Were 80s tones as good as we remember them?

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SFW
SFW
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Saw this video in my YouTube feed today. The first thought I had was "wow... that tone is very thin." Maybe I've just gotten used to more modern tones. Who knows...

 
just like the Tourette’s guy says; “don’t talk shit about the 80’s”
 

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1. Yes, tones from that era are still amazing. I chalk that up to the amazing production and analog gear along with the fact that for a lot of us, we were in our youth prime - which has a tendency to ingrain the good music with the good times and locks that in as good tone :dunno:

2. Didn't listen to the video but that is my take.

3. Modern (metal in particular) music has some really great tones, some of which is on another level, but we lose some of what is in #1.
 
SFW said:
lol! I'm a massive Lynch fan. Just though his tone was very skinny in this video.
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So hard to know. For the time, these songs were king; even if they weren’t … then things progress and get better, we hope. I remember listening to all of these 80s bands and thinking my little shit Fender combo and DOD chorus for 229$ in 1984-ish was nothing. Now I think; my sound still sux but I look ok standing in front of it. 😏. Not really.

I think live tone and recorded tone is apples and oranges. I am way more into improving live tone. How do you get big sound in a 3 piece? The pursuit of acoustic happiness is like the fable of tantalus.
 
All the tones and tunes on these 2 albums KILL.

This link takes you to the entire playist:



This link takes you to the entire playist:

 
SFW said:
Saw this video in my YouTube feed today. The first thought I had was "wow... that tone is very thin." Maybe I've just gotten used to more modern tones. Who knows...

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The quality of this recording isn't too great. You can barely hear any Kick and I can't really hear the Bass. So that's where the thickness of the guitar went too.
 
I sometimes put some of my old 80s thrash albums on the turntable. Many of them sound abysmal. :dunno:
 
i think if you were a teenager in the 80s and metal was your thing, you're gonna still dig the tones because thats how it works. if not, you may have differing opinions lol
 
I think the tones that were recorded LOUD and based on power stage compression will always stand the test of time. I think that's why early VH tones are still heralded as are most of the earlier AC/DC stuff. Accept is another one that you can just smell the hot glass when you hear those guitar tones. Later 80's stuff that had tons of front end gain and tons of chorus / delay / verb does sound a bit 'soft' and indistinct by comparison.
 
311splawndude said:
1. Yes, tones from that era are still amazing. I chalk that up to the amazing production and analog gear along with the fact that for a lot of us, we were in our youth prime - which has a tendency to ingrain the good music with the good times and locks that in as good tone :dunno:

2. Didn't listen to the video but that is my take.

3. Modern (metal in particular) music has some really great tones, some of which is on another level, but we lose some of what is in #1.
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What’s your favorite modern metal tones btw? I got curious!
 
DanTravis62 said:
If you mean White Lion
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Dan!! Really??? Maybe the songwriting / lyrics / look / etc. But Vito’s guitar tone on the first album was killer! I get it, the second album was all ADAs and solid state power amps. But Pride has some killer organic tube guitar tone and some really tasty rhythm and lead work.

Seriously tho - love your posts and contribution to this forum!
 
PDC said:
Dan!! Really??? Maybe the songwriting / lyrics / look / etc. But Vito’s guitar tone on the first album was killer! I get it, the second album was all ADAs and solid state power amps. But Pride has some killer organic tube guitar tone and some really tasty rhythm and lead work.

Seriously tho - love your posts and contribution to this forum!
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I'm just being spicy and poking the bear cuz i know everyone on RT listens to wimpy power ballads and EVH worship on repeat :ROFLMAO:

You can't deny there's a correlation to which tones aged better though
 
No, a lot of them sucked. With a very small minority, most guys of that era had better sounds in the early 90s.

Reb Beach had his best sound on Pull, George on Wicked Sensation, Vito on Mane Attraction (Pride sounds like a guitar with the tone knob rolled halfway back). Demartini on Detonator.

The best “Fr00t Rock” tones of the 80s I can think of were from the guys in Rough Cutt.
 
Chubtone said:
The guys from Rough Cutt did have great tones but have no idea what froot rock is.
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:p

That’s what I call (in jest) a lot of the “painted” rock/metal bands of the 80s. They make up most of my music collection. And yes, I wish there was more Rough Cutt. The 2 albums are killer, and Shortino should’ve been Duke Fame for real.
 
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