Sound of a dry Strat

M

Masterhyde

New member
Hello all. I was just curious to know if anyone here could post the sound of a Fender stratocaster going straight into a computer and recorded. I ask because I've been trying to get a funk type sound and haven't been able to do so and am wondering if my strat sounds ok dry. I would post myself strumming it, but the site won't let me post links.

It actually would be helpful if someone had settings that I could use in either Guitar Rig 3 or a Line 6 Pod (not the Pod XT, just a pod). I just want to do basic strums, but the tone is always wrong. I tried looking up information on this online, but if you're not doing rock or heavy metal no one seems to answer requests. Thanks in advance.

Masterhyde
 
If I am really cheeky and read between the lines .

You're after the bright little , stunned , rhythm chops :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TZyqMD5ncw

It is still amped up , if you listen .
I used to use a little bright amp , and tune the sound with a cry baby wah wah .
Might get somewhere near with an amp simulation , and some judicious EQ (ITB that is)
I would just mic up an amp TBH
 
Thanks for the reply Foggy. You're reading between the lines is correct: that is the type of sound I'm trying to get to. The thing is, my strat sounds nothing like that. In fact, it's so different that it makes me question whether I need to get a different guitar.

Granted, I'm not a guitar player so I don't quite know how to set amps, which is part of my problem. I don't have an amp, so to use one I'd have to use either my Pod or Guitar Rig 3. The problem is I don't know how to set either since I'm not a guitar player and information on setting amps for Funk/Soul/R&B is surprisingly absent on the internet.

Here's a clip of me playing my strat. It's at "mediafire dot com /? etsgjmrjjl3" (no spaces or quotes and replace "dot"). If you know how I can make the sound of that strum "sound like" the strums in that clip you posted, I'm all ears. Also I'm curious to know if my strat sounds "normal" or if it sounds like something is wrong with it. My playing isn't stellar, but it's the sound of the instrument I'm looking for.

Masterhyde
 
Not sure exactly what you're looking for because I can't listen to audio at the moment.

But, a lot of funk uses a wah-effect to get that wick-a-wick-a sound.

You might look into a guitar amp-simulation VST like Amplitube or something similar. If you went that route you wouldn't even have to use a real guitar necessarily. You can use a clean sine or triangle wave synth and run it thru the VSt and get a similar sound.

Peace!
 
jay_jizle said:
But, a lot of funk uses a wah-effect to get that wick-a-wick-a sound.
Click to expand...

I do have a wah pedal. I have a Cry baby classic that seems to work well. The problem I have is when I run my strat thru it, I get the wah sound on a bad tone, which is how my guitar sounds. I've run other sounds thru it and it sounds fine. But my strat, which sounds like crap without the wah, sounds like crap with wah on it.

jay_jizle said:
You might look into a guitar amp-simulation VST like Amplitube or something similar. If you went that route you wouldn't even have to use a real guitar necessarily. You can use a clean sine or triangle wave synth and run it thru the VSt and get a similar sound.
Click to expand...

I do have Guitar Rig 3 although I'm not versed in setting it as I've never set an actual amp. And most settings I've found on the net refer to Rock and Heavy Metal settings.

I'm curious about how I would get a similar sound using a clean sine or triangle wave synth though. How would I get the "strum" sound doing this? Do you have an example of doing this you could post?

Masterhyde
 
I can't seem to get your link working (prolly me being dumb) .
Could do with hearing it or can only guess .....
What soundcard and mic do you have ?
It still might be better to get a cheap little practice amp and mic it up .
Small amps are better for recording (rule of thumb alert!) as you don't have to go to insane db levels to get a "sound" from a small amp .

I can't really comment further until I hear the clip (PM me the link if you don't want it public (to bots I presume) )
 
For my soundcard I have a Delta-44 and the strat is plugged into a mixer directly with a quarter inch cable. I don't think it's my soundcard though because everything else I do sounds fine including vocals, drums, and all manner of synth based sounds and sampled instruments. The only thing that consistently sounds bad is my strat. Even the guitar sounds from some of my modules and soft synths sound great, but I can't strum those with my keyboard.

And I don't mind posting the link, but the site won't let me. At any rate, here's the link in between the quotes: "mediafire-com/?etsgjmrjjl3" Just replace the dash (-) with a period (.) and it should take you directly to a file called "Hyde strumming" where you can hear how bad my strat sounds. Let me know if you can get to the clip.


