Gear Talk with Kristian!

[Kristian Niemann]

Kristian, if you had to choose between EMG & DiMarzio, what would it be? Interested in what you think as I'll look into it for a future Ibanez.

It depends on the music you´ll play on it. If you want a balls-out metal tone that never fails, with a tight chunky bottom end and above all, clarity, i´d go with EMGs, easily. 81s, 85s, 60s or whatever. Thats the main reason i use these pups; the super-solid bottom-end KLONG!!!! The mids and highs sound fine but that job could be done with just about any pickup.

If you have to be more versatile for pop/rock/blues/covergigs i´d go with some low-, or medium-output DiMarzios/Duncans/Suhrs/whatever-else-thats-not-active and use some pedals for more gain if needed.

 

[Kristian Niemann]

But EMG SA is a single-coil size pickup. Do you mean a EMG 89 with push/pull pot?

Nope. I drilled new holes in the p.u. ring so now it has a DiMarzio Chopper (S.C sized humb.) in it. It looks fucked up but it sounds cool! The SA will fit perfectly there.... I hope.

 

[BloodLegion]

Hey Kristian!

What do you think about beat up guitars? Not those super-expensive Relic guitars from Custom Shops, but guitars that have truly taken a beating from gigging and drunken moments. I'm sure you have a few well-beat PII's somewhere, am I correct?

I'm starting to notice the dings and scratches on my guitar, and frankly, I think all those imperfections actually make the guitar look cooler!

Your 2cents, please!

 

[Kristian Niemann]

I love guitars with a lot of roadwear on ´em. They should be used and abused on a regular basis so that they know who´s the boss and don´t develop big inflated egos. Thats not good for anyone.

All my guitars except my custom shop looks like shit, but thats because I play them all the time!

 

[BloodLegion]

Gotta agree!

I felt bad when my Ironbird's headstock went straight for the club's ceiling (it had a low concrete ceiling - and I had a Mille Petrozza moment) so it dented the tip of the headstock (that's the first thing that's gonna get dented anyway). I felt bad for a while, but realized, what the heck it's a guitar THAT'S MEANT TO BE FUCKIN' USED! It's not a Van Gogh painting!

I've since calmed down. Can't wait to put that beast through more wear!

 

[BloodLegion]

Sorry Kristian, but I've got more 1 more question to bug you with!

Amp settings! Do you scoop the mids?

 

[Kristian Niemann]

Oooohhh, thats a very private question Sir! Why dont you just ask me to pull my pants down and have my rectal parts inspected by a huge man wearing rubber gloves.....or something.

Sorry....too much coffee!!!

But it IS a delicate question. Most if not all of the beef and tone of your guitarsound is in the mids, be it low-mids, mid-mids (?), or hi-mids. The bass eats up the low end and cymbals and vocals occupy the highs so the mids are whats left (not ONLY of course, but mostly).

The trick is to have enough mids to be heard but not so much that it gets honky and nasal. Put a parametric EQ in your FX loop (or between the preamp and poweramp) and really try to find where your "Mids" sweetspot is to your ears, and it will of course vary with the kind amp, guitar, pickup, speaker and most importantly which type of touch/hands you have. Go for what YOU like to hear!

Good luck bro,
/kristian

 

[deathmetalpat]

Scoop the mids and stand back and look at you graghic EQ and you see a smiley face and metal is not happy.Punch up the mids and drop the highs and lows and you see a frown and metal is burtal and unhappy!That M band started the scoop the mids thing but Slayer is the metal sound of the 1980's for me and they used the frown.

 

[blackrose2]

umm didn't metallica used to turn the mids all the way down and crank up the bass and treble?

It took me years trying to figure out how to get that cool heavy sound I heard. Not that I'm a hardcore guitarist so I guess it took longer than usual. Anyway I got Zakk Wylde strings which has a super thick top string, almost like a bass string. Like seriously thick. Well typically you want to drop tune the top string a bit which sounds great with these thick strings. And get a good guitar like a gibson that has a heavy sound on pickups. Then on the amp I just turn the distortion all the way up and the tone as rather high. The combination of low and highs and the bassy strings gets that zakk wylde type heaviness with massive feedback and sustain. It sounds really good when you deaden the strings with your palm. Of course it only sounds good when playing power chords for heavy metal. Anything else it sounds kind of sh*tty. Even everything else normal the super bassy top string doesn't sound good on normal chords. But I don't really know how to use a normal chord anyway. lol

I never realized what a big difference strings makes when it comes to getting that heavy sound. So far haven't found any other strings that are that good. I got dime bag daryl strings on it now but it doesn't sound as good.

