GET FAT...tone

[scottmaclean]

I've been searching for a thick, fat, creamy, powerfull tone for some time now and have yet to get it right. I'm currently using a Les Paul, with a hughes and kettner switchblade. im looking to put some new pickups in my guitar. something that will plump up my tone and really cook without muddying things up. any suggestions.

[Steve Conner]

How about using the neck pickup and turning the guitar tone control all the way down?

[scottmaclean]

yeah i usually do that but everything just gets muddy..

[hasserl]

I like using a clean boost to get the type of tone your describing. Lot's of them out there, like the Seymore Duncan Pickup Booster, or you could build one yourself.

[Steve Conner]

Yeah, or even a treble booster might help. You could turn the tone control down on the guitar and then boost the treble back up again to get rid of the mud, like Clapton and his Beano tone.

[scottmaclean]

thanks a lot guys ill deffinately give those things a shot.

[azrael]

I get my fat lead tone from a custom Dallas Rangemaster I built.

[R ski]

You made no mention of what speakers you are using, they are important in your sound chain, especially the low end you are seeking to obtain. Take your amp or head to a dealer and try different speaker cabinets or even different heads should no speakers produce the sound you are looking for. The reason why I mentioned this is when testing out a guitar before I purchase one, I will usually bring along my amp head to hear the nuance and I am already familiar with my amp.

You would be surprised how much bottom end growl is govern by the speakers inside a cabinet. Some stacks sound thin and wimpy.

[kyura_hikaru]

you could turn down your tone knob off. but that would make your tone muddy, so maybe you need to change to bigger value pots, or getting the treble back using the amp's preamp

[txstrat]

I'm currently using a Les Paul, with a hughes and kettner switchblade.

How far up do you usually turn your master volume pot to get "your" sound?
From my expierience I can say the smaller the amp the further you can turn up the volume (master) and the more power tube saturation comes into play. That makes an amp sound way bigger.
Ever read about the "old" recording sessions, where guys like "good ole Keef" used to play a Champ or Princeton to get a HUGE sound?
My suggestion would be to use a smaller amp, turn it up real far and maybe use a stomp box in front of it. To keep up with a strong drummer you could use an extension cab.