# Mick Mars tone?



## Nicholas666

Last night I wen to see Kiss and Motley Crue...Motley shouldve played last cause Kiss wasnt as good..meaning their lights and stage....good concert in all!! Some opener played also..They were also tight!! I walked away with Mick mars tone stuck in my head!!!Anybody know how to get that tone??? Thanks!


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## kramer.geetar

From what I've read and remember, he uses super high output pickups. I mean really really high but still passive. Motley is in D standard and I believe Mick uses 11's? Though I might be wrong.


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## Nicholas666

Yeah i knew d standard....I saw a jmp1 in one picture..but he has soldanos and a jcm 800 also..


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## kramer.geetar

He's also using Plexi's


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## HeHasTheJazzHands

I believe he currently uses a Soldano SLO'S preamp into a VHT/Fryette power amp.

Edit: Nope, more extensive...
1 Jcm800
1 Rivera Bonehead
3 Soldano SLO100s
1 JMP-1 into a VHT 2/90/2
1 CAE 3+ SE into some older VHT power amps






His rig's been pretty consistent since the 90s.


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## shooto

he's using those old strats too...no more Super D's I think


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## mickeydg5

I love Mick Mars, his sound and of course that big ass "voltage machine".


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## HeHasTheJazzHands

shooto said:


> he's using those old strats too...no more Super D's I think



Nope. J.M. Rolph Pickups wound extra hot.

Also, his JCM800 is modded with an extra gain stage.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands

Mick Mars Uses Vintage Gear: Who Knew? : WoodyTone!

Heres a pretty interesting article. It turns out all of his amps are ran into the VHT power amps.

And that voltage box is a huge-ass variac.


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## Nicholas666

Wow....So I guess its a jcm 800 modded and a soldano I heard yesterday with chorus!!!


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## mickeydg5

There is a lot more than a mod, a extra gain stage and some chorus going on I bet. Look at that rack.


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## Nicholas666

Yeah he has a bucnh of stuff...last night i did hear chorus though..Im sure of it..It sounded Marshally also...But with so many marshall immitators u dont know


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## mickeydg5

I am thinking an arena. Definitley a chorusing affect going on there. I have not fooled with Micks sound in a long time but a good bit of preamp metalizing, some EQing, a little noise gating, with delay and reverb mixed depending.


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## Heritage Softail

I remember reading Mick used a variety of Marshall's with the Jose mod, but is quite the gear whore, and will try anything to get a specific feel or tone for a song. 

I can believe that looking t the rack pix! It looks like Mick never met an amp he didn't like. And his tone over the years has varied so much. Nearly Mötley was very thin and with weird mids, like in Looks That Kill. Then more normal in Wild Side. Then Metallica gave them the ultimate compliment when Lars said the tone they were chasing on the Black Album was from Dr Feelgood. 

I have a DSL 100. The best MM tone has been almost no bass and all mids for early Crüe. I think they went hard to the wet/dry from Shout and forward. I have been slaving a 5153 into the DSL to get that wide tone. Gonna flip it and try the DSL as the master soon. 

Neighbors only have so much patience!

Great forum y'all have here. I know very little of Marshall's bit have been playing for a while thru other manufacturers. 

Best Regards.


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## mickeydg5

Softail, I agree.
His beginning sound was more straight. Later albums had more (time based) processing. I think he likes a lot of mids and a little extra bass for rythym but drops all that and raises the highs for solos and stuff.


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## Heritage Softail

Mick a tough one too. He has more things wrong with him than a govt spending bill, but he keeps rockin on. Great at playing just enough.


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## Nicholas666

Heritage Softail said:


> Mick a tough one too. He has more things wrong with him than a govt spending bill, but he keeps rockin on. Great at playing just enough.



Yeah he has that weird bone like disease..


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## HOT TUBES 70

Mick's got a pretty good live sound , ive seen them several times , and he's always had a Marshall & a Soldano some where back stage !!


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## dixie hustler

Could be just me but I really like the to fast for love tone. So raw and angry.


