Any tips on getting a Gilmour lead tone?

    Hey guys


    Trying to put together some lead profiles for Floyd songs such as Comfortably Numb, Money etc. I bought the DG 1970 amp from TAF, and I'm having problems dialling in a good tone. Sources say that he uses a big muff pedal, but I find that when I add one to signal chain, it just sounds muddy and not that great. Any tips on getting a good tone?

    There have been many threads about Gilmour/Pink Floyd, and a wealth of information is in them - I suggest doing a couple of Forum searches:

    Gilmour

    Floyd

    And, a couple of "you probably already know this" tips:

    If you are trying to come as close as possible to those sounds, you'll want a Strat-style guitar with pickups adjusted to sound similar to the ones he was using over the years.

    Solos with long sustaining notes that include controlled feedback require playing loud enough, and close enough to the speaker to generate the feedback.

    And, most importantly, you'll need to play with a similar physical approach, touch, vibrato, etc.

    His Muffs were Cornish modded to cut out the low end flub and fine tune mids.

    A simple start would be to set amp drive just below breakup, lower the bass, increase the mids and start experimenting with the muff drive vs the amp drive levels. I would then add light compression in front and then consider adding and EQ post amp. Add a simple single delay with several repeats and a big reverb mixed to not completely wash you out.

    I like to go back to the amp drive after doing the above and sometimes increasing it into more drive will get you into that feedback sustain happy space that his lead tone lives on the edge of. Adjusting the Amp settings (in particular definition, clarity and compressor) can also really shape things a ton.

    "Tone is in the fingers" is not a necessary response to anything that I might type on any internet forum threads. Thank you.

    Thanks guys, I'll have another play tomorrow.

    Quote from BuckeyeBrown

    His Muffs were Cornish modded to cut out the low end flub and fine tune mids.

    A simple start would be to set amp drive just below breakup, lower the bass, increase the mids and start experimenting with the muff drive vs the amp drive levels. I would then add light compression in front and then consider adding and EQ post amp. Add a simple single delay with several repeats and a big reverb mixed to not completely wash you out.

    I like to go back to the amp drive after doing the above and sometimes increasing it into more drive will get you into that feedback sustain happy space that his lead tone lives on the edge of. Adjusting the Amp settings (in particular definition, clarity and compressor) can also really shape things a ton.

    Any way I can mimic that on the Kemper, or do I just do it by putting an EQ block after the Muffin stomp?

    I don't think you can mimic the modded muff as they are about modifying the pedal's tone stack for the most part and the muff tone stack is about filtering the mids away (tonestack = parallel HPF & LPF having the tone as mix ratio). But you can always try and probably atleast get closer.

    Quote from BavidDrent

    Any way I can mimic that on the Kemper, or do I just do it by putting an EQ block after the Muffin stomp?

    I would start with this approach yes. Recall there was tubedriver in his chain after modded muff so could try e.g. some GS there as well.

    I don't know which what muff version the Muffin is based on (different versions have some variations in the tonestack), but as a starting point one could maybe try counterbalancing the BM "Civil War" circuit where the mid dip center is around 1.3KHz so the GEQ's 1.25k knob would be my first choice. Followed maybe also Low and High cut tweaks with some volume to compensate.

    If the GEQ works at all (maybe even with a Green Scream as a booster/filter) I'd next grab Studio EQ and tried to sweep the Hz value together with its Q-value to finetune the Hz band and center point.

    Hi BavidDrent, do you like a sound like this or a modern one?

    External Content www.youtube.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    Gian

    Edited once, last by meddle (July 13, 2020 at 2:50 PM).

    I don't think any of the drive pedals get you an authentic Gilmour tone. His Hiwatt was really a clean amp that took pedals well. You need a great fuzz which the Kemper cant do imo. Not only is the fuzz on the kemper not great but I dont think the input impedance matches what a fuzz face actually is. Then you have Colorsound Overdrives and Big Muffs to get the later stuff. Gilmour is pedal junkie so you need real pedals or something like a Fractal or Helix to cover those things. Who knows, maybe new Kemper drive pedals will get us there. The effects are good enough .

    Quote from meddle

    Hi BavidDrent, do you like a sound like this or a modern one?

    External Content www.youtube.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    Great fuzzy tone there and great playing. You won’t get that wooly silicone fuzz attack and creamy sustain without real stomp boxes. As long as CK is around I’ll throw in an - at least not yet out of much respect!

    I offered some suggestions to get the OP close using the Profiler but I’ve got multiple pedals for those tones. I was playing my beloved Dice Works Fuzz Epic II :) into a Strymon Volante last week and got lost for a couple hours!

    "Tone is in the fingers" is not a necessary response to anything that I might type on any internet forum threads. Thank you.

    Quote from BuckeyeBrown

    Great fuzzy tone there and great playing. You won’t get that wooly silicone fuzz attack and creamy sustain without real stomp boxes. As long as CK is around I’ll throw in an - at least not yet out of much respect!

    I offered some suggestions to get the OP close using the Profiler but I’ve got multiple pedals for those tones. I was playing my beloved Dice Works Fuzz Epic II :) into a Strymon Volante last week and got lost for a couple hours!

    Thanks a lot BB, i really appreciate!I had a Dice works too, amazing Muff!

    Gian

    Edited once, last by meddle (July 16, 2020 at 10:14 PM).