Hey everyone! I really enjoyed making this video. If you enjoyed watching it, I would love to hear some feedback on whether I should make more of these with other songs, or with other guitarists’ tones!

As far as the sounds I got, the most we can ever get is an approximation of someone else’s guitar tones, even if we were using the exact same gear. That said, I do think I got close with these clips, but admittedly not exact. I would love to hear from you guys how you achieve some of your favorite guitarists’ tones on a budget!

The gear I used versus the gear Brad Paisley (likely) used:

Guitar: Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster vs. 1968 Telecaster, 1952/1957 Telecaster, and Crook guitars

- Brad Paisley is well known for playing Telecasters, and I chose the Squier largely because it is a budget tele that is still fantastic basically right out of the box. The Squier can be had new for roughly $450 (but I bought this one new for $350 a few years ago before the price went up). They can be had for a bit less on the used market.

Amp: Vox AC15C1 vs. Vintage (1962) Vox AC30, Dr. Z Z-28, Dr. Z ES RX

- Many of the “main” amps Paisley chooses to use are based on the Vox sound (or are simply vintage Vox amps). For that reason, I went with the AC15C1 because it can get you the “jangly” Vox sound for anywhere between $300 to $450 on the used market. Don’t be fooled by the tolex or grill cloth on this amp, it is simply a modern AC15C1 amp.

Compressor: Behringer CS400 and MXR Dyna Comp vs. Boss CS-2 and Wampler Ego Compressor

- I primarily used the Behringer CS400 because it is a budget version of the Boss compressor. That said, Paisley is also known for using the Wampler Ego Compressor, which is a Ross-based compression signal. However, on “I’ll Take You Back,” I struggled to get the overtly obvious compression sound that Paisley had on that song, so I switched to the MXR Dyna Comp to get that classic “squish.”

Overdrive Pedal: Joyo “Vintage Overdrive” vs. Amp-based overdrive, Ibanez TS808, Ibanez TS9, Wampler Paisley Drive

- From what I can find online, a lot of the overdrive that Brad Paisley was using in the studio at the time these tracks were recorded involved overdriving his amps (including vintage AC30s and Dr. Z amps). Try as I might, I could not get too close by overdriving the AC15C1. However, it is fairly well known that Brad liked to use tube screamer based overdrives at this time in live settings (and as far as I can tell, he still likes the tube screamer circuit on his live rig). So, I tried using the Joyo “Vintage Overdrive” pedal, which is effectively just a budget tube screamer, and I have to say — this got closer than any amp overdrive I was getting.

Time Stamp:

- 00:00 - Introduction

- 00:09 - Ain’t Nothin’ Like

- 01:00 - Remind Me

- 01:27 - I’ll Take You Back

- 02:03 - Discussion