George Lynch Dokken - Kiss of Death Tone

[MrFlexx]

I totally love George Lynch's tone on Dokken - Kiss of Death and would like to know if anyone have any suggestions about how to dial in a similar tone? I know all amps are different in the gain structure and EQ's, so here's a list of the gear I'm using so any kind soul can guide me to as close as it gets:

Amps:

Friedman Smallbox
ENGL Retro Tube 100
ENGL Powerball II

Speaker Cabinets:

ENGL Pro 412 V30
Marshall 1960BX with Greenbacks

Pedals:

Suhr - Eclipse
Suhr - Shiba Reloaded
Rockbox - Boiling Point Hand painted
XTS - Precision Multi-Drive
Friedman Buxom Boost
Suhr Koko Boost
Suhr Koji
Empress ParaEQ
Strymon Timeline
Strymon BigSky
Strymon Mobius

For recording I mainly uses Suhr Reactive Load with Ownhammer IR's ( I have them all)

Any help is appreciated

 

[Dave L]

I´d be very surprised if that tone is anything else than a good Superlead and a Tubescreamer. I´d say the plexi channel of the Smallbox running into the greenbacks definitely is the way to go and should be super close, but I´m not familiar enough with those pedals to know if they can nail the Tubescreamer thing. Should be a Duncan Distortion at that point, too, it´s before the Screamin Demon.

 

[Racerxrated]

I thought I read that is exactly what produced that tone....^^^...in fact that was Warren DeMartini's plexi that George borrowed and didn't want to return lol.

 

[paulyc]

I thought it was Aspen Pitman's purple plexi that Aspen wouldn't sell to him that finally died years later, and as much as George and others carry on about the tube screamer, I can't get a Lynch tone I like from one, I have far better results with a Boss OD-1 or SD-1 for the asymetrical clipping. YMMV.

Oh, and I'd be boosting mids pretty hard too with a parametric EQ BEFORE the amp.

 

[Dave L]

Yeah, high mids are the key for that general type of chunk, I think that´s why people gravitate toward the Tubescreamer. Granted, it´s more of a bass and treble roll-off than a midboost, but still =) I´d imagine the Boss pedals does it just as well.

 

[MrFlexx]

Any suggetions about the EQ on the amp and/or EQ pedal?

 

[MrFlexx]

I´d be very surprised if that tone is anything else than a good Superlead and a Tubescreamer. I´d say the plexi channel of the Smallbox running into the greenbacks definitely is the way to go and should be super close, but I´m not familiar enough with those pedals to know if they can nail the Tubescreamer thing. Should be a Duncan Distortion at that point, too, it´s before the Screamin Demon.

Any suggestion about the settings on the Plexi channel of my Smallbox?

 

[Dave L]

I haven´t played the Smallbox, I only know it has the DNA from the old Marshalls, but you´ll at least be cutting a lot of bass with the overdrive pedal so you can comfortably crank it up high in the amp. Maybe even to 10, who knows. On the plexi module in his Randall, that supposedly was real close to one of his favorite Superleads, he used bass on 10, mids on 10, gain on 10, treble to taste and then hit it with a Tubescreamer or similar.

 

[Hiatus O]

Dude with a Smallbox and a koko boost you should be able to exceed his tone

 

[Chubtone]

I think George's tone on Back for the Attack is great on some songs and not good at all on others. Kiss of Death I think fools you. The riff is cool, the playing is great but the tone, IMO is downright awful. The distortion characteristics in that intro sound like something is wrong with the amp.

This is all my opinion. I know others will disagree and I'm OK with that. If you love that tone, go for it.

 

[Rock Bodom]

I think George's tone on Back for the Attack is great on some songs and not good at all on others. Kiss of Death I think fools you. The riff is cool, the playing is great but the tone, IMO is downright awful. The distortion characteristics in that intro sound like something is wrong with the amp.

This is all my opinion. I know others will disagree and I'm OK with that. If you love that tone, go for it.

I'm actually in full agreement on all of that, and I love the song and whole album all the way, but that recorded tone (on some songs including Kiss of Death like you said) was generally a step down from Under Lock & Key for me.

I remember George once saying in an interview something to the effect he wasn't originally happy with his tone on that album, but it grew on him later on.

 

[Racerxrated]

I think George's tone on Back for the Attack is great on some songs and not good at all on others. Kiss of Death I think fools you. The riff is cool, the playing is great but the tone, IMO is downright awful. The distortion characteristics in that intro sound like something is wrong with the amp.

This is all my opinion. I know others will disagree and I'm OK with that. If you love that tone, go for it.

I'm actually in full agreement on all of that, and I love the song and whole album all the way, but that recorded tone (on some songs including Kiss of Death like you said) was generally a step down from Under Lock & Key for me.

