Calling Stone roses tone fans

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Calum13Calum13 Frets: 37
edited February 2019 in Guitar
I just got an Ibanez cs9 pedal recently and it’s amazing! I play on an epiphone sheraton though an old Marshall solid state from the 80s. I know John played a gretsch through a Mesa boogie with treble -6/7 mids-2 and bass-4
What settings should I use on my Marshall to get closer to the sound and what should I have the presence at? I have it cranked just now. I know I’m not going to get the exact sound as filtertrons are very different to PAF style pickups.
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1777
    edited February 2019
    Which era Roses are you trying to emulate? I presume you’re thinking late 89, early 90 due to mentioning the Mesa amps. 

    At this stage John was using a pair of Fender Twins, and then a single Twin paired with the Boogie. The Twins are a really clean amp and most of the drive came from his Tubescreamer and Fuzzface. When he added the Boogie he used it in a rather interesting way because it came after the reverbs and delays in his Midiverb. Because drive can sound a bit weird after reverb etc he tended to run the Boogie pretty clean then occasionally switch to the Lead channel for more drive but with the volume low compared to the Twin. This meant that the drive sound only really came through once the reverb had decayed enough to not sound weird. 

    So, a good place to start with your amp would be to run it fairly clean and use pedals for the drive but as you’re probably not using a Midiverb you could get away with little more drive than full clean. Don’t want to go overboard with it though. 

    Best option is to listen to something like the Blackpool Ballroom gig or some of the other bootlegs from around that time and try to make you’re set up sound similar. There’s a great bootleg from Lancaster Sugarhouse in 1989 that is well worth listening to as John’s guitar is pretty well up in the mix

    Also, it’s well worth knowing that John used the middle pickup position a lot so try that on your Epiphone
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  • @the_jaffa yeah I used to use the middle position more, but because he’s playing on a gretsch it’s more twangy sounding so I use the bridge pickup. I turn the gain down slightly on the tube screamer to about 9 o’clock. I think my rig is better suited to the really early stuff played on the hofner. It also sounds quite muddy when I play in the middle position. Maybe that’s just my EQ settings.

      
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  • When I saw them in 95 with Robbie Maddix on drums John played his 'burst all night from what I can remember. I think a lot of it is just playing the songs right.. what a player.
    "A city star won’t shine too far"


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  • You can go a long way with a TS into a hall of fame. That sound as I hear it is a fairly clean sound with some reverb / delay to thicken it. 
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  • matt1973matt1973 Frets: 385
    The CS-9 is an important aspect of that early Squire tone but I would also highly recommend splashing out on Midiverb II if you can. Those two pieces of gear are key - as well as the wonderful verbs on the Alesis unit, the output was set to slightly clip the input of his amps.

    Getting hold of a TS-9 with a JRC chip would be a good move too. Im pretty sure the fuzz was mainly used on the Strat. A Boss BF2 was used for the occasional big sweeps you can hear on the Blackpool gig. With regard to using a Marshall, that will likely sound very prominent in the midrange compared to a MKIII Boogie so I would experiment with scooping it out. He also used a Jen wah with vintage bypass which would have loaded down the highs. This was compensated for on the amp which may account for the high treble setting you mentioned above. Where did you get that info btw?

    I would also add the John Squire is one the funkiest most rhythmic players Ive ever heard and his left hand work was also very agile, subtle and nuanced. An all-round lovely, characterful player and much of that sound simply came from his hands. 

    The Capo is pretty important on the early stuff too but I would assume you've probably figured that out already. Sorry if garbled myself away from your original question :D


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  • Calum13Calum13 Frets: 37
    edited February 2019
    @matt1973  Yeah, I have most of that stuff apart from the midiverb. May look into getting one. Instead of a TS9 I have a Maxon OD9 reissue. Just read it has the JRC chip. I’m not sure if my CS9 is original or reissue. I got the information on this website.

    http://www.pdmcauley.co.uk/guitaristpages/settings/SETTINGS.HTML

    I’m just not sure where I should have my EQ settings as a 335 into a Marshall is different to a fully hollow gretsch into a Mesa and overdriven twins.
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  • You need a Midiverb, and a bloke called Cressa dancing behind a Fender Twin playing with the settings. That’s how what he was doing when I saw them in 1989 anyway.
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  • You need a Midiverb, and a bloke called Cressa dancing behind a Fender Twin playing with the settings. That’s how what he was doing when I saw them in 1989 anyway.
    Yeah, the only reason I haven’t bought a midiverb is cause I don’t have a Cressa!
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  • matt1973matt1973 Frets: 385
    Calum13 said:
    You need a Midiverb, and a bloke called Cressa dancing behind a Fender Twin playing with the settings. That’s how what he was doing when I saw them in 1989 anyway.
    Yeah, the only reason I haven’t bought a midiverb is cause I don’t have a Cressa!
    A simple midi foot controller is pretty essential if you do get one - although you can get away with using defeat switch if you only use it for the signature 'bloom' and 'reverse' patches.
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