Black Napkins Threesome
Three Flavors Of Black Napkins
Dweezil: What are the L.A. tone secrets (EQ) for getting the sound you get here, without the high strings being too harsh, and for the low end to stay crisp and not flabby? The segment of 5150 with Paul Gilbert had that same quality - tight, and not piercing anywhere along the neck. I assume some that is due to compressor usage as well?
Hi Tim,
I'm using the Fractal Axe Effects III on these tracks. That unit provides complete control of every aspect of my sound down to exacting detail, and the sound is fed directly to the PA and to the F.O.H. recording system, no microphones involved. In general, I start with simple ingredients. The guitar (Roxy SG) going into 2 axe fx modeled Marshall amps set with different gain stages and eq. One with more gain and darker eq and one with less gain with brighter eq and more transient response. They go directly to a few different cab impulse responses. The ones I use were made from impulse responses of my dad's actual speaker cabinets (Marshall cabs filled with JBL speakers) he toured with in the late 70's (my favorite tone era of my dad). That already creates the realism and depth I'm looking for without have to do much overall eq adjustment. This distorted sound doesn't use compression in the signal path. I do use compression for a lot of blended sounds especially when I have a clean sound mixed with a dirty sound. On those occasions I use parallel compression (studio style compression not guitar pedal compression, mixed in with the rest of the signal) because it allows the transients to pass through but also adds sustain and control. For Black Napkins there's no compression on my guitar but there is compression on the mix which controls peaks and brings out the detail in the sound.
As for Paul Gilbert's tone in the episode, I did add compression from both a virtual tape machine and a mastering compressor to bring out the detail of the reverb.
Keeping frequencies manageable starts at the guitar and amp, making sure nothing is too harsh or too muffled out of the gate. After that it's about enhancements instead of corrections.
Frank taped BN with the Mike Douglas Orchestra on a Monday afternoon. He played the SG through a Pignose while the orchestra sight read the music. That night at the Spectrum I heard BN for the first time ever. Zoot Allures had only released a week or so earlier. That Friday the Mike Douglas taping aired in Philadelphia on KYW TV. The next day I bought Zoot Allures and a Pignose. Still have both.
