Achieving "sheen" distortion, a la MBV, Slowdive, Loveliescrushing, etc

[JaguarSG]

Man. Achieving this glossy sheen distortion is tougher than i thought.

I tried cascading distortion from two different stomp boxes (turbo rat into big muff) but only achieved massive compression and high-end hiss. Not to mention ungodly squealing from the jaguar's pickups the second strings were muted.

Is it studio magic, or can it be attained live? If so, what is the trick?

[apocalypsecow]

the people of la MBV used hm-2s...i have one. it is very wonderful.

why doesn't "wonderful" look right? that's bizarre...so many strange-looking words.

[nobody]

I use a Jag ... a smooth distortion like a Rat and follow that with loads of delay and reverb usually does the trick.

[Surferosad]

The trick is having loads of delay and reverb. It can be almost any distortion, as long as there's some high end in the distortion sound (I don't think that Gibsons with hums work well for this, you need single coils). I like using either a rat or a HM-2.

[bloodyvalentine]

I agree, You can almost use any distortion pedal, but stay away from the fuzz and remember to crank the reverb!!!

[JaguarSG]

What kind of verb? Besides the obvious Shields trademark.

[JaguarSG]

Anything long i presume.

[JaguarSG]

I know the delay and reverb trick but it's still not all blending and coalescing nicely. What am i missing?

Is it compression? Sound on sound layering? Slight chorus to blur the edges?

[apocalypsecow]

try a medium-length delay into a really big, lush reverb for some good ambient sounds. roll your tone back some, use your neck pickup. slide to chords to help blur the edges. maybe run your distortion AFTER your delay.

to be honest, i've never head MBV or Slowdive, etc. i do know that my HM-2 has a sound like what you're describing...i reccomend it heartily. very non-digital...very hazy distortion. very cheap.

[Ice age coming]

i also think the rest of the band makes the guitarsound too...

a single guitar without a band sounds different than the single guitar with a band...

but i bet you are on your way to the shoegazing distortion...