Looking for a tone - "Smelly Nelly" by Krokus - K

[chopstuck]

I decided to search for the tones that I happen to like instead of building an an amp that's a tricky one to get right. Since I've not heard a TW before in the flesh. Instead I want to search for a tone tied to the excesses of my youth.

The first couple of cords in the opening riff of "Smelly Nelly" has all the subltity of dropping a bucket of hammers on an old tin roof.... yea it's crass-but I like it. Anybody know that amp ?

Here's a link to the tune

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zMmv-3QM0I

Tin-eared n' gray - still has books by Mel BaY

I hope it's not too off topic, but where else would I find some ears tuned to the specific character of a distorting amplifier.

[CaseyJones]

THERE'S a blast from the past!

If it was an AC/DC tune rather than Krokus... you'd hear it in rotation on classic rock radio.

That's just a standard 50 watt Marshall tone. The mix kinda sucks. A remix with a little more air in between everything would sound a lot better.

The "dogs barkin'" falsetto "woo-hoos" make it for me. It would be a misser without 'em.

Hey... "back in the day" UFO used to be in my record rack right next to Krokus. I was watchin' "Prison Break" on Fox the other night, the scene where Sarah gets her credit card stolen in a bar. "Cherry" played in its entirety during the scene. There's another band you don't hear every day.

The more recent version sounds like Neil Diamond does classic rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRZ7KVJ ... re=related

[iknowjohnny]

I agree it sounds like a marshall, but it sounds like it was set differently than usual and i would also say speaker/cab choice may have more to do with nailing that tone than the amp.It also sounds like it may have been tweaked in the mix to get it like that more than a particular amp. So it's probably not a simple case of buy this amp, have that sound.

You might also wanna see if they have a site where you could email them if they're still around. A lot of older bands regroup and tour small venues for years after their success. So you may be able to ask the guy if you can find an email.

[CaseyJones]

I agree it sounds like a marshall, but it sounds like it was set differently than usual and i would also say speaker/cab choice may have more to do with nailing that tone than the amp.It also sounds like it may have been tweaked in the mix to get it like that more than a particular amp. So it's probably not a simple case of buy this amp, have that sound.

I couldn't tell you the exact setup but I can guess:

Originally an analog recording. Likely close mic'ed from one of the speakers w/ the amp well cranked. It was a neat trick to get tight bass on guitar tones through early '80s so the bass is rolled off. Probably a bit of compression on its way to the multitrack and you bet yer ass compressed on the master.

"Why don't they sound like on the record?!!"

[chopstuck]

There is just a certain "Klank" to the first two chords in the main riff that I haven't heard before. I would like some insight to how that may have come about.

[CaseyJones]

There is just a certain "Klank" to the first two chords in the main riff that I haven't heard before. I would like some insight to how that may have come about.

Dunno. To my ears it's a pretty typical transitional hard rock tone, just pre-Hair Band if I were to pick an era.

Brand new strings?

Hit it like you mean it?

Marshalls sound a lot different on LP than they do in real life.

[chopstuck]

Thanks for the info. I have an old, well it was just used when I bought it, Marshall 2203 and I can never get that kind of tone out of it. My ears give up long before i get what I want. Damn, those things are loud into a proper checkerboard 4x12. Maybe I should try a smaller cab and put it in the shower stall - I hear that works.

[iknowjohnny]

Well, like i said it's a recording. imagine how radically they can change it in the mix, not counting the huge differences you can get with slight room changes and mic placement, etc. heck, i have recordings of gigs we did years ago with the same marshall and the same recorder and mics, and no 2 sound alike. Add a rat pedal now and then and it's like a totally different amp. So point is, god knows what you may be hearing. Could even be the same amp you use but with a engineer who loves to play with EQ's, a distortion pedal thru the amp clean, any number of things. So to tell you what you could build to get that sound would be about as likely as winning the lottery even for the worlds best ears. If you're really dying to get that sound, my advice would be to get some outboard EQ's and distortion/fuzz/OD pedals and play around with them. You'll get closer that way than trying a truckload of amps. To me that recording sounds like they're using pedals in one way or another.

[Jana]

If you want to try to get close to that sound with a 2203 try turning the sensitivity (gain) down to about 5 to 7. Then use a pedal to boost your signal enough to get the amp into an overdrive. Play with the treble and presence too, probably have them up a ways. The reason for turning down the sensitivity and sending a boosted signal into the amp is this: there is a nasty bright cap on that pot that lets a lot of highs through at lower settings, you loose that when the pot is turned up higher. The boost pedal to try, if you can, would be a Keeley Java boost or a similar treble booster.

You might even get there with just the Sensitivity turned down a ways and the master turned way up, your ears are gonna be bleeding though.

As others have said, there is probably a lot of engineer knob tweaking that went into getting this sound, but you could probably get a reasonable facsimile. Not sure I would want to be gigging with that sound for a whole night though!

[klingo]

Hi,
It may be in my head but i'm hearing a hint of a phaser,flange or chorus like effect in the krokus riff. or may be this sort of effect with the speed down slow used as filter...anyway it's barely perceptible and it could just be me

Caseyjones thanks for the UFO clip, it remembered me a lot of good things