I remember George once saying in an interview something to the effect he wasn't originally happy with his tone on that album, but it grew on him later on.

Have you ever read what was used on ULAK? Something like 5 amps multitracked and layered over and over. I LOVE that tone but you won't ever get there with one amp.
The Friedman stuff is too smooth to get the OPs tone IMO, it sounds way more raw than the BEs I've played can get. I did own one that was modded to be more raw, but in stock form no way.

 

[Rock Bodom]

I think George's tone on Back for the Attack is great on some songs and not good at all on others. Kiss of Death I think fools you. The riff is cool, the playing is great but the tone, IMO is downright awful. The distortion characteristics in that intro sound like something is wrong with the amp.

This is all my opinion. I know others will disagree and I'm OK with that. If you love that tone, go for it.

I'm actually in full agreement on all of that, and I love the song and whole album all the way, but that recorded tone (on some songs including Kiss of Death like you said) was generally a step down from Under Lock & Key for me.

I remember George once saying in an interview something to the effect he wasn't originally happy with his tone on that album, but it grew on him later on.

Have you ever read what was used on ULAK? Something like 5 amps multitracked and layered over and over. I LOVE that tone but you won't ever get there with one amp.
The Friedman stuff is too smooth to get the OPs tone IMO, it sounds way more raw than the BEs I've played can get. I did own one that was modded to be more raw, but in stock form no way.

Oh yeah, quite familiar with all the supposed stuff that went on with ULAK, not suggesting a "1 amp" once and done by any means to duplicate it. Heck, just trying to duplicate the 4track trick and the blanket used to cover it is challenging enough

 

[psychodave]

I think George's tone on Back for the Attack is great on some songs and not good at all on others. Kiss of Death I think fools you. The riff is cool, the playing is great but the tone, IMO is downright awful. The distortion characteristics in that intro sound like something is wrong with the amp.

This is all my opinion. I know others will disagree and I'm OK with that. If you love that tone, go for it.

I agree 100%. Well said.

 

[Badronald]

I think George's tone on Back for the Attack is great on some songs and not good at all on others. Kiss of Death I think fools you. The riff is cool, the playing is great but the tone, IMO is downright awful. The distortion characteristics in that intro sound like something is wrong with the amp.

This is all my opinion. I know others will disagree and I'm OK with that. If you love that tone, go for it.

I completely agree. I was afraid to say something.

I thought you'd send a lynch mob out after me........

 

[hammered]

I´d be very surprised if that tone is anything else than a good Superlead and a Tubescreamer. I´d say the plexi channel of the Smallbox running into the greenbacks definitely is the way to go and should be super close, but I´m not familiar enough with those pedals to know if they can nail the Tubescreamer thing. Should be a Duncan Distortion at that point, too, it´s before the Screamin Demon.

Any suggestion about the settings on the Plexi channel of my Smallbox?

I wouldn’t use the Plexi channel to get George’s level of gain . What is channel 2 called on the Small Box ? I’d use that channel and a boost pedal

 

[itsme]

The Back for the Attack Marshall was the infamous SIR #39 amp that Slash later used for the Appetite album. It was the magic super lead that Lynch tried to buy, but was only allowed to rent for the first half of the tour. Slash also tried to buy it, and stole it instead. SIR recovered it and it has since disapeared.

 

[hammered]

The Back for the Attack Marshall was the infamous SIR #39 amp that Slash later used for the Appetite album. It was the magic super lead that Lynch tried to buy, but was only allowed to rent for the first half of the tour. Slash also tried to buy it, and stole it instead. SIR recovered it and it has since disapeared.

I think I`ve heard that story . Appetite was recoreded in early 87 and released in July and Back For The Attack was released in November . You would think Slash had the amp first but I guess it`s possible Back For The Attack was recorded first if all that make sense

 

[Racerxrated]

The Back for the Attack Marshall was the infamous SIR #39 amp that Slash later used for the Appetite album. It was the magic super lead that Lynch tried to buy, but was only allowed to rent for the first half of the tour. Slash also tried to buy it, and stole it instead. SIR recovered it and it has since disapeared.

I think I`ve heard that story . Appetite was recoreded in early 87 and released in July and Back For The Attack was released in November . You would think Slash had the amp first but I guess it`s possible Back For The Attack was recorded first if all that make sense

I don't believe #39 was used for appetite though..Lynch had it on the road I thought and Slash used #36 for the record which was an exact copy of 39.
I know, not this again lol.

 

[paulyc]

The Back for the Attack Marshall was the infamous SIR #39 amp that Slash later used for the Appetite album. It was the magic super lead that Lynch tried to buy, but was only allowed to rent for the first half of the tour. Slash also tried to buy it, and stole it instead. SIR recovered it and it has since disapeared.

No, that was the ULAK Marshall, he rented it for the first half of the tour, they opened for Twisted Sister, I saw that tour.