What is this guitar sound? (Loverboy)

You mean the distorted wah guitar?

 

I would think it would be from placing the wah after any distortion used. It seems that most of the time(but not necessarily always) guitarists put the wah first, and then on to everything else. But dirt to wah gives it a more synthesier-like tone, square wave to filter sweep. Here’s another old school example...

 

That's an excellent observation. But in this case, it sounds to me like it's the traditional setup, with the wah first. Listen to the way the envelope closes... To me, it doesn't sound like it sweeps the distortion. It sounds like the drive stays constant but the guitar sound itself is being filtered.

*Edit* one other minor distinction: that Grand Funk song sounds like a fuzz pedal, while the Loverboy one sounds like distortion.

 

Paul Dean HEAVILY tweaked his guitars ( essentially one has a neck with 3 truss rod routs to allow the neck to resonate differently ) among other things.

Paul Dean's Equipboard

 

Wah (sounds like manual but could be auto) ,flange with the rate set slow, maybe a little slap back delay, overdrive. Bridge pickup I think.

The tone is a distant relative to the guitar tone on “She Moves in Mysterious Ways” by U2.

 

Loft Series 450 Delay Line / Flanger Studio Processor - Rare! | Megatone Music | Reverb


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"I actually had an e-mail from a man who talked to Paul Dean after a recent Loverboy concert where he mentions using this - but I can't find it anymore for some reason. Paul Dean I'm sure like most guitarists from the 1980's had a Rack Rig somewhere hidden backstage and unlike other guitarists of the time there's not a lot about it. Apparently also his fellow Canadian Alex Lifeson from RUSH used these during Permanant Waves as well. However, I found it referenced on a forum elsewhere. - here's the Excript....

(POST) Loft 450 Delay/Flanger

This unit is my personal favorite.

The flange is very thick and rich like the Tycho unit. It also has great delay and chorus as well. There is a slave jack to run 2 units together for true stereo or through zero flanging.

Alex Lifeson used these units in the studio during "Permanant Waves" and then added them to his rack where they remained through the "Power Windows" tour. They are also a favorite of Paul Dean from Loverboy. (END OF POST)

Paul Dean had a very distinctive flanger sound ("When It's Over", "Gangs in the Street", "Prime of your Life") that has been incredibly difficult to replicate. That's because he uses a rackmount studio effects processor to do it - the Loft 450G Delay Line Flanger."