Ultimate Math Rock Tone Tutorial (Guitar Pedals & Amp Setting)

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Start learning Math Rock today with my Math Rock Essentials eBook: A Guitarist's Guide To Learning Math Rock 👉bit.ly/4eV2Elp

[@indoorswimming]

Live sound engineer's take: the guitarists that come in with amp simulators always end up with a better tone in the audience than those with physical amps, without fail, plus they don't have to carry around the heavy stuff. I can get the sound where I need it and only where I need it, and it gives me the option to give every instrument it's own EQ range to make sure it is heard. Some amp sim guys bring in their own monitor speaker and I take a line out of that, which also works well. Zero chance of feedback, too. The setup in the video would be a blessing to any engineer. In the studio, I have been using Softube's guitar plugin (software). I haven't used other brands, but being able to save/load presets and change settings (amps, cabs, pedals, utilities) after recording is incredible, and for something you can get under $100, why not? Again, I can record a few guitar lines and then give each a unique treatment so they can all be heard. If I can get a reliable setup for this on a laptop, I'd be happy to use this for live sound too.

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Thanks for your input 👍

[@paul1467]

The tone of all 3 drives together sounded incredible at 8:27 The sound of the stereo delay was wild too, its such a striking sound

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Cheers! Yeah, the DIG is fun!

[@andeh37]

Lots of people have said it already but your tone and board sound great. Of course it helps that you're a great player too. Thanks Steve, always enjoy your videos.

[@santinorocci4873]

Dont play guitar, dont listen to math rock, but i just love the way you are and how you aproach things, also fucking great tone, think it could be used for more styles!

[@rat9199]

Man you would love the Longsword. It has a 3 band EQ so you can get that chimey sound pretty easily and it has a separate boost focused on the mids.

[@VectressWasHere]

That tone with all the overdrive reminds me so much of tricot

[@Ryan_Perrin]

I like the framing and lighting of this video a lot 👍

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Cheers, Ryan!

[@dfmitchell330]

Thanks for this video!! I’m always really interested in signal chains. This was super helpful.

[@chrisbroome6423]

Thanks for the great update Steve, as always. My gain staging has settled on the morning glory, into the vox over the top boost from one of your ooooold videos lol. Really takes the morning glory into a more grindy direction, kinda like the tones on the Oolong LP, or Charmer's Ivy LP. Thanks for all the great info, and congrats on the 100k!

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Nice! I love that over the top boost pedal!

[@Shin69]

Broo exactly what i needed. Thanks so much i was looking for that crispy tone. 💎💎

[@zaneeeneal]

7:46 I see you're a man of Tric-Culture. Man of Culture.

[@mjbdough7920]

Something about the JHS morning glory on the lower headroom mode is so spanky and compressed with great mids. I’m surprised it’s not the backbone of more mathrock pedalboards.

[@thekramer1097]

Exactly

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Out of all the pedals I've owned over the years it's the only one I still own. 👍👍👍

[@josephestes7076]

Literally the best drive on earth. I have the double barrel and it is honestly unfair how easy it is to get epic tones. I use the t.s. on the low gain setting after the morning glory with the gain set low mainly as a volume boost with a subtle mid bump. The combo is just so good.

[@erikmoe4767]

I'm a beginner, what one or two guitar pedals should I buy first? Or would you recommend buying a multi-effects pedal first or trying a DSP? Thanks!

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

If you've got the money for it, then I'd recommend the Mateus Nureal DSP plugin. Has all the stuff to get some lovely tone, and it should be on the black Friday sale soon. I did a quick tutorial video of it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXm6e4NjeJxpe6c

[@erikmoe4767]

@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock Thank you!

[@patrickbourke2385]

I haven't watched this yet but I've been looking for something like this for a long time so thank you

[@teppizini]

This is Lovely Steve. Perfect accents to that Telecaster spank twang and twinkle

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Cheers!

[@mychajlowskijmusic]

Please at least say it's a never ending journey where you can never really decide what you think sounds better lol

[@bruhemian]

9:41 is this a real song? or something you just improvised on the spot? because it sounds amazing

[@progpogs]

You should do a deeper vid on the dream pedal and why you chose it over the strymon. Is your reverb/delay in front of it or does it have a loop?

[@thekramer1097]

That 3 overdrive combination sounds amazing. Edit: Why not a chorus? And maybe with the walrus Julia you could have chorus and vibrato (and the inbetweens) without having to use more space

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Thanks for the comment! I've owned what feels like a million chorus pedals and sold them all. Can't put my finger on it but it's a sound I love hearing, but when I use it, not so much. I feel like vibrato is more my 'thing' . Especially into delay!

[@Roxanneredpanda]

@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock I feel the same about a lot of sounds, it's nice to know someone feels similar :)

[@mychajlowskijmusic]

Finally! Lol idea, interview cool people and their set ups.

[@SebaAyan]

Have you tried the simplifier of DSm humbold? I use it and it rocks

[@onionheadguy7094]

More affordable option is the nux amp academy and the under option is the boss ir200. People are underrating the ir imo it really slaps just shave a little high end off in the global eq and it's amazing. Currently goes for less used i got mine used mint for $280.

