination needs to make you want to jump right in and wrap those dreamy sounds around you as you get lost in your playing!
Yes! My world. Thank you gents, always a pleasure.
This episode was excellent. I love clean tones and finger pick (classically trained) and always feel it sounds flat. I have a Eric Clapton Strat playing through a Fender Hot Rod Jnr. Watching this has convinced me on reverb, delay and compression.
Nice one Matthew - enjoy!
A Chorus/Double Tracker at low speed is really nice also. It's great on electrified acoustic also.
I would actually recommend some multi fx unit, not as something to pit in your rig permanently, but to get a feel for all the different FX - then, the ones you really enjoy, buy good pedal versions of it or whatever, and get into all the requisite tweaking that comes with it. I adore FX, and massive drive as well - but I start each day with my Manuel Raimundo Flamenco guitar, just my skin against the string! The electric guitar is more than just a guitar, and the whole rig should be seen as a single integrated instrument.
Anyway, dont mean to teach grandma to suck eggs; I suspect you are way further down the road of skills than I am. All the very best for '22, & if you are ever bored, stick your head in to my awful lil' channel!
HIWATT. Clean tone sorted. It’s a magical 3D sound that I’ve never heard in any other amp. I’m been using and still using my HIWATT from 1987.
Different guitars & tonal differences -- makes me think of the episode with Josh Scott giving the history of fuzz/distortion/OD. He was talking about how the simpler the circuit, the more important each component is. He compared it to soup: if there are only 6 ingredients, all of them are super important to the final flavor (or tone); if there are 56 ingredients, the role each ends up influencing the final flavor less. Seems like a similar thing here. Fewer gain stages means the "guitar/pickup" ingredient plays a larger role in the final tonal flavor.
As a "clean toner", I really appreciated this video. Clean tone is partly in your equipment setup but also "in your fingers". Your demonstration of this was excellent. Thanks guys... By the way, you both have super clean tone playing technique.
Thanks Robert!
This might be one of my favorite episodes. Your’e a natural born educator, Mick. I’d enjoy more of these instructional videos. It should be said you both played superbly on this- gorgeous tones ♥️
Thank you Michael!
Both Telecasters, the burst Les Paul Standard and the Stratocaster sounded so good with that set up. Love the Marshall!
Wonderful video. For two guys who seem almost apologetic for discussing clean tones, you really do a great job nailing them!
That intro jam was one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard. So lush! Very inspiring.
Agree 100%
Only started watching you guys properly over the last 4 months or so, love the range of topics you guys cover! Some of the playing on this was fantastic and very inspiring. Thanks for all the great content lads 🙂
Thanks Rob, and a belated ‘welcome to the fam!’
Thank you guys!!
This messing around with the clean sound has brought out some great music and awesome doodles from both of you!
Now in my sixties there is nothing better to me than clear clean pure sound.
Great show!!
I am a big fan of the clean sound, especially with the Strat. I love the tones you got in this video, some of them are really inspiring! I also love your videos because I learn new things every time I watch to them, you inspire me so much. Thanks a lot for your professional work 😊
Came for the clean tones - was not disappointed - but I have to say both of your playing was out of this world, specifically in the “dynamics” section. I would absolutely love to see more videos focused on clean tones. The tones you guys got with the Hiwatt were incredible. Great episode.
Thank you Jeremy!
First: EPIC playing. Caught myself close-watching, -listening, -processing, which is deeply satisfying. Also satisfying: those little kid moments of excited validation--derived in this episode from the segment on compressors w/high headroom amps. I feel like I got a gold star thumbed onto my forehead. Cheers!
Ha! Thanks so much Kurtis. :0)
Shoutout Kansas City massive. Gang gang
I have been waiting for a clean sound show for years. Thank you so much. Blues On....💙
That was some of the best playing I have heard from both of you ! well done
I liked this one so much that I watched twice in one day. Thanks, guys!
Great show. Some of the best playing I've heard from you two in a long time. Lots of big smiles from you both.
Thanks Pete!
