Add Thickness To My Guitar Tone ???

[rotors]

Hi All,
First off I would just like to say this forum rocks.
I really appreciate how many tips I have picked up on from you guys.
Now, I am not sure if this belongs in this section but I have done a few searchs and can't seem to find what I am looking for.
Apologies in advance!

My question is, How Can/Do I add thickness to my guitar tone?
I am currently trying to record my songs and my guitar tone just sounds very thin coming back through the monitors.(NS-10)
I'm not talking add bass! But thickness.
Most of my tunes are in Drop C to Drop D.

When I stand in front of my amp /cab it sounds great to my ears, but when I stick the mic in front of it, I can't seem to capture the tone no matter where or which mic I use.

I am running pro tools 8 LE, 003 Rack, U.A Mic Pre's, lots of different mics.
Krank Krankenstein with the Krankenstein 4X12 cab, Ibanez guitars and Krankshaft o/drive pedal.

I have tried recording 2 and 4 seprate tracks of guitar and panning them several different ways, low amounts of gain, too may pick ups in my guitars to name(always used passive, have never tried actives) but my tone is still missing that certain thickness I am searching for.

I am not sure what to try next?
Can you pls help?
Any tips would be great.

Here is a link to a quick mic up I did.
GT Sneap.mp3
I used 1 x 609 sennheiser, approx centre of the speaker cone, into the mic-pre and into Pro-Tools.
Guitar was a Ibanez direct into the front of the Krank.
No eq,No Compression.

Thanks Rotors.

 

[paladin shredder]

have you tried it in a full mix with bass guitar?

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

What he said...and post a clip of what your talking about so we can help you out a little more...also this should go in the production area

 

[rotors]

Yeah, I have tried it in the mix. Still dosen't sound right!
And sorry my topic can be moved if mods wish.

 

[cloy26]

post a sample. you can't diagnose a car's problem without looking under the hood. lol

 

[GarethSE]

my guitar tones in a mix sound pretty thin
add bass, no two ways about it.

i made this topic on UG a few days ago
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1254353&page=1&pp=20 listen to the comparison.

 

[rotors]

It is definetly not a bass problem, It is thickeness in the guitar tone.

If you listen to a track by Alterbridge.(Come to life of Blackbird album) Only the first 10 seconds of the song and this is the sort of sound I am trying to get.



It has clarity and thickness but still nice and gainy.(obviously when listening to the cd it sounds 100% better quality than the link above)
I know tremonti uses MESA but you get the idea!!

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

POST A CLIP

 

[Harry Hughes]

Instead of using heaps of different mics just focus on getting the most from the least equipment possible.
Better to get great tone from one mic, than mediocre ones from many many mics.

 

[Harry Hughes]

POST A CLIP

This

 

[Harry Hughes]

my guitar tones in a mix sound pretty thin
add bass, no two ways about it.

i made this topic on UG a few days ago
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1254353&page=1&pp=20 listen to the comparison.

And this

 

[inferzum]

Your question can't be fully examined unless you post an example clip, man.

 

[rotors]

Clip posted in my original post at the top!!!!!

 

[Morgan C]

More gain
Double track (or quad if you want a really thick sound)
Add bass guitar.

If anything the tone itself is too muffled.

 

[Sinister Mephisto]

Sounds like you need a hotter signal from the guitar to me. Whether that means a different guitar, active pickups, or a boost with the tubescreamer or other pedal I don't know, but I think any of those could possibly help. I would be inclined to use a 57 for most of your experimenting and then try out other mics if you feel adventurous. Also I wouldn't be afraid of gain. Obviously you need to keep it under control to keep clarity but it certainly can add thickness. There's a certain chunk that the palm mutes will only get with added gain that you can't get from doubling or quad tracking. You just need to get the gain from the right place and not go overboard. Like I said, it sounds to me like the guitar signal isn't hot enough to drive the amp appropriately for the kind of sound you're looking for. Good luck! Sounds like you have some fun toys to play with.


Hmmm... just thinking now, how loud is your amp? Crank that thing! No pun intended... yikes. Also, tone sounds a tad dark for me.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Put it in a mix.
Unless you intend to just write music with some distorted guitar tracks and nothing else, which I doubt you will, it's pretty much useless and tells of nothing of how it works in a mix. How it works in a mix is actually important, how good it sounds on it's own is meaningless.

 

[SickBoy]

When comparing your recorded guitar to Alterbridge's I first noticed the lack of bite and the character that is somewhat too tame... From my experience the two come mostly from picking technique and not these pickups or those pedals - the harder you pick the more aggressive and biting the sound IMHO. I'm unfamiliar with your picking technique, it's just a thought...

 

[Harry Hughes]

+1 to technique.
Good picking technique is key to sounding good in any style of rock music. Gotta hit those strings with confidence when you're playing rhythm.

 

[Sly]

I didn't listen to the clip but, I'd say more gain, you can change your pickups/add a tubescreamer or any other amp boost.
If you want to add thickness to the recorded tone, try boosting the 400 Hz area a bit with an EQ (or 500 Hz sometimes), and also the 70-90 Hz and 1,5-1,6 khz maybe.

 

[zakky]

my guitar tones in a mix sound pretty thin
add bass, no two ways about it.

i made this topic on UG a few days ago
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1254353&page=1&pp=20 listen to the comparison.

cool info man