Masterhyde
 
I'll give the link a check in an hour or so , when I am in front of some monitors .

Something that has struck me is , what mixer are you using ?
Also , what input on this mixer ?
I am wondering if you need a DI box and that is what is sucking the tone from your guitar .
 
Foggy said:
I heard the file , erm , tune the thing and practice some more , a lot .
Click to expand...

Hey Foggy, as far as the practice goes, I understand the statement but I know that I'm not exactly Eddie Van Halen. The thing is mainly the tone. It sounds to me like the guitar has the wrong sound, even if I just strum once. For example, if I played the YouTube clip you posted, which would basically be 4 strums on every bar (not exactly Prince like skills needed to do that), the tone is wrong. To put it another way, if Prince were to come over and play my strat, you'd hear great technique with a crappy tone.

Let me ask you a question Foggy: If you were to come over to my house and pick up my strat and tune it yourself and play it, would the tone sound like it does in that YouTube clip? If so, then that's what I'm looking for. If you'd have to do something else (like run it thru an amp, EQ it, or other things) in addition to tuning it and playing much better than I do then I'd like to know what those things are you'd do to get it to sound like the Sex Machine guitar.

Masterhyde

P.S. I know I need a lot of practice. I'm just more motivated when I at least can hear a sound similar to what I want, then I can practice until I get the rhythm down. But with the tone I have now, I just put the guitar down.
 
TBH , it would be better to get a small amp .
You can leave the amp on and guitar plugged in when you are there .
That way you might find yourself picking the guitar up and having a go at it more often .( Tune it up before you use it !)

You'd also have an amp you can mic up :)
And tune the fekking thing .

The whole point of the above is , guitar (*instruments*) require learning , and about 90% is the playing technique .

As for free tone ...... make sure you are using the the pick up nearest the bridge , EQ some of the lower end off , add a little distortion .
Also , play it nearer the bridge , and use the left hand to release the chord to shorten the chops .
(rule of thumb alert :p )
Do you own a tuner ? ;)
 
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Playing style is part of your problem. First of all, I'm only hearing a few of the strings being played try getting some of the higher strings into the mix with your strumming. Also, try setting the tone control up higher. Try experimenting with the other positions on the 5 position switch. You should be able to get better treble response even on the rhythm or neck pickup. Is that soud file the guitar into the board or is it going through your POD first? If so, what setting do you have it on? It should be a clean setting, like a Twin Reverb setting or something. You could have a very small amount of overdrive on the setting but lay off of too much compression, and you don't want the highs to be muddied up too much or too distorted.
Another question is what type of Fender strat are you using? The Mexican standard strats and Squier series strats may not have the same kind of pickups that regular, or Japan-made or USA made strats have. If there is a problem with the pickups, that's an electrical wiring problem--NOT a guitar problem. Also, you are thinking correctly about what amp setting you should have it on because most amps can have a huge effect on the sound of the guitar. That's because most amps lack clarity. You want a more transparent amp sound, one that doesn't compress the signal so much.

About the guitar, if it sounds good if you or a more experienced guitarist is playing it without amplification, then the guitar isn't the problem. In that case you might improve things by replacing one pickup on the guitar. Just one of the pickups in the neck position can improve the sound, IF the pickups are the problem.
But without knowing what settings you're using, and what model Fender Strat you're playing through, it is impossible to make any good suggestions.

BTW Check out this link from another post on the Fender Road-worn series:

https://en.audiofanzine.com/stc-shaped-guitar/fender/Road-Worn-'50s-Stratocaster/reviews/#pages

There are links of the guitar in the various positions. I believe the strat starts in the Neck position and moves to the 5th or bridge position. Compare with your guitar.
 
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Hello modornge,

I understand the comments about my playing style, however my main issue is with the tone, For example, if I had the same setup and a more experienced guitarist played I would imagine the tone would be the same, unless they changed pickups or knob positions or amp sounds or something other than playing with more skill. The way I'm thinking about it is it wouldn't matter if I set a synth to a piano sound if I played it or Herbie Hancock played it: the tone still wouldn't sound like an organ no matter how much better Herbie plays than me unless I changed the patch.

