punk sound

mesa boogie... lol. Simple as that. none of those bands really use a distortion unit to get their sound. They either use high gain marshalls or mesa boogies amplifiers.

i have noticed that some do used pedal effects

most likely not distortion ones though, maybe chorus, wah, or something like that.

what type of tone would a chorus create? i have a good idea of a wah

The intro to Nirvana's Come as you are is heavy chorus - probably the easiest way to describe it :)

thanks fot he info! ilove this board!

There are lots of punk bands with lots of different sounds, but generally punk guitar is played with distortion without effects like chorus. Of course there are many exceptions, I am speaking in general terms.

The distortion used in punk is not usually what you would call a Metal or Grunge type distortion, it is usually more of an overdriven type tone.

I have a Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive pedal. You can really get great classic punk tones with this pedal with the gain turned up about 1/2, and the bass, mids, and highs about 2/3rds up. This pedal has a very tight overdrive and the notes of chords are well defined. It really nails the punk tone perfectly. This pedal has slightly less distortion than a Metal or Grunge pedal.

Many punk bands just use their amp's distortion as was said, but there are good overdrive pedals that will get this tone.

Much of the punk tone is also from using simple power chords or "5" chords played almost exclusively with downstrokes. Again, there are exceptions, but this is the general rule.

As far as gear, here is a pretty cool site you can look up some of your favorite artists to see what they used.

http://www.getthatsound.com/

ok a example on a "5" chord ? ;]

An example or six... :)

E5 F5 F#5 G5 G#5 A5 etc, etc.
E-----------------------
B-----------------------
G-----------------------
D-2---3---4---5---6---7-
A-2---3---4---5---6---7-
E-0---1---2---3---4---5-


ok im guessing the "g" or "a" is the root ont he sixth string but where does the "5" come from? just curious

ok im guessing the "g" or "a" is the root ont he sixth string but where does the "5" come from? just curious
Sorry, should've thought to include that info :)

The 5 signifies a perfect 5th interval. In the case of the G5 above, the G (6th string, 3rd fret) is the root as you guessed, the D (5th string, 5th fret) is the 5th that give the power chord its 'colour' and its name, and there's another G (4th string, 5th fret) above that to thicken the sound up a little.

well i have read the term circle of fifths so is that simialr to what your speaking of? if so where can i see this in a a written out form,.. by the way i really appreciate the help!

Kind of - the circle of fifths is based on the 5th interval too. Have you had a look through all the article lessons on this site (here)? They're an absolute goldmine :)

Jeremy

A chord has at least 3 notes. A Major chord has the Root, 3rd, and 5th tones. A Minor chord has the Root, flatted 3rd, and 5th tones. The tones are always based on the major scale. So, to determine a C Major chord, write out the C Major scale:

C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and back to C.

C is the Root. The 3rd is E, and the 5th is G. So when you play the C, E, and G notes together that will give you a C Major chord. If you wanted to play a C Minor chord you would simply flat the 3rd tone, in this case the E. So now you would play a C, Eb (E flat), and G notes together to make a C Minor chord. Some chords have more than 3 tones. A 7th chord simply adds a flatted 7th tone. So, for a C7 chord you would play a C, E, G, and Bb notes together. For a Cm7 you would play a C, Eb, G, and Bb notes together.

A powerchord or a 5 chord is not really a "real" chord because you are only playing 2 notes. A C5 you would play a C and G note, the Root and 5th tones from the scale above. You can also add the octave C to make the powerchord more full. But it is still just the Root and 5th tones. This chord is neutral, neither Major or Minor.

But punk music is played almost exclusively with these powerchords or 5 chords. It really doesn't have much to do with the circle of 5th except that it is good to know what the 5th tone for each note is. For G, the D note is the 5th:

G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G

So you see there, the G is the Root (or 1st tone) and counting to the right, the D note is the 5th. It is really that simple, just write out the Major scale for any note to determine the 5th, or any other tone for that matter (6th, 7th, 3rd....) A 9th is like 8 + 1, so in G that would be the A. You count the octave G as the 8th.

Probably confusing you now.

But punk is also mostly played on the top 3 bass strings for a heavy chug type tone, and often palm muted by resting your picking hand a little forward of the bridge. And as I said before, punk artists love downstrokes, they even make fun of people that use alternate picking. :D