Edge, how do you do it?

[greenbax]

Does anyone know how Edge is able to use any lower level of distortion, pick the notes of a chord and get it to sound so sweet.

For example, the picked notes at the beginning of Sunday Bloody Sunday, the picked notes in the intro of Streets, the picked notes in the second verse of Pride and the first verse of Until The End Of The World. All these guitar parts are with some level of distortion but each note is sepatate and does'nt sound muddy or dirty.

Also does anyone know how Edge produces such a strong percussive sound when strumming muted strings like in the first and second verses of Streets, the 'no more' part in Sunday Bloody Sunday. When I do it on my guitar it sounds so weak with no fullness or impact. Is it all down to EQ if so, what frequencies are boosted or cut? Is it down to a high level of compression or a separate effect altogether?

Please help as this is doing my head in. Thankyou

Peace & Love

 

[AughrimFurey]

It's all about the gear (mostly)

First off, he is using a digital delay. You hear the notes clear b/c they are digital, but sound so sweet b/c it is the Korg SDD3000's warm preamp section. Also, much of the chime that you hear comes form the AC30 and not only his distortion pedals, which adds to the clarity. For example, on the intro to Streets, he is using his Strat (bridge/middle quack position) plugged into a FET amp (Boss FA-1, good luck finding one as they are REALLY rare - about $400 if you can find one) and into his AC30 (no distortion stompboxes, just the top-boost channel if his AC30). The FET amp helps to push the notes right up into yout face and make it sound so powerful, yet clean. A good alternative to this is the DOD FX10 BiFET Preamp (about $60 used - no longer made).

Much of the percussive sounds comes from a compression pedal (MXR Dynacomp, settings at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock). Other compression pedals will work, but this one sounds the sweetest. Add the compression to the FET amp and you can get close to the tone that you are aiming for (get an AC30 and some Herdims and your damn near close)

Hope this helps,

Jeremy

 

[greenbax]

Thanx Jeremy, you're a star. Thats a great help.

Time to start shopping!

PEACE!