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Author Topic: Help! Struggling to place the sound in a Pearl Jam song  (Read 1776 times)

cerpintaxt

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Help! Struggling to place the sound in a Pearl Jam song
« on: March 26, 2010, 05:24:53 PM »
Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but it's about gear!

Anyone who's got "Backspacer" by Pearl Jam (or can get on last.fm or similar) - can you roughly tell what they're using to get that lush, warm, ever so slightly fuzzy tone in the chorus of "Amongst the Waves"?

I seriously love that sound and it's close to a sound I've been after myself. Is it some kind of classic fuzz pedal in conjunction with power amp overdrive, or does it sound like just the amps? I just can't tell!

This may seem a trivial question, but I've had one of those "I MUST TRY AND GET THAT SOUND" moments!  :lol:

impossible

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Re: Help! Struggling to place the sound in a Pearl Jam song
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2010, 07:49:47 PM »
Ooh I love that song. Just listened to it and it's almost got that Tube Screamer sound which I think sounds like it's being put through a tiny speaker or something. Not that I dislike it, it's ace when people get it right but I wouldn't want it coming out f my amp IYSWIM.

So I guess classic fuzz or something slightly more modern but I certainly don't think it's an amp by itself. Doesn't sound organic or pure enough. I can get halfway there with a Danelectro pedal I bought on a whim as a teenager for £10 :D

I think the guitar comes up in the mix with each progressive chorus, or possibly that it has more distortion. The bendy parts in the verse sound like the same guitar though.

BigB

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Re: Help! Struggling to place the sound in a Pearl Jam song
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2010, 08:08:19 PM »
Anyone who's got "Backspacer" by Pearl Jam (or can get on last.fm or similar) - can you roughly tell what they're using to get that lush, warm, ever so slightly fuzzy tone in the chorus of "Amongst the Waves"?

I seriously love that sound and it's close to a sound I've been after myself. Is it some kind of classic fuzz pedal in conjunction with power amp overdrive, or does it sound like just the amps? I just can't tell!

Definitly sounds like there's some fuzzbox to it - this and power amp distortion, of course. And a perhaps a bit of compression. Oh, and bit of delay + reverb/early reflexions (added on the desk) too, but that's just the usual mixing ingredients.  

Now there are almost two distinct tones, so it might well be a combination of two amps, one of them providing some "not fuzzy" (yet still overdriven) cut and the other with a fattier, fuzzier, creamier body and sustain.

wrt/ the fuzz/creamy part, I had some like tones with a Rat clone (with not that much dirt, and trebles rolled off at least half-way) pushing a well cranked blues junior set for low gain / hi output, going to a greenback clone (yes, it's clone wars here :lol:).

... now they very probably used something better than a bjr :wink:

My 0.2 cents...
Have: Crawlers, BGF 50/52s, Mules, ABomb, RiffRaff
Had : Slowhands (n&m), Trilogy (b)

cerpintaxt

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Re: Help! Struggling to place the sound in a Pearl Jam song
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2010, 08:42:47 PM »
Ok, sweet, cheers chaps! Reckon i should be able to get close with my Little Giant cranked with plenty of mids, roll off the treble (which i tend to anyway as it can get a bit fizzy) and try out a TS clone and somed kind of fuzz, maybe a fuzzface clone for starters?

Loving this album btw. I dont know why so many people ar slating it, the guitar tones are awesome, even if Mike McCready doesnt play that many solos.  :D

impossible

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Re: Help! Struggling to place the sound in a Pearl Jam song
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2010, 08:56:16 PM »
Loving this album btw. I dont know why so many people ar slating it, the guitar tones are awesome, even if Mike McCready doesnt play that many solos.  :D

I heard someone on the radio say "Pearl Jam had an album full of great songs then about ten years of poor consistency, but this new one's great". Pretty much how I feel, though I'm not all that familiar with their music. There are about 5 songs I've heard enough to be familiar with and they're all really good.

Now Eddie plays guitar too, there's not always room for a solo! :P

BigB

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Re: Help! Struggling to place the sound in a Pearl Jam song
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2010, 09:33:50 PM »
Ok, sweet, cheers chaps! Reckon i should be able to get close with my Little Giant cranked with plenty of mids, roll off the treble (which i tend to anyway as it can get a bit fizzy) and try out a TS clone and somed kind of fuzz, maybe a fuzzface clone for starters?

I think you'd have better luck with a fuzz (muffin ?) or rat like - I have a vintage TS09 and a home made 808-like, and they don't have that kind of tone. And there's no need for the OD - the fuzz is enough to both color the sound and give that small extra push, most of the dirt and cream coming from the amp's output stage.

For the record, my rat clone is a Byang DS 8 "mouse", which I got new for €45, and I really choosed it for its tone(s) - the ridiculous price tag was only the icing on the cake.
Have: Crawlers, BGF 50/52s, Mules, ABomb, RiffRaff
Had : Slowhands (n&m), Trilogy (b)

cerpintaxt

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Re: Help! Struggling to place the sound in a Pearl Jam song
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2010, 10:23:02 PM »
Nice one, cheers. Just gonna start pouring through demos of fuzz pedals, starting with rat types then!

Edit: I'm actully loving the MXR Classic 108 and Analog Man Sunface 108...looks like a BC108 based job for me!
« Last Edit: March 26, 2010, 11:54:23 PM by cerpintaxt »