It’s about time! I’m a Jazz guy who plays a single pickup in the neck Gibson L-5…and I just use no dirt ever…
Thank you for this very in-depth discussion and tasteful playing as always. One takeaway for me...I can save a lot of money by just focusing on my hands with dynamics and technique. Someone like Julian Lage is a great example of using a relatively simple setup but still achieving loads of clean tonal and textural variation and nuances with his hands alone.
Amen to that!
Wonderful. Just wonderful. When Mick started playing without plectrum, it provoked an attentive stillness inside. Dan was so honest to say it scared him to play after that. Still, he hit me as a jazz player. Such a musical episode. Also, the fact that tonewise, it was all about subtle tweaks that created the magic.
Brilliant show.
And speaking of brilliant - the Heavy Water has been one of my favorites for about a year now, can’t get enough of it.
And for truly scintillating top-end, try engaging it together with the Camouflange, set to as subtle a wobble as you can make it.
Makes everything *sing* like angels from above.
Awesome episode! The clean tone using the Thorpy boost that feeds back is so good! I have always loved that sound. This makes me picture standing in front of a very loud amp. You can play clean, but if you stand too close the feedback will take over. Love it!
Always love a TPS new vid notification. Excited to view this one later. 👍🏻
Mick...Completely non-guitar related comment, so I hope you don't mind.... your specs.... thin fairly soft pieces of plastic, with small metal hinged joints pinned into the front and sides. you are pulling them on and off, one-handed, repeatedly which will pull them out of alignment quicker than swinging a guitar around by it's neck. They will require a new set-up every other day. And then you start twizzling them around holding them by the end of one side. This causes enormous (relative) stress on those joints and pins, causing very premature wear, making them go out of shape and come loose etc. This is a habit you see frequently and it invariably costs the owners significant expense and frustration over the course of a few decades.
As a guitar player and musician, you have taught me so much, and I am deeply grateful.
As a Dispensing Optician of too many years standing, allow me to give you some friendly advice..... Pack it in. Find some way to break the habits, and your frames will last longer, hold their shape and fit so much better. And I'll be able to watch and concentrate on, your highly informative videos without wincing and cringing all the time.
Thanks Sean, no doubt you know glasses far better than I do, but two years in and they’re rock solid! However, new ones incoming so they’re for recycling anyway. Sad. Cheers!
Love this episode. Seems like most guitarists are seeking dirty tones and as a result, “clean tone” has come to mean stiff, cold, sterile.
In reality, great clean tones should have all the same elements that great dirty tones have: compression, sustain, aggressive harmonic content and swirl.
One hurdle to jump when facing the leap from a great dirty tone back to a great clean tone is that overly efficient speakers, overwound pickups, and amps dialed in (biased hot) to sound good overdriven, make that leap backwards a bit tricky. Mix in boost pedals, EQ’s and compressors, and we are trying to add back what’s been taken away.
While so much of this is subjective, I find that it is far better to achieve an amazing clean and dirty tone if you get the clean tone right to begin with, rather than vice versa.
As we all know it’s a game of weight and balances and we are always robbing Peter to pay Paul.
And then, after you get it all just right, you listen to a Kenny Burrell play Midnight Blue with just a Gibson and tweed Deluxe and your own complicated setup sounds like processed cheese in comparison. It’s maddening!
Love the show, love the pedals, love the camaraderie. Great sounds here!
There is much wisdom here, thank you!
Perfect timing, thanks guys. I have played for 43 years, and my default is no pedals (apart for a solo boost and maybe a wah) into a heavy crunch sound. Use the volume with a cap on to get cleans. However, just hit 50 and I have bought a number of pedals including a compressor, delay and chorus and realised I should try clean as the base sound. This has really helped. I definitely need to get me an eq pedal. You can teach an old dog new tricks
Recently upgraded my partscaster with cheap Alnico pu's & 500K pots, discovered the sound I didn't know I'd been looking for for years; been playing it naked 'cept for a touch of reverb since
Keep thinking about the content of, and returning to watch this episode (like so many before) and being floored by the wonderful questions you pose/examine. Great stuff as ever team.
Finding a good clean tone is harder than finding a distorted sound. Clean tones are just something else.
