please help me

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about how I can get a good dirty sound w/ sustain that is not overdone. I am looking for something comperable to Santana and Trey from Phish. I play LP standard>Visual Sounds Jekyle and Hyde>Barber LTD>Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I cannot seem to find any sounds that are not too dirty. Everything that I have tried has been either thin and weak or too dirty/dark and muddy. Any suggestions for pedals that give thick, smooth sustain that are not too drity/noisy or some possible settings with the above pedals would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I don't see a compressor in your list. Try something good like a Barber Tone Press.
Personally I get my Santana tones from a cranked Mesa Boogie MK I RI, but I come pretty close with a Les Paul Historic '56, a Tube Screamer or a Barber Direct Drive into a Mesa Studio .22+ with an Altec 417-8H speaker. Go easy on the gain settings on your pedals.

I'm not sure if Santana is using a compressor so much as natural compression from his amp, but I'm sure Trey's whole sound revolves around a compressor. Check out his rig. He uses two analogman modded tubescreamers and I think an analogman comprossor. Those along with his boomerang are his signature pedal sounds I would think. Of course, very few can get Trey's tone without that hollowbody he uses.

I don't know if Trey or Carlos use a Rat...probably not...but I've had great results with a Les Paul, a Rat, and a Fender Hot Rod.

Don't dismiss my suggestion too soon. Admittedly, a Rat can be too bright in some situations. But with a LP into a HR...seems to sound just right to me, for those Santana tones.

Just keep in mind that the Filter (tone) knob works in reverse on Rats....so start with in all the clock-wise, and work backwards from there.

There are several models of Rat out there. Among the brand new ones...just the plain ole Rat pedal is fine. The Vintage Rat is nice too.

Note that, in addition to Trey's playing through a compressor and two overdrives, his picking attack is rather soft and uniform/even, which in and of itself delivers a characteristic "violin" sound; that is, an extraordinary sustained sound is achieved. Eric Johnson has a similar picking style.

Joel

May I recommend:

http://mypeoplepc.com/members/tjauernig/tcjauernigelectronics/id1.html

The Luxury Drive is a great not-quite-clean booster pedal. I call it the Girthmaker!

Old original script or block logo MXR Dyna Comp and Distortion + can be hard to beat. I've got rare and boutique pedals, but with a Tele and a BF amp, that would seriously contend for my indestructible desert island setup.

Sounds to me like a Mosferatu may fit you nicely. Here is a link to the website where you can have a listen to some clips. I have one, and it is unique... Maybe a bit too smooth for my tastes. http://www.hermidaaudio.com/products.html

I just read about it this morning. I sounds like it could fill your needs. Pedalgeek.com has a nice article from Ayan covering the development idea behind it.