John Mayeris known for his love of Dumble amplifiers, seen by many as the pinnacle of boutique tube-driven tones. His new albumSob Rock, however, made use of a surprising and much more modern feature: digital modelling courtesy of aFractal Audio Systemseffects unit.
In a new interview withGuitar World, Mayer tells the story of how he came to include the digital modeller maligned by many tube-amp fans. Mayer explains how his approach to achieving this feel was twofold: “As much as I was thinking ‘what would I have done then? [in the 1980s]’, I was asking ‘what wouldtheyhave done now?’”
Everything aboutSob Rockis primed to work towards an 1980s aesthetic, the album’s title itself a“shitposting”play on soft rock.
He concluded: “If somebody had walked a Fractal into theThrillersessions… You would have heard a Fractal all over that record. There’s just no doubt about it.”
One concrete example of the Fractal onSob Rockis the solo onWild Blue, which Mayer says was played through one of its clean settings – and fingerpicked because he couldn’t find a pick.
Mayer didn’t abandon the Dumble entirely forSob Rock, however, as it fit in well with the polished and inoffensive aesthetic he was aiming for.
“ Dumble确实与1980年代初的会议工作相交，对吧？”他说。“史蒂夫·雷·沃恩（Stevie Ray Vaughan）在那个笨拙的世界中是一种异常现象，因为几乎所有其他使用笨拙的人都做得很干净。我的意思是，我知道像拉里·卡尔顿（Larry Carlton）和罗本·福特（Robben Ford）这样的人正在使它失真，但这主要是您在那个放大器上听到的简洁的音调。因此，它确实非常非常好，可以很好地搭下一个银色的天空，这已经有点像fi，然后经过笨拙的跑步。”
对于他的吉他音调的管 - 安培部分，Mayer不仅使用笨拙：该音调是在频谱的不同部分使用许多不同放大器构建的。
On top of the Dumble, a direct signal and a Fractal, Mayer used “an oldFendercombo for the softness. Because those old Fenders apologise really well for the notes.”
Sob Rockwas released last month. You can check outGuitar.com’s reviewhere, if you fancy finding out how much apologising that Fender combo needed to do.