I just bought a leslie cab because it was cheaper than a neo vent. I'm so glad I did! I've loved your channel for probably 3 or 4 years, much love keep up the good work!
Clean tone lover here and my $.02 is that it’s a process to learn to think of your “clean” tone as a variety of clean tones just like your variety of OD tones. The clean, crisp tone required to lay a funky Strat groove is different from the full and warm clean needed for single note solos or tasty comping which is different from the snappy sizzle that comes in handy when chicken-picking is the Special of The Day. I always have a crisp clean, warm clean, and a solo clean on the palette (with reverb, delay and chorused for each). An EQ at the tail of the chain gives you that final push to get over the band without breaking eardrums AND makes it easy to switch between songs and parts that feature fingerpicking vs those that are plectrum powered.
Preach 👏
These are the videos I come back to again and again, picking up something new each time as my own ear and skill progress. It’s videos like this one, breaking down the fundamentals, that got me to subscribe in the first place. Love this one! Thanks guys!
Thanks James - wonderful that you find it useful!
Brilliant show !! I love clean tones, and while I get a few sweet sounds from my non-strat, non-tele, non-LP guitars, and non-fender deluxe, non-marshall, non-hiwatt amps, I'm going to watch this a few more times and gather ideas.
I love really clean clean tones. My favorite is with a '62 Strat Reissue and my Mesa Boogie Lonestar Classic in 100 Watt mode. That is my clean heaven for ever...
One of my favorite clean tones, particularly for playing open chord arpeggio stuff, is to turn a Fender or Music Man amp up to where it’s mildly breaking up, and then just roll the guitar volume knob back until the breakup is gone. Then you get this beautiful clean tone without much spikey transients, but much fuller sounding than if you just set the amp at 3. You don’t want to turn the guitar volume down too much because you don’t want to lose too much top end. But if you do it just a little bit, it sounds amazing to me.
That’s exactly it, Kevin. I also feel the Best tones (clean or driven) are realized when the power amp section is hot and happy. Cheers.
FINALLY!! i waited so much for a new episode! And especially regarding the topic of clean tone! 🙏🙏
Great show this week fellows, although I would've loved to have heard the Gretsch Filtertrons go with a clean amp platform - hopefully next time.
Goodness Cripes! THANK YOU for this episode (and really, all the episodes!). Over the last few years, I have found myself using less and less overdrive. More and more, I'm finding more reward & satisfaction from clean tones with delay and reverb, and an occasional splash of modulation. It's very easy to spend an entire evening with nothing but clean tones. Loved the Clean Feedback!
I know it may be a bit of heresy, but i preferred the sound of my solid state JC77. Beautiful clean sound, (plus it’s beautiful chorus). I gigged with it for over 30 years. It cuts through the mix, more than loud enough when needed. It’s covered with dings, and had various things spilled on it, and it never let me down. And it took any pedal very well. I still have it.👍
Totally! If that’s what you like, that’s what you like!
I have a handful of solid state amps I wouldn't part with either. A good amp is a good amp no matter what the snobs say.
Certain solid state amps have phenomenal clean tones, and Roland is one of those. The problem I always had is when they break up and all that transistor's fizzy buzz come out. But with anything in music you need not to justify what you like.
@@gbbruno596 They are not all good and not all bad. I love my tube amps and hybrids also. I just feel the outside pressure is unwarranted. Trust your ears.
@@TheRealcdawg22 Which is what I just said.
Gentlemen, you're both sounding amazing as ever. Many many thanks
I need the T-shirt "Whith great headroom comes great responsability"!
Btw, awesome playing and awesome sounds.
You have the best video here with the best title ever. This simply goes to show that you do not need to have any distortion or overdrive in your electric guitar sounds and tones. As an electric guitar player myself, I have to admit that I am pretty horrible at using distortion pedals with overdrive in them. I own a Boss ME-80 multiple effects pedal and it is amazing. Basically, the pedal itself has all kinds of settings that you can set up in which they are both in the clean and distortion/overdrive sound formats. Since I have been mostly going back to the basics, I do clean tones on my electric guitar all the time. I really do love the dirty distortion/overdrive sounds but they are a bit too loud for both of my ears. The trouble is that I don't know how to use distortion in general all that much but no hard feelings whatsoever. As far as the electric guitars go, I have always loved Fender Stratocasters as well as Fender Squier Stratocasters of all types as those are my go to gears that I prefer over any other electric guitars out there. My go to amps are Vox Valvetronix and Fender Blues Junior as they are both small and easy to carry. Those two amps provide the best clean sounds and tones as possible. Otherwise, thanks for this and please keep up the amazing content! Have a nice day.
Gorgeous tone's on this episode gents. Really fantastic playing by both-of you. My ideal clean tone: Suhr Strat (Lollar pickups) - Fender blackface Princeton-reverb - use a touch of spring reverb - subtle DD-500 tape delay. I can get lost in that tone for hours. Add Boss DC-2W for even-more Wow-factor.
Wonderful! Yeah man, we can see how you’d get lost in that. :0)
( just rewatched this episode) Mick's intro playing and Tone is among The Best I've heard from anyone...(ever) @@ThatPedalShow
I'm a tuned-way-low death metal guy, but as a guitarist, I love clean as clean can be tones just as much as high gain goodness. My core rhythm guitar sound is a Crate BV300H, which has an insanely beautiful clean sound once you get an eq pedal in the mix, I have an MXR 10-band, an RV-5 on spring setting, and an MXR Stereo Chorus set at its slowest speed in the fx loop, and those pedals are 100% always on, and a BB+ Preamp with gain at zero, volume at 10, and a little extra treble from the tone knob, the BB+ is right up front after my wah, and channel A is always on, and stays totally clean and belly with lots of chime, the BB's channel B is when I actually do want a little breakup. The Blue Voodoo has an outstanding high gain distortion, but best of both worlds, cuz I'm totally in love with the clean channel on that thing! My lead guitar setup has probably an even cleaner tone, it's a stereo setup between my Fender Hot Rod DeVille 212, and my Fender M-80 Chorus 212 with a Radial Twin City, I run the reverbs on both amps almost at full capacity believe it or not, sometimes I wonder if the knobs aren't calibrated to the spring tanks properly cuz it's not crazy amounts out of either amp, idk, but both at 9/10 are right where I want them anyway, so it never really bothered me, and then I have a Source Audio EQ2 so I can run two different eq curves independently to each amp. The chorus function on the M-80 sadly disables when running the stereo fx loop, cuz it has a phenomenal chorus sound, I just can't use it the way I have it set up :( my newest pedal is a Jackson New Wave chorus, but I've been having difficulties finding something in it for an always-on chorus like I'm used to on my rhythm rig, I've had to mess with the internal level controls to get it just right, I still need some time dialing it in, but for now my lead rig core tone doesn't have an always on chorus yet. Crystal clear clean tones are great, but you at least need some reverb, if not some subtle chorus ;) and an eq will probably always elevate any clean tone.
I have to say to many other people this would have to be the hardest show to record, but the way you worked with the headroom, dynamics, and nuanced playing was Inspirational. Kudos to both of you!! P.s. love what you did with the Heavy Water!!
Thank you kindly! Heavy Water: winning. Holy moly! Much love to you folks.
Great show. I play clean quite a bit and my Fender Vibrolux reissue amp is wonderful for that. But I recently needed a small, (very) affordable amp for practicing with my band (which we do at low levels) and found a used Randall solid state amp that actually works really well for clean sounds despite their rep as a hard rock kind of amp. It would be great if you looked at some solid state amps like Quilter, DV Mark, etc, that Jazz guys are using for gigs that are solid state, super light, and have killer sound.
One of the best suggestions I have for a good clean tone and for general technique is to back off your guitars volume knob to 7 or so. (Feel free to have your boost, overdrive, eq, even fuzz turned on while doing this.)
The main thing that makes clean tones spiky and uninspiring is that the volume is too loud on your pick attack, so there’s nowhere left for you to go. All you can do is play quieter or softer.
But if your volume knob is turned back to a new midrange where you can play BOTH softer and harder, BOTH quieter and louder, you open up new possibilities in your tone and technique. Now your picking technique will determine changes in tone, and you can even pick hard without running into the volume wall.
