UAFX Lion: Pete Thorn, Blues Saraceno & James Santiago at Sound City Studios
Shop the Universal Audio UAFX Lion ‘68 Super Lead Amp pedal ???? https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Universal_Audio_UAFX_Lion_68_Super_Lead_Amp_Pedal
Shop the Universal Audio UAD Sound City Studios plug-in ???? https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Universal_Audio_UAD_Sound_City_Studios_Plug-in
During our recent excursion to Los Angeles, Sweetwater had the opportunity to support a meeting of the musical minds, hosting an exhilarating roundtable discussion at the legendary Sound City Studios. Sweetwater’s own metal maestro, Nick Bowcott, is joined by a trio of guitar gurus: solo and session artist Pete Thorn; prodigy and shredder extraordinaire Blues Saraceno; and Universal Audio senior project manager and sound designer James Santiago, a.k.a. the leading mind behind the UAFX Lion pedal. What began as a deep dive into the sonic properties of the Lion soon gave way to a multidimensional masterclass on gear, philosophy, art, and the history of the pioneering spirit of seeking new sounds. Basically, they’re nerding out on all things sound in the best possible way. Plus, Fender — James’s adorable dog — makes a cameo!
00:00:00 — Play in and Intro
00:01:09 — What This Video Is About (Allegedly!)
00:03:04 — James Santiago: Lion ’68 Settings
00:03:22 — Super Lead Bright Cap: in or Out?
00:09:04 — Channel Blending/Jumping Hack
00:12:10 — Pete’s Lion ’68 Settings
00:17:54 — 100-watt Plexi Cranked: Too Loud for Today?!
00:23:24 — No Place to Hide . . .
00:28:48 — Blues Saraceno: Lion ’68 Settings
00:39:21 — Early Marshalls — Circuit Changes & Component Tolerances
00:43:52 — Nick Bowcott: Lion ’68 Settings
00:45:50 — Layering Gain — The Old-school Way
00:46:44 — Transformer Sag & Sound
00:51:47 — The Importance of Bias & Tubes
00:53:39 — Transformer Ghosting
00:55:47 — Beauty and Imperfection
01:03:31 — Keeping It (Un)real?
01:08:00 — Pioneers & Unsung Heroes
01:20:08 — Pete Goes EVH!
01:30:50 — Thank You & Good Night!
Dive deep into Universal Audio with Sweetwater’s Beyond the Gear ???? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itap2skoMOc
Discover how the UAD Sound City Studios plug-in came to life ???? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wkz9usR7Cw
Learn more about James Santiago’s sound with his installment of What’s on Your Pedalboard? ???? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mUvuXp6DIo
Hear James Santiago discuss the roots and development of the UAFX Lion pedal ???? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d3WF3IO3eI
Check out more Sweetwater factory tours and more ???? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlczpwSXEOyYUGOPzJUYkU8M-6nnCAW99
Keep up with Pete Thorn, Blues Saraceno, and James Santiago on Instagram ????
@petethornguitarist ???? https://www.instagram.com/petethornguitarist/
@bluessaraceno ???? https://www.instagram.com/bluessaraceno/
@jamessantiagoguitargeek ???? https://www.instagram.com/jamessantiagoguitargeek/
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#Sweetwater #UAFX #Lion #UniversalAudio #SoundCityStudios #PeteThorn #BluesSaraceno #JamesSantiago #NickBowcott
#UAFX #Lion #Pete #Thorn #Blues #Saraceno #James #Santiago #Sound #City #Studios
Originally posted by UC1kdsZUTDSW1BtsHEoYx4WQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI950AcZmTI
If you were hosting a dream roundtable discussion on sound or gear, who would you want to see pulling up a chair? Tell us in the comments below, and don’t forget to drop by Sweetwater for a closer look at the UAFX Lion pedal ???? https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Universal_Audio_UAFX_Lion_68_Super_Lead_Amp_Pedal
What a blessing “James Santiago”, genuinely a normal genius. Great guests here , timeless. Loved it. ❤
What is that riff Nick plays in the intro? Ive heard that before for sure
Can I connect it to an tube amp in the loop
same way as a Victory preamp?
I play the EXACT test riffs!!! Love my LION!!!
So awesome to see Blues, who was an absolute god to me when he came out, showing the magic. Pete, of course, is always perfect. The guy is a machine. Great video.
Pete's Ibanez Destroyer is beautiful.
I think Pete thorn is getting tired of being involved in social media posting which is understandable in his personal videos it feels like he is always mildly condescending yet here he is super normal and relaxed
Nick Bowcott for the win. I loved Grim Reaper since I was a kid in the 80's. Still play to it all the time.
Incredible
Can you run a Fuzz Face or Chandler Tube Driver into this pedal ala EJ? ????
@20:31 That's WHY Eddie called the volume knob "TONE"!
I'm shocked at how blues looks now. That not the man I remember.
What a nice episode. I have to check the pedal ????✌????
All I care about is the dog. ????
I love this round table. The Lion sounds incredible. I have had a ‘68 50 watt Plexi, a ‘66 JTM45 and a ‘78 JMP 100 watt and this sounds amazing.
13:38 That was funny, just casually hands a man his 1956 Stratocaster in borderline mint condition. What a legend.
