What HonkyTonkFlash says is important too IMO. KR always considers depth in his production. To get a real crunch you want to have it on a bed of clean. Just hitting a pedal might give you a quick fix, but not a lasting effect.
It's similar to the notion of layering a song with both acoustic and electric guitars. Those great singles from 68-74 all have lots of acoustic guitars in there. But we think of them as electric rockers.

Are you trying to sound like keith while playing stones songs, or do you want keiths tone to do your own thing with?

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HonkeyTonkFlash
Hasn't Keith said that he rarely uses pedals (for distortion)? I thought he's said he likes to split the signal to two amps, one with a clean sound, one with a dirty sound and blend the two together....

Absolutly right HonkyTonkFlash

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Palace Revolution 2000
What HonkyTonkFlash says is important too IMO. KR always considers depth in his production. To get a real crunch you want to have it on a bed of clean. Just hitting a pedal might give you a quick fix, but not a lasting effect.
It's similar to the notion of layering a song with both acoustic and electric guitars. Those great singles from 68-74 all have lots of acoustic guitars in there. But we think of them as electric rockers.

You are right Palace Revolution 2000......they are not electric rockers.....i only want to sound in my living room similar to Keith´s sound on different tracks, that means i cannot set my volume to 10 for distortion. Keith use in a studio in the seventies only rarely a mxr 100 phaser from 77-81 and a mxr analog delay for she´s so cold and for Satisfaction in 65 a fuzz meastro box. But for low noise is hard to find the right settings in my point of view



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-10-16 16:02 by thomas guitar.

What about your amps Thomas? Most of today's amps have great presets in there, where you can get classic Fender/Marshall/Vox settings at lower volume.

This doesn't really figure in your topic too much but one thing I have learned when dealing professional players in today's market; these cats out of Austin or Nashville all have a few things in common when it comes to f/x boards. First off they all immediately have them rebuilt. There are a few guys who they all seem to use; in Colorado, or e.g. out of far east.
Another thing I am seeing more and more nowadays is guys getting the f/x basically wired into guitar.
And then that on a pedal board with say 10 boxes, 6 or 7 of them are boosters of some sort. Yes, so you got your tuner, Wah, Delay and some compression, and then something special like a DT Divebomber, but what always surprises me is just how many fuzz and tube screamer and overdrives everyone has.

"As you can see, the Stones magic doesn’t lie in having tons of gear. There are no massive pedalboards that need to be powered by special generators. The secret is the swagger that comes from a band that has great chemistry as a result of years of recording and touring together. If you possess a Telecaster, Firebird, Les Paul or some kind of Gibson ES model, along with a tube amp with spring reverb, you could hold your own in a Stones cover band with no issues. As far as pedals go, a Tube Screamer and some kind of tape echo emulator or analog delay for slapback and added dimension will come in handy".

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Palace Revolution 2000
What about your amps Thomas? Most of today's amps have great presets in there, where you can get classic Fender/Marshall/Vox settings at lower volume.

This doesn't really figure in your topic too much but one thing I have learned when dealing professional players in today's market; these cats out of Austin or Nashville all have a few things in common when it comes to f/x boards. First off they all immediately have them rebuilt. There are a few guys who they all seem to use; in Colorado, or e.g. out of far east.
Another thing I am seeing more and more nowadays is guys getting the f/x basically wired into guitar.
And then that on a pedal board with say 10 boxes, 6 or 7 of them are boosters of some sort. Yes, so you got your tuner, Wah, Delay and some compression, and then something special like a DT Divebomber, but what always surprises me is just how many fuzz and tube screamer and overdrives everyone has.

Excatly that surprised me very much...the much pedals make me mad....i had in a past a few pedals....i sold them all...i only have now the MXR 100 Phaser ....i like the ampeg sound in the past and now the fender sound Keith uses nowaddays..... i like the sound of the blues junior ....clean fender sound with a jensen speaker (btw speakers in my point of view are very important) ....15 watt is far enough for the amp.....i never tried the little vox ac 4tv with low watt.......i play alot of acoustic as well.....but in the studio the Stones have much less distortion than live in the seventies.

All you need is one of these...




... and one of these:

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Most of today's amps have great presets in there

I have a Fender Cyber-Deluxe that I've had for years, all sorts of good presets in there. My favorite is #17 1959 Bassman. Lovely sound but it has Twins, Vox, Marshall, Tweed, blackface, modern.

I sold the pedals years ago.

The new Fender Mustangs are pretty good too for emulation and effects.

You will need a tube amplifier to even get close to his sound.
Right now I'm using a Mesa Flux-Drive overdrive pedal when playing Gimme Shelter with my band, and it sounds pretty close to the 1973 live sound.

But most important is indeed the approach. Don't be afraid to make big movements with your picking hand. To lock-in your picking hand in a static position suitable for techniques such as tremolo picking and sweep picking is NOT recommended if you want Keith's sound.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-10-16 22:00 by TheBlockbuster.

thomas, it sounds to me like you have all the things you need already. But if you want to get that semi-distorted tube sound at bedroom levels, you probably want to have some kind of simulation. It depends ... Keith's guitar playing is all about the playing style, the tuning, the attitude, the groove, everything that has been mentioned here already. And if you're just practicing in your living room, the exact sound might not be so important. I play mostly unplugged when I practice at home.

