i need your opinion

what would be the best heavy metal sound for a guitar?
and how would i be able to get that tone? what guitar amp and effects would i need?

First you would need $5,000 :cool:

Get a Boss Gt-8 so you can monitor your sound as you're recording. This'll give you endless choices for sounds to inspire you to come up with stuff.
Then get Amplitube and apply it to the sounds afterwords.

If you need something live you could also go with a GT-8 through a P.A. but personally, I'd go with the best stuff you could find like the standard Marshall and Vox amps with all the power conditioners, eq's and stomp boxes etc....

For live I use a complete road setup with all the bells and whistles, but for recording, I just use the GT-8 and take a spltter out so I can record the clean signal. Then you can tailor the sound you want using Amplitube so that it blends in with the song.

I'm in a band, as you may have guessed, that does:

Singing, over
Saxophone, over
Metal/Distorted guitar, over
Ska guitar (meeee), over
Bass, over
Drums.

I can assure you that our guitarist that does the metal riffs hasn't paid over $1000 for his entire set-up. He uses a bunch of effect pedals, with a Marshall amp, to get the right sound. He also plays with a Fender Stratocaster, that did cost him a bit more than our budget that I mentioned, but it's a year old, so it didn't cost me anything.

When we record, we pretty much use his effects as well. Sometimes, we'll just use a direct line to the PC and record, then edit in Audacity to get the metal tone.

Just some suggestions.

what types of pedals do you combine to get get metal riffs?

Originally Posted by: ilovekaitywhat types of pedals do you combine to get get metal riffs?

I just use my amp's distortion mostly (Marshall G80-RCD), but back when I was recording I would use a Boss AX1G that does a fairly decent job. IDK if they make it anymore though.

I also hav a Marshall Jackhammer pedal that screams but is a little too sensetive (therefore I use it as a lead booster) and a Beringher V-amp for clean tones.

If you're looking for the cheapest possible way of getting the metal sound, just hit the guitar shop and find yourself a kicking distortion pedal (or two, if you plan on using different timbres of distortion, or playing lead as well as rhythm in a band situation). Ask the store staff whether you can try out a few different models, and pick the one/s you like the most. But if you've got dough to spare and you're in for the long haul, do as Schmange suggested and get yourself a nice big modelling processor like the Boss GT-8, the Digitech RP350 or the Vox Tonelab LE. Also, make sure your amp is up to the task, ie. it has a dedicated high-gain or overdrive channel - if it's a single-channel job with a gain boost, or a completely clean amp like a bass amp, you may get some excessive feedback happening.

If ya want some decent advice, keep an eye out on eBay for a GT-8.
I got mine for $400 in perfect A-1 condition. I don't even think the guy ever used it.
If you're into recording, go direct and use Amplitube to sweeten the sound.
Also, on a GT-8 a Redbox Cabinetulator tends to smooth out the harsh 'fuzz' sound from the overdrives.

If you really want to get audiophile quality, use a pair of decent headphones like the Akai K240 or even better the K701's. Then grab one of the custom made headphone amps off eBay by a guy called hotaudio40.
They're battery operated by 2 9 volt batteries so you don't get any 60hz power hum and I can't say enough about how amazing sounding they are.
They can also be used as a preamp.

And that's basically it... I have a full studio I record in, but for the most part, I use a Gibson L6S Deluxe using high end cables, into the GT-8, into a Behringer mixer. Straight out to the computer (a Mac of course).
Then I use Amplitube to sweeten any overdrive sounds and a bunch of VST synths like Absynth, Pro-52 etc.... and Cubase.

Like, you can do most of your guitar recording inside in about 30 minutes then go outside by the pool with a laptop and spend all afternoon editing.

Every song I posted on Soundclick:

http://www.soundclick.com/schmange

... was done on a 10 year old computer and then edited on a cheap laptop lazing around by the pool... it's easy as hell ....

Seems to me tone is a personal thing. I don't see how anyone can give you the combination of gear to get the tone you have in mind. If you can give an example of the tone you want like the sound of the guitar in such and such song maybe people can help. As far as having some choice the best bet is one of the higher end modelers like the GT-8, Pod Xt, Tone Lab LE and so on. However these will sound different through different amps and guitar pickups so experimentation will be required on your part. Sorry if this seems a little harsh but there is no easy answer to such a question. Way to many variables in this equation.

The RP's (from Digitech) do metal well on the HAIRDY effect. My other guitarist and I both own an RP250, which have the HAIRDY effect on it. Either that or the FUZKNG effect work well for metal over ska. That's just what I like to use.

Boss makes some good distortion effects, but you could get a distortion pedal from pretty much and effects company.

Good luck on getting the sound right.

Originally Posted by: schmangeIf ya want some decent advice

I suppose I just won't bother offering my opinion next time.

I think the best investment you can make , if you've been playing a while, is to buy and amp that can make the basic noises you want it to.
I find that people often buy really nice guitars, and neglect their amps...the fact is, even an amazing guitar will sound bad through a bad amp...simple as that.

Since you want metal, why not have a look at an amp with a really nice distortion channel? I have an Ibanez Thermion and the distortion is awesome, but strangely enough, I bought it for it's clean sound.

Take a look around at some amps... sometimes a solid state amp produces distortion that is better suited to metal needs than tube amps.

If I were you I'd get an amp...but if you're set on a pedal, maybe a Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde? Or even a Digitech Metal Master? Boss Metal Zone? There are numerous distortions out there.

Yeah, you need a good amp for whatever you do. And as for good distortion... I don't find that a problem on most amps that I see in stores.