Recreating Mastodon's Blood & Thunder Guitar Tone! (Feat. Ben Eller)

I am joined at the lovely Sweetwater Studios with my good buddy Ben Eller to recreate the main guitar tone of Mastodon's song Blood & Thunder!
Ben Eller: / beneller
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[@BenEller]

We make tones that are nice!

[@crash921]

I always get excited and then you make a stepdad joke, and I get sad, as I AM the step dad…then I find myself questioning did my wife lower her standards?… lol thanks uncle Ben for the unending step dad jokes

[@shan2un]

You two need to collab more. Here’s an idea… Fluff can recreate tones and Ben can do the how to play lessons, just like your respective channels both started. But do it variety show style ala TPS. I think it will work for a series. It would be entertaining.

[@ClassicPass_]

I like things that are nice.

[@panagiotiskyriacou6483]

How can I recreate this tone in boss katana

[@posic3073]

Yeeeee

[@jigilous]

So glad these two got married and doing videos as a couple now

[@BenEller]

We are very happy together thank you

[@Miskatonicmassacre]

Can’t put a guitar in D without playing this riff. Almost 20 years is insane to think.

[@huskybrutor9287]

This one and Albatross

[@snapascrew]

I’m not used to hearing that tone without the fuzzy bass behind it but it sounds cool.

[@clemensmoeller4549]

Yeah I feel like the bass distortion contributes a lot to the guitar sound and makes it seem fuzzier than it is. Bass always influences guitar sounds but with Mastodon the difference is bigger than with most other bands.

[@zsmusic8708]

Facts

[@Smurfman256]

@@clemensmoeller4549 The secret to a huge ass guitar tone is a huge ass bass tone.

[@SlyHikari03]

“I’m Ben! And I’m Ryan! And this is Tone Resculpting on Riffs Beards and Gear!” Its very Andertons esque. In all seriousness, please let Ben on this channel more, hed get a kick out of Rate or Roast/Ridiculous Reverb Listings.

[@LambChopper678]

Loved the video men, tone was awesome! 🤘🏻

[@brettbaker3977]

I bought that Marshall JCM800 2210 from Bill used at that time. I can't believe I own it. It is a great sounding amp.

[@mastod0n1]

That's so cool. I bought a signed copy of the Leviathan album and a signed record player slip mat with the Remission album art that Bill shipped directly from his house.

[@stug5041]

So much amp noise it sounds like a phaser is on - I love it

[@NeverMars]

ALL THE AMPS IN THE BACKGROUND!!!❤️❤️

[@reverb508]

5:42 - cannot resist the the urge to start air drumming that amazing drum fill.

[@ATthemusician]

2 of my favorite guitar tubers doing my favorite band ever? More please

[@RyvenProductions]

Mastodon is absolutely one of my favorite bands. Blood Mountain is a masterpiece in my mind. Thanks for the great video.

[@inaminute1826]

Fr, Blood Mountain really is a masterpiece (in my mind) as well

[@scaberouswretch3673]

Aye! Blood mountain is peak mastodon.

[@ATthemusician]

Blood mountain and the hunter are my favorites, but mastodon can do no wrong either.

[@inaminute1826]

Yet when I listen to this band I just say all their albums are masterpieces LOL

[@inaminute1826]

@@ATthemusician yes yes.

[@andrewlevistermma]

Blood and Thunder and Flying Whales by Gojira are required to be played when you tune to D.

[@hierrogm]

Somehow there’s a great comic book or even better a cartoon here …”The New Guitar Adventures of Fluff and Uncle Ben “ I can see the cover already …thanks for all y’all do love when u kids get together 🤘🏾👈🏽

[@1HYB]

You guys have great camera chemistry. Awesome to see this duo.

[@johnunderhill9666]

Loving the collab between you guys hope you continue to make more of them

[@creepymcpeepers]

I linked this video in the description of my mastodon cover thanks a lot for the resource to get the tone it was really fun

[@joefromaccounting7818]

Definitely one of the best riffs ever, and that tone sounds so great

[@creepymcpeepers]

love this

[@Misanthropic-King]

Now this is some top tier content right here

[@SeabassIbarra]

Nice seeing you with Ben making a video about my favorite song.

