For some general guidelines on how to use the Pod HD and dial in patches similar to those below, please see my Pod HD tone guide.
Description: Went full on for the Blizzard of Oz tone. It's a crisp but midsy overdriven Marshall tone. It actually sounds kinda muddy and nasty, but that's what makes it unique. Mixed with the way he liked to run a chorus into it and some reverb, all the sudden you have a legendary tone.
Distortion: With the addition of the Plexi model, you can basically replicate Randy's rig and get a near identical tone as him. I run first into a Classic Distortion for a bit of compression and mild distortion, as well as a bit of a low-end filter. Then I run into two EQ's. These are designed to simulate Randy's graphic EQ settings, which are basically an upward sloping line, with a dip in it towards the high end. I am guessing he wants to brighten the tone to get a more crispy distortion, but dials back one spot that just gets too nasty. The Plexi has a little learning curve on where to set Drive - it gets too compressed at higher settings without really adding much distortion. I find I usually like it around 60-70%. Also, since we're getting some power amp distortion here, we have to EQ the amp the right way to get the distortion to sound right. I find with the Plexi this involves cranking up the presence, which get that's Marshall crunch. I keep treble conservative, as it just seems to make the tone more harsh than get a good harmonic distortion.
DEP's: I find the DEP's don't have too much impact on the tone here. I just leave the default settings, which has the power section cranked, really controlled by the pre-amp Drive setting.
Cab/Mic and EQ: Hiway 4x12/57 off axis. The Hiway delivers the best tone to my ear. Randy's actual cabs used Altec 417-8H speakers, but rather than try to imitate that, I chose the best-sounding cab and just EQ'ed it to sound close. Normally I use the 57 off axis because it has a rich, natural sound, but I use the on axis here because Randy's tone has so much bite. For the cab DEP's, I boost resonance and thump to get that pushed cab tone that Randy has, then turn up the high pass filter until the low end isn't so dominant. For EQ, I keep things relatively tame. The Plexi and Hiway both give you a real midsy and crisp tone, which is actually what you want. The amp EQ controls don't really have such a strong impact on the actual EQ when you're pushing the amp, but the EQ ends up sounding good anyway.
Effects: I put a chorus in front the amp to get his kind of swooshy tone. It's more subtle of an effect in front the amp than behind - it changes the distortion more than sounding like you put an effect on top the tone. I use a bit of reverb to fatten up the tone and make it more alive. I included an optional flanger to get some of his more extreme modulation tones and put it behind the amp, so it really stands out. I also put an optional Red Compressor that can help you get a thicker tone for solos.
Top of PageDescription: The Slash Appetite for Destruction tone with delay settings for Welcome to the Jungle.
Distortion: There is some debate about what amp Slash used for AfD. While there's lots of talk about a JCM-800, there is also a story about a rented modified older Marshall model to have an extra gain stage. I originally dialed this tone in for the J-800 but find the Plexi Bright model does a much better job. I add a distortion pedal in front to simulate that extra gain stage and filter the frequencies to get a more crunchy tone from the amp.
DEP's: I find the DEP's don't have too much impact on the tone here. I just leave the default settings, which has the power section cranked, really controlled by the pre-amp Drive setting. I push the Bias to make the amp tone a little more edgy.
Cab/Mic and EQ: Hiway/XXL 4x12's with 57 on axis mics. My amp EQ is basically dialing in the power amp distortion tone, but it turns out where I want it - a very midsy yet crisp tone. The Hiway also gets you a real midsy and crisp tone, which is actually what you want. The XXL fills in the warmth a bit. I use an EQ effect to dial really boost the mids. For the cab DEP's, I lower the Thump and raise the High-Pass. This gives you that thin but but not too thin tone Slash gets.
Effects: Two delays to get that strong echo effect. One is a short delay, designed to thicken up the tone and make it sound more open. The other is a traditional delay.
Same as above but with strong reverb to get that empty warehouse tone, instead of using the dual delays. I may mix up the EQ just a bit to get a smoother sounding tone.
Top of PageDescription: Attempting to get the Boogie Mark IIC+ rhythm tone used for Puppets and Justice - pure thrash.
Distortion: I'm using some EQ in front of the Uberschall model to dial out the mud and get more midrange saturation and crunch.
DEP's: I like to boost Bias X fairly high to get more of a bloom quality to the sound as you sustain a note, which I think is an essential part of the Boogie tone. I reduce Sag to get a tigheter response, but not so low as to lose tone. I boost the Bias to get a more aggressive tone.
Cab/Mic and EQ: Hiway 4x12 mixed with XXL V-30. I use a 57 off axis on the Hiway to get the crisp but not overly bright tone that Metallica got in the 80's. On the XXL I use an uncommon 421 Dynamic mic. This was to get the kind of phasy, filtered, extreme tone they got on the album. Kind of that Scht Scht tone. For EQ, I go fairly extreme like Metallica used to do and scoop the mids and give a small presence boost.
Effects: Thrash rhythm tones don't use effects!!!
Description: Attempting to get the super-saturated, yet smooth, rhythm tone Metallica got on the black album, where they ran ADA-MP1 preamps into Mesa/Boogie simul-class power amps.
