Recommended FX Settings

[haze015]

Not strictly true. The majority of commercial graphic eq pedals use a series of bandpass filters, with fixed centre frequencies and resonance. They are terrible in terms of phase shift where the frequency bands overlap. With a guitar it's not that notocable but for high end audio it's unacceptable. That's why they're uncommon in modern studios, usually reserved for specialist applications like kick drum eq.

 

Whilst true, how an EQ uses bandpass filters is different to a bandpass filter. Unless able to mute all except one on a graphic EQ pedal it won't achieve the same as a bandpass wah/filter, nor is there control over the frequencies.

 

Although it is possible to get something close with one, it certainly shouldn't be chosen over a wah/auto-wah/filter unless its all that is available.

[james90]

An auto wah will most likely NOT do that. You're just going to want either a regular wah pedal, or a nice eq pedal that you can use as a bandpass filter. Wah pedals are just movable bandpass filters anyway. That sound comes from a huge boost in a specific frequency. Get a wah pedal, turn it on, leave it in one position. Also known as a cocked wah sound.

 

Yeah. In the video, it's just the wah probe in the guitar that's switched on, but essentially in the heel position since he doesn't have his hand near it. You can see him switch it off before the verse starts.

 

I think something like a dunlop Q zone would work pretty well for this.

[Jaicen]

Yeah. In the video, it's just the wah probe in the guitar that's switched on, but essentially in the heel position since he doesn't have his hand near it. You can see him switch it off before the verse starts.

 

I think something like a dunlop Q zone would work pretty well for this.

 

Also I think EHX do something like a CockFighter ?That should work too. Or just get a graphic eq..

[james90]

Also I think EHX do something like a CockFighter ?That should work too. Or just get a graphic eq..

 

Yeah, but that seems like an overdrive with a built in wah type sound. The EQ might be better, since it's only shaping the sound.

 

Another one is the stone deaf FX PDF-2 (or PDF-1), but that might be a little further away from the exact sound. Brilliant pedal though.

[DeJw97]

Hi guys, i recently bought the Line6 Pod Xt Live pedalboard. I looked in the customtone site but no one of the tones under the Muse tag is really good:/

Does anybody have this pedalboard and some patches to share?

[citizenerased98]

Does anyone have tips for Mk ultra? mainly the electric part, is there a pedal for that sound?

[james90]

Does anyone have tips for Mk ultra? mainly the electric part, is there a pedal for that sound?

 

I don't know what the studio version was (I remember there being a bit with an MXR blue box though) but you can pretty much get the exact live sound with the whammy set on -1 octave harmonizer

[Dominic.]

Yeah all you really need for a pretty close sound is a -1oct harmoniser and a bit of delay

[Cider]

So I'm learning the solo part of Hysteria from the tab book and I'm not sure about this part

 

 

Would you guys show me how to do the "double at 8ve w/ whammy pedal" part? Thanks guys

[nerd herd]

+1 octave harmony on a whammy

[musecasters]

+1 octave harmony on a whammy

 

...through a delay

[nerd herd]

...through a delay

 

But the delay doesn't double the octave

[james90]

But the delay doesn't double the octave

 

It doubles the octave in that you hear the sound twice

[nerd herd]

It doubles the octave in that you hear the sound twice

 

Double doubles? Quadruples?

[james90]

Double doubles? Quadruples?

 

Well it depends what order your pedals are in.

 

If you want to double your original octave then add +1 octave to it, giving you a total of 3, put the delay before the whammy.

 

But if you want to double your original octave as well as the +1 octave, then put the delay after the whammy. This gives you a total of 4!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEtr2xJ1pts

[Cider]

Ya'll know I'm way too gullible to tell if something's a joke or not

 

So guitar -> whammy +1 octave harmony -> stereo delay -> amp. Right?

 

I probably should play around with delays more. My multi FX unit has a bunch of them, but I never really know how to make them sound good >"<

[nerd herd]

Well it depends what order your pedals are in.