[@tomghiley]

Fluff & Ben, just an FYI, Brann Dailor the drummer was apparently the person who wrote the riff, not Bill Kelliher

[@BenEller]

Really?!

[@dangiampietro6606]

@@BenEller This is correct. I have a link somewhere that show's quite a few of the songs Brann hasn't written parts for. He also did the vocals for "battle at sea" on the "call of the mastodon" album, because nobody showed up.

[@Onamorata]

Pretty sure he only “wrote” the riff by humming the rhythmic pattern. Doesn’t actually play guitar and has said that he’s hummed riffs into his phone / specifically for crystal skull, called his house phone and left a message while watching King Kong - and then one of the guys will figure out the what it’s supposed to sound like matching it with notes

[@user-bf6gz8ej4o]

@@Onamorata I think so too. Bill came up with the chords and Brann came up with the rhythm

[@megleyd]

@@BenEllerI been a massive fan and never even heard this

[@thegodless2904]

I remember being in awe hearing that riff when the song came out, to this day it remains as one of my go to "thrash-it-out-for-fun" songs.

[@ThatMFShawnzy]

Fluff! I had NO IDEA Mastodon was your favorite, or one of your most favorite, bands! That’s badass!

[@mlcalache]

Super cool!

[@charlesrocks]

I LOVE THIS SERIES!!! FLUFF…PLEASE PARTNER WITH BEN ELLER FOR THE BEST CONTENT EVER!!!!

[@IrLosin]

I love the amp hissing away in the background.

[@TobyKBTY]

The song is already massive, but that last chunky bit at the end is one of the heaviest things I heard as a kid back in 06. To this day it still rattles my skull. I love those first Mastodon records so much, man.

[@kevinfeatherstone6062]

I enjoyed the team-up videos with Ben Eller this past week. You guys should do more videos together in the future!

[@ricksanchezito8972]

Time to learn this riff

[@judgeshred66]

The unsung hero of this tone is the fact that the amp is fucking screaming. Normally an 800 tops out around volume 4 depending on where the gain is set so these guys running it around 7 is killer. This is how Marshall’s are designed to be played yet so many demos have them with the volume low. Bravo gentlemen for doing it right.

[@MrHeshersNeighborhood]

That. That sounds pretty good.

[@jakeybball]

Much much better than certain other youtubers.

[@randyicenhour7867]

im gonna need aa whole bunch more episodes of this released twice a week for the next year to hit all the various great metal tones goin forward thanks. great work

[@Greg-rd8qr]

Cool video! Love Mastodon! And you guys are awesome!!

[@mc7843]

Good job

[@bobisadrummer]

So crunchy.

[@scaberouswretch3673]

I'm pretty sure that Brann Dailor wrote the riff for blood and thunder. I seem to remember seeing an interview where he's talking about it.

[@ikestoddard2458]

Oooo. That is REALLY close. Good job!

[@Bobby_Uterus]

That hiss is driving me fucking nuts

[@spudvader]

Thas crazy, I love the hiss from amps. Well love is a bit strong but I prefer it to no hiss because it makes the amp sound alive. Each to there own 🤘

[@albertplaysguitar]

I gotta revisit my OCD... it's been collecting dust 😔

[@LoreAccurateHusky]

I'm just happy there is atleast one video out there that isn't just: "MASTODON USE THE ORANGE" I'm so sick of people trying to recreate their old tones with Orange amps when they clearly used Marshalls.

[@ATthemusician]

Orange has great tones in the same vein as what mastodon does, but NOTHING beats the JCM800

[@leegollin4417]

Mastodon used to open for my band 20 years ago. We knew it.

[@patrickolivier1]

What was your band man?

[@leegollin4417]

@@patrickolivier1 Halfway To Gone, Solarized and A Thousand Knives of Fire.

[@amidthefight6915]

Cool, I’m boosting my JCM 800 with an OCD, also. Sounds righteous.

[@stevejohnson6632]

The song that turned me onto that awesome band! Yall got it right!

