LA Rack session tones.

[jayse1984]

So over the last year or so i've noticed a huge resurgence in the 80's session clean tone we all know and probably used to hate lol that being said its grown on me massively and it's a tone that i just cant get quite right no matter how hard i try. I think my problem lays in the eq settings used after my Keeley 4 knob comp plus and using a parametric or 10 band is something i look at and am daunted by as my brain just goes "ah crap'. I was born in 84 so i'm trying to attain a tone that was around when i was a kiddo and im hoping there's someone or some guru's out there from those amazing rack days that can talk me through their own settings for eq and routing / signal chain order so i can finally nail this as best i can. I LOVE seeing those giant racks of old and understand the principal of they were built for studio quality rack effects but im hoping just hoping someones managed to get the basics of this down to 8 blocks for a HX Stomp.

 

outboard gear wise i have the below

 

Eventide Tricerachorus

Eventide Micropitch

Boss Waza Dimension (sdd 320 setting is personal fave)

Keeley comp plus

Strymon Bigsky

 

Oh and im running stereo out into a Matrix rack power amp that runs a Marshall 4x12 & a Friedman 4x12 for those ping pong delays.

 

I'm really keen to read and hear what people with more experience in this area have to say with hints and tips. Leon Todd on youtube has been a big help but im sure there's some guys and girls in here that can add to it all.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Jason

[AParedes]

The two items that always stick out to me when thinking of 80s clean are chorus and compression.  The Arion SCH-Z (PlastiChorus in HX) was a favorite of Mike Landau, while the Dytronics® Tri-Stereo Chorus (Trinity Chorus in HX) was used all the time as well. 

 

For compression I have seen a number of different compressors used, so you can dig around and see what your favorite sounds used and build from there. 

Steve Lukather was a prominent player in this era, so I am adding a couple scans from old magazines for additional material.  hope this gets you pointed in the right direction. 

S Lukather 8804 GW.pdf