 

If you want to double your original octave then add +1 octave to it, giving you a total of 3, put the delay before the whammy.

 

But if you want to double your original octave as well as the +1 octave, then put the delay after the whammy. This gives you a total of 4!

 

This is why not to use 2 delays and 2 whammies at the same time

 

Ya'll know I'm way too gullible to tell if something's a joke or not

 

So guitar -> whammy +1 octave harmony -> stereo delay -> amp. Right?

 

I probably should play around with delays more. My multi FX unit has a bunch of them, but I never really know how to make them sound good >"<

 

Yeah that order sounds right. It's really fun messing about with delays, especially using different types.

[Dominic.]

Ya'll know I'm way too gullible to tell if something's a joke or not

 

So guitar -> whammy +1 octave harmony -> stereo delay -> amp. Right?

 

I probably should play around with delays more. My multi FX unit has a bunch of them, but I never really know how to make them sound good >"<

 

Do you have a Whammy 4?

 

If so take the dry out as normal and the wet out through the delay. Or just have a play about. But yeah octave harmonise +1 and delay

[Cider]

 

Yeah that order sounds right. It's really fun messing about with delays, especially using different types.

 

What's the usual sweet spot for delays? I feel like all the default options are set to way too long, so the delay comes out like 15 seconds after or something. It's awful

 

Do you have a Whammy 4?

 

If so take the dry out as normal and the wet out through the delay. Or just have a play about. But yeah octave harmonise +1 and delay

I have a V. The delay and amp will come from a multiFX though - only the Whammy is a real separate pedal

[nerd herd]

What's the usual sweet spot for delays? I feel like all the default options are set to way too long, so the delay comes out like 15 seconds after or something. It's awful

 

 

I have a V. The delay and amp will come from a multiFX though - only the Whammy is a real separate pedal

 

Depends what kind of sound you want, does your pedal do tap tempo? Try some different types as well, for hysteria I usually use a tape echo model (but I use that for just about everything).

[muse12]

Are there people using Line 6 Helix who would like to share there settings for specific muse songs?

[mvaughan89]

Anybody have recommended amp settings for Matt’s basic live distorted tone? I have a significant amount different fuzzes. Namely for his tone though I have a Zvex Fuzz Probe, JHS Colour Box and a Keeley Compressor Plus. I’m running into a Marshall DSL40C.

Overdrives I have on board are a stock Bluesdriver and a zvex ‘59 Sound. I also have other fuzzes including a Dr. Scientists Frazz Dazzler and a Fuzzhuggerz Phantom Arcade. I have plenty as far as whammy, verb, delay all that to tailor to different songs, but I’m looking more for a base live distortion/fuzz sound that is Matt/Muse like as a starting point. Any advice. Couldn’t find anything that clear cut on the forum. Everything seems Song specific. Mainly looking for base amp eq and settings to then build on. Any advice is welcomed though.

 

Thank you!

[Dave.]

3 hours ago, mvaughan89 said:

Anybody have recommended amp settings for Matt’s basic live distorted tone? I have a significant amount different fuzzes. Namely for his tone though I have a Zvex Fuzz Probe, JHS Colour Box and a Keeley Compressor Plus. I’m running into a Marshall DSL40C.

Overdrives I have on board are a stock Bluesdriver and a zvex ‘59 Sound. I also have other fuzzes including a Dr. Scientists Frazz Dazzler and a Fuzzhuggerz Phantom Arcade. I have plenty as far as whammy, verb, delay all that to tailor to different songs, but I’m looking more for a base live distortion/fuzz sound that is Matt/Muse like as a starting point. Any advice. Couldn’t find anything that clear cut on the forum. Everything seems Song specific. Mainly looking for base amp eq and settings to then build on. Any advice is welcomed though.

 

Thank you!

