Building Genre Specific Rigs (Part IV of the Pedal Series)

Originally posted on the S&R Blog on June 16, 2016.

So far, we have discussed rig optimization and how to optimize your signal. We have discussed every effect imaginable in our Effects Mini-Series and we have discussed the difference between digital and virtual rigs. Today we will talk about actually building out a genre-specific rig; including everything from buying (or building) the pedalboard, to diving into which effects you should buy in order to achieve genre specific sounds.

For this discussion, I am going to assume you do not own any equipment, or, if you do, I’ll assume you are in the market for new equipment. It should also be noted that all of the equipment are only suggestions. Obviously, any guitar and any effect can be used to make any genre’s music at the creative disposal of the user. These are stereotypes that have helped define the sound of each genre. So don’t be discouraged if you play a Stratocaster and want to start playing Jazz. Adding your own uniqueness to the genre will help define YOUR sound.

Also, note that these are broad genres. Hip-Hop will not be listed as its own style but will fall under the electronic music genre. Alternative Rock will also not be listed as its own genre but will fall under the rock category. By no means is this list a complete list of genres but it is a good starting point to get your base sound down. This is very exciting stuff, so let’s dive in.

Blues: Blues music is a great starting point to dive into playing lead and rhythm guitar. Once basic chordal understanding is achieved, either blues or pop music are both a great launching pad for developing guitar mastery. Blues, in it’s simplest form has three chords in a typical shuffle that will teach chordal changes and is an easy style to learn (but nearly impossible to master) lead guitar work. If you are looking to learn lead guitar, I highly recommend starting with the blues. Anyways, here is the essential gear to achieve the blues tone.

Guitar: Blues playing relies traditionally on a single coil sound. A Fender Stratocaster is a prime instrument for blues playing. Fender has many different price points starting as little as $99 so finding an instrument in your budget will be easy.

Another guitar recommendation would be a semi-hollow-body guitar. A Gibson 335 is the guitar that many of the great blues kings played, so it must work, right? If Gibson is out of your price range, their Asian counterpart, Epiphone, makes semi-hollow-body guitars such as the Dot, Casino or the ES-339.

Amplifiers: A tube combo amp is critical to achieving the smooth soulful blues sounds. Typically, we recommend a 15 or 30 watt tube amp such as a Fender Bassman or a Fender Twin Reverb, but other low wattage tube amps such as a Vox AC30 or a Marshall Bluesbreaker also will do wonders.

Effects: Most blues players keep their rig simple, and many run their guitar directly into the amp claiming that the tone should come from your fingers as a messenger sent by your soul. In any case, a good overdrive pedal, such as the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver or the Ibanez Tube Screamer, and a Vox V847 Wah are all you really need to play like a solid blues player. Obviously you need soul, rhythm and feel but it also doesn’t hurt if you are sad either.

Jazz: The key to jazz music is clean, unaltered sound. Due to the complexity of jazz music, crisp clear sounds that allow every note to shine through is what one should aim towards.

Guitar: Most jazz players use hollow-body guitars such as the Gibson L-5 CES or a Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody II The music is usually clean so feedback will not be an issue on these instruments. For those looking at a more budget-friendly guitar, players should check out the aforementioned Epiphone semi-hollowed guitars like the ES-339 or Washburn’s J7VNK. Unfortunately, due to the costly building process of a fully hollow-body guitar, budget hollow-body guitars are hard to come by, if at all.

Amp: With jazz, the cleaner the amp, the better. That’s why the Roland JC-120 is the go-to amp for jazz music. Other amps would be the aforementioned Fender Twin Reverb or the Vox AC30, but keep those channels clean!

Effects: Since most jazz playing is clean, most effects other genres use are simply out of the question. Though most amplifiers have this feature, some jazz players do opt for a reverb effect like Digitech Polara. Other jazz effects include light delay from the MXR Carbon Copy or an equalizer like the Boss GE-7 pedal to achieve perfect tone.

Country: Nashville, and the chicken pickin’ sound that defined the genre, relies heavily on a single coiled instrument with crystal clear tone. While the country sound has changed drastically over the past two decades, the tone we are discussing today is the shimmering sound of chicken pickin’ that originally put Nashville guitar wielders in the spotlight.

Guitar: There is nothing more country than a Fender Telecaster wielded by country gun slingers to do their bidding. The crystal clear, snappy Nashville sound was built on a Tele. And like the Fender Stratocaster, the Telecaster comes in almost any price point, from beginners up to the Fender Custom Shop, a place where pickers’ dreams come true. Another iconic country axe is the Gretsch Country Gentleman that so many early-day Nashville pickers cut their teeth on. Now, with the change in modern country music, artists such as Jason Aldean and Chris Stapelton have moved towards heavier rock instruments such as Jason Aldean’s band using EVH Wolfgang Custom or in Stapelton’s outfit, a Fender Jazzmaster.

