Best modern rock lead amps / profiles

  • Marshall amp with overdrive

    Alnico 5 pickups

    Thats the recipe for neoclassical tone


    some of my guitars have a ceramic magnet in the bridge and alnico in the neck. This gives you more of a modern tone. The ceramic gives you tons of gain for rhythms and the alnico is warm for sweeps and runs.


    one great trick for leads is to set the delay at 325ms so it just thickens your sound. ?

  • Agreed. I often use a 300ms delay, set for a couple of repeats, mixed almost too quiet to hear. It functions like a reverb without pushing the guitar back into the mix.

    exactly how i use delay. I rarely use delay as an echo. If you use it like this it really beefs up the tone.

  • Yes if you want more of that warmer tone you will need passive pickups. Active pickups, some love them or hate them. I like both but active won't give you that warmer sound only passive can. Passive pickups and a tubescreamer, that's how to get that 80's lead tones. Yes I have gone thru many pickups thru the years. Those pickups I already mentioned are among the most popular pickups and are used from everything from pop to metal. But of course there are others too. What guitar and pickups are you using right now?

    Ibanez GRG250DX year 2011 with original mounted pickups :

    Pickup configuration:
    HSH
    Bridge pickup:
    2009–2014: Ibanez Powersound 2 (H)
    Middle pickup:
    2009–2014: Ibanez Powersound Single (S)
    Neck pickup:
    2009–2014: Ibanez Powersound 1 (H)
  • Marshall amp with overdrive

    Alnico 5 pickups

    Thats the recipe for neoclassical tone


    some of my guitars have a ceramic magnet in the bridge and alnico in the neck. This gives you more of a modern tone. The ceramic gives you tons of gain for rhythms and the alnico is warm for sweeps and runs.


    one great trick for leads is to set the delay at 325ms so it just thickens your sound. ?

    What do mean with overdrive? With a overdrive pedal infront?

  • What do mean with overdrive? With a overdrive pedal infront?

    yes. Sometimes i will use a real overdrive pedal in front of the kemper. You can also get a good marshall profile and boost it with the green scream in the kemper which is really great for simplicity.
    overdrive in front of the amp is how you get singing sustain for leads.
    another great trick is to use a fair amount of compression for gain and sustain but you have to adjust the amps eq accordingly.

  • Ibanez GRG are very cheap Ibanez guitars and....you get what you pay for. Ibanez own pickups(made by Dimarzio)are at best mediocre. With a cheap guitar you can't expect more overall better sound no matter what you do. There's no point swapping pickups with that guitar. Get yourself a better guitar. Today there are so many great guitars second hand for a good price. In more than 15 years I've only purchased one new guitar. The rest of all guitars I own have own have been second hand.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau