Playing Clean with Heavy gain/distortion

[sadisticsatyr]

When playing any metal song, which has a solo in it, i find it very hard to play the solo clean when i have distortion on. I have tried playing them with an unmodified sound and can fainly here a pull-off when i move to move to another string. This can be cancelled out by palm muting, but thats cheating.

One example, is any Childreen of Bodom solo. Alexi seems to play the solo (sometimes) with high gain, but also with clarity and definition to each note.

I have nailed it down to a small issue: if i fret a note, play it, then remove my finger fast, it causes the string to vibrate open. Dunno if im explaining this very well....Does this mean i have to mute the tring every time i want to change to a different string?

 

[Conti]

When playing any metal song, which has a solo in it, i find it very hard to play the solo clean when i have distortion on. I have tried playing them with an unmodified sound and can fainly here a pull-off when i move to move to another string. This can be cancelled out by palm muting, but thats cheating.

One example, is any Childreen of Bodom solo. Alexi seems to play the solo (sometimes) with high gain, but also with clarity and definition to each note.

I have nailed it down to a small issue: if i fret a note, play it, then remove my finger fast, it causes the string to vibrate open. Dunno if im explaining this very well....Does this mean i have to mute the tring every time i want to change to a different string?

yea you may need to mute a little with your right hand but also with your left hand, When you relase from a string you have to release while making the finger just lay un top of the string so that is deadens the sound. (If that makes any sense.)

 

[jackson89]

what do you mean by cheating? do whatever is necessary to play what you want no matter what someone says. whatever works for you is all that matters and to help get a cleaner sound, deaden the strings with your hands and also try to keep your hand relaxed when playing.

 

[sadisticsatyr]

what do you mean by cheating?

If i am trying to replicate a solo, then i dont want to be palm muting where the original player was not...

 

[Krakatau]

When you have a lot of distortion the leads are going to sound muddy. If you want more clarity, my advice is to use less distortion (turn the knob to 4 or 5) and when you solo use an overdrive pedal.

 

[A Poor Musician]

Yea there is probably just too much distortion. Try some overdrive with reverb.

 

[sadisticsatyr]

Will try less dist... I was watching closely last night while playing and found what the issue is. The string gets stuck on my finger even though its not sweaty. So, maybe im just fretting too hard on the higher strings.

 

[MurderForProfit]

dude its not cheating... every guitarist has their own sound no matter what... same equipment could result in different sound. just play it and if it kinda sounds the same just doesnt feel right to you do it anyway. you could be playing it exactly right and it may not sound the same.

 

[MasterT44]

Use neck pickup.

 

[sadisticsatyr]

^^ Ya, thats what ive been doing. working on the fast pickup switching.

 

[MasterT44]

^^ Ya, thats what ive been doing. working on the fast pickup switching.

If you're playing a show and you get the chance to switch the pickup earlier than when you start the solo, just do it then, cause neck pickup won't make your lows/mids sound terrible or anything, you'll just get less bite.

 

[ParsonsMatt]

That depends on the neck pickup, bridge pickup, and amp settings.

Just PRACTICE more. Run those chromatic scales. High gain sounds great when you're playing cleanly.