John Sykes tone with a Heartbreaker?

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JohnFox

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Hello
I was hoping someone out there would have an opinion on finding a John Sykes tone with my
Heartbreaker. I'm speaking specifically Thin Lizzy John Sykes ( Thunder and Lightning era) and solo recordings. I'm aware in Lizzy he used Marshall's, but used Boogies later to get a similar, if not higher gain tone. John used 2 Mesa Boogie Coliseum heads, these amps have a Mark III pre-amp section but use six 6L6 power tubes from what I've read (I am also using 6L6's in my Heartbreaker) he also used Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+'s, Mark III's. If you would have any suggestion of what settings would approximate his, it'd be appreciated
Also I would like do this without adding any pedal to the signal chain.

Thank you
 
JohnFox said:
Hello
I was hoping someone out there would have an opinion on finding a John Sykes tone with my
Heartbreaker. I'm speaking specifically Thin Lizzy John Sykes ( Thunder and Lightning era) and solo recordings. I'm aware in Lizzy he used Marshall's, but used Boogies later to get a similar, if not higher gain tone. John used 2 Mesa Boogie Coliseum heads, these amps have a Mark III pre-amp section but use six 6L6 power tubes from what I've read (I am also using 6L6's in my Heartbreaker) he also used Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+'s, Mark III's. If you would have any suggestion of what settings would approximate his, it'd be appreciated
Also I would like do this without adding any pedal to the signal chain.

Thank you
Have you tried EL34's? Here's a link to Heartbreaker demo using El34's. He also does a brief run through of the settings. The heartbreaker has a fairly steep learning curve. I wish I could be more help but I've not spent the time to fully utilize its capabilities. Hopefully something on this demo (probably last 3 or 4 minutes) will bring you closer to the sound you're looking for.

https://youtu.be/cZeQHaAMKyc
 
Hey Buster Leggs, Thanks for replying :)
I kind of would like to stick to the 6L6's in there ( its a hold over from playing a '76 Twin for so many years)
I watched the whole video front to back, and it is a good general starting point for sure. If anyone eles has any other thoughts it's be appreciated.
 
JohnFox said:
Hey Buster Leggs, Thanks for replying :)
I kind of would like to stick to the 6L6's in there ( its a hold over from playing a '76 Twin for so many years)
I watched the whole video front to back, and it is a good general starting point for sure. If anyone eles has any other thoughts it's be appreciated.

I hear ya I'm fond of 6L6's myself, just not in the heartbreaker . I think the closest you'll get to that John Sykes in Thin Lizzy sound is with el34 s. The heartbreaker is somewhat dark. I don't see that tone happening with setting adjustments. I have heard some mods to the heartbreaker that took it to a whole new level. Experimenting with speaker changes would also take it to a different place. Here's a clip of John Sykes doing Still of the Night in 95. Does anybody know what he's using here? I'm guessing Mark 3 coliseum's but I could be wrong. Either way I love that tone. I heard a modded Heartbreaker that was closer to this John Sykes tone in 95 then a stock Heartbreaker. Anyway good luck on your tone Quest the link below is the version of Still of the Night.
https://youtu.be/cWn_p0jxGMs
 
Buster Leggs said:
JohnFox said:
Hey Buster Leggs, Thanks for replying :)
I kind of would like to stick to the 6L6's in there ( its a hold over from playing a '76 Twin for so many years)
I watched the whole video front to back, and it is a good general starting point for sure. If anyone eles has any other thoughts it's be appreciated.

I hear ya I'm fond of 6L6's myself, just not in the heartbreaker . I think the closest you'll get to that John Sykes in Thin Lizzy sound is with el34 s. The heartbreaker is somewhat dark. I don't see that tone happening with setting adjustments. I have heard some mods to the heartbreaker that took it to a whole new level. Experimenting with speaker changes would also take it to a different place. Here's a clip of John Sykes doing Still of the Night in 95. Does anybody know what he's using here? I'm guessing Mark 3 coliseum's but I could be wrong. Either way I love that tone. I heard a modded Heartbreaker that was closer to this John Sykes tone in 95 then a stock Heartbreaker. Anyway good luck on your tone Quest the link below is the version of Still of the Night.
https://youtu.be/cWn_p0jxGMs


appreciate the info and input Buster, maybe i go a different route and try a treble booster ( ala Rory Gallager) or even a tube driver ( BK Butler style)
 
Buster Leggs said:
JohnFox said:
Hey Buster Leggs, Thanks for replying :)
I kind of would like to stick to the 6L6's in there ( its a hold over from playing a '76 Twin for so many years)
I watched the whole video front to back, and it is a good general starting point for sure. If anyone eles has any other thoughts it's be appreciated.

I hear ya I'm fond of 6L6's myself, just not in the heartbreaker . I think the closest you'll get to that John Sykes in Thin Lizzy sound is with el34 s. The heartbreaker is somewhat dark. I don't see that tone happening with setting adjustments. I have heard some mods to the heartbreaker that took it to a whole new level. Experimenting with speaker changes would also take it to a different place. Here's a clip of John Sykes doing Still of the Night in 95. Does anybody know what he's using here? I'm guessing Mark 3 coliseum's but I could be wrong. Either way I love that tone. I heard a modded Heartbreaker that was closer to this John Sykes tone in 95 then a stock Heartbreaker. Anyway good luck on your tone Quest the link below is the version of Still of the Night.
https://youtu.be/cWn_p0jxGMs

I see Mesa cabs in this vid -- can't see the heads/racks though. Another tool in his signal path is the Gibson Dirty Fingers pickup in the bridge. These were wound to about 20k and hit the front end very hard.
 
wildschwein said:
Buster Leggs said:
JohnFox said:
Hey Buster Leggs, Thanks for replying :)
I kind of would like to stick to the 6L6's in there ( its a hold over from playing a '76 Twin for so many years)
I watched the whole video front to back, and it is a good general starting point for sure. If anyone eles has any other thoughts it's be appreciated.

I hear ya I'm fond of 6L6's myself, just not in the heartbreaker . I think the closest you'll get to that John Sykes in Thin Lizzy sound is with el34 s. The heartbreaker is somewhat dark. I don't see that tone happening with setting adjustments. I have heard some mods to the heartbreaker that took it to a whole new level. Experimenting with speaker changes would also take it to a different place. Here's a clip of John Sykes doing Still of the Night in 95. Does anybody know what he's using here? I'm guessing Mark 3 coliseum's but I could be wrong. Either way I love that tone. I heard a modded Heartbreaker that was closer to this John Sykes tone in 95 then a stock Heartbreaker. Anyway good luck on your tone Quest the link below is the version of Still of the Night.
https://youtu.be/cWn_p0jxGMs

I see Mesa cabs in this vid -- can't see the heads/racks though. Another tool in his signal path is the Gibson Dirty Fingers pickup in the bridge. These were wound to about 20-20k and hit the front end very hard.
I'm using a DiMarzio Steve Morse in the bridge which is a pretty hot pickup, so I think i got that end covered pretty good
:)
 
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