Another key element of country music is an acoustic guitar. Now, any and almost every acoustic guitar has been used at one point or another in the country music scene. Everything from nylon string guitars like a Guild M-20 Nylon stringed guitar like the likes of Trigger (Willie Nelson’s guitar of 47 years) or a Taylor 612ce-N like the one Zac Brown uses, to wound stringed acoustic like a Takamine that the late great Glenn Frey of Kenny Chesney or a Gibson SJ200 that Elvis Presley wielded rocked the world.

Amp: The country sound is driven by a clean tube sound that Fender is known for creating. A Fender Twin Reverb or a Dr. Z Wreck that Brad Paisley swears by will certainly get you in the ball park of the country sound.

Effects: Country guitar is centered around spanking clean sounds, but to achieve the iconic sonic texture requires a compressor and a short slapped back delay. A fantastic compressor to achieve the country tone is either the Xotic SP Compressor or the MXR Dyna Comp Compressor. In terms of delays, you cannot go wrong with the Boss DD-7 Digital Delay or the Line 6 DL4.

Metal: The sounds of metal have changed drastically since the early days of Tony Iommi, whom many consider the ‘Godfather of Metal’, who brought metal to the masses almost by accident. Tony accidentally lost the tips of a few of his fretting hand at a young age in a machine shop. After deciding not to give up guitar playing and refusing to relearn to play right handed, (Tony is a left handed guitar player) he used thimbles to help protect his fingers and consequently, due to the hard nature of bending the strings (light string gauges were not around back then), Tony would tune his guitar lower to help his playing which consequently gave a darker, bigger and heavier sound. This lead to the explosion of heavy rock and metal. Metal has gone through many changes since then so we will cover everything from the early days of the 70s to the 80s hair metal to today’s modern metal.

Guitar: Originally, heavy rock and metal guitarist, like Tony Iommi, would use instruments that wielded humbuckers in them to create the heavier sound. Gibson SGs and Les Pauls are a perfect starting place for the early heavy metal movement. Dr. Ricky Fromus claims that the SG is the most power guitar, so it makes sense that it was the forefront in crafting the genre. While bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin are considered classic rock by today’s standards, it is their sound that sparked the movement. Richie Blackmore of Deep Purple used a Fender Stratocaster to achieve his heavy riffs. While Strats are not necessarily what one would consider a metal guitar, try telling Dave Murry that. Humbuckered guitars of Gibson may have paved the way, but it was the Fender Stratocaster that began to define the next decade of metal.

Looking for a guitar that would suit his sonic needs, and frustrated with the current production models, Eddie Van Halen began to tinker with his instruments to create the sound in his head come to life. Wishing for a guitar with the sound of a Gibson but the playability and features of a Stratocaster, Eddie created the Frankenstrat, a hybrid of a Les Paul and a Strat that spawned a new line of instruments that would later be known as the SuperStrat which would define the era of 80’s Hair Metal.

Guitar companies begun to make their version of Eddie’s Frankenstrat due to his popularity and with that, the guitar community saw new guitars from companies such as Ibanez, Kramer, Charvel and Jackson begin to produce stat-like shaped bodies with humbuckers for pickups.  Since then, the shred guitar has exploded and have even added 7 and 8 stringed instruments.

Amp: With a high performance instrument, metal also demands a high octane amplifier, one with much gain is also recommended.  Due to the lower tuned strings, an amp with a crystal clear overdrive and speakers are a must have for heavy metal. Amps such as Mesa/Boogie’s Triple Rectifier, ENGL’s Fireball 100 E635 or the EVH 5150III heads are perfect for metal.

Effects: Metal music is centered around crushing heavy riffs and soaring solos. To achieve the crunch that heavy riffs require, use high gain distortion pedals such as the Heavy by Empress Effects, the Wampler Triple Wreck or the Pro Co Rat 2.

For those blistering solos, make sure to add a delay, chorus, wah and a phaser. For delays look no further than the Dunlop EP103 Echoplex Delay, Wampler Faux Tape Echo, or the Boss DD-3 Digital Delay. For choruses, check out the Pigtronix Quantum Time Modulator, MXR M234 Analog Chorus, or the Keeley Seafoam Plus Chorus. Now Kirk Hammett is known for his wah solos to make the solos pop out from the heavy riffs. Consider adding either a Dunlop Cry Baby or a Vox V847 to make cut through the mix. For your phaser needs look no further than the MXR M101 Phase 90, the EarthQuaker Devices’ Grand Orbiter V2, or the Red Witch Deluxe Moon Phaser.

Rock: Ah, Rock n Roll! The product of the blues and the parent of metal, so it should not come as a surprise that this section is a medium between the blues and the metal sections of this post. Chuck Berry has been cited by many as the creator of Rock n Roll and has spanned 61 years since the world first heard Maybellene. Rock n Roll has gone from Chuck to the Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Guns n Roses, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Buckcherry (where do you think they got the name from), Foo Fighters and the list goes on. So here we go, Rock n Roll!

