trolley Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 So, I feel the need to play along with this. Does anyone know how to get close to the MXR Blue Box sound in Helix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datacommando Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 2 hours ago, trolley said: So, I feel the need to play along with this. Does anyone know how to get close to the MXR Blue Box sound in Helix? What? The one on the Samba drums or the disco whistle? Right - I’m outta here (through that door over there!) https://line6.com/support/topic/22107-anyone-have-a-preset-like-the-solo-on-led-zeppelins-fool-in-the-rain/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestOpinion Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 7 hours ago, datacommando said: What? The one on the Samba drums or the disco whistle? Right - I’m outta here (through that door over there!) https://line6.com/support/topic/22107-anyone-have-a-preset-like-the-solo-on-led-zeppelins-fool-in-the-rain/ Forgot about that old thread. Some good tips to get that tone in that topic but I wouldn't mind if someone posted up a good example to CustomTone some time. That is still a somewhat elusive sound to me. Page was deft in the studio. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datacommando Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 2 hours ago, HonestOpinion said: Page was deft in the studio. “Pagey” uses the studio as an instrument, learning from the best during his time a session player in the U.K., but since Zep finished he spent the whole time doing re-master after re-master. Surely there is only so much you can wring out of a back catalogue? As for the Blue Box, isn’t that basically a fuzz with a two octave drop? Oh! Here’s a quote I found from MXR - “This is the crazy effect heard on Jimmy Page's "Fool in the Rain" solo. The Blue Box takes your guitar signal and duplicates it two octaves down for a huge, subterranean tone. The Blend knob lets you control how much of the effected tone you mix in with your dry signal. Not for the timid—there is truly nothing like the Blue Box.” Maybe “Jimbo” was using some of Mr Crowley’s magick! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 Ingredients.... Basic amp tone, fuzz, octave (actually two octaves) and judicious amounts of compression. Amp: The amp can be almost anything.... I would likely start with a Plexi normal input with very low gain. Fuzz & Octave: There is no shortage of "octave fuzz" models in the Helix... have you actually tried any of those to see if one comes close? You could also piece it together with a dedicated fuzz and a pitch block if none of the octave fuzz blocks work for you. A note about the Octave: You will need to dial in two octaves down. One octave down should be almost as loud as the original guitar... the 2nd octave should just be dialed in enough to notice.... don't over do that 2nd octave. Compress: At the end of the chain I would insert the LA Studio Comp and be really aggressive with it. That will provide the almost "synth like" dynamics of the solo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestOpinion Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 6 hours ago, codamedia said: ... That will provide the almost "synth like" dynamics of the solo. That "synth like" sound was part of what made that tone sound so fresh for the time. Also like the way he took advantage of the somewhat muddy tracking to great effect particularly during the faster more jumbled sounding passages in the solo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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