And if things are going to break up in a good way, backing off that volume means your picking dynamics can hint at that overdriven tone awaiting you. Then just turn up that volume knob and dig in with your pick!
Nice!
Honestly, I rarely ever have my guitar Volume up past 5 or so. I use it liberally in the 2-5 range, and feel the best sounds are to be had in there.
And here I am, the guy that NEVER touches his volume and tone pots🙄. I learned so much watching this, especially using the effects dialed back a bit. Thanks lads!
I assume it is because electric guitar has been a relatively new thing for me after decades of acoustic playing, I tend to find myself gravitating towards clean tones so I really appreciated this topic. A compressor and a delay can keep me happy for long periods of time
Beautiful tones, as always! I love just plugging straight into my deluxe reverb. There’s something magical about the pure tone of the guitar and the amp.
As a side note, Mick should play with his fingers more! That sounded great!
Thanks Chris! I do use em a lot when I’m playing actual music. More than I’d realised…. Cheers!
Hey fellas.
I have become more interested in gear and tone in the last year.
I was very fortunate to find your show first when I searched.
I cannot believe how much I have learned. And after a year of disappearing down the gear rabbit hole, I am still experimenting with pedals obviously but have my main rig sorted.
My supersonic 22 amp and fender player plus tele sound beautiful.
Add my nobels overdrive and boss sd1 and that is gain pretty much sorted for my tastes.
Um now playing around with delays and reverb (cheap at the moment) but what a wonderful journey.
Really love this and all you other videos.
Thank you so much for the benefit of your knowledge.
I am now knee deep in tutorials on truefire and My joy of the guitar reignited.
Truly thank you.
Gavin
Thank you Gavin! Makes us truly happy that you’re enjoying the journey. That’s what it’s all about. :0)
I really love the clean tone of a Les Paul especially in the middle position. This trait of Les Pauls is something that is widely neglected. But they were originally designed for clean sounds. Thank you for this video!
Yeah, specially when you dont have both pups vol and tone set at 10, but blend tastefully!
@@JesseJuup Thank you for your answer. Definitely true. Do you remember Boon Gould of Level 42? He played funk music on a Les Paul, e.g. the tune Hot Water. Just fantastic.
Thanks for this video! Getting an amazing clean tone takes some effort. We always put so much effort into our heavier tones it’s easy to forget the clean tone. It’s more than just the guitar plugged into the amp.
Awesome to see Karl Longbottoms guitars in the video too! That Tele looks stunning. Karl makes amazing guitars, I had the pleasure of demoing some last year and I loved playing them, the T style was insanely good.
Cheers Leigh, hope you're well buddy. I also had the pleasure of you demoing some of my guitars
I think this is the best video ever made on this topic.
Nice playing on the intro Mick! Nice and subtle, and that Strat sounds like heaven!
Thanks Larry!
I know this was mainly about tone, but your playing was just so divine. What a pleasure to listen to. Thanks!
I preferred your single coil tones, so that was a revelation too.
Thanks Gert!
Love the show! I’m with Dan, BD-2 is my favorite clean tone!
I've got the Harmonious Monk a few days ago - and it was real magic to hear the same tones in my own room as in your shows. Loving it! Thank you Dan and Mick!
Yay! Thanks for acquiring one!
Congrats on reaching 300k subs guys, so well deserved!
Great chemistry. Consistently high quality. Hell’s bells, I just like the noises Mick & Dan make when they explore their instruments together. 😋 Bravo!
Great. I'm watching it a second time. Just for the sounds and playing. You were really inspired guys !
Wow, thanks Fred!
Thanks for the validation of my long held view that a balanced and clear "clean tone" (before any modulation or even reverb) provides the "proper"
basis for the addition of modulation exploring overdrive options. I try to keep the base guitar articulation intact as "dirt" is added. I've (today) rediscovered that at that point turning off all but the OD(s) results in a superior over driven tone as well.
