Can't get the tame impala "let it happen" tone

[ehunter8]

I'm a relatively new user to pedal effects and the line6 POD so please forgive me asking this question. I am trying to recreate my favorite riff from "let it happen" and cannot get the tone right. I'm close to giving up and buying all the physical pedals that I've seen people on Youtube use to match it. If somebody could help me out I'd be extremely grateful. I hope this post doesn't go against any forum rules here.

[silverhead]

Welcome to the world of digital FX! Your post certainly does not go against forum rules. I have moved it to a sub-forum called Tone Discussion where it is more likely to get the attention of tone aficionados. Hopefully someone who knows the band/song you mention will chime in to help. Unfortunately that someone is not me for this specific song/tone.
 

However, I can make a couple of hopefully helpful observations:

- It wil help to know exactly which Line 6 POD device you are using. Since you posted initially in the POD Go forum I assume that’s what you have. However, the same forum is used for the POD Express. Which do you have? Or is it some other POD device?

 

- there is a learning curve to getting a good tone with any digital modeler, Line 6 or otherwise. My suggestion is that you begin by identifying all physical components of the original setup - guitar, amp/cab/mic, and analog pedals. Just don’t buy them yet! Ideally, find out the order of pedal placement. Start by creating a POD preset that uses the same or closest-match blocks in the same order. Then start experimenting with different settings on all blocks, activating one at a time. Start with the amp/cab/mic then add FX blocks incrementally. I think that you will get as close to the desired tone this way than you would by buying all the physical pedals.
 

- if you are an experienced analog pedal user you might be able to get the tone more easily by buying all the physical pedals. However, I wouldn’t be too hasty about doing that. There’s a lot more to tone matching than just stringing pedals together. Their order is important, as is the way that the different pedals interact with each other at different parameter values. For an exact match you would need to know the specific parameter values used in each pedal, and you would also need to pay attention to the monitoring devices. Was the original sound created by micing a physical guitar amp? What sort of amp/cab? If you are not using that exact amp/cab how are you monitoring the sound? PA speakers? Headphones? Do you have the same type of  guitar that was used originally?

 

- You will get there! But it won’t likely be immediate gratification.

 

 

[hurghanico]

Im my opinion a "fuzz with an octave below" is the key element to easily get that Moog type sound you can hear starting at around 3:12 of Let It Happen by Time Impala.

Eg my modeler includes the PAiA Roctave Divider model called Sub Octave Fuzz which works very well in this case.

Combining the Sub Octave Fuzz with a P90 (or other single coil PUP) equipped guitar and a VOX type amp model would be perfect, but not strictly necessary given that the above FX is a very distinctive and predominant element of the chain..

 

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All about POD HD500/X

help and useful tips

[ehunter8]

Thank you for your reply! I will try it out like you suggested, I've got a lot to learn it seems. I'll let ya know how it goes