What is that opening riff that Nick plays that makes them chuckle?
I recognize and can’t place it!
It kind of stinks that the Lion was emulated using a 100pf bright cap rather than a 5000pf bright cap.. The real tone of a Marshall Super Lead is with a 5000pf bright cap, this is the real sound of a Super Lead not a 100pf cap which basically turns a Super Lead into JTM 100 or JTM 50. All the greats such as EVH, Yngwie, George Lynch, Jimmy Page, etc, etc used a stock Super Leads with a 5000pf bright caps. This is my main complaint about the Lion pedal, it lacks being true to a Super Lead plexi because of the 100pf cap used during the emulation process.. even Peter Thorn in this video appeared to be disappointed that the Lion was emulated with the wrong cap. Will Universal Audio make an emulation of a Super Lead with the correct 5000pf bright cap so we can all enjoy a stock ripping crunchy and tight not spongy Super Lead??
Anyone else focusing on what the dog is doing?
I can listen to Blues Saraceno play anytime of day. Seriously my favorite since I first heard Hairpick. His music is fantastic. His playing phenomenal.
Pete is an amazing player, him & RJ are pretty hard to beat….oh & Andy from reverb is pretty dope too.
THE PUP!!! ????????????❤️????
I do not understand how you hook these amp pedals up do you need a special speaker or amp??? How do they incorporate on your pedalboard
A great Marshall can do a superb clean tone, but most don't. Pretty common that a plexi can do it well…
Forget the guitars, Pete and Blues are great guys… period.
Very cool…..
Cheers from the Isle of Vancouver.
More of great conversations like this one please! ????
????
I met Blues in 1990
I think that having no bright cap or change to a 100p was a huge mistake. The original 4,7n bright cap is what makes a Super Lead sound like a Super Lead. I mean if you can’t turn the 31:09 past 5 the SLP is not the amp for you. Then this being a pedal you can set the volume wherever you want. It is a one trick pony but what a great one.
I like the tone on 1:28:40 … that vibrato at the end…think I need to get one…
Anybody know how the sounds from the Lion were captured in this video? Direct to DAW? Pedal into power amp/guitar cab?
From what I remember way way back, playing through full or even double stacks, the reason we wanted less bass all the time was that those full 4×12 speaker cabinets really emphasized bass in a huge way, especially when they were stacked. Having a very "thin" sounding amp was the answer for bass-heavy speaker arrays. It balanced out and sounded great; plenty of lows, highs and mids. But when you played through a single speaker or a 2×12, it sounded terrible. And at low settings of the volume control, that bright cap made it even worse.
Stellar in-depth UAFX Lion ‘68 & Marshall Plexi discussion with Pete Thorn, Blues Saraceno, James Santiago. Purchased UAFX Lion '68 this past week. Updated firmware, UAFX app on iPhone with no issues. Lion, Golden UAFX pedals & UA Solo/610 are truly game changers in recording studio. Channeling unlimited sonic musical creative capabilities with both effects. Cheers.
Im a huge fan of UA im evan the proud owner of two UA 1176LN’s Apollo 8x i use LUNA daily with a ton of Ua plugins UA knows how to emulate analog gear and all of this translates in a studio enviorment beautifully. So my question is how would you use this setup if you were live on stage ? whats the next progression taking this technolgy to the live preformance . I kinda have an idea what I would try, but I'm getting ready to turn 60 so I don't play live as much anymore , How would you trsnslate this Amp pedal or preamp to a live rig without coloring the emulation your amplifying on the live stage.
The dog in the thumbnail is heartbreaking. What a cutie.
Magic phrase!!!!
Great info Scott. Appreciate your time and effort! Lotta people don’t understand what it takes to do what you do. We certainly appreciate it. Thanks.
Blues should play "Remember When"
One of the most enjoyable and fulfilling videos I've watched in a while.
Think about how, no matter where the discussion started, at the end of the day, it comes back to Eddie. He was a TRUE pioneer and literally REDEFINED not only the SOUND of the electric guitar, but how guitars were actually BUILT. He defined an entire generation of electric guitar and now, almost FIFTY YEARS after he arrived on the scene, we are STILL talking about his sound and companies are STILL doing their best to duplicate every nuance of it. Mind-blowing.
I watched the first video with James and Nick, and ordered the pedal immediately afterward. I was so impressed. As a former vintage Super Lead owner, I can't say enough about it. They absolutely NAILED it. I plug into it, and lose two hours. It's that good.
The actual tuning offset on the main guitar track and lead guitar track on “Mean Street” is:
1st string: Eb -14.3 cents
2nd string: Bb -27.0 cents
3rd string: Gb -12.4 cents
4th string: Db -12.0 cents
5th string: Ab -12.0 cents
6th string: Eb -14.3 cents
A lot of people marvel at the power of the guitar sound on this track and that is partly to do with the Eventide Harmonizer de-tune chorus judiciously mixed in with that amazing core amp/speaker tone, but I believe that this tuning offset has A LOT to do with why this recording sounds so great, especially that incredible open G chord in the intro with the open D, G and B strings ringing. This offset is fairly unique in that the B string is significantly flattened for that obviously pleasing major third sound and the rest of the strings are pretty much within a range of 12-14 cents below 1/2 step down tuning. Sounds so good…