Guitar Sound Effects

David Bowie Sound – Ashes To Ashes

Oct 27, 2009 Guitar Sound Experience
Posted by Fila

I must admit I had some hard time with this one. There are two guitars recorded on this song that are played differently rhythm-wise. The sound of each guitar is different as well but pretty simple for both of them (different EQ settings). And it is possible to make this song sound good with just one guitar if you strum it in the way that covers both rhythm guitars. Thats why I play this song with my band on regular basis.

The problem however is the intro which repeats in the middle and the end of the song. It is very wierd synth sounding and I have no idea what gear was used to get it (synth guitar, processed keyboards, or probably both?). Even with the finest guitar multieffecs I couldnt figure it out.

After a while I decided to stop trying to make the exact replica of that sound and create one of my own that would work fine for this part of the song. So I started playing around with my Boss PH3 phaser and Boss DD6 digital delay.

Listen to David Bowie Ashes to Ashes

Within 15 minutes I came up with the sound that made me and my bandmates go WOW!!! And the settings are:

Guitar: bridge pickup

Boss PH3: rate – 4 o clock, depth – 1-2 o clock, resonsnce – 3-4 o clock, stage 12

Boss DD6: Effect level – 2 o clock, Feedback – 11 o clock, Delay time 11- 12 o clock, Mode 300 ms

Both pedals are connected into stereo effects loop.

The phaser is used as a filter and stage 12 is a deep phasing effect that gives this synth- like spacy sound (it works as two six-stage phasers connected in series for a powerful phaser effect). Heavy resonance setting makes synth sound possible.

Delay adds ambience and is necesarry for those small repeats that make the sound huge but it is very interactive with the phasing effect and you must be careful that phased tone is not repeated randomly or it will create a mess which is unplayable. The settings depend on a place or the room you are playing in and have to be dialed in carefully. If you try to dial this sound dont stick to the above settings but try to find your own that will work for you.

After the intro the effect is off, and on the pre chorus I use Uni-vibe from Boss PW10 wah with range at 11 o clock and the pedal nearly all the way down (no drive). This actually has nothing to do with the original sound of the song but I use it simply because I like it as it modulates the sound nicely and adds some colour and dynamics into the song.

This is not a kind of sound you can use a lot because your playing may start to sound overwhelming and unmusical (and boring for that matter) but it is excellent for those small parts (played mostly one note at a time). It brings life to those seven notes from Ashes To Ashes that sound dull without right effects.

I repeat that this is not the exact sound found on a Bowie record, but it works very well and I assure you that it will make some positive reactions from the audience when played live.

Keep on rockin!

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