6 month hiatus from Metal - I'm struggling with GTR tone arrgh

[Pablo333]

hi guys, been busy with work / house / etc etc... and have only been finding the time to learn some old Gary Moore tunes (rip)

2 weeks ago I got EMG 81/85 in my Ibanez PGM 301 and am loving them

I'm feeling totally inspired to rec some new metal tracks - but

I cant seem to get a decent rhythm tone down (using POD/and Lepou)

I don't know why - perhaps my ears are out of practice

Maybe i just need a string change (as the day i got the EMG's i recorded some Metallica stuff and the tone was bitchin!)

I'm now recording mainly in drop D and am trying hard to get a similar tone to the immense MH cd "burn my eyes"
but am failing miserably
I know they used EMG 81 equipped gtr into ts9>5150>marshall v30??T75??

help please!!!

 

[Trevoire520]

Change strings dude, makes a massive difference. As the strings lose their brightness you'll find your tone gets more fuzzy. I'm now changing strings every 4-6 hours when recording to keep them sounding fresh.

 

[Pablo333]

Hey man your in Scotland too! cool

Think it's the POD - i remember I ended up using my Vox tonelab st and got the best sounds from that - the cabinets are much better and there is no fizz.

 

[dibs]

Change strings dude, makes a massive difference. As the strings lose their brightness you'll find your tone gets more fuzzy. I'm now changing strings every 4-6 hours when recording to keep them sounding fresh.

Every 4-6 hours?





overkill bro.... maybe you should try out a new brand of strings!

 

[Vinny]

Not really.
I change strings everyday when recording (and once a week for gigging).
But then again I don't really record myself for 6 hours in a single day, so I guess you could say I change them even more often.

 

[Trevoire520]

Every 4-6 hours?





overkill bro.... maybe you should try out a new brand of strings!

Seriously dude, record a riff with fresh strings, then record guitars for a full day (I normally do 8/9 hour days) record the same riff again at the end and listen to the difference. You'd be surprised how quickly the high end starts to go. And it's not something you can get back with eq.

 

[Vinny]

This may sound weird, but record a clean DI of the same riff without an amp.
It's alot more noticeable.
But yea, I agree with Trevoire

 

[Jormyn]

I'm a cheap, lazy bastard and tend to leave a set of strings on for six months or more at a time. After putting a new set on, it's always entertaining to find out how much treble I was throwing into my chain (looking at you here, TS808) to compensate.

 

[schust]

i've been doing a lot of tracking lately with my PODxt and then using LePou at the backend. i've also been making a lot of changes (e.g. guitar strings, interface, etc). couple of things i've noticed that i didn't realize were making a huge difference.

1. i never realized just how much a different pair of strings from what i usually use would make - but man - it's like night and day between a good and "so so" tone. stay with a strings you've had good luck with in the past, and as already mentioned a new pair really makes a difference.

2. when i started out dinking around with my POD i just just plugged it directly into my USB port and made use of their Monkey util. didn't think twice about it. last week i got a new interface. a nice 8ch m-audio usb2.0 and the tone was actually worst using that. if you're not already going USB direct from the POD, may be worth a try to see how it sounds on your end.

3. finally, i absolutely love LePou's LEGION. as far as i'm concern, nothing (short of his other sims) comes close. absolutely amazing with a guitarhack.

 

[Pablo333]

thanks for the replies guys

It wasn't the strings after all,

It was the fact that I forgot I actually used the VOX Tonelab ST for my best tones on my soundclick.

I know it;s not known for it - but i plugged in tonight and recorded it and was like wow!!!! there it is!!!

Honestly, this thing smokes the POD for it's cabinets / gain / plus cleans are untouchable.

sure it's not as exciting as the POD's flexibility etc...but the end result is all I care about....

I feel inspired again to start writing !!!