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Thanks for the suggestions! I completely forgot about the NUX pedal. It sounded really good in all the demos I watched about it. Good shout

[@mollylynch918]

This may be a dumb question but if you want to just use a basic amp without compression, how do you get the amp to pick up the tapping? I can't figure out if the action or pickup on my guitar needs to be changed but it doesn't ring out when I try tapping on the fretboard.

[@florencedono5978]

7:47 POOL SIDE!

[@lowercase3635]

I’m a praise and worship electric guitarist and I just got into math rock after going down a KZbin rabbit hole inspired by watching All the Poor and Powerless played by the Digital Age. I’m planning on using math rock techniques to strengthen my repertoire. I’ve got all the gear I need. I just need to dial it in more and these videos help a whole lot. Thanks my dude 🤙

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Welcome!

[@jash500]

I’m falling down that rabbit hole today for nearly the same reasons. I see overlap with P&W here that could be really great.

[@alicanozturk1360]

what are those pickups?? lovely sounding, very spanky

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

just the stock pickups that come in the model. American Original 60s thinline tele 👍

[@kevinpolochak9477]

Hey Steve, what's the reason for using a Di Box with the dream 65? Does your interface not have a High z input?

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

It does but still get a lot of ground noise which the DI takes care of.

[@mohitrahaman]

Yay tone video! What pickups are you using now? Have you tried the korean Wilkinson pickups yet?

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

I haven't. Just the stock pickups in the guitar. Whatever they are 😅

[@asdmanxd431]

is there a cheap way to have this tone? lol im a beginer and im really in love with the tone but those pedals are so expensive...

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

There certainly is. Perhaps I'll get round to the same concept video but on a budget 👍

[@VesselForHonor]

Please help me I’m begging you!!: I go from my strat to morning glory to amp, from amp headphone out to focusrite Scarlett. It doesn’t have the grit that I want and that I hear when I play in the room. It sounds warm and fuzzy. Any idea why it’s not sounding anything like your immaculate tone in recording? Thanks for reading

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Hello. thanks for the question. What amp are you using? It'll be most likely that fhe headphone out doesn't have cab simulation so you are hearing just the direct signal from it sounding warm and fuzzy. To fix that, there are a number of things you could do: - throw a cab sim pedal between the headphone out and interface - try some cab sim software on your computer (most sims will have the amp and cab sim but you can turn most amps off just leaving the cab sim. You are sending your amp sound to it so no need to have the anp part active. Another consideration is to make sure you are using the High-z input on your interface. You said you are using ths Scarlett so that should be taken care of already. Best of luck!

[@VesselForHonor]

@@LetsTalkAboutMathRockThank you so much, the interface thing was the problem

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

@@VesselForHonor Fantastic! Glad that fixed it

[@VesselForHonor]

@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock I’m STILL chasing this tone😂

[@BautistaZep777]

Hey Steve, would love to see you do a video on Brandon Ewing from Eternity Forever, Gold Necklace. His chord choices and chord voicings are super interesting and I would love to learn more about it.

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

For sure! Love that EP 👌

[@BautistaZep777]

@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock Wow he replies 😍😍 thank you though, there’s hardly anything I could find on his playing, and I figure if anyone could break it down it would be Mr. Steve 🐐

[@dandelionboy7820]

I have the empress. Its really and has alot more interface, control, and features than the cali 76. What inspired the switch from the cali76

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Nice! In terms of sound they are both so clean! Love them

[@aaronwu4451]

Steve，have u tried Plumes and BD2orBD2W. if u did ,what about their sound or play comparing to Morning glory .

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Hello! The plumes is more a Tubescreamer style pedal, and the BD2 would be closer to the Morning Glory but with more bottom end in my experience. Both offer a different overdrive flavor, and I highly encourage you to think about your setup, mostly the amp. For example, I use a fender deluxe reverb style amp in this video which is rather midscopped in sound, and I find the morning glory to be the perfect combo to add some sparkle to that mid range while retaining a lot of the highs and lows of the amp sound. Hope that helps!

[@aaronwu4451]

@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock thanks Steve, seeking for a morning glory ,I have a bd2w but I think it's gain is not easy to control as it is not compressed enough,sometimes it has too much gain making the chord muddy while it is not overdriven when tapping

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

@@aaronwu4451 no problem! Yeah, I recall it being like that the last time I had one.

[@aaronwu4451]

@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock hey again Steve! i recently got a 76 fet type compressor (DEEP SIX from Walrus Audio) .I noticed you had a cali76 before and now replace it with Empress compressor. Do you think the 76type do lose some high frequency sparkle twinkle sound on such as high e string ?because i am with mine . And what about the empress one

[@stevenoktavian3284]

tuning bro?

[@TheJuicyTangerine]

Any recs on Amp sim pedals? I find them much harder to come across and with availability issues

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

delicious-audio.com/best-amp-modeling-pedals-cab-simulators/ This page might help you out. I've owned the Solid studio, iridium, and asc1. All good pedals. The sould studio only simulated the power amp section and speaker though so you'll need some kind of preamp before it. If you have the money then definitely recommend the warlus audio one. Can run two different amp sims left and right. Sounded wonderful 👍

[@braillynn]

Were you using an open tuning or standard? Also, do you tend to favor the neck or bridge pickup?