[@BrandonBriers]

WHITE WHALE HOLY GRAILLL

[@ethanbean5479]

Never clicked a video so fast

[@alexanders5121]

Wooww it’s super nice heading crafting tone of …. !!! Please next time recra recreation tone of bullet for my valentine poison album! Thank’s

[@finishin.my.coffee8780]

The Tube King...I always pictured that one being used by older blues guys. The early version with the silver metallic casing...it looked like it belonged in a club in Chicago in the late 60s.

[@terraincognitaband7273]

your favourite band ever? wow nice

[@JosephSmith-lm4ri]

Maybe recreate the guitar tone off of La Gargola?

[@JcMtrial]

Probably my favorite album ever❤️🔥

[@sadshoe]

best of Andresons TV

[@GEORGNEYMEFISTOFULUS]

Damnnnn that was good... but the closing chugs on Where Strides the Behemoth were THE ULTIMATE FAT MONSTERS (wonder if anyone gonna dial that tone tho)

[@nathanlewis4252]

Remission guitar and bass tone is monster

[@ElAche7]

Scored a Crack the Skye red vinyl only sold on the tour about two weeks ago.

[@JoelisSc33p0]

fuck yea mastadon is the shit

[@hardwire666too]

Not that I need the link, because the album pretty much never leaves my rotation. But I still get a kick out of all the people that say "Link below" and then there is absolutely...NO link to what they said they were going to link to. Lol.

[@zoso2850]

Uncle Ben gets around

[@daysthrumycam]

I had an Ibanez Tube King that I sold. Good unit!

[@hardwire666too]

Man the Phishing on KZbin is getting out of control! Every single comment I've made this week was hit. This was the first one to mimic the creator by using his Profile pic though. THEY ARE EVOLVING!! F**king nuts!

[@warnerww83]

This album is the reason I have a les Paul always in D

[@AidenCantrell]

Do the crack the skye tone

[@Tacritania]

Welcome to Talking, Beards and Gear. Also, can anyone else hear the hiss sound in the background or am I going crazy?

[@zachlewis9695]

Beard Chat with Mr. Billy K. please and thank you

[@akrmfk]

We texted bill, nbd. Gosh darn it!

[@snapascrew]

But then they used all different gear haha so don’t get too bummed out!!

[@jacksmith4460]

OCD's are un appreciated pedals by many moder metal players, very flat eq response and lots of very natural sounding gain that blends very very well. For all those looking to try the OCD thing on a budget, the EHX OD glove is a brilliant OCD clone, very much the same as the V2 OCD, and if you have really small budget check out the Joyo Ultimate Drive, they are OCD clones, and although not as good /close to the original as the EHX they are still quite close and cost $/£30 or close to (the EHX would be £/$ 60-90, an OCD would be £/$ 150-200)

[@isansimpson2056]

Brunkle Flen

[@dirktucker77]

Have you guys checked out the Janitor pedal from Brent Hinds?

[@lordgraga]

I have a Laney VH100R, which is what Mastodon used (EL34 tubes). Inspired by this video, I tried to match the isolated guitar tracks. Finding an IR was hard, but I settled on a York Audio T75, 57 mic, on-axis (II). I did some EQ matching in post, and beside a couple of dips in the low end, the EQ match was basically a tilt filter with a high shelf, which is a good sign. The results? The tone you dialed in on the JCM800 has a soft low end, and a fuzzy musical kind of mid/high distortion. My Laney has a colder sound. I did A/B/C listening with your JCM800, my Laney, and the reference track. When comparing my Laney with the reference track, the difference is the lack of a JCM800 quality. But when I compare your JCM800 track with the reference track, the difference is a lack of the cold qualities that my I got from my Laney! As a result, I think the album tone is both amps, with JCM800 as the main guitars, and the Laney in the background, turned down a bit lower. Basically confirming Bill Kellehers memory.

[@elliottpetrella155]

Yall should recreate the remission tone next!

[@TimWolf514]

a Les Paul into a JCM800 with an OD pedal, like every hardcore/metal band in the 2000s lmfao

[@bobisadrummer]

A boosted jcm800 is all you really need. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

[@smashallpots1428]

god mastodons so fucking good

[@garybobst9107]

I want to hear Mastadon(or any other) metal band do covers of all of the Disney songbook,and someone HAS TO MAKE METAL VERSION OF 'SOUND OF MUSIC'.Just thinkin'...