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## ReiGnMaN

Nicholas666 said:


> Last night I wen to see Kiss and Motley Crue...Motley shouldve played last cause Kiss wasnt as good..meaning their lights and stage....good concert in all!! Some opener played also..They were also tight!! I walked away with Mick mars tone stuck in my head!!!Anybody know how to get that tone??? Thanks!




Old.
Jose Modified Marshall, tons of volume, seymour duncan JB, chorus pedal.

New.
Soldano SLO Preamp / VHT Power Amp / J.M. Rolph Pickups /


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## Nicholas666

I guess that thats the core of his tone huh?


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## scat7s

i heard 'girls girls girls' on the radio today...

horrible tone imo.


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## kramer.geetar

scat7s said:


> i heard 'girls girls girls' on the radio today...
> 
> horrible tone imo.



Sarcasm?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands

I also wasnt a fan of his early tones, to be honest. His tones on Dr Feelgood and later releases were quite a bit better, Imo.


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## Nicholas666

Saints of Los Angeles has cool tone


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## crossroadsnyc

I always thought Shout at the Devil had the best guitar tones. 

Funny story ... the first time I heard this album was around the time I had started playing guitar (1984 - age 10), and I happened to be over at my aunt's house. Anyway, my older cousin was a metal head, and knowing I was getting into the guitar, she thought she'd play the role of 'cool cousin', and introduced me to Shout at the Devil, and thus, Motley Crue ... I f'ing loved it. Incidentally (and this just makes the story so much cooler in my eyes), it's also the day I learned the word "fuck". While listening to the album, my cousin said something along the lines of 'this is so fucking great!' ... not wanting to appear out of the loop, I just rolled w/it. When I got home that night, I asked my parents "so, what does fuck mean?" ... they went ballistic hahaha. 

Learning about Motley Crue and the word "fuck" in the same day? A memory that'll stay w/me forever :cool2:


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## Nicholas666

Hahahahah I learned what fuck is in Greek..hahah Shout at the devil is amazing


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## newbies

Nicholas666 said:


> Saints of Los Angeles has cool tone



He used protools plugins for his guitar sound on saints.

I can get pretty close to his sound through my 2203 and MHD 5150s! Awesome player and they put on a great live show!!

Did he ever use stock jcm 800s at the start of motley? Or always with the gain mod


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## dreyn77

I've been avoiding this thread! but I can't any longer. I just listened to 'GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS' and that just sounded like a standard JMP low input with boost pedal (possibly MXR dist +) If you have the JMP low in Vol it gives you that brittle metallic gain that is all over that studio recording. Good playing, catchy tunes. 
If he stays at home lots then he's probibly going to get lots of gear and experiment to find new tones. (i heard he's got all the gear too) 
When you heard Motley Crue back in the 80's the 'bright tone' (and vince's voice) is what made them recognisable. The 'slick california metal' tone. which they lost with 'DOC feelgood' (druggie Sludge corperate rock) 
They have had 'MENTAL ILLNESS' for a long time!!!!!!!


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## scat7s

kramer.geetar said:


> Sarcasm?



no, i really think its pretty lousy.

all top and bottom, brittle and boomy, no "body".


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## HeHasTheJazzHands

newbies said:


> He used protools plugins for his guitar sound on saints.
> 
> I can get pretty close to his sound through my 2203 and MHD 5150s! Awesome player and they put on a great live show!!
> 
> Did he ever use stock jcm 800s at the start of motley? Or always with the gain mod



From what I believe, it was a 1973 Jose-modded JMP. Mick sold it to Richard Fortus of Guns 'n Hoaxes and he uses it on tour with them.

Go to about 9:40.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xN2UuwUk8g[/ame]


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## DWK302

Mick Mars must be one of the most underrated rock guitar players of all time. Straight money, but always overlooked.


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## Dmann

scat7s said:


> no, i really think its pretty lousy.
> 
> all top and bottom, brittle and boomy, no "body".



I disagree, I've seen them live several times over the last 25 years and His live tone always totally smoked. his Mix with Nikki and Tommy is the perfect 80's 3 piece sound IMO.