Oh, bedroom amp! -- changes everything.

Like LieB says, and I want to say this too - it really sounds like you really don't need any equipment. You have decent guitars, good amp. It has gotten so much easier to get a wide variety of good sound from relatively little equipment.
It sort of sucks because I LOVE guitars, and I LOVE f/x. And Amps.

I recently acquired an Ampeg Vt-22. Fully overhauled. I don't have great guitars. Just a bunch of squier teles and ephiphone lp and lp jr. I get real close to keefs sound. Now granted I have to crank the amp up near half or higher to get that sound but when I am alone the neighborhood hears me play! Lol.

I have read that Keith used a tube screamer so I might get one of those for my amp to get the breakup at lower volumes.

But I love my amp. Got it on reverb.com. Paid under $600.

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open-g
Oh, bedroom amp! -- changes everything.

Never seen an open plan Blues Deluxe before ;^)

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[email protected]
I recently acquired an Ampeg Vt-22. Fully overhauled. I don't have great guitars. Just a bunch of squier teles and ephiphone lp and lp jr. I get real close to keefs sound. Now granted I have to crank the amp up near half or higher to get that sound but when I am alone the neighborhood hears me play! Lol.

I have read that Keith used a tube screamer so I might get one of those for my amp to get the breakup at lower volumes.

But I love my amp. Got it on reverb.com. Paid under $600.

Congrats. $600 for is peanuts for such an amp in mint condition..Is it an early 7-tees one? I used to remove 2 power tubes so you can crank it up a bit more. Make sure you remove the right ones. It's still loud as hell but you'll get that touch sensitivity and responsiveness a bit earlier. It helps.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-10-17 22:22 by DonParker.

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DonParker

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[email protected]
I recently acquired an Ampeg Vt-22. Fully overhauled. I don't have great guitars. Just a bunch of squier teles and ephiphone lp and lp jr. I get real close to keefs sound. Now granted I have to crank the amp up near half or higher to get that sound but when I am alone the neighborhood hears me play! Lol.

I have read that Keith used a tube screamer so I might get one of those for my amp to get the breakup at lower volumes.

But I love my amp. Got it on reverb.com. Paid under $600.

Congrats. $600 for is peanuts for such an amp in mint condition..Is it an early 7-tees one? I used to remove 2 power tubes so you can crank it up a bit more. Make sure you remove the right ones. It's still loud as hell but you'll get that touch sensitivity and responsiveness a bit earlier. It helps.

I think it is from 1971. I saw another one in jersey for $1500. I am not so sure he will get that but the prices for the vt-22 is all over the place.

I thought about the tube trick but I saw a few people claiming it will cause problems in other areas in the amp. So I just leave it as is. When I want to crank it I do. It still sounds great at a low volume as well. The only issue I have come across is the reverb pan makes a lot of noise when i have it cranked so I leave the reverb real low. If I ever feel the need for more reverb I can get a pedal for that.

I love the creamy sound both Taylor and Keith had during the 72 tour. This amp delivers that (At least to my ears).

In Europe they are sparse these days.

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thomas guitar
a Blues Junior III in vintage style

It may look vintage (I'm guessing it has the yellow cloth?), but it is a very different amp that the Fender Tweed amps. That may be your problem. Maybe you should look at a Fender Champ, go try one out in your local music store.

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GasLightStreet
All you need is one of these...




... and one of these:

Nothing wrong with a Fender Champ, but if you're playing with a band, go with the Deluxe. Turn it up to 7-8 and you can't beat it.

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tomk

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GasLightStreet
All you need is one of these...




... and one of these:

Nothing wrong with a Fender Champ, but if you're playing with a band, go with the Deluxe. Turn it up to 7-8 and you can't beat it.

Best small Fender I ever had was a 'Sidekick'. They quit making them

A Fender Blues Deluxe [original or re-issue] is as good amp for getting Keith's "tweed twin" vibe without spending a fortune.

It uses the appropriate 6L6 tubes and doesn't need turning up too far to acheive jsut a little warm break up.

[You don't need one with the Tardis function like the example posted by Open G ]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-10-18 17:27 by Spud.

Yeah, a Blues Deluxe is also a great choice

If you're after Keith's sound on Honky Tonk Women and Loving Cup, this one will do the trick.

Bright volume on 1 will suffice.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-10-18 15:34 by DandelionPowderman.

That takes me back.
Had one of those for a while.

Build quality second to none.

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DandelionPowderman
If you're after Keith's sound on Honky Tonk Women and Loving Cup, this one will do the trick.

Bright volume on 1 will suffice.

Very good DP, also a Marshall 2555X with a matching 2551 AV cab people would be amazed at how good a Marshall sounds clean , like a knife in a surgeons hands and we all know how well a Marshall can snarl

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Koen

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thomas guitar
a Blues Junior III in vintage style

It may look vintage (I'm guessing it has the yellow cloth?), but it is a very different amp that the Fender Tweed amps. That may be your problem. Maybe you should look at a Fender Champ, go try one out in your local music store.

Thanks Koen, if I remember, Keith plays the fender champ also in the studio sometimes and Pierre de Beauport behind the stage for setting the guitars.

I will try the champ....