I've tried other positions on the 5 position switch, and the tone sounds a little different but basically the same. The sound file is not going through the POD as I don't really know how to use it. All instruction I've found for the POD (or Guitar Rig for that matter) deals with how similarly it operates in comparison to a real amp. My problem is I don't know how to set a real amp to get the sound I want, so I have the same issue with the simulators like the POD. Is there some kind of amp tutorial or a "setting up amps for dummies" or something? I looked up "amp tutorial" in Google and got links that tell you how to build an amp, not how to use one to get a certain sound.

By the way, does you guitar have the same tone as mine if you run it directly with no effects or amp and record it? I mean if you just strum once, nothing fancy.

As far as the type of Strat I have I'm not completely sure. I do know it says "Fender Stratocaster" on it and has "Made in Mexico" so I'm assuming I got one of the lesser quality ones based on your comments. This is what my strat looks like: celebrityrockstarguitars-com/rock/clapton_files/ClaptonStratBlack.jpg (just replace the "-" with a "." right before the "com") except for the words and mine doesn't have a signature.

And I'm not sure about the link you posted with the various positions. I couldn't tell what the positions were from the pictures on the site. Maybe they were clearer on another link?

Masterhyde
 
Masterhyde said:
Hello modornge,

I understand the comments about my playing style, however my main issue is with the tone, For example, if I had the same setup and a more experienced guitarist played I would imagine the tone would be the same, unless they changed pickups or knob positions or amp sounds or something other than playing with more skill. The way I'm thinking about it is it wouldn't matter if I set a synth to a piano sound if I played it or Herbie Hancock played it: the tone still wouldn't sound like an organ no matter how much better Herbie plays than me unless I changed the patch.

I've tried other positions on the 5 position switch, and the tone sounds a little different but basically the same. The sound file is not going through the POD as I don't really know how to use it. All instruction I've found for the POD (or Guitar Rig for that matter) deals with how similarly it operates in comparison to a real amp. My problem is I don't know how to set a real amp to get the sound I want, so I have the same issue with the simulators like the POD. Is there some kind of amp tutorial or a "setting up amps for dummies" or something? I looked up "amp tutorial" in Google and got links that tell you how to build an amp, not how to use one to get a certain sound.

By the way, does you guitar have the same tone as mine if you run it directly with no effects or amp and record it? I mean if you just strum once, nothing fancy.

As far as the type of Strat I have I'm not completely sure. I do know it says "Fender Stratocaster" on it and has "Made in Mexico" so I'm assuming I got one of the lesser quality ones based on your comments. This is what my strat looks like: celebrityrockstarguitars-com/rock/clapton_files/ClaptonStratBlack.jpg (just replace the "-" with a "." right before the "com") except for the words and mine doesn't have a signature.

And I'm not sure about the link you posted with the various positions. I couldn't tell what the positions were from the pictures on the site. Maybe they were clearer on another link?

Masterhyde
Click to expand...

It's your playing, the way you strike the strings. I couldn't hear your audio but basically with funk or soul you only want to use the top 3 or 4 strings. You should attack the strings really quick and use your left hand to choke the chords

That guitar should be great for what you want.

Have a listen to this guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj-y7vT_7fI&feature=related
 
neck pickup, tone on 10, mute with left hand (if you play right handed) and hit the bottom strings. you don't get that chicka-chuka shuffle sound from playing full chords.

example: If you're in playing an A minor, bar the bottom bar three strings ( Strings G, B, and E) on the fifth fret. That will correspond to C, E, and A.

the tone is the easy part, the skill is in the rhythm. You have to play your guitar like its a drum or bongo (with both hands - not just the right hand hitting the notes). The mixture of dead muted notes and ringing notes takes both hands and gives you that chicka shuffle.

you can practice by tapping drum type patterns with both hands (no picking, just tap it to get the sensation of working both hands rhythmically).
 
sevendragon said:
neck pickup, tone on 10, mute with left hand (if you play right handed) and hit the bottom strings. you don't get that chicka-chuka shuffle sound from playing full chords.

example: If you're in playing an A minor, bar the bottom bar three strings ( Strings G, B, and E) on the fifth fret. That will correspond to C, E, and A.

the tone is the easy part, the skill is in the rhythm. You have to play your guitar like its a drum or bongo (with both hands - not just the right hand hitting the notes). The mixture of dead muted notes and ringing notes takes both hands and gives you that chicka shuffle.

you can practice by tapping drum type patterns with both hands (no picking, just tap it to get the sensation of working both hands rhythmically).
Click to expand...

Well put :D
 
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