Hey fellas as most of you probably know I am a fucking noob when it comes to this shit so, if any of you could offer any tips for getting a good death metal tone I would be appreciative. I have a 5150 with an avatar cab and v30's my guitar is a esp mh-350 with emg 81/85 pu's right now my tone is marginal at best. I also have an ibby ts808 for OD I've been running on the rhythm channel with pre-gain all the way up and the crunch button off which gets me close but I'm not satisfied also bass 3/4 mids 7/8 highs 5/6.
Tone tips?
- Thread starter BL1NDSIDE-J
- Start date
Firaxis
Member
id try taking theids down to around 3 putting the crunch on the channel and maybe take the bass up a bit. its hard to say without clips but a lot of the guys here know the 5150 inside out and use a tubescreamer with it. you can check andy sneaps settings on one of the stickies but obviously its gunna change for each player
Thanks for the input. I cannot put up any clips right now as I am posting from the public library 
. I was just kind of wanting a starting point then I could adjust from there.
. I was just kind of wanting a starting point then I could adjust from there.
Harry Hughes
âââ¬â¬
- Apr 25, 2009
- 4,353
- 0
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Way too much mids.
The Tube Screamer is already giving the mids a healthy kick (assuming you're using it correctly), so somewhere like 2-4 on the mids on the amp should be plenty
The Tube Screamer is already giving the mids a healthy kick (assuming you're using it correctly), so somewhere like 2-4 on the mids on the amp should be plenty
dan weapon
Planet Smasher
Crank the bass, and especially the resonance to almost max. With EMGs and a tubescreamer you will be very middy already. 5150 has a ton of mids even when it is set to zero. It's had to say exactly, without hearing your cab.
But I'd say somewhere like:
LEAD channel:
pre gain - 5
bass - 7
mids - 1 or 2
treb - 5
res - 10
pres - 8
That should get you a pretty good start. If you want to go a bit older school death metal, you'd probably need to look at getting a graphic EQ and sucking out some more mids. Of course this will sound brutal on it's own but not as good/cutting in mix/band scenario...
Good old tubescreamer settings, keep the gain quite low (around 9 o'clock), and the level in the middle. Tone to taste, but probably somewhere between the gain and level in terms of rough positioning.
But I'd say somewhere like:
LEAD channel:
pre gain - 5
bass - 7
mids - 1 or 2
treb - 5
res - 10
pres - 8
That should get you a pretty good start. If you want to go a bit older school death metal, you'd probably need to look at getting a graphic EQ and sucking out some more mids. Of course this will sound brutal on it's own but not as good/cutting in mix/band scenario...
Good old tubescreamer settings, keep the gain quite low (around 9 o'clock), and the level in the middle. Tone to taste, but probably somewhere between the gain and level in terms of rough positioning.
Using a screamer as a boost only, having zero drive/gain and only using the tone knob to dial in the boost tone. You said "pre-gain all the way up" is likely the culprit. Not a good idea to oversaturate the gain as it makes it spongey and you loose definition.
caneris
Member
bryan_kilco
Member
caneris
Member
I mainly use the Keeley Katana boost with mine but I do switch between that and the TS in my GSP1101 and on the GSP I pretty much have it cranked. The katana is a different story as it has soo much boost it's crazy
My tone is usually around:
808: drive 9 o'clock, tone 1 o'clock, level 3 o'clock
5150: red channel, pre gain 3, bass 6, mids 5, treb 5.5, resonance 8 presence 7
808: drive 9 o'clock, tone 1 o'clock, level 3 o'clock
5150: red channel, pre gain 3, bass 6, mids 5, treb 5.5, resonance 8 presence 7
Noise seems to be the biggest hinderance to acheiving a good tone with this head, I just thought I was through spending money
lolzgreg
Cereal Shipping Sneapster
My best advice to you is to a. know exactly what you're looking for, and b. disregard number values on knobs and tweak until you're happy. Using your ears will get you there. Don't overthink it.
mburton21
Member
- Oct 7, 2009
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- 16
Although the 5150 is a noisy amp, it shouldn't be affecting your tone at all. If there are noises during pauses in the song, just edit it out. That being said I still use a bit of noise suppression but really, not that much.
Tip - Turn the preamp gain down, if it's anywhere near 10 then no wonder it's noisy and you're having trouble with tone. I have never turned it up (on the lead channel) past 6. Ever. It's unnecessary and just muds everything up.
If you're looking to improve your recorded tone, invest in a good preamp, not a noise suppressor.
Tip - Turn the preamp gain down, if it's anywhere near 10 then no wonder it's noisy and you're having trouble with tone. I have never turned it up (on the lead channel) past 6. Ever. It's unnecessary and just muds everything up.
If you're looking to improve your recorded tone, invest in a good preamp, not a noise suppressor.
acappa
Alex Cappa TMF Studios
acappa
Alex Cappa TMF Studios
How are you micing your 5150? I find my actual setup i5 in fredman + md421 doesn´t fit my needs....I have to try sm57 + md421