Hello, Le-Gents--one of the toughest lessons I learned as a young guitar student was that my full, bottom-end rich, chimey clean tone did NOT usually translate directly into a beautiful distorted tone. I think I was *much* older when I learned that the bass knob also moves in reverse.
Ha! Yes indeed!
Aye! Dont let it get so thick as to turn into mud!
Hope you are enjoying your rig, all the very best for '22
THNX for the CLEAN show !!!!!!!
When it comes to humbuckers, my favorite thing is an early PAF style like the Seymour Duncan Seth Lover or the Gibson NHS (Memphis Historic Spec), but wired in parallel, unlike the more common later style of wiring in series. It's the best of both worlds between single coil tone and humbucker noise cancelling. Oh, also, the Lace Alumitones. You should check those out if you haven't.
Do you like filtertrons? Would imagine they're in a similar sort of ballpark
Beautiful way to start the year - as ever an enjoyable, informative and intriguing video.
If you're looking for headroom try turning the volume all the way up and use the drive as your volume. Hey presto you have a no-master-volume amp. You'll probably back off from that a bit but it will radically change the tone of your amp.😉
I have a 6505+ not known for its great clean channel. This is my secret.
Mike Hewett - That's what I do too, especially when using a lower wattage amp, such as my Vox AC15. It allows me way more head room than one would expect from a small amp.
classic trick soooo toneful and surprising!!!
Another great episode!
Great video dudes! The ultimate clean tone for me is playing unplugged! And I think one reason people often don't like dry, clean tones is when they don't like their pure tone of their guitar made loud. If you start with a guitar that sounds great unplugged, I think you have a much better chance of enjoying playing it clean too.
Good call Dave. I know Mr Schofield's fave tone is not plugged in!
You know, something I'm thinking about whilst watching this, especially during "Thing 6", talking about plectra, is that you lads really think primarily like lead guitar players, and not like rhythm guitar players. When you are playing rhythm, providing that base layer of sound, your aims and concerns about tone and technique are quite different than when you are a lead player, providing that top layer of sound.
As a rhythm player, a solid clean tone is the basis of everything I do, and how I generate my dirty tone is very much in relationship to my clean tone. If my dirty tone is entirely divorced from my clean tone, then I can't make a smooth transition between the two. And I specifically use extra light to light picks, and very rarely even medium picks. I use the larger rounded triangle size (which gives me more choices as to the flexibility of the length of material between my fingers and strings)--typically, the heaviest plectrum I will ever use is on the order of 0.60-0.63 mm in thickness, and I will often choose a 0.50 mm or even 0.38 mm pick, if the music calls for even more subtlety in my dynamics.
A rhythm player really exists in the middle of the music, not out front, not in the back or on the bottom. And a lighter plectrum in a lot of ways does what a compressor does--it gives you cushion.
Sounds great guys. Haven't checked in to the channel in awhile and you haven't lost a beat. Actually picked up a few it seems
Wonderful show gentlemen! I may watch this one a few times! Using multiple amps and all of the suggestions were great! I hope you will do more of these type shows, although I enjoy all of your content. It would be great if you could feature the newer pedals from EHX, and JHS. So many great new pedals from JHS 3 series and the new EHX stuff like the nano memory man!!! Get busy guys! Lol
Again you have discovered worlds of sound using basic tools, I can´t appreciate enough how much is to learn from TPS. Thank you!
I think some of my favorite clean tones lately have been with the PRS 58/15 LT pickups through a Magnatone amp. The clarity is insane.
Woooo. Niiiice! Very liking Magnatone noises
I have been playing fingerstyle for 30 years for exactly the reasons you demonstrate in this video. Once I heard guitar's tone without the clicking of the pick, I could not go back. I have had to incorporate some classical methods in order to play faster lines, but now that I've done that, there are no disadvantages for the styles I play.
On another note, I love this show, but I have sold all my effects pedals. No matter how cool the pedal I always lose something. I play through a good buffered ABY box for a wet dry rig with clean and dirty amps and couldn't be happier.
Another fine episode, D&M. I'm a bit disappointed that Dan didn't use his wonderful "the compressor is overdrive for your clean tones" phrase. Maybe on Monday's live show?
