Exodus - Tempo Of the Damned question for Andy ....

Fragle said:
i can't quite believe anyone would prefer the SHKM tone over TOTD :) no offence...it's just that TOTD has one of the best thrash metal guitar tones EVER. my only gripe is that it's rather on the sterile side, which is the reason why it's only 9.5/10 rather than a 10/10 ;)

i also enjoy the drum sound of that record, quite clear yet natural sounding.

Thats what got me about the TOTD tone, it was almost too good. It was very "round" and controled. It just took the edge away from the music.
 
I remember Gary saying that SHKM was recorded with his live set up.....All maple Rico Jr. Vixen with Duncan custom or Duncan distorion in the bridge and a Peavey XXX. I prefer the TOTD tone just because when I think of Exodus I think of that modded Marshall tone.....even if they did use HZ:loco:
 
I've never heard HZ's referred to as low output...Dark, yes, but never low output. I used the H4's and the H1's in the past and I liked them. In comparison to actives, yeah, they are low output. It seems odd to me to think that someone would think good tones would not be achievable with these p/ups, or any for that matter, especially after hearing the results and digging them.
 
nwright said:
I've never heard HZ's referred to as low output...Dark, yes, but never low output. I used the H4's and the H1's in the past and I liked them. In comparison to actives, yeah, they are low output. It seems odd to me to think that someone would think good tones would not be achievable with these p/ups, or any for that matter, especially after hearing the results and digging them.

Who thinks that good tones aren't achievable with HZ's? I play my Jackson with HZ's every day and they sound killer, albeit with the gain jacked all the way up. The Exodus guitars that Andy recorded using HZ's sound amazing, too. It's called reading comprehension bro. Try it out sometime.

And like I said before, check HarmonyCentral and you'll see that most complaints with these pickups are due to low output.

BTW - I like your band.
 
We have 3 guitars here. One with active pickups, two with passive humbuckers. I choose them, depending on the ampsound. What fits, that fits. I see no problem in using EMG HZ.
 
Andy's got a really good point. You can't always reject something just because of it's reputation.

I recently got the "slaughter of the soul" cd with a dvd interview about the recording of the album. I nearly shit my trousers when i heard from the mouth of Fredrik Nordström that the guitar tones were recorded with a metal zone pedal in the chain. they didn't say what amp (probably 5150) but he also said the guys in the band built the cab themselves and they miced it with one 57, tried out several mics and that was the best. imo the guitars aren't the greatest tone EVER, but they definitely kick major ass and worked great for that cd!

Guess it just goes to show that it doesn't mater how you get there as long as you end up with a good sound.
 
Andy's got a really good point. You can't always reject something just because of it's reputation.

I recently got the "slaughter of the soul" cd with a dvd interview about the recording of the album. I nearly shit my trousers when i heard from the mouth of Fredrik Nordström that the guitar tones were recorded with a metal zone pedal in the chain. they didn't say what amp (probably 5150) but he also said the guys in the band built the cab themselves and they miced it with one 57, tried out several mics and that was the best. imo the guitars aren't the greatest tone EVER, but they definitely kick major ass and worked great for that cd!

Guess it just goes to show that it doesn't mater how you get there as long as you end up with a good sound.

There's a thread on this album somewhere if you wanna read up on it more, should be able to find it with the search.

And yeah, do whatever it takes for it to sound good, however crude, or ghetto it may be.
 
This reminds my of something I record a few days ago. I was playing on my 7 string ibanez rg (some discontinued model), and I was doing some recording. I was not at all happy with my tone, becuse the old mics on the ibanez sounded really dull without any edge or grit. But I though what the hell, and did a few tracks with it. Did some layering and panned it, and it was the fattest sound I have ever recorded. I have no idea how it came about, but somehow those crappy sounding pickups turned into a wall of punchy distorsion heaven.

The moral is: that recording doesn't make any sense what-so-ever, and that crap things might end up sounding awesome. By luck (as in this case), or experience (as in the threads case).

Not calling HZs crap, but you know.