Effects to use on a guitar solo?

[Hyde189]

i need some ideas on effects to use on a bland solo to bring it out of the mix. i do not have a huge selection of plugins and not a large budget to spend on new ones so whatever can be done in the nearly basic PT7.3 for guitar solos.

[Droid6]

You can get Waves GTR Solo for free for a year HERE and that would be a good starting point.

[whitetar]

can i use this without having any other Waves applications previously installed?

[vocalvoodoo]

Yep! It's the only Waves plugin I have installed. Pretty good plugin too, especially for a year free.

[albee1952]

You could start with doubling by inserting the medieum delay mono in/stereo out and set the 2 sides for something like 20ms and 35ms, no feedbacl and 100% wet(or use an aux send to an aux track with this plugin). Maybe a touch of verb(if you use the aux track for the delay, send that to a verb). I always insert the verb on its own stereo aux track and send to it. Play around with the balance of the dry vs delay vs verb and see what you get.

[wwittman]

I find it honestly fascinating that without even knowing what the music is like, what the rest of the sounds are like, or how the guitar sounds at present (other than "bland"), people can be seriously suggesting effects


the best way to make a solo "stand out in the track" is to make it LOUD.

[will the moor]

if you think the solo is bland, it probably is (eg perhaps effects aren't the issue). Did you play the solo? Can you re-record it or come up with something new?

[CME]

Originally Posted by will the moor

if you think the solo is bland, it probably is (eg perhaps effects aren't the issue). Did you play the solo? Can you re-record it or come up with something new?

No offense but that was my first thoughts also. IMO fx and plug-ins are to enhance a good performance. I great solo through a practice amp will still sound reasonable. But a bland solo through the best equipment in the world is still a bland solo.

[groovilator]

have you tried the Funk Logic Masterizer? (i'm only half-joking - well maybe two-thirds joking - i've actually gotten use out of it but not with guitar)

but seriously, to respond to the earlier post - "how can we suggest effects for something we haven't heard" - the answer there is because some of us have proven techniques that have been used in a number of contexts and worked - and because we're just suggesting ..

so, use of any number of long and short delay options through an aux channel is always a good thing to try, being careful not to wash out your track (unless the laundry sound suits your taste) .. personally, i occasionally like to use a short delay set between 0 - 10 ms for a chorus effect .. i've also experimented a lot with duplicating a track and then nudging it around, changing the eq, slightly altering the pitch, panning it around .. most of the time these experimentations go nowhere but every once in a while the planets align and give me something interesting and unique ..

also, without having heard the example in question i have to echo the earlier suggestion that maybe it just needs to be replayed .. if you're lacking in chops or just can't seem to nail it, try doing multiple takes and editing something together .. you might surprise yourself ..

bottom line, there may not be a quick solution that satisfies you .. time and creativity may be what you need ..

just throwing stuff out ..

[AR3]

Hi, maybe you could try using some Reverb and or Delay to fatten it up...Also maybe a little compression but not too much might help