Jon Schaffer's tone on Number of the Beast..

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pintspiller

pintspiller

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I've been playing since 85 and have played this song many, many, many times, both drunk and sober, for people in a stinky pub and in Madison Square Bedroom. How does Jon get the tone? So different from Maiden (I'm a die hard Maiden fan, and seen them 20+ times)
I know his style of playing is so tight and precise, but what else?
Would any kind person know what amps he was using at the time? I know he used a Larry for much of later Iced Earth stuff, but this one (Enter the Realm of the Gods)?
Cheers!
 
Thanks very much, I have drooled after your Larry and know that you know your stuff on Iced Earth
 
I did read an interview with Jon when he mentioned the Splawn Quickrod, I think a Larry is a bit out of my budget just now (NHS nurse with 2 hungry teenagers!), do you think a Quickrod or Competition would get me in the area of that sound?
 
pintspiller said:
Thanks very much, I have drooled after your Larry and know that you know your stuff on Iced Earth
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Oh thanks man, appreciate it alot! I've been hunting this sound for years and years.

pintspiller said:
I did read an interview with Jon when he mentioned the Splawn Quickrod, I think a Larry is a bit out of my budget just now (NHS nurse with 2 hungry teenagers!), do you think a Quickrod or Competition would get me in the area of that sound?
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A Quickrod or Competition is going to sound good but it's not really going to get you all that close to the sound. At least no closer than a JCM800 or 900 would. (Jon used a 900 on the early demos and the first two records)

Jon's also used Uberschalls (in addition to the splawns) for layering at certain points, JC120s for the clean stuff, and the old JCM2000 DSLs live (apparently?) for a little bit after the flood incident.

I've been working on replicating that later period IE tone for years and years, and this really is a case where the amp is most of of the sound.

You can get an old T75 cab, a rackmount BBE, a nice les paul, explorer, sg, or ignitor (with icebuckers, naturally)....literally all the rest of Jons gear, and basically any non-larry Marshall voiced high gain-ish amp, and it will get you close to a certain point. If I had to put a percentage on it, maybe halfway there, or 60%

Jons tone is truly a case where the amp does the vast majority of the heavy lifting - there's just nothing besides Larry's british channel that has the combination of tightness and sheer, ungodly percussive force to really get that close. I would know, I tried for years and years with every kind of gear imaginable :dunno:

I definitely know the budget constraints, that's why I tried to get the sound in other ways for so long.

Especially with tones mid 90s on, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there's not much to be done.
 
@pintspiller I don't know if you've heard many of my demos, but just for context







Keep in mind, I have very, VERY minimalist studio gear. I'm talking a 50$ interface, and a couple sm57s and a 421. And that's IT.

Obviously if I had access to a real studio with real mic pres, I could get a lot closer.

But for that specific sound, there really isnt a way to get more than halfway there without getting a Larry.
 
pintspiller said:
I've been playing since 85 and have played this song many, many, many times, both drunk and sober, for people in a stinky pub and in Madison Square Bedroom. How does Jon get the tone? So different from Maiden (I'm a die hard Maiden fan, and seen them 20+ times)
I know his style of playing is so tight and precise, but what else?
Would any kind person know what amps he was using at the time? I know he used a Larry for much of later Iced Earth stuff, but this one (Enter the Realm of the Gods)?
Cheers!
Click to expand...
The album is Tribute to the Gods. Next to Something Wicked, it's his best recorded tones ever, and right up there with the best I've ever heard. It's just thick, punishing, all-out assault. I think he's always played all rhythms in the studio, and of course layers them for that wall of sound, but Jon is also a beast as a player too.

Cities on Flame on that album sticks out for me, especially, as does Screaming For Vengeance. It's insanely good tone.

I'm a big fanboy too. Have all their stuff, and he's probably been the biggest influence on my rhythm playing for the last 20 years. Him and Hetfield.

This tone is nuts. Classic Rock, sledgehammer chunk.
 
napalmdeath said:
The album is Tribute to the Gods. Next to Something Wicked, it's his best recorded tones ever, and right up there with the best I've ever heard. It's just thick, punishing, all-out assault. I think he's always played all rhythms in the studio, and of course layers them for that wall of sound, but Jon is also a beast as a player too.

Cities on Flame on that album sticks out for me, especially, as does Screaming For Vengeance. It's insanely good tone.

I'm a big fanboy too. Have all their stuff, and he's probably been the biggest influence on my rhythm playing for the last 20 years. Him and Hetfield.

This tone is nuts. Classic Rock, sledgehammer chunk.
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Jon's my hero, full stop. Absolutely love all of the tones on Tribute. Absolutely nuts hearing that Larry percussiveness on highway to hell.




And yes, he's been my biggest guitar influence, period

Although the stuff I do isn't exactly IE cover/tribute band stuff.
 
DanTravis62 said:
And yes, he's been my biggest guitar influence, period

Although the stuff I do isn't exactly IE cover/tribute band stuff.
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Definitely one of mine as well. I've mostly picked up his picking techniques, heavy-handed playing, and gallops. His aggressive style is what got my attention.
 
napalmdeath said:
Definitely one of mine as well. I've mostly picked up his picking techniques, heavy-handed playing, and gallops. His aggressive style is what got my attention.
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Learning iced earth stuff as a teenager is what really set me on the path of getting better as a player

And it definitely permeates my playing
 
pintspiller said:
I did read an interview with Jon when he mentioned the Splawn Quickrod, I think a Larry is a bit out of my budget just now (NHS nurse with 2 hungry teenagers!), do you think a Quickrod or Competition would get me in the area of that sound?
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Jon himself said: "Splawn amps are amazing actually the Splawn amp is probably the thing that is the closest to my Larry right out of the box."

Edit.
 
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cetanu said:
Jon himself said that the Quickrod came the closest to his Larry when he used them in the studio together.
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If you'd ever played the two together, ....well, the quickrod is a great amp, but it doesnt do the same thing.
 
DanTravis62 said:
If you'd ever played the two together, ....well, the quickrod is a great amp, but it doesnt do the same thing.
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I've had both but that doesn't matter because I've just loosely accurately quoted what Jon himself has said. He obviously knows what's going on.

Edit.
 
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cetanu said:
Ok.
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Quickrods are great amps. Seriously. But the tone that people are talking about with Schaffer is almost entirely the low mid tightness and impact of the palm mutes on the larry. He's mixed and matched and layered a bunch of amps. But I know what everyone is talking about with "that tone" because I've chased it my entire life.

The quickrod is too scooped (especially in the low midrange) and the low lows are too loose. You can't do schaffer tones with it alone. You can get just as "close" with an 800 or 900 or almost any other gainy marshall amp, as long as you have the right speakers and low output pafs.
 
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