R8 (tuned down)+ PAFs+Mesa, wrong (video)?

[Doctor Blue]

Hey guys! I did a short experiment with my R8 today. The guitar is dropped tuned and a half step down. I am using low PAFs (Wizzes - 7.7k bridge, 7.3k neck, A3 mags). The amp is a Dual Rectifier Rev G, on the Red channel. No boost, just minor mixing in DAW. I really love the sound. What do you think?

 

[hotshot]

That is fantastic!!! Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it.

 

[Deftone]

Sounded great. Great tone and playing. Well done.

 

[searswashere]

I routinely drop all my guitars to B standard via my axefx, it’s a lot of fun.

 

[buckwild]

Hell yeah! Nice video

 

[jenton70]

Fuckin A man I dig it

 

[1allspub]

Killed it!

 

[stephen78]

Hey guys! I did a short experiment with my R8 today. The guitar is dropped tuned and a half step down. I am using low PAFs (Wizzes - 7.7k bridge, 7.3k neck, A3 mags). The amp is a Dual Rectifier Rev G, on the Red channel. No boost, just minor mixing in DAW. I really love the sound. What do you think?

What model Wizz is that? Custom wind? Sounds great!

 

[Doctor Blue]

It's the regular set, but with lower winds. I also changed the magnets, I find the A3s more vintage and a bit more harmonic compared to A4s (which come standard with the regular set Aleks is selling on his site).

 

[Yoshizz]

Right on! Sounds great to me.

I too play an R8 with 57 Classics dropped to C sharp as my number 1 stage and studio guitar. I'm in a "doom/stoner/sludge metal" band. So while I'm not running through a Mesa, my gain level is rather high. It's just more on the fuzz/big muff side. Personally, I find that the more "vintage" style pickups sound better and more defined when running a ton of gain. Have been interested to hear how the Wizzes sounded with higher gain. Do you find stage volume to be an issue with unpotted pickups?

 

[jaqueh]

I love alternate tunings, but I hate having to adjust the setup. What did you have to do to get the action to be ok?

 

[Yoshizz]

Not OP but... For me it's easy. My band always plays in that tuning. So for live setups I have two guitars setup identically (in case of string break or other disaster live). I use heavier gauge strings (Ernie Ball 11s) and keep the action a bit on the higher side. Neck has a slight bit of relief. Generally speaking it's a bit slinkier than I'd usually prefer, but I've learned to roll with it.

 

[jaqueh]

Not OP but... For me it's easy. My band always plays in that tuning. So for live setups I have two guitars setup identically (in case of string break or other disaster live). I use heavier gauge strings (Ernie Ball 11s) and keep the action a bit on the higher side. Neck has a slight bit of relief. Generally speaking it's a bit slinkier than I'd usually prefer, but I've learned to roll with it.

yeah makes sense to go higher gauge, but i usually just play standard, so it'd be really annoying to have to restring all the time

 

[Yoshizz]

I do keep a couple other guitars in E standard. Really this is all just an exercise in me justifying buying tons of guitars!

For instance, I have an older SG that I keep strung up Nashville tuned. I actually used that in the studio but tuned to drop C sharp to add some flavor in the mix.

 

[jaqueh]

I do keep a couple other guitars in E standard. Really this is all just an exercise in me justifying buying tons of guitars!

Yeah I think that's the way to do it haha is have a few guitars!

 

[Doctor Blue]

@Yoshizz Yeah, they were squealing like crazy. But I put on the covers with a duct tape sticked inside the cover (the covers came that way, it's an easy trick that deals with the annoying feedback) + a Noise Gate and you can play loud with no issues.

I had to repost the initial video, I changed a bit the mixing.

What are your thoughts about boosting the Mesa? I've got a Bad Monkey but I am not quite happy with it.

 

[Yoshizz]

Ah that's a bummer about the Wizzes, but not entirely unexpected. I can't seem to make peace with a noise gate... Always fighting so I just kinda gave up. I'll stick with the 57 classics since they sound good and are generally well behaved on stage.

As for boostin' a Boogie... That's something I can't really speak to. My lead guitarist uses an Engl Fireball 100 which has a similar vibe to the red channel on the boogie. In the studio we used an old TS-9 in front of it to great effect. For me, I'm a little more on the 70s fuzz metal sound. So i used to run an Orange 50 watt head set to "clean and LOUD" and got my gain through a combination of a Daredevil IC77 (opamp big muff clone) and/or a Daredevil Daisho octave fuzz. Since that amp rig literally gave me a hernia though, I moved to a Quilter OD202 head. Works out pretty well. Sorry that was a whole lot of words spilled to basically say "I dunno man, maybe a TubeScreamer?"

 

[Doctor Blue]

Yep, thanks! The Bad Monkey is actually a tube screamer. I will try to play with it more and see if I find a good setting.

 

[Yoshizz]

Always found it hard to stack gain on top of an amp that already has a lot. Found that going to a super high-headroom clean platform worked better for me in terms of clarity. That said, I think my ultimate amp might just be an old HiWatt or something. But it's hard to swing one of those when I keep buying guitars. In that respect, the Quilter really does the job. If you can check one out, I do recommend it. Not tubes, I know, but still has a great sound going on.

 

[JMP]

Outstanding sir!