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## scat7s

Dmann said:


> I disagree, I've seen them live several times over the last 25 years and His live tone always totally smoked. his Mix with Nikki and Tommy is the perfect 80's 3 piece sound IMO.


 

never seen them, i was talking about the "girls girls girls" tone.


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## Nicholas666

scat7s said:


> never seen them, i was talking about the "girls girls girls" tone.



You should before they are done..They put on a excellent show


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## LAARS

Nicholas666 said:


> Last night I wen to see Kiss and Motley Crue...Motley shouldve played last cause Kiss wasnt as good..meaning their lights and stage....good concert in all!! Some opener played also..They were also tight!! I walked away with Mick mars tone stuck in my head!!!Anybody know how to get that tone??? Thanks!



Contact Trace Davis at Voodoo amps..... He has worked on Micks amp that was used on the Dr Feel good album and knows the mods done to it.

Here is the link at rig talk. 
Rig-Talk &bull; View topic - Who does the best Jose sounding mod?

_As we have received emails regarding this thread I thought I would post here - Our HG-Jose Mod is not the same as the schematic that has been posted on this forum. While that is a cool sounding circuit Jose performed many different Mods. We also worked on the Jose modded Marshall Mick Mars used on Motley Crue's “Dr Feelgood“ album. It is a very cool amp and capable of a lot of many different tones but nails those tones perfectly. It was voiced with Celestion Greenbacks and while it works with other speaker types it sounds best with Greenbacks. Much like most of his amps we have worked on it used all tube distortion (no zeners). Also a majority of these have the Master Volume after the EQ section.


Have a great day guys!
Trace 

_


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## Nicholas666

LAARS said:


> Contact Trace Davis at Voodoo amps..... He has worked on Micks amp that was used on the Dr Feel good album and knows the mods done to it.
> 
> Here is the link at rig talk.
> Rig-Talk &bull; View topic - Who does the best Jose sounding mod?
> 
> _As we have received emails regarding this thread I thought I would post here - Our HG-Jose Mod is not the same as the schematic that has been posted on this forum. While that is a cool sounding circuit Jose performed many different Mods. We also worked on the Jose modded Marshall Mick Mars used on Motley Crue's “Dr Feelgood“ album. It is a very cool amp and capable of a lot of many different tones but nails those tones perfectly. It was voiced with Celestion Greenbacks and while it works with other speaker types it sounds best with Greenbacks. Much like most of his amps we have worked on it used all tube distortion (no zeners). Also a majority of these have the Master Volume after the EQ section.
> 
> 
> Have a great day guys!
> Trace
> 
> _


Thanks you sir!!! That was pretty intrested.!


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## Voodoo Amps

Nicholas666 said:


> Thanks you sir!!! That was pretty intrested.!



Thank you Larrs for spotting this. We did in fact work on Mick Mars' #1 recording amp and Richard Fortus of Guns N' Roses purchased it from Mick as mentioned in the video Rig Rundown posted up above. 

A few years ago we received the amp as Richard needed a back up. We have worked on many Jose Modded Marshalls over the years but this one was different. I have seen some others that were some what close but Richard was right when he said this amp was head and shoulders above the others. The back story goes; Mick was selling some of his Marshalls and Modded Marshalls. He had about 50 amps and approximately 25 were Jose Modded. Richard tried them all and really liked a specific one. Mick said "That is my #1 favorite recording amp and I retired it from the road." Richard said he would pick another one but as he insisted that Richard take the one he connected with. 

Richard purchased the amp from Mick and wanted to take it on the road. Much the same as any pro player that tours, Richard needed a back up amp. When I connected with Richard he had 3 other amp companies try to build a clone but for what ever reason they seemed to fall short for him. 

The amp started life in 1973 as a 4 input 1959 model Super Lead. Richard sent the amp to me so I could go through it as it was in need of some TLC. When we received the amp, there were some other 73' Super Leads on the pallet. The idea was to go through and find the amp that would best match the Jose Modded amp. Though the amps were all manufactured within 3 months of one another the transformers were all different from one another. Voltages varied, lam thickness varied, etc. I settled on one that I felt would be the best choice, which happens to also be featured in the Rig Rundown video up above. 

