Getting the right tone for solos and melodies

[Heabow]

Hi, I'm about to reamp some guitar solos/melodies and this time again I am in front of the same problem: can't really find to good tone for solos. It's always either too harsh or too smooth.

I'm currently mixing speed/power metal and I'd like to get a smooth tone yet aggressive but not too much distorted. Okay it depends of the music and there's no rules, etc. but I'm interested in your methods (EQ wise: more bass/less bass? More or less distortion? etc.)

Have you guys a trick or something to get a tone that fit the rhythm guitars? To you, do the solos "have to" be in 'the same tone' of the rhythm guitars or at the opposite most of the time?

Thanx

 

[Tommy Evans]

I always put the solos through a different amp than the rythems. I find that no matter how much you EQ it, if the rythems and leads are coming out of the same amp it will mud up and mask things because the same foundations and amp characteristics are still present. As far as EQ goes I usually end up hi passing more than I expect, usually in the 200hz range on real amps. Then up to 500hz on sims.

 

[if6was9]

500hz? What!

One of the best tips I've heard for getting solos to work is to treat them like the vocals. You want them to fill the same space that you hollow out of your mix for the vocals.

 

[Terminus]

/\ Yeah the vocal thing works well eq-wise. And if there are vocals going at the same time, I'll double track the leads and pan them out a bit so as to not interfere with the vocals spatially and do some narrow cuts on the lead eq where the vocals sit during that part.

Tommy has a great point, and I do love to change out the amp (or different channel if the amp has a lead channel with a different voicing) for something more suited to a lead tone. Add some more mid range and dial in the gain with a bit more saturation, and of course use a neck pickup to get that violin like smoothness have all worked well for me in the past. add some delay and reverb to taste and you're set. Best thing to do is grab a guitar and work with it.

 

[Siriun]

There's several methods to really making it stand out more. Depending on the song and what I(or the artist) feels is desired or needed in tone, I think something worth taking a shot at is to use a different setup almost. I like to use a different head for leads/melodies and solos. Keeping the same cab is up to you. And I'll also keep the same mic configuration but change it up a little bit. I like my leads to sound thicker personally, so I like to do what Adam D does and place a 57 about a 6 inches away from the cone so you get that nice resonance. It does sound great on rhythm guitars as well, but with that resonance on the leads I think it really fills in the gaps so to speak. But then again, all personal preference.

As for mixing, I usually don't compress the leads that much unless they're really lacking volume department. Not to mention Lead guitar has more dynamics anyway than Rhythm usually so I try and tend not to squash them more than needed. But a hint of Compression isn't always a bad thing. As far as EQing, do what others have suggested: EQ the leads similar to the vocals so that way the sonic space is filled. Another common thing is to add a little bit of 'verb and delay to taste to really give it atmosphere
and help it sit in the mix better. Also, this is just another personal preference but I like to blend the leads in with a Condenser mic as well to make it sound warmer and brighter.


PS: Like Terminus said above me, sometimes panning the leads out a little bit allows more room for the vocals if there is any on that part.
If there's a melody and a harmony going on, I like to pan one L about 50% and the other R about 50%. You can hard pan them as well but to me it just depends on the song and the mix.
Hope this helps

 

[Heabow]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah 500Hz is pretty high! I tend to hi-pass around 100Hz. I usually low-pass more than the rhythm guitars and boost around 2kHz but it doesn't work well often. I will try different things asap and post to get some feedback.

 

[Darren "Jenk" Jenkins]

Using a different amp and guitar (neck pickup) always helps.

 

[Heabow]

We used a different guitar on neck pickup but it's more about what amp, EQ, etc. The rhythm are Powerball with Mesa cab. Maybe with a different cab...? I'll keep trying..

 

[outbreak525]

I actually like to mid scoop the leads quite drastically.

 

[Heabow]

I tried some things. You can listen to a song with solos in my thread here (the guy is not an awesome shredder) Feel free to comment the mix itself!

 

[crillemannen]

If you have a nice amp it should be easy as cake. I really like my JSX for leads and for a bit smoother tone a marshall would do. I did an album with TSL on the leads, sounded so big and lush.

In the mix i usually use PSP vintage warmer 2 on the leads, makes them bigger and a tad bit more smooth. Try it and you'll know what i mean.

 

[Firaxis]

You can actually run the gain and treble pretty high then lo pass much lower than rhythm guitars, even down past 6k depending on the tone you want. I also hi pass all leads around 200-250Hz