Saraceno Honk! (Parallel Axis, Charvel Pro Mod, Splawn)

[relwark]

Damn! That nice Charvel!! And i bet it play`s heavenly like mine! ;) Cheers!

[thebibleisalltrue]

I finally got my Charvel :-) The Tran Red Ale USA SoCal. It is a great guitar for sure.

[ValleysOfSaturn]

I really wonder if this "notched" kind of sound in this video is because of PATB-3, or your amp/effects settings? I've considered buying PATB-3 for my Ibanez RG470, but if this is the pickup's sound, then it's not my thing.

[zombielolocaust]

@ValleysOfSaturn Knowing the amp well, I'd say it's both stacked together. The Splawn is certainly very mid-focused (check my other videos) but the PATB-3 pushes in that honky region even more. I'd wager without the Splawn it won't be as apparent, but the notched thing is still part of the pickup's character, as you hear when Saraceno plays it.

[ValleysOfSaturn]

@zombielolocaust

Thank you very much for your reply! I guess I'll have to look further. Everyone on the net praises patb-3 to the sky, and I suppose for a reason, but this type of sound is just not my thing. I'd like to get creamy, warm and bright sound a'la Di Meola on my guitar, but considering it is a basswood shredder and not Les Paul, I guess I'll have to swim all of the oceans to find it. ;) Good luck with your playing!

[zombielolocaust]

@ValleysOfSaturn No problem, VOS, happy to help even though you don't like my tones. :'(

(Just kidding.) I actually have a few of those basswood Ibanez. Between the thin necks, basswood bodies, low action and floating trem, there's no doubt they sound naturally quite thin, so I see you have your work cut out fattening up the tone. One thing you might not have considered: swapping the 500k pots for 250k? That'll certainly take you in a "creamy, warm" direction. Just a thought.

[ValleysOfSaturn]

@zombielolocaust Thanks for your suggestion! I might try 250K pots, but first I have to choose pickups! :) Right now, I have crappy stock ones. :(

It's not that I don't like your tone and patb-3, lol ;), but there is something in the tone that just doesn't suit my ears. Like the tone of patb-3 is permanently under "fuzz" effect a bit. I guess that represents that "notched" effect, that Saraceno sought after in his trademark sound. It does thicken up a thin guitar into LP to some degree, though.

[thebibleisalltrue]

Sounding good as usual! How far can you pull up on the bar before it hits the body?

[zombielolocaust]

@thebibleisalltrue JD! My playing is a bit messy here, but the tone is cookin'! I had to bottle it and get it online. I get about two full steps out of the trem, so the open G pulls up to a B.

[thebibleisalltrue]

@zombielolocaust I have played a couple at the store, but I guess the bar and rest of the case candy only get brought out if you buy it. :-) Someone else told me they only get a half step of up pull due to not having a back route. If you say two steps that will do it for me. Thanks again!

[Riffronan]

what an identifiable tone..you seem to get the perfect amount of compression while still keeping dynamics and all the cool nuances in tact... no odd EQ things going on...very toneful mids minus the distracting bass chug thing

[zombielolocaust]

@Riffronan I'm stoked that's coming across, Riff, even through YouTube's mangler, thanks. I love gain and that natural compression, but I see it a bit like working with a photograph: you want as much contrast as possible, without blowing out the highlights to solid white, throwing away detail. (Your Aldrich is sounding pretty good, too!)