Line 6 POD HD500 tone “The Animal” by Steve Vai

Here’s a rhythm guitar tone for playing “The Animal” by Steve Vai.

The rhythm guitar on this track is all power chords but is unique in the fact that Vai plays it on a single string with a harmonizer adding the second note. It is also interesting that he chose to play the 5th and have the harmonizer play the root below rather than playing the root and having the harmonizer add the 5th above. I replicated this sound using dual amps, a Marshall JCM-800 on one side and Bogner Ubershall on the other. They are panned about 70% to each side. A pitch shifter is set to produce a note seven half steps below the note being played and is mixed in at 50%. The 48ms delay with 21% feedback and high mix is there to add body. An EQ is used to roll off some of the top end and add an upper midrange boost.

The Animal – original track
HD500 without backing track
Download HD500 Tone file
Ibanez Universe UV777 (used on this track)
DiMarzio Blaze 7-String Pickup (used on this track)