Tom uses no effects at all live, and plugs straight into the amp. He uses no reverb, and he gets his clean tone by maxing out the master volume on a Marshall JCM900's distortion channel, while keeping the Gain on about 2. This then comes out of a 4x12 cab with Celestion 25-watt Greenbacks. For his Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier, he has two 4x12 cabs loaded with Celestion V-30's. He switches between the two (in 1999) by a Whirlwind A/B selecter. He also uses a Boogie Mark series amp, a Marshall JMP-1 pre-amp, and a MESA Triaxis pre-amp. His Microphones that he uses to mic his equipment are the following Shure mics:
Guitar Cabinet: KSM32
Guitar Cabinet: SM7A
Monitors: PSM 700
When recording Box Car Racer, Tom used a Matchless, a Dumble, and a Hiwatt amp, and he would split the guitar signal so it would run to the three amps at once. He would then record them onto seperate tracks each, and fade them till it was how he wanted it to sound, then he would mix it down to one track, and do the same thing again.
I have found these settings are true to the sound Tom had
when he played SNL:
P: 1:00 - 2:00
G: 1:00 - 2:00
B: 7:00 - 8:00
M: 8:00 - 9:00
T: 2:00 - 3:00
All these numbers are theoretical positions
arcording to a clock, meaning the specified
position is where the dot on the knob
should be alined. (Thanks to Sacs for these).
Settings from Guitar World. Clean tones coming soon!
