Now that he has left this earth, a lot of amazing Gary Moore video material is surfacing. I will post a few in the coming days. In this first video, he gives some advice and shows his trademark blues licks. He also shows how he could play jazz. The first thing that strikes me is his tone whether he uses a Telecaster, a Les Paul or a 335: a prime example of “the tone is in the fingers” paradigm, watch his left hand vibrato in particular. The second thing is that he could be ripping fast but stayed very musical at all time:
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Boss DS1 Match: Stock vs Keeley vs Analogman
The Boss DS-1 is one of the oldest distortion boxes on the market. Released in 1978, it is revered by some and loathed by others. Being a distortion, it offers more gain and more “hair” than a traditional overdrive pedal. Is it often used with a clean amp but it can be used to boost an already overdriven amp.
Amongst its supporters, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are probably the most faithful and the most famous. Although both of them have released signature distortion pedals with manufacturers other than Boss in 2008 (Vai with Ibanez and Satch with Vox), the DS-1 could be heard at their gigs or on countless of their records before that.
I see a lot of comments on forums and on Youtube destroying the little orange box, labelling it as “synthetic sounding” or “shrill”.
Match of the mods
I do not know if it is because of that bad rep but the DS-1 is one of the most modified pedals on the planet. On my quest for tone, I acquired a DS-1 modified by Analog Man and a DS-1 modified by Robert Keeley. I also own a stock DS-1 and before I go into the merits of modified pedals, here is a video I have recorded. It shows the differences in tone between the three pedals. For this video, I have used my Gibson SG 61 Reissue and my Fender Champ amplifier. Delay and Reverb are courtesy of a Boss DD-3 and a Boss RV-3 (See after the video as to why I have used some delay and reverb on the video).
Why I used some delay and reverb
First, I owe you an explanation as to why I have used a Boss DD-3 delay and a Boss RV-3 reverb placed after the DS-1(s) while shooting the video. I think a large part of the bad rep of the DS-1 is due to the fact that probably too many people think that getting a DS-1 and using it on a dry amp will get them the tone of Satriani. News flash: it won’t.
To me, the DS-1 on full gain combined with Humbuckers is good at a certain type of lead tone but you have to consider the rest of the chain carefully. I think the DS-1 does benefit from some ambiance whether it is delay and/or reverb. Both Satriani and Vai often use some amount of delay in their lead tones.
This is where I disagree with a lot of distortion/overdrive pedal demos on youtube where people insist on close miking an amp and use no ambiance at all. It is quite unrealistic as there is 99% chance that on your favorite guitar record, at least some reverb was used to alleviate the super dry tone of a close miked amp. And when you go see a band live, you get the ambiance of the room, even in a small club.
Is it worth getting a modded DS-1?
Before blowing 150 bucks on a modified pedal, it is quite normal to question the advantages of a modded pedal. From the video above, you will have noticed that the modified pedals retain the essence of the DS-1. It is more about enhancing than radically modifying the tone. I must also say that modded pedals are a bit less noisy than the stock version. But if you really cannot stand the tone of a DS-1, chances are modded versions will not suit you either.
As to my opinion, I think the Keeley mod is about getting an edgier, more precise tone while the Analog Man brings the tone closer to a Marshall type amp. I personally prefer the Analog Man for its warmth and it comes close to the Pro Co Rat 2 as my favorite distortion box. But the Keeley might suit you better if you are looking for a more “Vai-esque” DS1 tone.
Note that both Keeley and Analog Man have more advanced mods than the ones I am showing in this post. My Keeley version is called SEM (seeing eye mod) and its current version has a toggle switch to go from this mod to another circuit called “Ultra”.
The Analog Man DS-1 I show in this post has the Pro Mod which is still available but you can now get a 4th knob to modify the midrange response.
Finally, please know that there are other modifications out there like Monte Allums’ which seem pretty popular.
The DS-1 on “Fiction”, my first album
I have used the Keeley SEM DS-1 on the lead tone of “The Color Purple” and the Analogman DS-1 Pro on “Electric Rain”. You can find “Fiction”, my first album on cdbaby. On both songs, the pedals were plugged into a Marshall JMP-1 Preamp set clean and an MXR Phase 90 was placed before the distortion.
Rest in Peace Gary Moore
When I was a teenager in the 80s, I remember the day my brother brought a Gary Moore album home. I grew up in a small village in France, and Nothern Ireland native Gary Moore wasn’t exactly a known figure. The album was Run for Cover and contained an amazing version of “Empty rooms” as well as sophisticated heavy metal songs such as “Military Man” and “Out in the Fields”, sung in duet with another Irish rock legend, Phil Lynott.
This album is the reason why I picked up a guitar. He enjoyed massive success playing blues numbers in the late 80s/early 90s with the “Still Got the Blues” album. It was followed by “Blues Alive”, a live album where his guitar tone is so big, it drips out of the speakers.
There is a funny anecdote about Kirk Hammett asking Bob Bradshaw, the L.A. guru of guitar gear, to give him the same tone as Gary Moore on “Still Got the Blues”. So Bradshaw started piling up racks and racks of gear and amps and effects, to no avail. Little did they know at the time that Gary Moore had only used 3 pieces of equipment to get his huge tone: a 59 Les Paul, a Marshall Guv’Nor pedal and a Marshall Bluesbreaker amp.
Anyway, I advise you to have a look at wikipedia for a complete biography and discography of Gary Moore. In the meantime, here is a short selection of videos showing the master of tone in action:
Enough romance, here is a more political side of Gary Moore, it’s also what rock’n roll is all about (if you can forget the cheesy 80s video effects but you’ll have to admit that soloing on the Giant’s Causeway looks pretty cool).
And finally, the final 4 minute solo of empty rooms recorded in 1987, another example of amazing tone and phrasing:
I never saw Gary Moore live and always thought I would have an opportunity to do so but alas no… Rest in Peace Gary, you will be sorely missed.
Jeff Beck a.k.a the Walking Effect Unit
I stumbled upon this rendition of “Cause we’ve ended as lovers” by Jeff Beck and I thought I had to share it here. This goes to show how a seemingly simple guitar (here a Telecaster, or an Esquire) used with a simple distorted tone can be a real tone machine in the hands of a genius. I especially like the “Tremolo without any Tremolo” action at 2:00, you’d swear he’s using a Strat:
