Deep Dive into Adam Jones's Tones

[Porkpie]

I love tool and first started playing guitar so I could play stinkfist covers 20 years ago lol. This is the best straight up version of his tone I’ve heard someone get online -



The speakers in the Marshall cab is an interesting one, whether it’s v30s, greenbacks or blackbacks like in that video. Feels like he’s used all of them at some point or another.

The best single plugin way to get his tones for me is the NDSP nameless with ownhammer ir’s, one recto one Marshall. It’s got the diezel lows and the Marshall highs and sounds great for 10k tones at least.

There’s a nam preset of the Rivera knucklehead on tonehunt and the unboosted patch is a sound you can hear a lot on the later albums especially. Sounds to me like FI the song was tracked with mostly the knucklehead.

 

[deadpool_25]

I find the lack of admiration for Joanz Toanz a bit disturbing.

Agreed. I'm new around here but there's no way that isn't a bannable offense.

(squinty stare at @JiveTurkey)

 

[deadpool_25]

This dude did a recent Tool thing and posted his Fractal preset on the FAS forum. I dig.

 

[Life Eats Life]

I love tool and first started playing guitar so I could play stinkfist covers 20 years ago lol. This is the best straight up version of his tone I’ve heard someone get online -



The speakers in the Marshall cab is an interesting one, whether it’s v30s, greenbacks or blackbacks like in that video. Feels like he’s used all of them at some point or another.

The best single plugin way to get his tones for me is the NDSP nameless with ownhammer ir’s, one recto one Marshall. It’s got the diezel lows and the Marshall highs and sounds great for 10k tones at least.

There’s a nam preset of the Rivera knucklehead on tonehunt and the unboosted patch is a sound you can hear a lot on the later albums especially. Sounds to me like FI the song was tracked with mostly the knucklehead.

You’re actually a better guitar player then
Adam Jones man.
I didn’t say songwriter!!

 

[GuitarJon]

Coincidentally I worked on a video this week trying to get some Adam Jones tones with my Les Paul Custom, Diezel VH2 and Marshall SC20 (don't have a silverburst, VH4 or Super Bass). Got some cool results using Adam's actual VH4 settings... real Tool fans might not be happy though. We'll see!

 

[Stone]

Agreed. I'm new around here but there's no way that isn't a bannable offense.

(squinty stare at @JiveTurkey)

Welcome to TGF @deadpool_25
Lots of good times here , many laughs

 

[Porkpie]

This dude did a recent Tool thing and posted his Fractal preset on the FAS forum. I dig.

This sounds bang on honestly. I don’t have an axe fx, I assume it’s a Diezel / Marshall combo.. Any chance of detailing what cabs & mics are used?

You’re actually a better guitar player then
Adam Jones man.
I didn’t say songwriter!!

Ha that’s not my video, I wish it was!

 

[0XI0]

Actually I do think back in the day he did boost his Marshall. I'm sure I read that once.

AJ tone is 90% just Seymour Duncan JB into boss GE-7 mid boost into stock Marshall Super Bass. Blended with dual rectifier mostly on earlier albums, lateralus has more VH4 on it. Core tone might as well be a mid boost into a bassman running a stock 1960 half stack, that's where you get the wash of clank when he hits a cord hard, not unlike kerrang? it's also drop D with 9s on a Les Paul custom through a boss super chorus, into a bad horsie

 

[MirrorProfiles]

stock Marshall Super Bass

defo ain’t stock, it’s basically a super lead with a few super bass values left in. Sort of a half arsed Super Lead conversion from a 100W super bass. Think it’s a DOD graphic EQ too, although recently he’s used the Boss on some tours.

Cabs+speakers are a big part of it too, hard to tell when he moved to V30’s but it could have been fairly early on

 

[0XI0]

 

[MirrorProfiles]

From an Adam Jones tone guide pdf thing that got posted a while ago

 

[EOengineer]

IIRC Friedman is on the record saying Jones’ Superlead is using lead values, not bass. If he is using bass values, my guess is it’s the .1uf pi coupling cap. Having owned a bass at one point, I don’t think it’s a bass…at least not in the tonestack.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

IIRC Friedman is on the record saying Jones’ Superlead is using lead values, not bass. If he is using bass values, my guess is it’s the .1uf pi coupling cap. Having owned a bass at one point, I don’t think it’s a bass…at least not in the tonestack.

From memory, it’s a late 70’s Super Bass that’s been changed to split cathode. A few cathode bypass caps added but not all the resistor values are changed. Coupling caps are 0.022 (which earlier Super Leads used).

 

[dronerstone]

From memory, it’s a late 70’s Super Bass that’s been changed to split cathode. A few cathode bypass caps added but not all the resistor values are changed. Coupling caps are 0.022 (which earlier Super Leads used).

Nice find, this looks pretty solid. Thank you

 

[Porkpie]

Funny, that claims that he’s using t75 speakers for the Marshall which I’ve never even considered.

To my ears for anything after aenima you basically need a dark Diezel sound which gives overall density and character in the palm mutes, and a Marshall on top. I guess the second Diezel sits somewhere between the two. Blending them together to sound good with just one guitar performance is an art in itself imo, I can never get the blend decent altho I am just using modellers, and I don’t know what I’m doing lol.

 

[EOengineer]

I recall a persistent rumor back when the Rectifier was still in the mix that it was using EL-34s. Has anyone ever been able to confirm that claim?

I always thought the EL-34s made a VERY surprising difference in cleaning up the low end on the old 2 channel Recto models. An old friend insisted it made my rev G sound “like a laser” which I still think is a hilarious tone descriptor.

 

[Orvillain]

AJ tone is 90% just Seymour Duncan JB

No. It is a custom wound DDJ pickup, which is very close to the production Duncan Distortion.

 

[Porkpie]

I recall a persistent rumor back when the Rectifier was still in the mix that it was using EL-34s. Has anyone ever been able to confirm that claim?

I always thought the EL-34s made a VERY surprising difference in cleaning up the low end on the old 2 channel Recto models. An old friend insisted it made my rev G sound “like a laser” which I still think is a hilarious tone descriptor.

I can’t speak to that but I’m sure I read an interview with Sylvia Massey where she said that the undertow rectifier was recorded through a Marshall cab with greenbacks rather than the typical mesa v30


This is a decent example of just the blueface without the Marshall imo, reminds me a bit of an orange rockerverb, thick and dark -

 

[EOengineer]

No. It is a custom wound DDJ pickup, which is very close to the production Duncan Distortion.

FWIW I remember when it was accepted science that Adam was using the JB. At this point I’m not sure how or why that happened or if he just changed pickups. The perils of internet wisdom.

 

[Orvillain]

FWIW I remember when it was accepted science that Adam was using the JB. At this point I’m not sure how or why that happened or if he just changed pickups. The perils of internet wisdom.

I don't think it was ever true tbh, not from everything I've read, and I got this from Seymour Duncan when I asked about a custom DDJ.