Thanks. Will see how we go. Will hold a big shoot-out of 3 or 4 different guitars on the first day of tracking and then we'll decide whether the additional hassles of floyd-loaded guitars are worth it.
Tracking guitar with floyd.
- Thread starter Ermz
- Start date
guitarguru777
Member
I just make sure the guitar is set up right and put some foam in the trem cavity and on the headstock to avoid extra noise.
Mago
Austrian Blech Machine
If I had the choice I'd go with a fixed bridge for rhythm parts always.
If the player sounds better with the FR than with one of your guitars then go for it...my problem would be that I may make those PM to hard and they go out of tune here and there, as Im not used to FR at all.
At the last band rehearsal I broke my low e string and me and our lead guitar player switched guitars so we could play at least one song were he doesnt have that much rhythm parts.
his ESP Horizon has a FR, and I must say I was quite surprised when I played it through my usual setup...I always thought the tremolo would eat up some of the PM br00talz (& sustain) I love and make them sound more flat...but I didnt notice something like that during the song.
Still it would "feel" better for me to use one with a fixed bridge for rhythm parts...and I don even think about the PITA of changing strings and setting up with a FR
If the player sounds better with the FR than with one of your guitars then go for it...my problem would be that I may make those PM to hard and they go out of tune here and there, as Im not used to FR at all.
At the last band rehearsal I broke my low e string and me and our lead guitar player switched guitars so we could play at least one song were he doesnt have that much rhythm parts.
his ESP Horizon has a FR, and I must say I was quite surprised when I played it through my usual setup...I always thought the tremolo would eat up some of the PM br00talz (& sustain) I love and make them sound more flat...but I didnt notice something like that during the song.
Still it would "feel" better for me to use one with a fixed bridge for rhythm parts...and I don even think about the PITA of changing strings and setting up with a FR
probably not worth the hassle unless the quality of those guitars is way beyond your fixed bridge options.
blacK.eXe
Member
My yesterdays recording session just had to be interrupted after every take to get the tremolo of a mates guitar adjusted and tuned... personally i prefer tracking with a fixed bridge because you can put more energy into your right hand without the fear to be out of tune.
pipaguapique
Remember Me
Well said Jval.
those floating tremoloes are a PITA. I hate them, i hate people who plays them, i hate recording them, and i hate YOU!!
haha...j/k. i really don't like them, they're just trouble, and usually, lots of kids that have them never have them intonated or properly adjusted.
LeSedna
Mat or Mateo
"floating tremolo" and "floyd rose" are not the same, AT ALL.
A good floyd rose or equivalent (i don't really know other brands) is virtually impossible to detune in a short time if set up properly.
You can dive bomb the shit of it, no matter what you do (if you don't alter the integrity of the strings) it will come back at the exact same tuning. If you do it 100 times it will maybe get a bit offtune, but it means if you use it normally, it's virtually perfectly in tune and will only need a little fine-tuners adjustement if you record with it intensively.
A good floyd rose or equivalent (i don't really know other brands) is virtually impossible to detune in a short time if set up properly.
You can dive bomb the shit of it, no matter what you do (if you don't alter the integrity of the strings) it will come back at the exact same tuning. If you do it 100 times it will maybe get a bit offtune, but it means if you use it normally, it's virtually perfectly in tune and will only need a little fine-tuners adjustement if you record with it intensively.
LeSedna
Mat or Mateo
Still, I'm with jval and would say go for the FR only if the guitar itself is worth it. A fixed bridge is easier to deal with, even if it detunes quicker than a good FR.
kernelxsanders
Bam Bam Boogie Bear!
im constantly annoyed with my guitar, it also is a jackson with a floyd, when i first got the guitar, the springs produced a natural reverb effect, which had to immediately be remedied, so i just tied a rubber band around the springs. also when i bend a note, it bends all the other strings slightly, so i have to anticipate that and adjust accordingly with the next note i play, which gets real old real quick. not to mention the annoying as hell restringing/tuning process that often exceeds times of over an hour, whereas a fixed bridge, i can restring/stretch and tune the strings in only a few minutes. i also noticed that the tone isnt quite as tight with a floyd, so when i record, i make sure the guitar is in tune and i take off the locking pieces on the nut, so that helps a little. at least for me. bottom line is next guitar i get will definitely have a fixed bridge, more than likely an ec1000 
Melb_shredder
Orpheus: Melodic Death
Ermz, I might be wrong... Are we talking a certain pair of guitarists using USA Jacksons with OFR's??? If they are set up right, there will be 0 to no issues. If mine in drop b is essentially intimated to perfection should be fine again, shoot out for it. I look forward to the results.
again, shoot out for it. I look forward to the results.
Josh Burgess
Member
SO much trem hate..... come on, guys. Man up. Don't be so boring. Look at what players like Jeff Loomis can do with a trem.
If you have no experience playing guitars with floating tremolos, obviously your technique (or, more probably, a lack there of) isn't going to match up too well with those guitars... but that doesn't mean that players who actually use them will have any problems. If it's a quality guitar with a quality trem and it's set up and intonated correctly, it will stay in tune better than most fixed bridge guitars... especially those without locking tuners.
Some people actually use the trem for more than just overdubbed leads by the way. Dips, dives, vibrato, etc. can all be used tastefully in normal riffs to spice up the playing. There's no reason to try to dumb down the music of someone who knows what they're doing with a trem'd guitar.
