Guitar Sound

[FretsAflame]

Really all i can say is to totally fuck with your settings. Don't hold anything back when your playing with your dials. When you hit sounds you like, write the settings down, when you find something interesting out, make a note of it. Also, i've found that I can get pretty close to the sounds off of blackwater park (especially The Drapery Falls) by setting the bass on my 5150 to 10, the mids to about 2, the highs at 10, and adjusting the resonance close to 10 (think 8-9) and the presence settings at 7ish (all of theses settings were with a gain of 10). Although to reach such signature sounds that occur on tracks like "The Funeral Portrait" - ie, the really poppy sound in the intro ("ruby eyes in the fog...") you really need a prs. The way the prs is configured and the pickups they engineered are key to that sound. Just remember if you want that smooth-blended gain jack up the bass, but don't forget to add some highs in there, and pickup settings do matter, otherwise it comes out as sludge-filled bass with no definition. Hope i helped, or at least gave you a start!

 

[fadingessence]

A 5150 on 10? wow thats a lot more gain then I ever use to play Opeth. And I don't see how dropping out mids would do much either. On my laney gh50 I use resonance on, presence 5, bass 7-8, mids 6, treb 6, gain 6, and drive 8 (extra gain stage) and it's quite close to their live sound. Even those big chords ring out very well.

 

[FretsAflame]

I should mention that i both hate and love my guitar, but i'm getting a new one very soon. This maaaay contribute a little to the effects of the amp, but i doubt it since it's spot on with a prs ( i have an esp btw). But those settings give me great sounds, also try bass at 3-4, mids at 5, highs at 7, presence at7, resonance at 8, thats another good setting for those smooth opeth tones. But, like i said, you just have to try it.

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

Right after I posted my last desperate cry for help, I went and desperatley fucked around with my pedal, and found my sound. It is a full blown mid range sound, with mids at about 8, highs at about 8, and bass at about 3-4. And on rectify, two of them actually blended together with gain at 75 a piece I get some chunky disto, without losing clarity, so I guess everything is cool now. Does anyone know some good pickups as for good clarity on high gain??? Would seymour duncan's do the trick???? Thanks for all your input.


P.S. I want a 5150

 

[FretsAflame]

What kind of amp/guitar do you have now?

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

What kind of amp/guitar do you have now?

Right now Im playing through an Epi LP Custom, and an AVT150.

 

[fadingessence]

Yes get the duncans, a JB and a Jazz. Thats what Opeth uses, thats what I use, and even if i'm wrong they probably arn't =). They really are perfect for that kind of sound though, I play on my other guitar with EMG HZs and it just sounds like crap. And any "real" pickups are improvement on Epi Stock ones, or most stock for that matter.

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

Can someone please explain to me what is so good about the JB, and Jazz combo, I was actually about to go for a 59 neck, and a Pearly Gates Bridge, would that work out nice????

 

[FretsAflame]

Yes get the duncans, a JB and a Jazz. Thats what Opeth uses, thats what I use, and even if i'm wrong they probably arn't =). They really are perfect for that kind of sound though, I play on my other guitar with EMG HZs and it just sounds like crap. And any "real" pickups are improvement on Epi Stock ones, or most stock for that matter.

Skip the duncans, get some EMG's. Go for the 85 in the neck position and a 81 in the bridge. If you've ever seen an opeth show or vid, you'll notice that one of Lindgren's fav's is a Jackson RR1 with that same set up. He also uses a Gibson Les paul with that pick-up config. Although, before you snatch up some EMG's (or other quality pickups), you might want to consider getting a better guitar. The pickup's you buy will get into the 200 buck range together for quality ones. It might be a more favorable option to save up some dough and start shoppin for a new axe. The amp you have is great though, and it should make it easier to attain an opeth sound with different gear.

Hope that helps!

 

[FretsAflame]

By the way, where'd you get the pics of peter and michael in your profile?

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

Well, Im not getting a new guitar ANY TIME SOON, thats why I am going to upgrade these pickups, because they will make this guitar even better, and I actually like it a lot, it plays a lot like a Gibson, so there is no way Im getting rid of it. I don't like the sound of the emg's, so I am definitely going to go with some duncan's, and why do you say that I have a good amp???? It's really nothing special, just a tube in the preamp, and I guess it's better than all solid state, but its nothing special. If someone can come tell me what is so great about Jazz/JB combo, Id really appreciate it.

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

O, and my axe looks just like Peter's in my sig, and Im fairly sure that he has stock Gibsons in that.

 

[FretsAflame]

Nothing is really special about the jazz and jb duncans. They just have more of that mellow rounded sound (think damnation). But seriously, I implore you of checking out the EMG's, they are extremely versatile, and you can get any type of metal tone from that setup that i mentioned. As long as they are setup right, they rock out with my, well...you know. But your amp is a good amp, fun to dick around with, and it's versatile enough for you to get the opeth sound out of it, just keep messing with it.

P.S. - you forgot to tell me where you got the pics in your sig. from.

 

[fadingessence]

they're from a guitar world that inlcuded a poster of opeth...which is also on my wall.

I don't have any technical reason for you that a JB/Jazz is a good combo to have, I just read somewhere that Mike used that setup and my Schecter c-1 classic came with them stock. For me they work very well, that doesn't mean you need to get them, but I can only comment on what i've got right?

The EMGs would work fine, you'll spend a little more money both on the pups themselves and they're a little harder to install. So peter went and did a Zakk wylde setup with the gibson? I've always thought that was the right place for those pickups..it does just sound amazing.

 

[FretsAflame]

Amen! The EMG's I would only recommend for seasoned players with lots of experience and patience. Once you get em' going though, they shred. Hell, they're good for everything from rock to metal to blues to jazz to neoclassical.

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

I definitely dig the distortions that those EMG's dish out, but I just don't like the cleans, and my songs have lots of clean in them, maybe less than distorted most of the time, but I do love a great clean tone. Would I be better off with the duncan combo??? Man, also, I don't think I would be able to install those EMG's by myself, aren't passive pickups like 5 times harder to install??

 

[FretsAflame]

That's the thing with the EMG's, their clean tone is largely determined by the amp. I love my clean tone on my 5150, the reverb helps out with most amps too, try adding a touch of that with emg's, sounds great. The EMG's are active, not passive, and any pickup is hard to install. If you want the most out of your pickups though, have a professional install them and set them and the switching up, i would recommend that no matter what you buy. Personally i think you would be better off with the emg's, but hey, that's just me, i think most duncan's are a little overrated.

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

Yeah, I meant active, I just wasn't thinking. Well, I am really going to try to install them myself, so active's would be a true pain in the ass, but I do also have an Ibanez RG421, which might get some EMG's put in there, so I'll have a good compromise between two guitars.

 

[FretsAflame]

Yeah, I meant active, I just wasn't thinking. Well, I am really going to try to install them myself, so active's would be a true pain in the ass, but I do also have an Ibanez RG421, which might get some EMG's put in there, so I'll have a good compromise between two guitars.

My advice - talk to a lot of people who have done it before you try anything, buy a book or two, and make sure you're handy with that soddering iron.

 

[Leper_/-\ffinity]

Yeah, I have soldered electronics before, and I am going to practice on some shitty ass guitar, so I think I'll be alright, plus Ive asked many smart people if I could do it with basic soldering knowledge, and they said definitely. As for active's, that is a whole nother story, but we'll see what happens. Im not careless, so if I don't get the job done, Ill just give up and take it to the axe shop.