The Guitar Players Thread - Help each other play Maiden songs

Deanatron said:
Question for all you guitar players...I've been messing about trying to create some Maiden patches for my Line 6 floorboard. I've got a lovely sounding clean tone & a rhythm tone that seems to work but I'm struggling on a decent lead tone - I've got some delay & reverb in there and a tube screamer style boost on but it sounds a bit weak to me. Anyone got any tips? what FX do you use when soloing along to Maiden?
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I'm using a Line 6 POD HD Pro as a preamp / FX unit, into a Marshall 9005 power amp, for the role of Dave Murray in an Iron Maiden tribute band I just joined. (My first gig with them is in a couple weeks; I'll probably upgrade to a JMP-1 and TC G-Force after a few more gigs, but this setup is working pretty well so far.)

For a couple of my lead patches, I deviated from "canon" and based them off the Soldano SLO100 model for that high-gain, creamy neck pickup sound Dave uses. (My rhythm patches are based on JCM800 models.) Other lead patches are JCM800 with compressor, "Tube Drive," delay (different settings ranging from around 130ms to 390ms, depending on what I need it for - fast to help fast legato runs or trills sound faster, long when I need lots of sustain like for the "Run to the Hills" intro), and phase (0.3 Hz speed) & wah that are off by default but can be switched in when needed.

For the first lead in Powerslave, I used the SLO100 patch with compression, delay (261 ms, one repeat), and "Script Phase" (Phase 90) at about 0.5 Hz speed.

Here's me testing it out when I was first dialing it in, prior to my full-band audition; there was still a little tweaking to do in this clip and my playing has gotten better since too, but it was pretty darn close here.


Don't forget the noise gate effect as the last part of your signal chain before the power amp - for any of your patches, clean, crunch, or high-gain. Makes a big difference.
 
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I think you're half-right about the "half-played notes" / "random hand movements." But it's most definitely not random; it's all within the scale they're using for the solo.

I was struggling with the notes during the second section of that lead for a long time too (if you break it into four sections, each corresponding to one run-through of the chord progression) -- trying to study tabs, slow it down in Audacity, everything. Then one day I tried just trilling my way down the scale in 16th-note triplets -- I don't want to say sloppily, but not thinking too hard about exactly which notes of the scale I hit -- and it just kind of "clicked."

Remember Dave's a "feel" player who doesn't really compose his solos, so don't think too hard about it or it will mess you up. Pick your starting point and your ending point, have a general idea of how you want to get there, and think of Chevy Chase in Caddyshack - "Be the Ball" -- and you might surprise yourself like I did.

The Nomad said:
I'm in the middle of learning the first solo in 2 Minutes To Midnight. I do this by slowing the song down in the program Audacity. I want to ask a more general question related to this. The thing I noticed is how some notes are almost impossible to make out even if you slow the thing down by a million times. Are these supposed to be 'mistakes' or 'unclear' playing by the guitarists?
If I had to form a theory on this I would say because these guys are so talented that when they play solos they don't exactly tab them out note for note beforehand but just play naturally and this sometimes result in 'half-played notes' or random hand movements around the neck. How should I handle these segments? I'm kind of a perfectionist so it kinda frustrates me when I listen to a particular phrase for over 100 times and still can't map out how to exactly play it. What should be my approach to this issue?
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AlexS said:
For a couple of my lead patches, I deviated from "canon" and based them off the Soldano SLO100 model for that high-gain, creamy neck pickup sound Dave uses. (My rhythm patches are based on JCM800 models.) Other lead patches are JCM800 with compressor, "Tube Drive," delay (different settings ranging from around 130ms to 390ms, depending on what I need it for - fast to help fast legato runs or trills sound faster, long when I need lots of sustain like for the "Run to the Hills" intro), and phase (0.3 Hz speed) & wah that are off by default but can be switched in when needed.

For the first lead in Powerslave, I used the SLO100 patch with compression, delay (261 ms, one repeat), and "Script Phase" (Phase 90) at about 0.5 Hz speed.

Don't forget the noise gate effect as the last part of your signal chain before the power amp - for any of your patches, clean, crunch, or high-gain. Makes a big difference.
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cool, thanks for the tips, I'll try these out when I get the chance! I've been enjoying messing around with the POD, it's capable of some great sounds - Don't think they deserve all the hate they get online.
 
Deanatron said:
cool, thanks for the tips, I'll try these out when I get the chance! I've been enjoying messing around with the POD, it's capable of some great sounds - Don't think they deserve all the hate they get online.
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I'm still tweaking all my tones, and have changed them a bit since my last post. Mostly phase (longer - like 1.1 Hz) and delay (about 30% feedback). Dave uses a Phase 90 with speed knob set on about 11 o'clock - I have to do a side-by-side comparison with the Script Phase effect on the POD so I can get the speed just right, but haven't done that yet.
 
The Hal Leonard books are usually pretty good. The Iron Maiden Anthology (same publisher) was good enough, despite some questionable song choices (e.g. No Prayer For the Dying but no Hallowed). I'm surprised this was even made, since TBOS was the first album since Virtual XI not to get a TAB book.
 
Not sure, I can only assume that sales on these books have sharply declined with Guitar Pro and stuff. A lot of online tabs tend to be more accurate too. Also, none of the music stores in my area ever stocked the Maiden books (other than Anthology) so maybe there wasn't much demand. Length could play a part too.
 
jazz from hell said:
Who knows when Marshall had this logo, if at all?
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When someone tried to mock up a Marshall amp in a graphic design program but couldn't find an exact match script font?

The 'M' has never been that curly, and the script logo 'l's have always had a loop.
 
Im trying to learn complete Maiden songs from start to ending, and so far I only know Paschendale (excluding the solos).

Can anyone give me some recommendations for fairly easy songs to learn as a whole?
 
Wrathchild. Easy riffs, easy leads. There's a reason it's their favorite song to play.
 
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