@Frank Axtell - blog

Guitar amp tone... - @frank-axtell

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:06:23 -0500

Artist

Part of my tone is achived by turning the amps way up....a luxury I can afford due to a spare bedroom in my home studio set aside just for that purpose. The 50 watt Marshall JMP is cranked to about 8 and the Marshall Jubilee is on about 7and set to the 50 watt setting. Load enough to kill small animals at 20 paces....seriously the power tubes need to be worked a bit. I love Jimi Hendrix's tone on Band of Gypsys. In my opinion that is the ultimate strat /marshall tone....if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Mike Landau and Scotty Henderson also get this very ballsy, very raw sound which I find very exhilarating and gripping. It's all about the signal chain and great vintage amps. My next amp may be the John Suhr OD 100 classic SE, which seems to replicate a well tuned late sixties early seventies Marshall Plexi. The Xotic RC booster helps slam the front end of the amps with a bit more punch. I also pick lightly and back off the tone control on the bridge pickup on the strat, back at least half way to warm up the tone and rid myself of some of the harshness of the highend.

A new tune and gear I use.... - @frank-axtell

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:21:25 -0500

I just finished a new tune called "I See Your Light".
So I thought that I'd post some info on the guitar rig used...I've had a lot of people ask me what gear I use in the studio and also live.
In the studio i use either a Bill Nash relic strat with Lollar pick ups or a 1983 Fender rosewood neck strat with Fender 1968 electronics into an Cry Baby wah, RC Booster and A/B box. From there it goes to a 1976 JMP Marshall 2204 and 1987 Silver julilee 100 watt head. both amps run vintage Marshall 4x12 with Rola 25 watt Celestions. I make sure that the microphone is pointing about two inches off center to the cone and set at a very slight angle to avoid too much pressure. Moving the microphone closer to the centre of the driver will increase the attack but you will lose the warmth. If you are placing microphones on a stereo guitar cabinet or cabinets, then follow the above steps but make sure that they are placed symmetrically to avoid any phase problems. I use Shure SM 58's into a Presonus Firepod into my Mac G5 running Logic Pro. Live, I run a Silver Jublilee 2550 with Marshall 4x12 and 2 vintage Fender Super Reverbs, Cry baby Wah, RC Booster. The Lexicon PCM 80 and Chandler Digital Echo is fed by the line out of the Jubllee and then the signal is amplified by the stereo Fender Supers or Fender Vibro Kings.

FrankAxtell

Artist

Download My Tunes... - @frank-axtell

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:55:25 -0500

You can now download my tunes at these two locations...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=518251

http://www.myspace.com/frankaxtell

New Jerusalem - @frank-axtell

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 12:29:31 -0500

I've just completed a new composition called The New Jerusalem as a testimony that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Bit of a different musical direction...for now.

This time I finally pulled my nylon string guitar out and started to practice the "120 Studies For The Right Hand Development" by Mauro Gulianni again...the classical guitar had been put into retirement for a long time due to the fact that I didn't really have the time or energy to devote to it as I should...it is a life long labor of love and I just happen to dig big loud noisy Marshall stacks that can kill small rodents at 50 paces...what can I say...still in a 15 year old rock'n'roll mind set...will he every grow up? I hope not. Anyway I think this new composition turned out rather well. We'll see soon enough by the responses online, here and on other music internet sites, which I post my stuff on regularly. Internet fans can be very finicky and exacting at times. Never predictable.

I thought I'd get a bit into the classical side again. I will be going back to the jazz soon enough. I get bored easily.