Guitar: Rock n Roll was built on the two giants of guitars, the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul. While some of the earlier rockabilly cats that helped create rock n roll, like Carly Perkins, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, used Gibson and Fender’s counterparts with the Telecaster and ES-335s, it was the Strat and Les Paul that defined the most influential genre of the past 70 years. Now while Keith Richards is still hailed as “rock’s greatest single body of riffs”, it is hard to look past what Eric Clapton did to inspire Rock n Roll with both a Les Paul and Strat, the sexy rock that Joe Perry or heavy rock riffs that Slash brought with their LPs or how can you deny that Jimi Hendrix changed the world with his Stratocaster or likewise with Eddie Van Halen with his culmination of both the Les Paul and Strat? These two instruments defined rock.

Amp: Saying which amp is the right amp for Rock n Roll is saying which flavor is the right flavor of ice cream. There really is no right answer because it is all a matter of taste. From Fender Deluxe Reverb and Bandmaster to Marshall Super Lead Model 1959 to JCM800s, Orange Rockerverb 100 or the PRS Archon, to the Mesa/Boogie Mark V and the Vox AC30 there is always a plethora of amps to choose to rock!

Effects: But such is the underlying definition of Rock n Roll, all of the “rules” are meant to be broken. With that said, everything said about creating a Rock n Roll sound should go out the window. Just pick your instrument, plug it into your amp and play your heart out and play with a passion and meaning. Now that’s Rock n fuckin’ Roll.

Electronica: Electronica. House Music. Whomp Whomp music. Whatever it is that you called this genre of music is up to you. However, the increasing popularity in Electronica is hard to ignore. While traditionally, this style is played on samplers, a computer hoisting Ableton and synthesizers, there are bands who make house music rock with live instruments. Bands such Umphrey’s McGee, STS9 and Tauk are blasting speakers with instrumental Electronica type music while bands such as The Roots, Kendrick Lamar and Outkast keep Hip-Hop fresh, but still utilize a live band.

Guitar: The first thing to bear in mind when choosing the right instrument for Electronica music is the versatility of the instrument. Due to the nature of Electronica music being sonically diverse, you should look into instruments that will give you the most sonic sounds for your hard earned cash. In my opinion, PRS guitars are the best suited for this feat. Models such as the Custom 24 or the 513 are fantastic looking guitars and also double as a guitar swiss army knife. The Custom 24 looks similar to a Strat, yet has humbuckers and a 5-way toggle switch to achieve single coil sounds as well. The 513 is a beast of a guitar that is equipped with 5 single coil pickups set in a traditional HSH format that can be selected to wire a crazy number of pickup sections (13 to be exact, hence the name: 5 pickups for 13 sounds).

Any guitar that is versatile and has a plethora of sounds will suit you well in this situation. My project Bespoked guitar, Alice, is well suited for this type of challenge. While I usually do not play Electronica music, the HSH pickup configuration equipped with the capabilities to split the humbuckers into single coil, give me a wide range of sonic landscape to work with.

Amp: Like the guitar, using a versatile amp is critical in the Electronica world. You want an amp that is as clear as possible and will take on the crazy sounds you will be producing. I personally would recommend using either something along the lines of a Fender Twin or Roland JC-40. These amps are crystal clear and any effect you will plug in between your guitar and amp will come out just as intended.

Another option would be the use of a Full Range / Full Response speaker (FR/FR). These speakers are designed to project whatever sound they are fed, without any of their own coloration. Folks who use digital amps and amp modelers will be familiar with an FR/FR setup. You would want to find one that is active, meaning it has a power amp built into the speaker to amplify your signal or find a separate power amp if you plan on using a passive (power not included) FR/FR speaker such as a Matrix GT100FX or one by your favorite amplifier company.

Effects: Honestly, at this point, the world is your oyster and whatever crazy effects you wish to have in your chain should go in your chain. Modulators, Chorus, crazy 25 second delays (somebody out there has probably tried it) whatever it is, use it. But I will give one piece of advice, as with everything else in this section, versatility is king in Electronica music, I would recommend using digital modelers as your rig. Whether it be the Line 6 Helix, Fractal Audio’s Axe FX 2 or the Kemper Profiler, you will run out of ideas, amps and effects.

I want to say an honest truth that all of us out there understand; Gear is expensive. If you are trying to come up with the best sounds that are far out there, unique and expressive (all with live gear, no Abelton and laptop style) you will need a ton of gear to help you create the sounds you have in your head. This is why I recommend the digital modelers, you have a ton of amps to choose from as well as an endless list of effects at your disposal all in one box, no need to go out and buy new gear when you want a new sound.

Well there you have it, a long list of difference genres and the gear you need to achieve that signature sound. Like I previously said, in no way is this list exhausted of all genres and by no means do you need any of this gear in order to make music of a particular genre. If you would like to see a genre added to this list, or if you have any tips about tone or gear that help you achieve a signature sound, leave a message in the comments below.

Until next time, let the music play!