Deep Dive into Adam Jones's Tones

[FuzzyAce]

My impression of Adam's sound, especially in the earlier days, was it's a lot less gainy than one might think. Which helps with the percussive nature.

 

[James Freeman]

Plexi time.
PPIMV is at 1, I have neighbors.

 

[EOengineer]

Plexi time.
PPIMV is at 1, I have neighbors.



View attachment 39151

Yup - probably seems a little undergained as is but at the levels he plays at it’s probably about right. Then add the other amps.

You could juice it with an EQ pedal if you want more grind at low volume.

 

[Orvillain]

More resonance.
Personally speaking, I don't love that tone, I like tight 80s gain so I probably don't have the ear to tweak it properly.
That's a raw track with no eq, just blending the sm57+e906.

That's my favourite one so far.

 

[James Freeman]

Does AJ overdub the amps individually or both in parallel?
I'm thinking the phase difference between a high gain preamp like VH4/Rectifier/5150 and a Plexi will be big phase issue if both amps are in parallel.
Come to think of it, I never ran more than one amp at a time.

 

[EOengineer]

Plexi time.
PPIMV is at 1, I have neighbors.



View attachment 39151

In this context the tone knobs on that amp probably aren’t doing much, but if we’re splitting hairs, you’ll want to push that midrange way up. I often have my 1959’s bass on zero as well.

 

[Orvillain]

Does AJ overdub the amps individually or both in parallel?
I'm thinking the phase difference between a high gain preamp like VH4/Rectifier/5150 and a Plexi will be big phase issue if both amps are in parallel.
Come to think of it, I never ran more than one amp at a time.

I think he tracks multiple amps at once as "one take" ... and then he might dual track or quad track for some stuff, depending on the part.

The intro to Jambi sounds absolutely massive.

 

[EOengineer]

Does AJ overdub the amps individually or both in parallel?
I'm thinking the phase difference between a high gain preamp like VH4/Rectifier/5150 and a Plexi will be big phase issue if both amps are in parallel.
Come to think of it, I never ran more than one amp at a time.

My understanding is it’s the full rig all the time as far as performance, but they sometimes mute mics to omit amps for specific parts.

 

[EOengineer]

All the AJ tone snobs flocking to this thread.

 

[SonVolt]

Totally off topic, but I threw a Duncan Distortion into my '78 *Les Paul in 1997 and its been there ever since. For decades I thought I nailed his tone and couldn't imagine that the commonly internet-cited "JB" would sound or feel right. When Gibson released his signature Custom and listed a DDJ in the bridge felt like I had won a battle. I completely meaningless battle in my mind, but I had won nonetheless.


*Mint '78 Les Paul was only $800 back then lol

 

[SonVolt]

Plexi time.
PPIMV is at 1, I have neighbors.



View attachment 39151

Is the PPIMV the only mod you have on the Plexi? Also, is it a 1959 or 1987?

 

[James Freeman]

Is the PPIMV the only mod you have on the Plexi? Also, is it a 1959 or 1987?

1987x, 70s spec, yes only PPIMV.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Plexi time.
PPIMV is at 1, I have neighbors.



View attachment 39151

Sounds great! I think AJ jumps channels just to tuck a bit more low end in. Maybe fun to try as well.

With layering and splitting the signal, its definitely both going on. Here's an interview that goes through the chain a bit:

The Making of Tool's "10,000 Days"

Engineer Joe Barresi and mastering engineer Bob Ludwig discuss the making of Tool’s 2006 album “10,000 Days”

www.mixonline.com

and some recall sheets from Undertow (1st one could be bass although elsewhere Sylvia only mentioned 421 on bass):

which presumably got comped into something like this by the time they got around to having it mixed:

Sylvia Massy said this about Undertow's recording:

The specifics of the Undertow guitar are as follows:

Gibson Les Paul Silverburt into a splitter, into two heads and cabs, as described in the other guitar posts in this Q&A. The particular heads were a Marshall Plexi-style 100-watt Lead head and a Mesa Dual Rectifier head. The Marshall head set very loud but dynamic, the Mesa gainy and squeezed. Both cabs were newer 4x12 Marshalls with 75-watt Celestion speakers.

The guitar cabs were miced with a 57 and a 421 on each, with all mics generally summed into one track. However on the verses, sometimes I recorded each amp/cab combination to its own track, panning them wide. The differences in the character of the amps made a nice panning effect in sections of the song where there was only one performance.

"all guitars and bass tracks were recorded to a Studer A827 2" 24-track tape machine."

 

[Stone]

I did not know there was such a thing as AJ tone chasing, personally i like Tool as a band, AJ's tone?? I don't find anything outstanding about it
but that's me

 

[JiveTurkey]

DEADPOOL GONNA YELL AT U

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I did not know there was such a thing as AJ tone chasing, personally i like Tool as a band, AJ's tone?? I don't find anything outstanding about it
but that's me

I think as with a lot of guys, they think they want the tone but really it’s the creative approach, technique, writing and performance that makes it sound great and the rest is pretty meat and potatoes stuff. See EVH, Cantrell, Angus/Malcolm Young, Slash and any other famous guitar tone that people strive for which really are nothing special.

 

[Stone]

I think as with a lot of guys, they think they want the tone but really it’s the creative approach, technique, writing and performance that makes it sound great and the rest is pretty meat and potatoes stuff. See EVH, Cantrell, Angus/Malcolm Young, Slash and any other famous guitar tone that people strive for which really are nothing special.

EVH Nothing Special ??

 

[SonVolt]

I think as with a lot of guys, they think they want the tone but really it’s the creative approach, technique, writing and performance that makes it sound great and the rest is pretty meat and potatoes stuff. See EVH, Cantrell, Angus/Malcolm Young, Slash and any other famous guitar tone that people strive for which really are nothing special.

Very true. I actually do NOT like the tone on Lateralus. It's got a scratchy/harsh quality that I didn't care for at the time. I wish he had stuck with Rectos for that album. I love his tone on 10,000 days and Fear Inoc though.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

EVH Nothing Special ??

I’d say some of his tones are bad, same with Slash, and even Cantrell at times. They all also have GREAT tones at times too. But the consistent thing is the playing is mesmeric and that alone makes anything sound engaging and timeless.

 

[EOengineer]

EVH Nothing Special ??

EVH’s tone (at least the one we talk about) was a pretty straightforward Marshall crunch once you strip off the post processing. He’s obviously an incredible player, which is where much of his tone comes from.