How to Get a Classic Rock Tone With the St James Suite
Classic Rock, a style of music that is all about power and simplicity. Big riffs, played with big guitar tones, coming from big guitar rigs.
Most of the iconic classic rock guitar players have had their tones emulated and copied for decades, and even in the modern guitar world, we still look back on these classic tones and wonder how they did it. In this lesson we’re going to talk about the starting points of dialling in a great classic rock tone.
Choosing a Cab and Mic
The full stack is a cab set up that is synonymous with classic rock. If you picture any of your favourite classic rock guitar idols, the chances are there is a wall of 4×12 cabinets behind them.
Starting with a pair of 4×12 cabinets is the best place to start. You can either run these panned left and right to create a more Stereo sound, or keep them mono and straight up the middle.
Experiment with different mics on each cab and blend them to taste. As a general rule a 57 Dynamic is great for capturing the attack and articulation and a condenser mic will give you more of the full bodied sound. The blend of these two can sound huge.
EL34 or 6L6?
For classic rock, EL34 amps just work and sound that little bit better. Most of the iconic classic rock tones are very British voiced with lots of midrange.
The EL34 sound allows you to get that big, overdriven sound without sacrificing note clarity on chords.
Gain or Volume?
For classic rock, both!
Crank the volume and set the gain to where you need it. Classic rock tones should be played loud. You don’t want to over saturate the gain levels, but you want to add enough gain to make it feel spongy and big.
Boost and Overdrive
Boosting the front of the amp, or using gain from an overdrive pedal, is a great way to push the amp that little bit further. It doesn’t matter if you’re using the boost to get more gain out of the amp, or just to boost yourself for lead breaks, an overdriven EL34 amp will take an overdrive infront very well.
Compression for a Cranked Feel
When you crank a loud valve amp a lot of natural compression takes place. This natural compression happens inside the amp and it makes the amp feel a little spongier and easier to play. You can emulate this by adding a subtle compression in the front end to glue everything together.
EQ Choices
Sticking with the typical approach to EQ for a classic rock sound, the midrange is key. Push the midrange a little higher. You can use the treble to add some pick attack and the bass to fatten things up, but you don’t want to add too much bass because it can muddy the tone.
If you’re playing classic rock with single coil pickups, the bass can be used to fatten up the pickup sound, but be careful with this control with humbuckers.
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About the Author
This article on how to dial in a classic rock tone on the St James Suite 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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