Ep. 84 - James Santiago of Universal Audio!

[@aaronwhitt636]

I have been watching Tone-Talk since day one.....every episode. This one is def top 5. Once again, you guys have introduced me to another expert.

[@tone-talk]

Thank you so much!!!

[@waynetoneseekerandersen2213]

James is right up there with John Suhr, I love gear geekiness. I have listened to any amp builder and gear geek at least twice! Thanks guys!

[@charlessantarpia7074]

One of my favorite episodes so far. The more geeky details the better! Looking forward to part 2!

[@ttestates1]

I still have 2x12s with Vintage 30s on top and EV12Ls on the bottom I love that combo

[@75YBA]

I’m an instant fan of James. You guys are the best and really help with my loneliness. Hope you and yours get through this safe and healthy.

[@nicolasRebagliati]

One of the best episodes!! Do part 2!!

[@jelmeromero]

Great video and sneak peek into behind the scenes of what you do. So cool to hear these stories. I had seen James Santiago on line 6 website but didn’t know anything about him. Cool dude. Love his attitude and candidness.

[@teacuppermike2568]

What a player and set of ears. Great points about string gauge and picks, among other things. I’ve learned a lot from James on YT. His advice is gold.

[@joeywilder9708]

I just love this show! Listen to it everytime I need something in the background cleaning or anything like that. Makes it much easier to get stuff done! My go to guitar talk show! This and that pedal show my 2 favorites

[@tone-talk]

Thanks so much for the kind comment! We really appreciate you taking the time to comment and watch the show.

[@nightmission]

I have to give a huge Thanks to Marc & Dave.... I get such a incredible education in Amps and tones through these videos.. The relationship from the Guitarist Hands / Guitar / The Connections through and to the Amp / Speakers and Cabinets.. and everything music.... Please please get James Santiago back more often if possible , He and Dave really shared some great information through their experiences that really helps navigate the tone / gear world with a compass and map....

[@justinespinosa7878]

Wow he can out nerd Dave! Lol what an awesome show and back to normal show times! Thanks!

[@syfman6]

Sound "Micro Surgery "... I enjoy ALL your shows, LOVED this one!! 💚🎸

[@Pitti444]

What a great episode! That's exactly the kind of geeking out on gear I want to see! :) Didn't know anything about James before and got totally blown away by what a cool and knowledgeable guy he is! Really looking forward to part 2! I'm feeling the itch for an Ox now even more. I'm getting a bit unhappy with my old two notes torpedo live any way. :D

[@fgurdian]

Thank you guys for doing this, This show is solid gold!!!!

[@jarodreddig63]

Buy you guys just keep nailing the hell out of these videos man! One of my favorites yet!

[@anmolatwal]

The show is great.....always is.....cheers guys!! Thanks

[@riccovrea841]

This was one of the BEST shows!!! Please do another show.

[@georgepelekoudis]

Great episode guys! It’s like going through a whole guitar mag, once a week. Thanks! I totally forgot about Wizard Amps. I believe Wizards were being used for AC/DC’s Live at Donington album. An amazing sound, that doesn’t sound dated. Rick St-Pierre would be a great guest. Have a good weekend :)

[@georgepelekoudis]

@@stevedahl Live maybe? I think they want back to using Marshall in the studio, after Razors Edge. I could be wrong though. Hopefully Rick St-Pierre can make it to the show at some point, so we can ask.

[@WyattWillis88]

Favorite episode so far! I know I say it every time Marc but I also really mean it lol! Been following Mr.Santiago on KZbin for over 10 years and knew he was the man when it comes to tone so I knew this would be my new favorite. Another instant classic episode 👌 cheers boys 🍻

[@WyattWillis88]

Seriously such a great episode this is the epitome of what tone-talk is all about and what it always should be Mr.Santiago your a gentleman and a true tone master!

[@anthonyrodriguez4055]

Love what you guys are doing! Thank you! Robin Trower, Frank Marino, 18 watt amps, Fane speakers and guitar cabs with 15 inch speakers.

[@TJ_775]

Sweet guy, live listening to his knowledge of gear and recording

[@ralvknights]

Great episode. I feel redeemed for hearing the same differences in sound with all that was discussed. Marc you make this work like an oiled machine. Keep rocking guys.

