Though Tony Rombola is certainly not the most well-known name, he’s been influential in shaping the last decade of modern rock guitar. It’s Rombola’s chunky, no-nonsense guitar tone that led
Godsmack to four great albums since 1996. He’s not flashy ― he just plays. That, by the way, is a good thing. After watching many so-so guitarists try to fool fans with smoke and mirrors (quite literally sometimes), it’s nice to see a talented man like Rombola just get the job done.
Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna said that his band members are all better players than what the songs show, but sometimes a Godsmack song requires you to just chug on the E string. That’s so true for Rombola. Personally, I would rather listen to a guitarist who feels what he plays and conveys that message through his fingers. That’s what I get from Godsmack.
The chugging guitar is the hallmark of every Godsmack tune. I have yet to put on “Keep Away” or “
The Enemy” and not get a positive reaction from friends.
Rombola utilizes either a Drop D or Drop C tuning for the majority of Godsmack’s songs. Using this type of tuning really gives him the ability to come up with a deep chug when playing his riffs.
Add in a Gibson Les Paul, Marshall and Mesa Boogie amps and you’ve got the makings of a great tone. In recent years Rombola has moved to
Splawn Amplifiers, but that hasn’t changed his tone very much at all.
When it comes right down to it, Rombola’s guitar rig is a pretty easy setup. He has used delays and phase shifters, but he does his thing with his guitar and his amp. Just the way I like a true guitar tone to be made.
Following his lead, we are going to make a tone that is probably the easiest one we’ve done to date. I’ll be using
Guitar Rig 3 from Native Instruments to build the guitar on my computer.
We are going to use one of my favorite amp models in Guitar Rig 3, the Ultrasonic. This is an aggressive sounding amp, but it’s not one of those over-the-top sounds that’s so heavy on the gain that you can’t stop playing without having lots of feedback.
Insert the Ultrasonic amp and matching cabinet with the following amp settings: Master 7.5; Volume 8; Gain 10; Bass 2; Middle 1.5; Treble 9.5; and Presence 9. The cabinet should have the Mic set to 86% on Mic B, the Dry/Air setting on 7 and the cab volume on -28.1db.
Believe it or not, we aren’t putting in any effects for this tone. We will insert a Cry Wah because Rombola uses it throughout Godsmack songs, especially in the solos.
There you have it. Using that preset, you’ll have a nice chunky tone that will be good for any Godsmack song.