I also suggested that he let me build him a true clone from the ground up so that we could truly match the amp properly as it was such a cool sounding amp. I had Mercury Magnetics clone the transformers from the original Jose Modded Marshall and we built a replica for Richard. He toured with it as the main amp and after he played with Thin Lizzy the amp stayed in Europe so he could use it when he was there (he now has 2 prototype amps of his signature series).

We have done this same Mod for a few other well known players and also offer it to the public, for those in the know that is (lol). Without transformers the Mod tends to run $595. The Mod has to be done on a 100watt 1959 Super Lead, reissue or 70's version. If anyone is interested please feel free to email or call me at the shop. 

Time to head to bed as I have to travel to NYC to meet up with Aerosmith at Madison Square Garden. All the best and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! 


Cheers; 
Trace


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## diesect20022000

Nicholas666 said:


> Yeah i knew d standard....I saw a jmp1 in one picture..but he has soldanos and a jcm 800 also..


 he's oldschool man he just gets a plexi, super strat with high gain pickups and floors it. if i get more info though i'll be sure to pass it along to you my friend


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## AdamR

His tone on Live wire is the tone thats stuck in my head. Love it.


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## CaptainZero

One of my favorite bands to see live. Scat, you should check them out sometime. Great show.


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## Billyblades

Trace,,, thats a great story. I followed your progress for over a dozen yrs now. Good stuff!


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## Billyblades

Jose was the man! And still is!


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## Voodoo Amps

Billyblades said:


> Trace,,, thats a great story. I followed your progress for over a dozen yrs now. Good stuff!



Wow thanks Billy, that was very nice of you to post and I sincerely appreciate that! 

Just got into the shop after 8 hours on the road and 4 hours of sleep (need strong coffee—lol) Worked on some amps for Brad Whitford and Joe Perry backstage at Madison Square Garden yesterday and dropped off 1 of our new 1x12” Iso-Cabs. If you haven't seen Aerosmith live recently, I have to say it's a must. They are outstanding and man can that band they play! 

I have to put the finishing touches on a guitar switcher I just finished designing. It has 1 in 6 outs that are transformer isolated, each output has a stop switch as well as a phase reverse & ground lift for each output. You can send the signal anywhere or run up to 6 amps at once. 

It’s time to wake up and get some espresso! (lol) Happy Thanksgiving to those in the states and I hope everyone else has a great week. 


Cheers; 
Trace


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## Nicholas666

Voodoo Amps said:


> Thank you Larrs for spotting this. We did in fact work on Mick Mars' #1 recording amp and Richard Fortus of Guns N' Roses purchased it from Mick as mentioned in the video Rig Rundown posted up above.
> 
> A few years ago we received the amp as Richard needed a back up. We have worked on many Jose Modded Marshalls over the years but this one was different. I have seen some others that were some what close but Richard was right when he said this amp was head and shoulders above the others. The back story goes; Mick was selling some of his Marshalls and Modded Marshalls. He had about 50 amps and approximately 25 were Jose Modded. Richard tried them all and really liked a specific one. Mick said "That is my #1 favorite recording amp and I retired it from the road." Richard said he would pick another one but as he insisted that Richard take the one he connected with.
> 
> Richard purchased the amp from Mick and wanted to take it on the road. Much the same as any pro player that tours, Richard needed a back up amp. When I connected with Richard he had 3 other amp companies try to build a clone but for what ever reason they seemed to fall short for him.
> 
> The amp started life in 1973 as a 4 input 1959 model Super Lead. Richard sent the amp to me so I could go through it as it was in need of some TLC. When we received the amp, there were some other 73' Super Leads on the pallet. The idea was to go through and find the amp that would best match the Jose Modded amp. Though the amps were all manufactured within 3 months of one another the transformers were all different from one another. Voltages varied, lam thickness varied, etc. I settled on one that I felt would be the best choice, which happens to also be featured in the Rig Rundown video up above.
> 
> I also suggested that he let me build him a true clone from the ground up so that we could truly match the amp properly as it was such a cool sounding amp. I had Mercury Magnetics clone the transformers from the original Jose Modded Marshall and we built a replica for Richard. He toured with it as the main amp and after he played with Thin Lizzy the amp stayed in Europe so he could use it when he was there (he now has 2 prototype amps of his signature series).
> 
> We have done this same Mod for a few other well known players and also offer it to the public, for those in the know that is (lol). Without transformers the Mod tends to run $595. The Mod has to be done on a 100watt 1959 Super Lead, reissue or 70's version. If anyone is interested please feel free to email or call me at the shop.
> 
> Time to head to bed as I have to travel to NYC to meet up with Aerosmith at Madison Square Garden. All the best and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!
> 
> 
> Cheers;
> Trace


