Matt Scoffields sound/tone.

[Dr d]

Hi everyone. This is my first post so I hope it is of interest. As you all know, Matt Schoffield is one of our rising stars in the UK and IMHO is an exciting contributor to the international blues scene. I thought i'd better not waste anymore time before posting this topic as Matt is about to change his gear to the infamous Bludotone(which incidently sounded awesome at the last gig I saw him at). My question, therefore, revolves around his current setup and the track I have in mind for discussion is "Better Man" from "Heads, Tails and Aces". My question is this.... how do you think he achieves such a thick, rich (lower mid?) tone from a strat?!!! Matt is very open about what he uses (2R SCR, Klon Centaur/SOV2) and that from my understanding his Two Rock is essentially a high plate skyline. But can I get his sound from my high plate clone? .....NO!!!! What am I missing? Could his amp have an HRM mod? Am I not EQ-ing my amp correctly. What do you think guys? Is anyone interested?!!!!

[Rob Livesey]

I spoke to Matt after one of his shows and he said the Bludo he was using was actually a Larry Carlton amp, his actual one. Brandon would be able to tell you the specs of that amp I guess. He also said that one was in the process of being built for him, so as it was some time ago that we spoke, he may have got that amp by now. His Two Rock cab is a specially built 4x10, but I don't know what speakers are in there.
I think a lot of his tone is in his hands.........

Rob.

[Dr d]

Thanks for your reply, Rob. I also had the same info regarding his Carlton Bludotone. I just wanted to discuss his present sound before he (I assume) changes direction with his forthcoming Bludotone. Are you going to see him in Sheffield this month?

[exocet]

I too like Matts tone very much...but putting the cat amongst the pigeons, hasn't he just signed up with Dr Z and Matchless?

[talbany]

Hi everyone. This is my first post so I hope it is of interest. As you all know, Matt Schoffield is one of our rising stars in the UK and IMHO is an exciting contributor to the international blues scene. I thought i'd better not waste anymore time before posting this topic as Matt is about to change his gear to the infamous Bludotone(which incidently sounded awesome at the last gig I saw him at). My question, therefore, revolves around his current setup and the track I have in mind for discussion is "Better Man" from "Heads, Tails and Aces". My question is this.... how do you think he achieves such a thick, rich (lower mid?) tone from a strat?!!! Matt is very open about what he uses (2R SCR, Klon Centaur/SOV2) and that from my understanding his Two Rock is essentially a high plate skyline. But can I get his sound from my high plate clone? .....NO!!!! What am I missing? Could his amp have an HRM mod? Am I not EQ-ing my amp correctly. What do you think guys? Is anyone interested?!!!!

HEY !! Everyone it's DR D!! ... Told you it wasn't the MAN!!!

Sorry for the D-Rail!!

Tony

[Dr d]

Ah yes......but I might be!!!!!

[talbany]

Ah yes......but I might be!!!!!

Prove it.. Please post a schematic of your Steel String Singer!!... LOL!! Just playing!! There was some speculation a while back that maybe you were HAD>> don't know if you caught it.. Welcome to the Garage anyway..




Tony

[Dr d]

Tony. I have to say, this is a most unexpected welcome. Yes, I kind of got the idea, but had no idea how far it might have gone!!! I have been reading the forum for a little while just taking it all in. I am genuinely stunned and impressed at the same time at the breadth of knowledge you guys have accrued. If I were THE MAN, I should feel eternally flattered by all that he has inspired. Anyway, Tony, have you got anything you could share with me on the given topic?!!!

[talbany]

Tony. I have to say, this is a most unexpected welcome. Yes, I kind of got the idea, but had no idea how far it might have gone!!! I have been reading the forum for a little while just taking it all in. I am genuinely stunned and impressed at the same time at the breadth of knowledge you guys have accrued. If I were THE MAN, I should feel eternally flattered by all that he has inspired. Anyway, Tony, have you got anything you could share with me on the given topic?!!! :D

Doc
Yes the talent that hangs around here is pretty scary and everyone here seem s to get along and respect each others opinions..Which is why I like it here.. As far as the topic at hand.. I am not real familier with Matt's work other than a couple clips on You Tube and a post here a while back when he first started playing the Bludo..
As for what I think I've been able to achieve the thickest type Strat tones out of 2 D_style amps..
If your looking at a Non HRM then the high plates are the way to go as this I believe will give you the thicker more harmonically richer OD tones (2nd 3rd order harmonics generated).. If you have a wide range of Strat Tele's you like to use I would add the OD trimmer on the back as this can give you more flexibility dial in some added thickness coil to coil..
The HRM is a more versitile design being able to dial in the thicker Strat tone by the HRM is a give in...This is the one I would recommend...
Matt could also be playing a Music Man as well... I have a High Plate MM that get's pretty thick with a Strat.. The added 700v gives it a breathy woof in the low mids that helps to fill things out as well..Maybe this is what you are hearing..If it is ni fact a MM
There are a few other design things you can do to better voice an amp to a Strat if that what the customer wishes but in general this is my gut response.. Hope this helps and once again WELCOME!!