[@Loopingmemories]

What about your interface settings Steve? I know each interface is different but setting those levels correctly to take in the board is important and maybe a walk through on your recording levels as well!! Cheers mate!

[@badedgod1321]

Does anyone have a link to buy this guitar?

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Hello! This model is out of production. It's an American Original 60's Thinline in Surf Green

[@Floppa-oz1kp]

Hey Steve! Do you prefer the Empress compressor to the Cali 76?

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Neither nor, just the empress was cheaper when I was looking for another compressor haha.

[@bradenrocha9067]

What guitar strap is that

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Can't remember the brand off the top of my head, sorry. Wasn't expensive 👍

[@AdamLivesayCovers]

I’m begging you to get ahold of some digital modelers (helix, axefx, etc) and build some patches for them because I know I’d pay.

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Cheers! I do want to try some of those units but don't really want to fork out the money for them haha. Maybe I can reach out to see if I can get some demo units or something. Thanks for the idea!

[@AdamLivesayCovers]

@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock oh yeah man, far too much dough to purchase them all, I’d say see if you can’t borrow or rent them haha

[@robotmeister009]

Can you also make a video purely on ampsims, picking your favorites.

[@andygauer]

Wondered how the stereo part of this rig works. I might be totally missing it but to me it looks like it’s mono all the way to the DI, but it’s for sure in stereo. Sounds amazing. What am I missing?

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Cheers. Stereo out the strymon dig into the dream 65 (the cables are stacked vertically on the pedal so you can only see one in and out but there's another row underneath) out of the 65 in stereo left and right cables into the channel 1 and channel 2 inputs of the DI and xrl left and right out of the DI box. Hope that clears things up. Thanks

[@binface9]

Hi Steve, hope you're doing well. I see you have switched from the Strymon Iridium to the UA Dream; may I ask why? It does sound bloody lovely tbf

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Hello! Good to see you again. I went from the iridium to the Walrus Audio ACS1 for a little while because it can run two different amp types left and right (something the iridium can't do). I got some really nice sounds with that. Then I saw UAD had released their own take on the fender type amp so I bought one to compare to the iridium and the ACS1. To me it just sounded 'more real' can't really put my finger on it. I'm not saying the iridium etc are bad, in fact they are much more versatile and sound excellent. For my needs, all I really need is one amp sound and some small tweakability which the Dream 65 does perfectly.

[@edurnetorres4070]

Why did you delete your video about Morning Glory and Morning Star NUX? It was amazing 😢 couldn't you send it to my email?

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

Hello! I haven't deleted them, fear not, they are all in a playlist on my channel page: kzbin.info/aero/PL9RO25zqHAOkOIM4GWMpdK4LneQTsnJMZ

[@hruiz93]

para math rock, solo se necesita una buena distorsion (bonsai de jhs), un delay analogico/digital (boss re 202/ boss dd 200) y un reverb (bluesky strymon).. lo demas es innecesario porque el estilo esta mas enfocado en la tecnica

[@delaynomore6636]

what is your guitar model？

[@deandoeslife]

If anyone knows of any Kemper profiles for this type of sound, feel free to let me know!

[@progpogs]

The mxr drive sounded like tricot.

[@FrankitoiBee]

love u

[@unaijesusbolivaruriarte4047]

Spicy!

[@Bryceyboy25]

Hi Steve

[@auraofdeath423]

How to create such tone WITHOUT expensive gear?

[@49zeph]

Assuming you have a DAW: virtual pedals, VST plugins, the options are endless. There are expensive plugins and cheap ones just like real gear but there are also a ton of free options, and I find that you don’t have to worry about the “cheaper” or free plugins because if you experiment enough, you will find that cheap or free plugins can work really well (after all, you don’t have to worry about build quality when it’s virtual)! You can take the principles he gave in this video and apply them to that

[@silverdragon0000120]

The sound you got was the sound I always got with no pedals. I used to play anime Naruto songs with that. I used the amplitude plugins. I’m actually kinda surprised you need so much to get that sound now.

[@jarod.v1586]

we need moar bass content need bass content.... :)))))

[@po4ew]

So expensive I was doing research trying to find pedals that'll give me a lo-fi kinda 16 bit retro earthbound sound cause I just think that would be cool like my favorite band is basically "super destroyer" and even like MSI I like how they have kinda video gamey sounds to there music, Then i found this pedal called the super ghost boy 👻 witch looks like a Gameboy but was too expensive just to find out it basically a chorus pedal so trying to do research to find a nice cheap chorus pedal not really knowing what gear Midwest emo uses🎸🕹️

[@kane6529]

You spelled Toan wrong bro 🤣

[@hiroprotagonitis]

you dont need all this shit!! math rock dry -> into mixer

[@memes_weakly2126]

let's get #showmeyourtele trending lol

[@LetsTalkAboutMathRock]

😂