Damn!!!! That amp has a story huh?!


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## Nicholas666

diesect20022000 said:


> he's oldschool man he just gets a plexi, super strat with high gain pickups and floors it. if i get more info though i'll be sure to pass it along to you my friend



Thanks Die!! How is the whole record deal going?!


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## Badmonkey

slash is Unsuccessful imitation of mick mars

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyDLXVbE6YU[/ame]


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## Billyblades

Trace,,, the amp switcher sounds awesome .
Yeah dude us east coast boys gotta stick together haha.

Anyway take care man!


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## dreyn77

Man I tell yah, the planet is ROUND! no east/ west coast.


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## Nicholas666

I was scared you were going to comment ...


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## Billyblades

I laugh at people who are assholes for no reason!

When i go buck wild i have a legitimate cause behind it. 

But let me pay attention and give dude his 2 second validation. He is going to be so bored by my lack of reaction to his bullshit he will go back to lookin for his lost pecker.

Ok dreyn77,,, i know,,, i know.. your stuck in your bedroom with no woman, a full bottle of lotion and you cant find your junk. I understand you must hate the world but you were on my other posts ...

like a bug flyin around the light my brother.

This is not the fight your looking for...


Trace ,,, badass!


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## rmlevasseur

Coulda sworn i read Mick used Scholz stuff on Girls


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## thrawn86

I love his tone on Shout At The Devil and Looks That Kill.


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## Billyblades

Ikr this thread had me on youtube listening to old crue... 

I wasnt into them as much as the girls were but the sound is pure Jose.

He did alot of mods. Some sounded super and some are not that great to me but he modded for a variety of picky dudes who wanted more gain than the last guy.


Some people search for the gain at its highest and the best Jose mods are the ones in the low to the upper middle of the spectrum. There is a level that is too much gain


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## Nicholas666

This might be a stupid question...But I will ask anyway!  Did Mick always use the beat to shit white (70s?) Fender Superstrat??


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## Billyblades

He used to use les pauls then he went to the Strat styles. I never followed him that much so i cant say what he used. Maybe someone here knows more indepth info.

I think he was fond of the sd jb humbucker and used Jose modded Marshalls until Drr Feelgood where he did the Soldano deal.


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## Nicholas666

yeah I heard about the whole Jose/Plexi thing..I think he used Dimarzio Super Distortions though not SD JBs..I might be wrong though!


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## Billyblades

Superdistortion was the main pickup of choice in the late 70s/early 80s which might have been in his Les Pauls.

He looks like he might have been in the Kiss Army lol. Thats what Frehley used

I think the JB was in the "Kramer " era ...


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## Nicholas666

He used Kramers?? Where the hell have I been!!


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## newbies

I was under the impression he used...... (may not be exact)

-sd jbs early on
-too fast for love 81-83 tours - les paul customs
-shout at the devil 83-84 tour - les paul customs, bc rich warlock, gibson flying v, guild flying star
-Theatre of pain 85-86 tour - hamer explores,kramer barrettes & pacers
-girls girls girls 87-88 tour - custom shop kramer telecasters

he is the type of player that will play anything the sounds good!


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## Nicholas666

he is the type of player that will play anything the sounds good!

