How to Make a Guitar Sound Like a Motorcycle
If you listen to rock, or even country, at times you've been amazed at the variety of sounds emanating from certain guitarists using their guitar to produce sounds other than that of musical tones. One of the most common guitar sound effects is the sound of a motorcycle engine running through the gears. This is an easy trick to pull off because it mostly involves amp settings. Many of the guitarists rely on the whammy bar for this trick, but you don't need one to produce the sound of a motorcycle engine.
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Instructions
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Dial the "gain" or "overdrive" control on your amp to 7 or 8. Dial your "high" tone control knob to 3. Dial your "mid" and "low" tone control knobs to 9. Dial your volume control to 4 or 5. If your amp has a dual channel footswitch, click it to channel 2, or your "lead" channel.
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Turn all the controls on your guitar to 10. Plug in your guitar, and turn on the amp. Pluck your large "E" string open. Turn and face the amp as you let the guitar string ring out. Get down and hold your guitar in front of the amp. After a few seconds, you should be getting infinite sustain, and controlled feedback from your amp. If not, turn your gain or overdrive control up to 10 or until you get feedback. Feedback is a steady tone that sustains itself. It is sound looping through your amp, back into the pickups of the guitar, and back out the amp in a steady tone. It means that your amp is set hot enough to attempt guitar effects like a motorcycle engine.
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3
Place your index finger on the seventh fret of the sixth string---the heaviest string. Play the note forcefully as you bend the string slowly, adding vibrato with the tip of your finger to imitate engine noise---now use your imagination---when you are ready to shift gears like a motorcycle, zip your finger up the string, this imitates the throttle being gunned between gears.
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Instantly release the string and place the same finger on the fifth fret, your next gear. Bend it with vibrato till you are ready to shift, then zip the finger up and bring it down on the third fret. Bend it with vibrato till you are ready to shift, zip the finger up the neck, and bring it down on the first fret, bend it with vibrato.
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Play the sixth string open if you want, letting the amp feedback, then reach down and slowly turn the amp down, imitating the sound of the motorcycle driving away in high gear.
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Tips & Warnings
Overdrive and gain controls are the same thing, and work exactly the same.
You can use your middle finger for this sound effect if you want, if you have more strength or control in that finger. Another alteration of this sound would be to play the fifth and sixth strings together, bending them with the same finger to create a larger, darker sound.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit amplifier image by Darko Draskovic from Fotolia.com
