Get a Beatles Style Tone with AMPED1
Get the Patch Here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g3djhxz2vftcj06/Beatles%20Cab.cabrig?dl=0
It’s hard to ignore the contribution that the Beatles have made to popular music. From writing songs that formed the basic template of rock and pop music through to innovative guitar tones and riffs, they’ve done it all.
Even though they had such a monumental impact on the shape of music, the gear they used to achieve this was very minimal. After all, it was the 1960s.
In this lesson we’re going to dial in some Beatles inspired tones using just the AMPED1 and Cab Rig.
Amp Settings
Throughout the attached video , use three different amp settings to emulate classic tones from three different tracks.
All the tones are coming out of the Cab Rig output so the Master volume and Power controls are not in use for this video:
Come Together
- Gain – 5
- Bass – 4
- Mid – 8
- Treble – 6
- Reverb – 6
- Response – EL84
Twist and Shout
- Gain – 4
- Bass – 3
- Mid – 4
- Treble – 9
- Reverb – 7
- Response – EL84
Helter Skelter
- Gain – 10
- Bass – 3
- Mid – 3
- Treble – 10
- Reverb – 6
- Response – EL84
These tones are not high gain tones, even though the gain is set to full on the final tone, it takes you into a light overdrive break up rather than a fully driven high gain sound.
The Beatles also used guitars with low output pickups while recording.
Cab Rig Settings
All the cab and room tones in the video are coming from cab rig. There is just one main cab running for the whole video
Cab – 2×12 Classic UK Combo
The Beatles, for the most part, preferred to use cranked AC style amps which are EL84 British voiced amps. This cab will get you closest to that tone.
This is mic’d with a 67 Condenser mic. The Beatles recorded most of their music in an era where there wasn’t a huge array of microphones, but at that time there were a few legendary mics that became staple choices in the recording world.
This mic will most likely have been one of them and it will give you a full bodied, warm sound to guitar recording.On this cab the EQ is set fairly flat with a slight cut of the mids and bump of the lows:
Room Sound
The Beatles recorded music in big studios, often with high ceilings and the amps turned up loud! In those days, most recording equipment – mixing desks, preamps, mics – would have been valve driven so loud signals can force that gear into overdrive and clipping.
To prevent this, microphones could be placed a little further away from loud amps, but this would introduce some of the rooms natural ambient sound.
To emulate this effect, the Large Room is selected with the Wide mode and it’s turned up to slightly below the mic level.
Master EQ
The master EQ section can be treated like the final bit of processing on the signal. The Beatles sound was not bass heavy so you’ll see a cut in the lows and a boost to the high mids and highs here to capture that crisp, cutting vintage rock sound.
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About the Author
This article on using the AMPED1 to create some Beatles style guitar tones was written by Leigh Fuge. Leigh is a professional guitarist and content creator and also works alongside musicteacher.com to create guitar focused, educational and entertainment content.
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