[@danec1384]

Favourite episode so far! Funny story, an old music teacher Pete Gage (from music scene in 70s) supposedly was friends with Pete Townsend's tech for a while and somehow acquired his Mesa Mark 1x12 combo. Would love to get a pic one day

[@jahjah67]

The VH pic is amazing to see. It’s very cool to see that the Destroyer was still white and not carved up yet.

[@PetParadiseVB]

Thank you for answering! That’s my opinion too. My OR80 is just cool as is!

[@WyattWillis88]

Please please do a part 2 maybe with Mr fryette as well i really could listen to you guys for another 6 hours straight without getting bored 😁🤣👍👍✊🤘

[@DiscoD777]

I know I say this allot but this was the best Tone Talk to date

[@MrAletube]

so there's a new category of nerds out there,FFN,fuse flippin' nuts!

[@TechMetalRules]

I've probably watched those old Voodoo videos of James dialing in Van Halen and EJ tones a million times.

[@PetParadiseVB]

Man, I used to get called crazy for thinking my guitar sounded ‘better’ with my mxr phase 90 even off. Now I need another one.

[@george25199]

I had my EVH phase 90 last now its fist before the over drive sounds fanatic now! Thanks for the tip dave.

[@philipbowley8374]

Brilliant another fantastic episode!

[@jimmynorris]

So much knowledge here between these guys. Love it. Mr. Santiago, I’m sure you are too busy to do anything else. But if you ever want to make a channel going down that rabbit hole of all the tools you use and think are boring, I’d bet there would be plenty of subscribers. Either way, rock on!

[@andiWatson]

James is awesome.

[@MrAletube]

100% on different picks,they are a big part of your sound

[@my_tube9405]

One little thing I found with picks. I played a lot with fingernails in the past. When they would get messed up I would use fake ones for classical guitar. Well, they are nylon. So when I went to use a pick for electric, I found the nylon picks were easier to keep a consistency with when hybrid picking. Actually for me the slight muted nylon also sounds best with finger picking with finger tips as well. It all depends on how hard your calluses get. - I use fingernail files to keep my picks in good shape. - Fun fact - your bones produce piezo-electricity, like in acoustic guitar pickups, when you jump or lift heavy things. That is a part of what gives them their great strength. That type of energy is caused by pressure and heat. - If you have played a lot and you fingers hurt or if you have lost your callus, dip the tip of your fingers in rubbing alcohol. Kills the pain and helps speed up the hardening of the callus. It works great for beginners, long gaps in playing or people that have over played and destroyed the callus. If you know young players, kids. From all the time teaching I noticed their fingers heal so well and don't want to callus as much as adults and heal almost too well for guitar. So the rubbing alcohol can be great for them. You can buy a small $.99 bottle and it will last for years. Just be careful. Your fingers will get drunk and surly at the gig. No one wants that. Well, maybe Dave does. - Thanks for the great show. Super interesting.

[@jeromemartin6571]

I missed this live feed... damn... I would have asked James what was the idea behind the Giggity pedal and get an explanation on what is going on in its circuit... Great show guys. Good job! Thanks to share!

[@benjohnson4810]

I can't wait to hear about pot values and alnico magnets. I am interested in this stuff, although i like what i have regardless of small variances. I actually assumed the CTS pots in my guitar were lower than 500k because that is to be expected sometimes, but mine are all above 540, one being 607! The bridge volume!!

[@WarriorOfGhengisKhan]

I also had a feeling that Eddie had a 250k vol in the Frankenstrat as well. I remember him saying he didn't know how to wire the guitar up when he put a humbucker in the bridge and that's why he left the single coils in there.

[@stepitupandgo67]

randy's tone on blizzard and diary I freakin loved!!!..And still do!!...it's waaayyy super saturated....I can understand why they think it sucks...but...that over the top grind was just so cool to me ... I instantly loved it...it's honestly probably one of the main tones (along with ace of kiss and tom sholtz) that made me want to play guitar...and to try to re create their tones... I also appreciate acdc tone and van halen of course...totally respect people who disagree with me....but you'll never change my mind...all those albums are just burned in my brain...