Distortion: I found the Rectifier pre-amp-only model gave a similar smooth saturation to this tone and ran with it. I use a little EQ in front the amp to actually soften up the tone. Without this the palm mutes sound a bit too crunchy and thick.
DEP's: none
Cab/Mic and EQ: Hiway 4x12 mixed with XXL V-30. I used the 57 off axis on the Hiway and the 409 Dynamic on the XXL. I used these mics because the album tone feels a bit squishy to me, which these mics replicates well. The mic does not produce a very natural signal on its own, and can be kind of fizzy. I use some crazy EQ'ing here - I'm cutting a boomy spot and most of the warmth and rolling off the low-end. I boost the highs with a shelf and the amp EQ controls, but I roll them off with a low-pass filter. This basically acts kind of like a presence boost, but I can use the low-pass to control where it cuts off.
Effects: None
Top of PageDescription: This is an attempt at the Vulgar Display of Power tone. It's an odd tone - very filtered sounding, but very heavy.
Distortion: I use a Graphic EQ to scoop some mud and add a mid boost in front of a Line 6 Distortion. This gets that kind of raw Randall tone. I run this into the Tweed Bassman pre-amp-only model. I used this amp for no particular reason - I just wanted a clean amp and this seemed to work best from the ones I tried.
DEP's: None
Cab/Mic and EQ: Two Hiways, one with 57 off axis and one with 409 Dynamic. Not sure how I settled on these choices - I wanted the kind of filtered tone on the album. EQ-wise I cut the 409 side's treble all the way, but otherwise the amp settings are similar. Then I'm mostly brightening and adding presence to the tone, as well as sucking out a boomy spot with EQ effects.
Effects: An optional Phaser.
Description: Very strange tone here - super thick and crunchy, but also quite midsy, which is generally not how people describe Dimebag's tone. While I didn't care much for this album, I did like the guitar tone.
Distortion: Same premise as the above patch - Graphic EQ to suck out mud and boost saturated mids into a Line 6 Distortion. Here I use the Divided by 13 amp. Again, I'm using it for clean tone, but this one sounds more midsy than the Bassman. I'm only using Drive 1 which seems to be cleaner than Drive 2.
DEP's: None
Cab/Mic and EQ: Hiway/57 on axis for the bright, crispy highs and an XXL/409 Dynamic for the rest. Cut on the amp is a strange control - basically defines the entire tonal character. Presence dials in highs but there's a sweet spot to this control depending on where you place cut. I went for good saturation here. I use mild EQ effects to brighten the tone up.
Effects: Phaser
Top of PageDescription: I'm going for Megadeth's more saturated, chunky tone here, like they got on most of their albums after Risk. I used United Abominations as reference.
Distortion: I'm using an overdriven JCM-800, with both pre-amp and power amp distortion. I'm also running a boost pedal here - a Screamer. This gives a strong mid-boost and low-end filter, which tightens and thickens the tone. I also use a very small amount of drive on the Screamer to get some compression, making the tone even thicker. On the amp EQ controls, I go easy on bass and presence to avoid mud or grit, and boost mids and treble to get a smooth-yet-crunchy distortion. Again, the pre-amp drive provides saturation and thickness, while the power amp adds a more organic crunch.
DEP's: I turn up the Master to get power amp distortion. I turn down Bias a little to get cleaner distortion from the power section, so it doesn't get gritty. I turn down Bias X to lock-in my bias setting. And I reduce Sag to get a tighter feel.
Cab/Mic and EQ: Hiway 4x12 mixed with XXL V-30, 57 on axis and 409 Dynamic. I use the Hiway/on axis to get the real crisp crunch to the tone, and the XXL/409 to get the chunky bass and punch. The Marshall run this way can get a pretty wonky sound, so I tame it with EQ effects. I'm cutting the mids and some fizz. I also roll off the bass and treble.
Effects: None
Description: This is more of a classic Megadeth tone, but with modern production value. I used Th1rt3en for reference.
Distortion: I'm using an overdriven JCM-800, with both pre-amp and power amp distortion. I use a mid-boost before the amp to get more of a saturated tone, but not nearly as much as the last patch - I want some low-end and high-end to get through, so the amp produces a nastier distortion. On the amp EQ controls, I keep everything pretty neutral in relation to each other, but emphasize mids and de-emphasize presence. I let the mud fly and I allow the grit to come through, but I keep it on a tight leash.
DEP's: I turn up the Master to get power amp distortion. I keep Bias at 50% to get the raw tone it delivers. I turn down Bias X to lock-in my bias setting. And I reduce Sag to get a tighter feel.
Cab/Mic and EQ: Hiway 4x12 mixed with XXL V-30, 57 on axis and 409 Dynamic. I use the Hiway/on axis to get the real crisp crunch to the tone, and the XXL/409 to get the chunky bass and punch. The Marshall run this way can get a pretty wonky sound, so I tame it with EQ effects. I'm cutting the mids and some fizz. I also roll off the bass and treble.
Effects: None
Top of Page