Seeking guitar sound creation advice please

Hey all

 

I've had a break from my synths and making music for the sumnmer months (not that we actually had a summer here in the UK!!) and now that I have built my own custom music/synth/mac desk, and it's all set up again, I am starting to make time for some moooosic making!

 

So, what I am after is this.  I have an electric guitar that I dabble on, and I'd love to create a particular sound with the right effect for a section within a pseudo-prog piece I have started.  I guess for the seasoned guitar experts in here this might sound trivial, but I have no clue!  I am most certainly NOT a guitar player, never will be, as my fingers are way too fat!! but I can play the guitar to a level required of me to play the series of notes I want to create and record for this track.  What I would like to create is a mellow, long, sustained type of sound that I can add heaps of reverb on to, and strum/pluck the required string to get the effect I want.  It's sort of a series of long sustained notes on a single string, rising up a scale with pitch bends done by stretching the relevant string. The only sound I can recollect that sounds like the one I want to create is the gorgeous sound played by Steve Hackett on Genesis's Seconds Out album on the live track Carpet Crawlers. Like a gorgeous pad, but on a guitar!

 

What I can't seem to be able to create with any LogicX effect, is this very long, sustained note.

 

I wonder can anyone drop me some advice as to how I go about producing this type of sound please.  I'm not after any strad or les paul similar sound as I know with my guitar I'd not be able to reproduce that specific sound, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You want something like a Santana endless sustain, right? The note that keeps on going? 

Yes, sort of! Not quite endless, but one that continues at least without decaying too soon. The example I gave fits exactly i.e. Genesis' Carpet Crawlers live version on the album Seconds Out.  You can hear it clearly in this YT version, all through... but if you need specifics; 

00:53

1:20

1:52

3:40

 

etc etc

 

I can't hear that version it's blocked in the USA. The version I could find sounded like he was doing volume swells. Generally singing sustain is neck pickup+boost mids cut high frequencies

I’ll add humbucker pickups and slight compression before the guitar amp to get that tone.

Ah drat, sorry about that folks... I am sure a version of it will be available in USA. It's the live version of Carpet Crawlers, around 1977, the one off the album, Seconds Out, was recorded in Paris I think! 

 

I'm not sure he's doing volume swells, well at least not with his feet, as he is walking around on times during the track too!

 

Eric: so what would the total plugin path be for that channel, please?

Just gave a second listen to the original and he is definitely using an ebow.

A similar sound is all over this intro:

 

Going through a similar process myself at the moment, for a production I’m working on.

 

I’m not fortunate enough to have a guitar, but I’d do have a 5 string bass tuned E-C, then there are virtual guitars which will just have to the job for now. I am noticing though that it helps to have a “sound” to shoot for. Stabbing around blindly in th dark as a bit of a noob seems to be bit counter productive, but once you figure out what kind of tone you want you have something you can suddenly Google and do some research on.