 

[BloodLegion]

I've been messin' with my EQ for the longest time, but normally I like to max the Treble and Bass, and leave the Mid at around the 10 o' clock position. Saw a Nile lesson where they were adjusting their amp settings, its the same as what they use. I'm familiar with the Slayer boosted mids setting too, just max your Mids and leave your Treble and Bass at the 12 o' clock position. Works great for thrash, but not so for death metal.

blackrose2 - as for thicker strings, yes they do affect the tone somewhat. I use Dunlop 11-50s and not only do they sound fat but they last longer too!

 

[deathmetalpat]

Kristian what bridge to you perfer Edge pro or Edge Zero?,maybe something different.Do you swap out the bridges on your guitars or just play with the ones that came on it.Also what to think of the RG2550Z prestige,it looks like a petty nice guitar and the PU's seem petty good for a stock guitar.My main compaint against new stock Ibanezs' is that almost everyone wants to swap out the PUs from the start.

 

[Kristian Niemann]

I prefer the old Edge Pro system, the one that came on the first Jems and the RG550. Im so used to it, having played it for some 20 years now. The Edge Lo-Pro is great too and Im sure so is the Zero. Its just a matter of taste.

Never tried the 2550Z.

 

[deathmetalpat]

Thank you for your input,I thought about getting the 20th re-issue of the RG5500 but i didn't like the colors that much and didn't have the money at the time.I have ordered the 2550Z and will give it a tryout.I really look forward to not having to cut the ball ends off and having a stable return to zero bridge.I have a Floyd Rose low-pro and like it but the work needed to mantain it takes some of the fun out of playing.Floyd Rose hasn't added anyting to their bridges in years but Ibanez seems to put out something new every couple of years.Anyone else tried the new Edge Zero here?

 

[Jacob Kjær]

Kristian, I am pretty sure that you use the Edge, and not Edge Pro. Edge Pro was not released before 2003 according to this website. The 540P-II came with a normal Edge, and unless you swapped it, you have an Edge.
Also, I was geeky enough to compare some of your guitar close-ups to my own guitar and some reference pictures of the Edge Pro, and your trem is 100% surely not an edge pro (string-lock screws and fine-tuners are in reverse order on the Edge and Edge Pro).

So, there you have it

Merry New-year!

 

[Kristian Niemann]

OOOOPS!!! My bad.

Jacob is right of course, I use the ol´ Edge, not the Pro. Im really getting senile....cant even remember what gear Im using

 

[Jacob Kjær]

Heh, people will be happy as long as you can remember where to put your fingers on the fretboard at any given time . Oh, and also remember to... *ahem*... post an update some time soon! (Please)

Sidenote on the original Edge: It's still Vai and Satriani's bridge of choice. Probably because they don't want to fix something that already works

 

[BloodLegion]

Kristian,
Here's a half-assed question (can't think of technical questions like Jacob can!) - how good is the 85 for bluesy rock soloing ala The Eagles? Is it warm enough? I think I'm going for the 85 just for that - that warm, bassy, full tone that all neck pickups should have. The EMG site claims that it's used for blues, but we all know these sites only tell half the truth, half of the time

That's the good thing about being broke all the time. You have lots of TIME to ask people questions before buying anything

 

[Kristian Niemann]

Kristian,
Here's a half-assed question (can't think of technical questions like Jacob can!) - how good is the 85 for bluesy rock soloing ala The Eagles? Is it warm enough? I think I'm going for the 85 just for that - that warm, bassy, full tone that all neck pickups should have. The EMG site claims that it's used for blues, but we all know these sites only tell half the truth, half of the time

Its not the pickup that will or will not make it sound like blues. Its your playing
Seriously, it is a nice warm-sounding pup and I love it in the neck, but it might maybe be a bit too much output if you go for that really clean spanking chrystalline sound, but if you want that I guess you need a singlecoil. Lets put it this way: For the type of tone I MYSELF like for blues (Hendrix, SRV strat/single coil) I wouldnt use it but thats just personal taste. Im sure it will work great for you cos it is a very good allround pup.

That's the good thing about being broke all the time. You have lots of TIME to ask people questions before buying anything

I know EXACTLY what you mean!

 

[BloodLegion]

Thanks for the insight dude!

I managed to coerce some bluesy tones out of my 81, so I guess the 85 would be better at it. After a lot of fiddling with the EQ and knobs, that is. Well, not true blues tones like SRV but something with a bit more bite, like what Jimmy Page and Joe Walsh got our of their guitars.

Can't beat that chimey single coil sound, though!

 

[Jacob Kjær]

Why not get a EMG 89 and try that out in singlecoil (SA) mode instead? I have one lying around for my 540PII, but I haven't installed it because I haven't got a volume pot. I'll tell you what it sounds like when I do