The reason you won't find anything clean cut is because what Matt uses changes constantly and you can be very sure that he doesn't use the same stuff live as in the studio.

The Marshall is a good starting point. In generally, he doesn't actually use a lot of gain on his amp sound. This is so he can maintain clarity while playing chords. Keep your low end pretty tight (You can do this through a combination of reducing the Bass EQ on the amp, using an overdrive pedal (which I'll get to in a bit), and having a clean pick attack). He also has a very mid-range heavy sound. Again, dialling in some more mids alongside an overdrive will do this. In terms of Treble and Presence, try to add some nice high-end detail to the sound, but not too much as to make it sound harsh. I wish I could be more precise than that, but I don't know how your speakers, pickups, strings etc. are influencing the sound, so I can only be vague.

In terms of pedals, as mentioned, an overdrive will help add that bit more gain to the amp sound. Preferably running either your Blues Driver or the '59 Sound with minimal gain and maximum level (I've never ran either of those pedals into a Marshall DSL, so I don't know which one will work best. But have fun trying it!). You're basically looking to make the signal hitting the amp louder with a touch of distortion and with a more focused sound. Whichever one doesn't do this job best, experiment with using it as a distortion pedal for heavier moments.

Beyond that, it's honestly up to what sounds right to you. What I've laid out there will get you a solid rock guitar tone, which is really all Matt is using. There isn't really any particularly unique aspects about his base tone. It's designed to have the notes ring out clearly, get out of the way of the bass and have a touch of aggression.

I hope any of this is useful. If not, well  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[mvaughan89]

 Thank you so much! This is the exact kind of response I was hoping for. You actually outlined a lot of how I use my overdrive pedals.  I usually use the bluesdriver to pretty transparently pushed my amp and then kick in the ‘59 for more distorted stuff. I just felt like a lot of the amp settings I was getting wrong. A lot of my tenure as a guitarist was playing have your blue stuff like Rival Sons and the like or straight  metal so it’s always been weird for me to boost mids and cut bass. I have always loved Muse and realized recently that a lot of the tones I was using we’re not too far off as far as guitar goes and I’ve been really wanting to push genres the way they do in my own music. I don’t plan to cover them or completely emulate, but I was trying to get that same kind of canvas he uses for making The versatile and wide variety of sounds he does. Like them I want to push genre yet maintain that rock roots and I think his general tone and sound is the anchor or staple that does that. It actually sounds like I only have to make a few minor adjustments. I’m relatively new and my love affair with fuzz. So, I was having a hard time getting my amp sounding right as a good platform for it and  A lot of the advice out there is more geared towards classic fuzz than what Matt does. Thank you so much again!

[james90]

@mvaughan89 I think Dave is spot on about boosting mids and cutting bass. Matt has said in interviews that he's one to use extreme mids (and ones in unconventional frequencies) in order to get the guitar sound to sit well in the mix. I'll also add that he doesn't have just one live distorted sound now - there are at least three different ones from what I can tell. 

But for an overall Muse type sound, you can't go wrong with a Marshall DSL anyway - after all, he used one of the original DSLs heavily during the Showbiz and OOS tours.

For what it's worth, I've got the 50 watt head, and while that's probably a bit different from the redesigned combo, I can say that I have struggled getting it sounding right with fuzz/drive pedals. What works best for me is the crunch mode on the green channel, but with the gain set for a sound that is barely overdriven. It seems that it's the voicing difference between the two modes that makes one sound better than the other, even at similar gain levels.

But for a main distorted sound, I think boosting mids and cutting bass on your amp's drive channel would do the trick. I wouldn't say running an additional overdrive in front is necessary really, but try switching between the two lead modes as well. I settled on using the higher gain lead mode but with the gain control at a lower setting (which is still something the lower gain lead mode would cover with the gain turned up)

Also, if you amp has the resonance control, try turning the bass control down and the resonance control up to compensate. You'd be adding low end in the power section instead of the preamp section, which generally works better with higher gain