General Music Chat

I'm trying to get a more clean crisp tone that really emphasizes the higher notes. Does anybody have any advice on how to do that with a fender Stratocaster or Starcaster? Would I need an pedal or filter?

If you can't get a clear tone with a Strat, something is wrong with your sound chain. A Starcaster, on the other hand, is a cheap toy good for young learners.

What are you using for an amp? Is this an actual Fender Strat (Korean, Chinese, Mexican, American)? What year?

try this on for size if you have the bread

http://vintage.guitargeek.com/rigview/259/

Its American but the amp is a cheap marshall, the question should have read, in retrospect, what amp should be used.

http://www.guitargeek.com/stevie-ray-va ... p-diagram/

There is not word to describe how jealous I am of that.

I use an HSS Strat through a Fender Head on a Marshal 4x12 - that should sound good and does but seemed to lack something. Even with all those presets and controls it didn't sound quite as good as I wanted.

I learned a big lesson a couple days ago.

I put my guitar in the shop for a literal and figurative tune up. also changed from Hybrid Slinkies to the D'addario equivelent. (even had the frets cleaned up, bridge components replaced etc)

I can't believe how much better that guitar sounds. The highs are much crisper and the bass strings resonate much better. Hard to say if the tune up or the strings made the most difference but I'm not planning on using any other strings than d'Adarrio.

Talbot

actually.. to get crisp tone out of a marshall is kinda hard.. if you own a wah pedal, you can dial in your "Q" on the clean channel.. if not, i use a JANGLEBOX compressor..

I need to get a wah pedal and what kind of amp would you use then to get a cleaner sound ibanez?

fender amps are notorious for cleans.. but really.. any solid state amp is good for cleans.. even high gain amps can produce clean tone.. i have a Randall T-2 and i can get killer clean tones from it even tho it's a metal amp.. the "cure-all" pedal for you would be an MXR 10-band EQ..

I have a very clean sounding Strat (Strats). I use a Zoom pedal on the acoustic preamp setting and tweak it . It can get so clean you would not believe it. just run the Zoom into any power amp, but the amp must have a tweeter in it. Most of my speaker cabinets have a 4" horn, a 5" squawker and a 15" woofer. At least that is what works for me.

I'll have to look into those!

Crisp clean tones are not Marshall territory. Choose a JCM800 Marshall if you want world class "meaty" tone.

For sparkling clean tone on a broke musician budget I would get one of these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifie ... -combo-amp

In fact I did. I bought it used from a kid for $375, gigged with it for 5 years and it sounded great. Then I got a bad case of the wants for a Mesa Boogie. I sold the Fender in perfect condition for $450 to a jazzbo grad student. He still gigs with it. You can find good used ones all over for $400-500 now. A great amp for working musicians with sparkling Fender clean tones.

Sounds like what I'm looking for!

Sounds like what I'm looking for!

Go for it! If you are a wheeler dealer and don't mind used gear, you can get one of these and essentially use it for free. I guess I actually got paid $75 for gigging with that amp for 5 years and keeping it in great shape.