Mick Mars guitar tone circa 1984

[jibuskey]

I've been chasing the various tones of Mick Mars for a while now. I know another of the fear he used early on but their ate still a few things I don't quite know and need your guys help with. For the Shout at the Devil tour (and maybe the album) he used Two Jose modded Marshall stacks and in the front end he used two furman PQ-3's tooverdrive the amps. The thing I'm confused about is how he would have split it into to go into the two different amps? Depending on the live recording you can hear a little bit of chorus so maybe he was using something like that, but what kind? I read in a interview that for Theatre of Pain he used a Lexicon on the board, thats probably a PCM 41 which has a modulation section in it. Later on he used a PCM60 but that is just a reverb. For the US festival all you see is some Marshall's and the furmans but nothing that tells me how he split them. All he said in an interview is that he had them stereo'd off but that tells me very little. Thanks for your guys help!

[marsmountain]

I don't know how Mars did / does it, but I use an ABY box to run three amps simultaneously.

[SWANTECH]

Is it possible that he was using different speaker cabs? Maybe he was even using different speakers in the same cab. When I hear 2 different speakers mic'd together they sound kind of chorusy to me.
Just a suggestion.

[Kramers]

Shouldn't there be some heroin in the signal chain?

[marsmountain]

Shouldn't there be some heroin in the signal chain?

That was Nikki, not Mick.

[Kramers]

Shouldn't there be some heroin in the signal chain?

That was Nikki, not Mick.

Shows what I know!! No wonder my tone sucks.

[jibuskey]

Is it possible that he was using different speaker cabs? Maybe he was even using different speakers in the same cab. When I hear 2 different speakers mic'd together they sound kind of chorusy to me.
Just a suggestion.

I don't know what speakers he used early on, probably greenbacks. In a magazine around 1987~1988 he said he was using "30 watt celestion vintage speakers", that could either mean celestion vintage 30's (which he uses now) in which he mistook them as being 30 watts, or he could have been using actually 30 watt G12h's, I really don't know. He could have been mixing different speakers live because early on he borrowed a lot of gear, but I doubt that's where that chorus came from. It could add some phase but on some of the songs from 1982, and 1984 from the Live: Entertainment or Death album their is definitely a chorus that sounds like the pitch is being adjusted slightly, with some delay. That was before the Eventide h3000's so besides the lexicons I don't know what he used

[KickstartMyHeart]

I've been chasing the various tones of Mick Mars for a while now.

Are you a gear-nerd or a tone-hunter for MM? If the former you might get lucky and collect all his odds and ends that he used then. If the latter ... you are aware that what you hear on a live show has not necessarily that much to do with the sound that comes out of one's amp cabinet, aren't you? It is more or less heavily manipulated by Front of House to suit the venue. And the sound of a live recording is even less natural because it is more often than not (even if ever so slightly) post processed, newly mixed and mastered to work out the kinks and suit the ears of the potential buyers. Let's not even go into the "on SATD his sound was so *insert your phrase of excitement*" because on a studio recording what you hear in the engineer's desk is already vastly different from the sound you hear in the recording room and so on and so forth. Funny thing with guitar players is, there are two breeds in the studio: The one's that want to record their stuff in the recording room and the one's that want to do their stuff at the console.

The question - if you are a tone hunter - is: Which tone of MM you're after? What came out ...
... of his amp?
... of his Wedge on the stage?
... of FoH?
... of your speaker of your car stereo?

And when it comes to that: The most powerful tool on earth (believe it or not) to really fine-tune one's sound is this:



If you're on to a treasure hunt or this is some labour of love, go for it. Otherwise ... you'll stand a better chance with a simple Kemper or Helix or, if you really want to indulge in it, an AxeFX.

Just my 2c

[jibuskey]

I've been chasing the various tones of Mick Mars for a while now.

Are you a gear-nerd or a tone-hunter for MM? If the former you might get lucky and collect all his odds and ends that he used then. If the latter ... you are aware that what you hear on a live show has not necessarily that much to do with the sound that comes out of one's amp cabinet, aren't you? It is more or less heavily manipulated by Front of House to suit the venue. And the sound of a live recording is even less natural because it is more often than not (even if ever so slightly) post processed, newly mixed and mastered to work out the kinks and suit the ears of the potential buyers. Let's not even go into the "on SATD his sound was so *insert your phrase of excitement*" because on a studio recording what you hear in the engineer's desk is already vastly different from the sound you hear in the recording room and so on and so forth. Funny thing with guitar players is, there are two breeds in the studio: The one's that want to record their stuff in the recording room and the one's that want to do their stuff at the console.

The question - if you are a tone hunter - is: Which tone of MM you're after? What came out ...
... of his amp?
... of his Wedge on the stage?
... of FoH?
... of your speaker of your car stereo?

And when it comes to that: The most powerful tool on earth (believe it or not) to really fine-tune one's sound is this:



If you're on to a treasure hunt or this is some labour of love, go for it. Otherwise ... you'll stand a better chance with a simple Kemper or Helix or, if you really want to indulge in it, an AxeFX.

Just my 2c

I've tried Modelers and I have got quite close, but at this point I'm trying to get his tone using similar gear to what he used. I love all of his tones so I'll take anything I can get close to. I was able to get close to TFFL with an MXR 10 band and a 1987x. You're right, EQ pedals are amazing tools. I hope that answers your question.