I HATED This 80's Guitar Tone...Until Now

My least favorite guitar sound of all time, has always been the ultra clean, chorus-y, super compressed sound of many 80's and 90's pop, light rock, and AOR records. Despite it being used by many of my now favorite guitarists: Steve Lukather, Michael Landau, Dann Huff, Michael Thompson; It was a guitar tone I HATED, until now.
In this video I'll show you how i've been so obsessed with recreating this guitar tone, and how I did it using UAD plugins and clever audio interface routing.
⏱ Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:52 - What guitar tone I hated
2:20 - Why I hated it
3:54 - Discovering the great LA session guitarists
4:26 - How I feel about it now
5:03 - The history and background of this sound
5:39 - Example of 80's LA Session Rack Rig setup
7:19 - Why they built these huge racks
8:40 - My options to recreate the sound
9:34 - How I Recreated The Sound
10:21 - UAD Console
12:15 - Dry Signal
15:17 - Wet/Time Based FX
17:27 - Where to place the chorus effects?
18:12 - Hack for more AUX SENDS in UAD Console
20:07 - Dytronics Tri Stereo Chorus plugin
21:50 - The Eventide H3000 sound
24:18 - The Final Sound
26:03 - Taking the sound further with panning control
29:23 - With Distortion
29:40 - DI Guitar sound example
31:05 - Conclusion

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#80sGuitarTone #BradshawRack

[MTLIRocker]

Hey RJ...great vid & great playing. My detuned H-3000 sound was actually delay, not chorus. In my quest to try to cop the Edge's detuned delays I stumbled on the Micropitchshift patch in the 3000. I found that increasing the left and right "p delay" to normal delay times (for example left 300 ms and right 600ms) and adding a bunch of feedback I could get a lovely, Edge-like detuned delay...THAT became "my sound" and I preceded to use it on every single record that I played on! LOL Interesting side note: The micropitchshift patch on my H-3000 DSE had this kind of grainier texture that I couldn't get out of the Eclipse - it was too clean. These days I can get everything I need out of pedals but I still have the 3000 at the ready if I need "that sound". best, MT

[AchillesWrath]

I call that the 80's glass tone. I love that tone, reminds me of Prince Purple Rain.

[RJRonquillo]

Hope you guys enjoyed the video! One thing I forgot to mention was how I am able to record this sound in my DAW: I can either record with the all the effects, as I hear it, to a stereo track OR I can record each channel of the mixer to individual tracks (Dry, Tri Stereo Chorus, h3000, reverb, delay) and have more control over when I mix in the DAW.

[ejstar]

I will NEVER get tired of that tone. It’s so transportive. It just sounds and feels good. Especially when you’re just chillin’ and strumming some chords on a lazy weekend afternoon. Great video R.J.

[Hamer]

Can we just call this what it is:

The “John Hughes Movie” Tone

[mhillaxeman]

The Fixx’s guitarist Jamie West-Oram is one of the best practitioners of this style of squashed stereo-chorused 80s tone…Stand or Fall, Saved By Zero, One Thing Leads to Another…great guitar parts and those songs all stand up today as well as ever!

[jch]

I've always loved so much of the 80's tones. My favorites being Alex Lifeson, EVH, Jamie West Oram (The Fixx) etc..

[DanGibson]

Robert Cray’s “Right Next Door” has a good example of this 80s tone during the 80s blues revival.

[DavidDiMuzio]

Dude, how could you ever have not liked the guitar tone intro for Endless Summer Nights..🤘😍🤘

[chrisclermont]

On a session once, the great drummer John JR Robinson told me he started showing up to sessions and they would want some drum sound from some other record he had played on. It became frustrating. Obviously the miking and engineering of the basic tracks which may or may not be mixed by the same engineer would make that request almost impossible to achieve. So when the Dynachord sampler showed up in the 80s, he got 2 of them and sampled every drum sound from a few of his popular original sessions. He would show up to sessions with the Dynachords and a huge case full of snares. If he were asked for let's say that Steve Winwood 'Higher Love' sound, he would pretend to choose a particular snare, let the engineer mic it, then send the signal from the Dynachord he was triggering. He said they almost always ended up using the sample!!

[hrosemd]

Robert Plant with Robbie Blunt on Big Log. Ultimate 80's clean tone for me.

[Alex_Martz]

Nailed it perfectly!, another BIG factor contributing to that ultra-clean tone is the use of EMG active pickups like the ones you used in the video but didn't mentioned, the set of 89/SA/SA was as classic as the effects used too!

[hecticsceptic]

I love 80's tone. I love chorus effects. This is one your best videos so far. David Gilmour sounded awesome in the 1980's "Delicate Sound Of Thunder" era. I would love to hear what it sounds like if you add some univibe into your "rack" mix. Please do more videos like this one.

[EmilioConesa]

You nailed it! I was a session player in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 80’s and 90’s. I still use these tones on stage with The Whispers.

[brettmarlar]

Alex Lifeson was the one that truly made me love that tone, though it was Prince who first planted the seed on Purple Rain.
Of course a Dimension C will also get you in the ballpark as well.
You forgot to mention the active EMG's. That guitar you're using appears to be equipped with them, and will also be a factor in the tone.

[iwillnevergetone]

wholetime, the PYT guitar tone is perfection. always has been, always will be. hate begone

[MrTom-Songwriter-Composer]

Yep, the Stereo Chorus was and still is the big part of 80's New Wave (or Retro wave/ Synth Wave as people call it). Not only for guitars, back in the day we used to put synths through external Stereo Chorus pedals or rack fx with pretty awesome results. I write and record commercially licensed music as a composer (under performance rights organization, BMI, Inc) and if I am writing in any 80's New Wave / pop genres, I use a Fender Telecaster and Stereo Chorus Fx all the time. I also recommend the Flanger Pedal Fx (Listen to some of the band: "The Cure" albums from the 80s, their sound is all around Flanger Fx) Also Phase / Phasor pedal if you want late 70's/early 80's Funk / Pop / New Wave sounds. Have a great weekend.. stay safe out there.

[curtislynch]

Ah. The “Don’t Dream It’s Over” guitar tone.

[newtondelmar]

My fave 80's guy is DEF Andy Summers (Police!!!)...guy had fabulous chords and phrasing...he didn't use a ton of dirty tones...just loved his chorus/flanger/reverb all at once ...killer player IMO.

[ragtop]

AOR was not corporate rock. It was deep cuts, full length tracks, the antithesis of 80s top 40 which is what you're referencing here.
Love the channel, Keep it up!