One Way To Sound Like … Mark Tremonti

Mark Tremonti has achieved many goals in his life. He’s a multi-platinum selling artist with Creed, carved his way into success with Alter Bridge and is the frontman of a metal-oriented solo project. Mark’s style consist of exquisite arpeggio and fingerpicking playing, heavy rock riffing, alternate tunings and unbelievably stunning guitar solos. In today’s “One Way To Sound Like…” we present to you how Mark gets his sound, composed of multiple amps for different tones, to celebrate the release of Alter Bridge brand new album, “The Last Hero“. Please note: you have to practice hard to get Mark chop right 😉

In this blog you will find the exact equipment that Mark plays, but we will also present alternatives for smaller budgets. Let’s start with the guitar. In our video, Kris plays a Paul Reed Smith SE Mark Tremonti Custom VSB  which is very close to the bigger sister USA Paul Reed Smith CCB model. Main characteristics of Mark guitars are mahogany body and neck, flamed maple top, rosewood fretboard, singlecut shape, a tremolo bar, a very high output bridge pickup and mellower neck pickup and the iconic bird inlays, that almost every Paul Reed Smith guitar has.

Mark always played two amps in his life: the Mesa Boogie Dual and Triple Rectifier for his dirty tones, and the beautiful Fender Twin Reverb Reissue 65 for his clean sounds. In our video you can hear a cheaper and good alternative, the Mesa Boggie Mark Five 25, that sounds very close. The third part of Mark sound comes from the Bogner Überschall, used for some songs, blended with the Rectifiers. Finally, Mark has been spotted using the PRS Archon Head during several shows.

Cabinet-wise, Mark is well known for his love for the Mesa Boogie Rectifier 4×12 Standard Slant Cabinets, which are a little… loud for everyday use 😉 We obtained awesome results using the Palmer PCAB212V30, which is a 2×12 cabinet that provides a very good low end and plenty of volume. For smaller budget, the Harley Benton G212 Vintage always comes to mind, as this cabinet comes loaded with two Celestion Vintage 30 at a stunning €222 price tag.

Mark doesn’t rely on many effects for his sound, but he really cares about his main ones. During his life, he changed OD-Pedals multiple times before settling on the Ibanez Hand Wired Tubescreamer TS808HWB. This little green screamer has a little brother called Ibanez TS Mini, which comes handy for cheaper budgets. Another crucial part of Mark sound is certainly his Morley M2 Mark Tremonti 2 Wah, which turns on and off when you step on the plate. The Wah has a built-in gain booster, which is perfect to kickstart his solos to outer dimensions. A cheaper alternative is represented by the Dunlop CryBaby GCB95 or the Morley M2 Wah.

To give some depth to his solo tones, Mark relies on the T-Rex Replica for his delay uses. A suitable equivalent would be the Ibanez ADMini Delay Pedal, that you can hear in our video. If it’s enough for him… it’s enough for us! There’s some heavy Phaser, Octaver and Univibe use in a lot of Mark songs, and his weapon of choice are the T-Rex Tremonti Phaser, the T-Rex Octavius and the Dunlop Univibe. As those pedals are and hard to find, we propose you, respectively, the MXR Custom Shop Phase 99, the T.C. Electronic Sub ‘n’ Up Octaver and the TC Electronics Corona Mini Chorus.

And that’s all folks. Did you ever try to mimic the Alter Bridge sound? What equipment was the most suitable for you? Tell us more 😉