Υοu are totally right...Judging from his amp collection he uses whatever he likes.!


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## Voodoo Amps

I noticed some were asking which amp was used on the Motley recordings, etc. It is my understanding that his #1 recording amp that was purchased by Richard was used on all the Motley records until he sold it to Richard. 

What I can say for sure if that if you plug this amp into a Celestion Greenback loaded cabinet it nails the Dr Feelgood tones and you can also get the tones from Girls, Girls, Girls. It sounds good on several other Celestions but I am almost 100% certain that Jose voiced this to Greenbacks. It's also my understanding that Jose has several speaker cabinets loaded with various speakers so he could voice an amp to what ever speaker you were using. Granted there are far more speaker choices available today and we have numerous speakers here at the shop but for Modded Marshalls the Celestions do seem to fit the bill well. 

I also believe the Kramer era brought the use of the Seymour Duncan JB pickup in the bridge. The JB into that Modded Marshall has the Dr Feelgood tone (to my ears that is). 


Have a great Monday gang! 
Trace


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## BobPeabody67

He also used Kramer Teles during Dr.Feelgood. He used anything he wanted during the Decade Of Decadence era. I know of like 3 or 4 Les Pauls, a Charvel or two, and probably the leftover Teles. The 90's is kinda a blur for everybody. Since Vince left and John Corabi filled in and Tommy left before New Tattoo. Nobody knows about then. I really doubt any of them know either. But by New Tattoo, I believe he started with his Strats and have used them ever since then. I personally like his Teles, and Nikki's Spectorbirds.


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## NewReligion

Voodoo Amps said:


> Thank you Larrs for spotting this. We did in fact work on Mick Mars' #1 recording amp and Richard Fortus of Guns N' Roses purchased it from Mick as mentioned in the video Rig Rundown posted up above.
> 
> A few years ago we received the amp as Richard needed a back up. We have worked on many Jose Modded Marshalls over the years but this one was different. I have seen some others that were some what close but Richard was right when he said this amp was head and shoulders above the others. The back story goes; Mick was selling some of his Marshalls and Modded Marshalls. He had about 50 amps and approximately 25 were Jose Modded. Richard tried them all and really liked a specific one. Mick said "That is my #1 favorite recording amp and I retired it from the road." Richard said he would pick another one but as he insisted that Richard take the one he connected with.
> 
> Richard purchased the amp from Mick and wanted to take it on the road. Much the same as any pro player that tours, Richard needed a back up amp. When I connected with Richard he had 3 other amp companies try to build a clone but for what ever reason they seemed to fall short for him.
> 
> The amp started life in 1973 as a 4 input 1959 model Super Lead. Richard sent the amp to me so I could go through it as it was in need of some TLC. When we received the amp, there were some other 73' Super Leads on the pallet. The idea was to go through and find the amp that would best match the Jose Modded amp. Though the amps were all manufactured within 3 months of one another the transformers were all different from one another. Voltages varied, lam thickness varied, etc. I settled on one that I felt would be the best choice, which happens to also be featured in the Rig Rundown video up above.
> 
> I also suggested that he let me build him a true clone from the ground up so that we could truly match the amp properly as it was such a cool sounding amp. I had Mercury Magnetics clone the transformers from the original Jose Modded Marshall and we built a replica for Richard. He toured with it as the main amp and after he played with Thin Lizzy the amp stayed in Europe so he could use it when he was there (he now has 2 prototype amps of his signature series).
> 
> We have done this same Mod for a few other well known players and also offer it to the public, for those in the know that is (lol). Without transformers the Mod tends to run $595. The Mod has to be done on a 100watt 1959 Super Lead, reissue or 70's version. If anyone is interested please feel free to email or call me at the shop.
> 
> Time to head to bed as I have to travel to NYC to meet up with Aerosmith at Madison Square Garden. All the best and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!
> 
> 
> Cheers;
> Trace



Thanks for the information Trace. This deserves a bump.

David ♫


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## Badmonkey

old - les paul = sound like crap
new - SS = sound so F-word good


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