If you have no experience playing guitars with floating tremolos, obviously your technique (or, more probably, a lack there of) isn't going to match up too well with those guitars... but that doesn't mean that players who actually use them will have any problems. If it's a quality guitar with a quality trem and it's set up and intonated correctly, it will stay in tune better than most fixed bridge guitars... especially those without locking tuners.
Some people actually use the trem for more than just overdubbed leads by the way. Dips, dives, vibrato, etc. can all be used tastefully in normal riffs to spice up the playing. There's no reason to try to dumb down the music of someone who knows what they're doing with a trem'd guitar.
Melb_shredder
Orpheus: Melodic Death
ForgotenWarrior6
Revel in this, bitch.
Melb_shredder
Orpheus: Melodic Death
One of the things that bothers me is that we had one of the floyd loaded guitars in on the first day of pre-production, and it took all of 30 minutes to snap a string. We had to get the Hellraiser out and finish up the tracking with it.
The downtime associated with intonating a floyd, and replacing strings day by day is not something that's desirable for a long stretch of guitar tracking. Besides this there are not many techs here (yourself excluded, Chris) who I'd trust to give me something even resembling correct intonation on a floyd-loaded guitar, which means a fair bit of down time on the first day just getting it set up right.
The issue with the Hellraiser and Eclipse is that they may be a little bit too deep and muddy sounding for this music. These guys are constantly coasting around 200bpm, and their music requires lots of clarity on muted 16ths, so mahogany plus 707 and 85 may not be the ticket.
It's a bit of a pickle, but we'll nut it out I'm sure.
The downtime associated with intonating a floyd, and replacing strings day by day is not something that's desirable for a long stretch of guitar tracking. Besides this there are not many techs here (yourself excluded, Chris) who I'd trust to give me something even resembling correct intonation on a floyd-loaded guitar, which means a fair bit of down time on the first day just getting it set up right.
The issue with the Hellraiser and Eclipse is that they may be a little bit too deep and muddy sounding for this music. These guys are constantly coasting around 200bpm, and their music requires lots of clarity on muted 16ths, so mahogany plus 707 and 85 may not be the ticket.
It's a bit of a pickle, but we'll nut it out I'm sure.
Harry Hughes
âââ¬â¬
- Apr 25, 2009
- 4,353
- 0
- 36
I tend to think a lot of people around here over exaggerate how hard you need to actually pick for it to sound good.
As Josh said, Loomis uses a trem, and that guy picks pretty hard, yet has no problems with it going out of tune.
You don't need to pick any harder than he does, seriously. A lot of people get caught into this trap of "GOTTA PICK HARD AS I CAN MUTHAFUCKERRRRRRRR!"
Pick as hard as necessary to make it sound good, and then stop picking any harder than that, because there is simply no need to pick harder than that. If anything, picking harder than that will make it sound worse.
There's also the advantage of it being less stressful on your hand and wrist, because there's less tension being generated.
I'd say if you're pushing a trem out of tune while picking, there's a good chance your technique on a fixed bridge guitar isn't much better either.
It's all about balance, when it comes to guitar tone, how hard you pick, how loud you set the amp etc. Too little or too much of something sounds bad, gotta find that medium, that balanced point.
As Josh said, Loomis uses a trem, and that guy picks pretty hard, yet has no problems with it going out of tune.
You don't need to pick any harder than he does, seriously. A lot of people get caught into this trap of "GOTTA PICK HARD AS I CAN MUTHAFUCKERRRRRRRR!"
Pick as hard as necessary to make it sound good, and then stop picking any harder than that, because there is simply no need to pick harder than that. If anything, picking harder than that will make it sound worse.
There's also the advantage of it being less stressful on your hand and wrist, because there's less tension being generated.
I'd say if you're pushing a trem out of tune while picking, there's a good chance your technique on a fixed bridge guitar isn't much better either.
It's all about balance, when it comes to guitar tone, how hard you pick, how loud you set the amp etc. Too little or too much of something sounds bad, gotta find that medium, that balanced point.
Harry Hughes
âââ¬â¬
- Apr 25, 2009
- 4,353
- 0
- 36
Just saw this post.
I'd say go for whatever sounds the tightest too. It seems like it would easier to dial in a little bit of balls back in if the Jacksons are perhaps a little too tight, than to have to deal with a flubby lower mid range.
The 24.75 inch scale of the Eclipse definitely doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
If you were to use either the Eclipse of Hellraiser, the Hellraiser seems a much better bet with the 26.5 inch scale, plus the fact that EMG 707s were designed to sound in between EMG 81s and 85s (albeit for 7 string guitars of course), so perhaps wont be as potentially muddy.
Melb_shredder
Orpheus: Melodic Death
Fair enough ermz. I'm a little concerned about snapping a string 30 min in though... As far as I'm aware neither of the jacksons being used have been set up professionally. At least not when I changed pick ups for the King V... If need be, ask the guys if they want me to take a look at either of them. I'd be happy to lend a hand free of charge in this instance.
Lasse Lammert
HCAF Blitzkrieg
I really like FR guits for tracking, they've got a nice "twang".
It's important that the player can handle them though (picking hand position, picking stregth etc). And I HATE the tuning hassle that comes with a fixed bridge
It's important that the player can handle them though (picking hand position, picking stregth etc). And I HATE the tuning hassle that comes with a fixed bridge