[@jakemertz2660]

Ben your face is so shiny

[@ofir_likes_beer]

I did exactly that for school (Studio Engineering School) Got an A

[@kaboose111]

Now do Clayman.

[@felipesilva6196]

Yeah close but in the original, and that caught my attention the first time i listened to it, is less distorted, almoster just overdriven a lot Edit: I went and listen to the studio one and yes its a lot cleaner that you might think! give it a go and tell me

[@chrisbassman3936]

D standard, you HAVE to play some Death!

[@Kat-Kobold]

My mum's second husband is actually a higher standard than my dad. He works in credit card fraud and is in 3 (three(III)) tech death bands

[@deadinsidemcgee411]

The worst part of what Uncle Ben said to start was that it was true.

[@kutnersuicide]

This sounds more like the intro with more gain although pretty close tonally. The sound is very different as soon as left right rhythm guitars kick in. Much thicker and dirtier, borderline muddy. Just my two cents.

[@louiscarrollmusic-lcm5331]

Personally I would’ve gone Orange, but nonetheless, you defo got the tone!! 🤘🤘

[@kamalidris7544]

Congratulations You've been selected among the shortlisted winner's for the ongoing new year giveaway Contact the number above to redeem your gift... 凸

[@peachmelba1000]

I like every Mastodon album, but their tones on CTS were their best and most varied, imo. It's also their best album by leaps and bounds.

[@cdawg-switchhitter2473]

Please keep doing videos together

[@dominikpohli2381]

which version of g12t75 you use the old british one or the new chinese one

[@Stretchwreckedem469]

I play it in Drop D on my Les Paul because even though my Schecter SLS Evil twin is in D Standard it feels blasphemous to play it on anything other than a vintage guitar.

[@RubyRoks]

"I'm Rabea! And I'm Matt! And this is Sounds Like on Anderton's TV"

[@vladv5126]

Nah

[@vladv5126]

Nah.

[@yogxoth1959]

It’s so weird seeing Uncle Ben out of character 😅

[@pakoti96]

Ben somehow looks 14 and 40 at the same time lol

[@harry-callahan-aka-dirty-harry]

I think the riff from "blood and thunder" was stolen from some Biohazard album! hehehe

[@nathanteske7886]

Lol my mom's second husband is my dad

[@MetalJamesK]

Fluff! Take the top down to the wood. Thank me later

[@garethm9523]

Is it me or is there a constant hiss in this video all the way through?

[@bobisadrummer]

It happens when you crank an amps volume and gain.

[@ChuranuQC]

Tube amp

[@garethm9523]

@@ChuranuQC I never notice that with my orange dual. Also they can isolate the amp tracks on the video edit until they use the amp

[@ChuranuQC]

@@garethm9523 Some amps are worse than others, and it seems like they kept the mic signal unmuted for the whole video.

[@scottcollier9178]

That's cheating! You can't just text the musician, haha. 😆

[@nostalgiadusted]

^ bruh moment

[@majesticpbjcat7707]

Congratulations You've been selected among the shortlisted winner's for the ongoing new year giveaway Contact the number above to redeem your gift...

[@robzilla69]

Sounds like way to much gain. The first guitar is really low gain. And the second guitar that comes in with the drums is about like the sound with the OD off. The bass adds a lot of hair to the mixed track but if you isolate the 2 guitar tracks you will notice way less gain than is perceived in the mix. The tone is good however.

[@FourOneThreeOh]

Those two are tough to watch..

[@jmabs5096]

More playing, less talk

[@devinxharper]

Mastodon put out the "Big 4" metal albums of our generation - Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain, and Crack The Skye. You can't change my mind. However: POST-Crack The Skye Mastodon has been aiming at writing their "Black Album" ever since.........and not quite hitting the mark.

[@cmkimbrell67]

I dunno, Once More ‘Round The Sun is so good.

[@abelsanchez2070]

I loved Emperor of Sand and Cold Dark Place

[@massttrshrdrharmonicminor2002]

Cts is boring for me, everything after is great

[@familiarsting4108]

The new album, Hushed and Grim, is great too

[@thetoddkeith]

That room is flat af