[@matthew80127]

Love the podcast: I have a suggestion, can you do a show on Bill Lawrence? So many innovations! Get a hold of Becky & Shannon at Wilde Pickups, they are carrying on his legacy. I think his history would be extremely interesting

[@PedigreeGuitars]

You should do this at European hours, We would have a ton of questions for James!!!! Great episode!! Congrats

[@louislouis4517]

Have him back!!

[@georgepopenkov9980]

Hi! Great Stuff, amazing! What amp James is playing during the show?

[@tone-talk]

Not sure

[@anmolatwal]

So Dave has mentioned at times that his pickups in the Cali guitars sound hot but they are not!!! So are they more PAF like the 78 Duncan pickup? Thanks!!

[@These_go_to_eleven_1959]

@1:31:35 I believe eddie did originally use that Gibson PAF p'u from the ES 335 but it was not exactly what he was after at the time so he took it to duncan's shop in santa barbara and had him rewind it to the spec of a super d/ Mighty mite 1300 which he is seen using in the club days right before VH 1. This pickup eddie had duncan make later showed up briefly for sale in a duncan ad in Guitar player magazine sold as the "Van Halen model" . Here is that ad, darthphineas.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Seymour-Duncan-EVH-Custom-1979.jpg Ed told how he was asked about seymour selling a pickup with his name on it and he said no so when he saw duncan selling it in GP mag he was got pissed so seymour removed the name "Van Halen" and sold it as the custom. This p'u is still available to this day as the SH 5 duncan Custom. In the club days eddie was using a mighty mite 1300 super distortion clone so he wanted a cleaner sounding version of that and also with the look of a normal PAF which is essentially what the Duncan Custom is. Duncan custom= Ceramic magnet 14K AWG 43 Mighty mite 1300- large ceramic mag 14K AWG 43 Dimarzio super D= large ceramic mag 14K AWG43 The smaller ceramic in the custom gives it less output for more headroom. eddie complained the super distortion pu's were "too distorted" so duncan used a small bar ceramic to resolve this.

[@StratmanJerry]

It’s funny you guys are talking about picks. Stevie ray vaughan actually used fender mediums I’m pretty sure

[@KowankoMusic]

James is a mensch!

[@philhood4604]

I always use the same mains and guitar cables

[@ukguitarnoodle]

I'm trying to play Mean Streets 😂 😎

[@kalejoe6599]

when is the next tone talk coming out?

[@RagdollOC]

Glad I'm not the only one who thought Randy Rhoads had crappy tone. I love his playing, tone, not so much.

[@jimmyc5498]

Scary, he is nailing those tones, but for me they stay in a secondary category, fly date, time factor. Will always dick around with amp, cab, mics first and on stage.

[@selfishisaiah610]

Please get james santiago back

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

That Van Halen picks that James holds up are likely from 1992 rather than 1982 as he says. The logo is from the Hagar era post ‘OU812’ and Eddie used Fender Medium brown celluloid picks from the club days up until the 1984 tour when he switched to D’Addario Thin picks, usually white which he used for a very long time afterwards.

[@ITheFight]

Btw, hey Dave you need a Panama Synergy module, just saying 😐

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

1:23:05 - Ed did not buy the Sunset Sound console. He got something similar but not that board. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIGnkGiMipKIick kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJO5nIaMd8aIqKc

[@daverenee6028]

21:44

[@middle_pickup]

What are they talking about "flipping fuses" on marshalls?

[@tone-talk]

They were talking about taking the fuse out and just flipping it.

[@GoProChicken]

🤓

[@ITheFight]

Holy shit! What for real, this was a surprise!?! Mby just me... 😶

[@TheBigwheels11]

Marc....its pronounced Luk-a-ther...not to hard. You have Terry Kath somewhere in your head every time you say his name. Luke-A-Ther......not to hard

[@tone-talk]

Dude it’s how I say it when I’m not thinking of consciously saying it the right way. Please let it go. :)

[@waitingforanalibi3069]

It’s “too” not “to”. Not TOO hard

[@shaychromoy]

This is the most boring thing to ever come out of the Internet.