Tony

[Guitarman18]

Dr d,

Matt used to get a pretty thick, reedy Strat tone out of his Fender SR/ Menatone Red Snapper. Now that he uses TR/Klon, I suspect his tone is still pretty dependant upon a pedal such as a Centaur driving the clean channel more often than not. With the TR, he has the ability to add the pedal to the OD channel for extra boost.

I would be surprised if he uses his PAB often, because in the usual PAB wiring, bass content is lost.

His Bludo (LC's) is a Ripper configuration, as far as I know from what has been posted on this forum, but it is not heavily documented as to what is going on with these.

https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... ght=ripper

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Paul.

[Structo]

Something I did after having it recommended here was to install a mid cap switch.
It allows you to choose between two mid caps of your choice so that you can get the desired tone from single coil and humbucker guitars.

I have the mini toggle on the rear panel and it is labeled FAT and THIN.

There is a .01uF and the switch is wired to add a .05uF cap in parallel.
So it is either .01 or .06uF the latter being the FAT selection.
I find this works well with my Fenders and humbucker guitars.
Another cool switch is on the local NFB loop on V1, the switch takes it out of circuit and it's labeled RAW and SMOOTH.

I never would have thought of those things without the help here.

I also have my OD Trimmer pot on the back panel as well.
I have a tail resistor so that the preferred adjustment of 20K-40K is at the top of the rotation. I have a chicken head knob on that so I can reach behind the amp and feel where it is set.

[Dr d]

Thank you all for your input so far. I am on a steep learning curve here, but bit by bit it is all starting to make a little more sense. I started looking into D style amps about three years ago, and at that time it was hard to get much info.....how things have moved on !! The challenge now,(after getting your head around the classic configurations) is how to fine tune your sound, and there is a great deal of klowledge present here on the forum to help with that. I am sure that I am not the first to have several favoured sounds in my head......and of course you can only build one amp at a time. The highplate vs. low is starting to make sense now and where at first I thought the low plate config. would give me most of my favoured sounds, it seems I am going to have to go high plate again. I much prefer the low plate cleans, but have had problems in the past mixing that with high plate OD. The bluesmaster preamp was particularly nice but it didnt seem to like a non hrm OD. Answer...add the hrm as it should be in the first place!!!!!! I like the sound of the "ripper" and shall try to find out more about it. Thanks again guys and please continue to add to this discussion if you have more to add. Doc.

[Rob Livesey]

Thanks for your reply, Rob. I also had the same info regarding his Carlton Bludotone. I just wanted to discuss his present sound before he (I assume) changes direction with his forthcoming Bludotone. Are you going to see him in Sheffield this month?

I've got tickets for Band on the Wall in Manchester in May. Fab venue, very intimate, it has legendary status in Manchester. It's just up the road from work, so very handy for me.

Cheers.

[dogears]

Tom,

You can easily source .039 caps. Use that on the switch!

Fat is .01 not .05 IMO. Do you find the larger midcap tone fatter??

Something I did after having it recommended here was to install a mid cap switch.
It allows you to choose between two mid caps of your choice so that you can get the desired tone from single coil and humbucker guitars.

I have the mini toggle on the rear panel and it is labeled FAT and THIN.

There is a .01uF and the switch is wired to add a .05uF cap in parallel.
So it is either .01 or .06uF the latter being the FAT selection.
I find this works well with my Fenders and humbucker guitars.
Another cool switch is on the local NFB loop on V1, the switch takes it out of circuit and it's labeled RAW and SMOOTH.

I never would have thought of those things without the help here.

I also have my OD Trimmer pot on the back panel as well.
I have a tail resistor so that the preferred adjustment of 20K-40K is at the top of the rotation. I have a chicken head knob on that so I can reach behind the amp and feel where it is set.

[rogb]

Just seen a pic of him playing in Southampton yesterday, there was definitely a Matchless in the backline.