Refining my sound...
Hey guys long time no see. For those of you that remember me, how've ya been, for those I've never met hello, pleased to meet ya. In anycase, in my few years of playing metal guitar, I've hardly used pedals or any effects whatsoever (kinda odd I know, especially considering the metal guitarist thing) but I went ahead and bought a pretty basic/bare bones digitech death metal pedal. I scooped out the mids and most of the gain on the amp and the pedal itself, which gives me chunky distortion as well as control BUUUUT it picks up every little iddy biddy sound other than what I'm picking regardless of palm muting or how cleanly I pick things....in other words waaaaay too much sustain. I'm wondering if this has to do with the settings on my amp/pedal, is there any mod or booster I can buy to help sculpt this, or would a noise gate be suficient? Thanks for the advice guys
# 1
Hi Hjorvard, nice to meet ya.
I like to play straight with with no effects too (most of the time), it sounds like you probably have too much gain going on. The pedal probably has all the gain you need so I would start by backing the amp gain off a lot and the pedal gain just a little if you're at full bore and see what that does for you.
Don Madison goes into just this at the beginning of his tutorial on getting a good Metal sound, gave me some good tips:
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=12627&s_id=718
check it out!
I like to play straight with with no effects too (most of the time), it sounds like you probably have too much gain going on. The pedal probably has all the gain you need so I would start by backing the amp gain off a lot and the pedal gain just a little if you're at full bore and see what that does for you.
Don Madison goes into just this at the beginning of his tutorial on getting a good Metal sound, gave me some good tips:
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=12627&s_id=718
check it out!
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# 2
I just watched that too. Good stuff from Don. Very good stuff.
Only thing I would add is to start from zero with everything. I chunk a muted 'E' and get a slightly distorted sound. If I have desired pedal in the chain, I use only that. I mean, that's why I got it. I don't fully go all overdrive when I get add it. Just some to start. I really look for tone EQ first. So, I then start working up the amp tone with the Bass first, Treble second then Mid last. until I feel in range. I tweak little bits in the tone. Then I start dialing in more overdrive until I get the chunk I want.
Even though all of this is done on an 'E' chunk, the last upping of the overdrive throws in some open G, root A and D to get the range of dynamics with all chords. I also then start noodling some lead. I've learned that what sounds good in rhythm can sometimes translate to annoying on leads. most of the time, no. Still, gotta hear it.
So, I really built from scratch.
I would never be accused of being a theory monster but I was a tonemonkey extraordinaire. The store I hung out at (read: annoyed) put me to use as a new amp tone tester. They had a testing room and a new amp would come in and they'd always bait me with testing the new stuff (of course, I'd comply...). Still, I did get good tone and could put and amp through the paces. This is why I have a 'technique' for dialing in tone. Lots of amps to try to get a good sound from...ahhhh, I miss those days.
Only thing I would add is to start from zero with everything. I chunk a muted 'E' and get a slightly distorted sound. If I have desired pedal in the chain, I use only that. I mean, that's why I got it. I don't fully go all overdrive when I get add it. Just some to start. I really look for tone EQ first. So, I then start working up the amp tone with the Bass first, Treble second then Mid last. until I feel in range. I tweak little bits in the tone. Then I start dialing in more overdrive until I get the chunk I want.
Even though all of this is done on an 'E' chunk, the last upping of the overdrive throws in some open G, root A and D to get the range of dynamics with all chords. I also then start noodling some lead. I've learned that what sounds good in rhythm can sometimes translate to annoying on leads. most of the time, no. Still, gotta hear it.
So, I really built from scratch.
I would never be accused of being a theory monster but I was a tonemonkey extraordinaire. The store I hung out at (read: annoyed) put me to use as a new amp tone tester. They had a testing room and a new amp would come in and they'd always bait me with testing the new stuff (of course, I'd comply...). Still, I did get good tone and could put and amp through the paces. This is why I have a 'technique' for dialing in tone. Lots of amps to try to get a good sound from...ahhhh, I miss those days.
# 3
Originally Posted by: JeffS65I just watched that too. Good stuff from Don. Very good stuff.
Only thing I would add is to start from zero with everything. I chunk a muted 'E' and get a slightly distorted sound. If I have desired pedal in the chain, I use only that. I mean, that's why I got it. I don't fully go all overdrive when I get add it. Just some to start. I really look for tone EQ first. So, I then start working up the amp tone with the Bass first, Treble second then Mid last. until I feel in range. I tweak little bits in the tone. Then I start dialing in more overdrive until I get the chunk I want.
Even though all of this is done on an 'E' chunk, the last upping of the overdrive throws in some open G, root A and D to get the range of dynamics with all chords. I also then start noodling some lead. I've learned that what sounds good in rhythm can sometimes translate to annoying on leads. most of the time, no. Still, gotta hear it.
So, I really built from scratch.
I would never be accused of being a theory monster but I was a tonemonkey extraordinaire. The store I hung out at (read: annoyed) put me to use as a new amp tone tester. They had a testing room and a new amp would come in and they'd always bait me with testing the new stuff (of course, I'd comply...). Still, I did get good tone and could put and amp through the paces. This is why I have a 'technique' for dialing in tone. Lots of amps to try to get a good sound from...ahhhh, I miss those days.
Thanks for the advice fellas. I would check out this guys tutorial. I, however, and not financially equipped right now to pay for a membership :P which is unfortunate because I'd really like to. I've never been a tone guy oddly enough, just basic theory and lots of technique and form. I figured I should start diving into that world as it is an important key component. I'm thinking about getting a ring mod and a treble boost as well.
# 4
