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Trying to understand the nuances of a particular QOTSA guitar tone
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Old 13th November 2012   #1
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Trying to understand the nuances of a particular QOTSA guitar tone
Hi Guys,

I've been covering In My Head by QOTSA so that i can learn ProTools by "doing"

One of the guitar tones that i cannot seem to emulate is the "sucked" guitar tone of the main riff (starting around 16 seconds in)

Queens Of The Stone Age - In My Head - YouTube

I have a Russian Big Muff, a Vox British Bulldog and an FZ5, the Muff seemed to nail the distortion.

Its also not that its just palm muted - i tried that and came fairly close - but still lacking that sound - it still sounds too "open" no matter how far i mute it. Its like there is something else in the sound that i just don't know about.

I tried limiting, compressing, all the presets to see if i could come close, i felt like the limiter had a positive effect but still not good enough.

For my own learning i'd just like to know what it is (if its even that simple...)

I'm fairly inexperienced - so apologies if this is a stupid question/impossible to reproduce.
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Old 16th November 2012   #2
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Having watched some videos on line - I'm starting to think its just a very harsh fuzz 'squishy-ness' like something you might get from a ZVex Fuzz Factory?

Any other suggestions?
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Old 18th November 2012   #3
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Yup - i've double tracked now and i've run my fuzz into the Muff - sounds alot closer. I also mic'd the amp with 2 dynamic mics (a 57 and a Senn MD735)

Will post results when done.
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Old 18th November 2012   #4
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I had an amp built for exactly that tone. IMO it's a trick do 'overdo' the maximum gain per tube stage. To explain: when amp builders in the 70s discovered you could overdrive the preamp they decided to (more or less) don't give that more than 12 dB gain per stage so it doesn't behave.. exactly like it does with some QUOTSA tones. Maybe you could nail it with transistors as well, but i think it would be trickier.
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Old 19th November 2012   #5
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DEFINITELY trickier - I have some very rudimentary gear - no hollowbodies - a Jagmaster, a Line 6 Spider Amp, a Big Muff and an FZ-5.

I think i've gotten close - you guys can let let me know when i post it.
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Old 4th January 2013   #6
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You know what - i give up....

I really love the song, but i've spent so much time on it now and i cannot get close to the sound, is frustrating...

Here's my effort : its not good - and doesn't represent the time i put into it, i may redo it some day. However i'm throwing it out there so people can tell me where i went wrong. I mastered with Ozone - the original mix isn't much better.

In fact if anyone wants the PT files and can help me mix it better please volunteer.

Equipment:

PT 9 M-Powered (besides Ozone, I only used default PT9 plugs, so the project should open on PT9 any machine)
M-Audio Firewire 410
Line 6 Spider Amp
Squier Jagmaster
Peavey milestone $50 bass
Roland TD-4K kit into Addictive Drums
Studio Projects VTB-1 and C-1
Big Muff Pi
Boss FZ-5

https://soundcloud.com/kwikksilva/kwikksilva-qotsa-in-my-head
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Old 4th January 2013   #7
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i would get a tube amp if i were you
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