Yes! I was waiting for that too.
Im in love clean with good clean tone. I agree quality of all components is heard. Great clean valve amp, maker of valves, existence of any buffered pedal on the pedalboard (avoid those unless you know what you are doing), great reverb,some sustain pedal. Every component is heard. Softness of fingerplay evennon soloes, or width and material of pick.Age or material of strings. And lastly but not lewst, the make of a speaker and cabinet. Even size of cabinet for the same sized speaker.
When I think of my favourite clean tone, it has to be from the Joni Mitchell song, 'How do you stop.' Mike Landau is a bloody genius.
Ohmergahd. Yes. Landau. All yes. :0)
Check out Amelia with Larry Carlton.
Nailed it. So brilliant.
Love this topic and your show.
For too many years I sought guitars with pickups that would push an amp into distortion and amps that would do this easily. I played virtually everything with some or a lot of crunch. Maybe ten years ago I had an epiphany of sorts and began to dial it all back, first approaching and then seeking a purer sound. Call it evolution. This has since become my "tone" of choice. Lower output pickups and higher headroom amps have become what I seek. I have become quite appreciative of single-ended amps, five watts or so. They possess the quality of being highly touch-sensitive and responsive to my particular style.
As many single-ended amps have no tone stack or control, which is part of their simple charm, I use a Tech 21 "Q-Strip" for EQ adjustment. My 1960 Gibon GA-5T "Skylark" is wizard, and like some other things, it's much better when wet. (Fender Tre-Verb, Calalinbread Bellypock Deluxe) plus a touch of dual compression (Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Deluxe and Xotic SP).
What an amazing improvement in tone, touch, and everything that makes playing electric guitar so satisfying this change has made available to me.
I find that I am a better guitarist and a better, more original musician when playing clean and that the subtlety of that range of sounds is more esthetically rewarding. Of course, a good crunchy/distorted sound is still desirable for some things, but not for as many things as I thought before.
This episode of your show is brilliant, ace.
Many thanks and cheers, guys.
My Mum would approve. She was always at me to clean up my tone.
This is the sort of comment to which my kids respond, "Dad. No." Well played, sir. Well. Played.
Hey guys…I love this subject. Clean sounds are such a big part of guitar and you really dig into it in this video. Thanks so much for another great video gents
I think more and more I'm coming to the conclusion that, as far as possible, sticking with the same guitar, pedals and amp and learning all of the subtleties of it is the way to go. So knowing where on the volume and tone knob you get the best clean tone. Knowing what combo of pedals work with that guitar. I fell into the trap of having a guitar or pedal or amp for different tones and it's just a pain in the erse. Get a rig that sounds great, stick with it, learn it, make music!!
I feel you big time. Mick here. I mean I don’t feel you like that, but metaphorically speaking. Okay, cool.
@@ThatPedalShow I've bought a few t shirts and hoodies so I suppose I have sort of taken you out... so it's not really our first date... Anyway, you know what I mean though I think. I've spoiled myself, saving and spending my money on lovely guitars and amps and pedals. But more often than not find myself trying this one, trying that amp, seeing what it sounds like with that pedal. All to the detriment of actually making some music! I've sold 3 guitars this week as I intend to get down to a twangy thing and a syrupy thing ,with two amps and a decent sized board. End of story. Learn it, love it, make music!
5:00 Great intro, you have not even mentioned compressors yet but now I think I finally understand the purpose of a compressor and why people associate them with sustain.
Aha!
When I think "crystal clean" guitar tone I always go to Neil Halstead of Slowdive's telecaster with delays coming out of Roland JC-120s.
The JC-120 rules.
After 5 weeks in hospital i'm able to watch all of the TPS shows i missed the last weeks.
As a clean tone fan this is heaven for me. Great one TPS!
Btw. Lot's of guitarists didn't play with that big amount of distortion or dirt we think or recall in our memory.
If "with great headroom comes great responsibility " is not your next tee shirt I will be disappointed !
Dans playing on red was fantastic. Some of the best playing I’ve heard in a while. Great stuff gents
The best clean tones seem to require overdrive. This should be very interesting! 😁🤘🏻