triplets, shredding

[Dead Winter]

I agree with you on the thinner pick issue...I hate overly thin picks. But it does give you a more defined sound, albeit a very thin and weak one at that. I use .80 mm Dunlops for standard and standard D tuning, but anything above that, I have to go up between .9 and 1.0 mm.

 

[Tachy]

For me the chain is: emg81+framus cobra with the crunch channel with moderate gain+v30 or gt75.
gt75 probably work better for this type of things.
D or E tunning with tight string and picks between 0.8-1mm

 

[LSD-Studio]

I can't believe anybody is suggesting thinner picks....I think you lose definition that way....but I do have to agree with the comment on tuning. Stuff like this always sounds better to me in standard tuning or close to it.

in my opinion thin picks are for ppl with no control in their right hand.
of course it seems to be easier with a thin pick but with a thicker one you hear what you actually play WHEN you play it without any "pick-bend-delay".
you're directly on the strings and have the absolute influence on how it sounds.
with a thin pick it doesn't really matter how hard you hit (that's why it seems to be easier), with a thick one you hear how hard you're picking, of course that means you have to pick very consistently, but hey.....we're complaining about drummers not hitting hard/consistently enough all the time, so we gotta do the same!
I'm playing pickboy st-4 stone picks exclusively, (coming from nylon .63mm) and i had a really hard time getting used to that "direct playing" with a stone pick, but it definitely made me a better player with a more unique attack.

plus stonepicks sound awsome!

 

[Dead Winter]

in my opinion thin picks are for ppl with no control in their right hand.
of course it seems to be easier with a thin pick but with a thicker one you hear what you actually play WHEN you play it without any "pick-bend-delay".
you're directly on the strings and have the absolute influence on how it sounds.
with a thin pick it doesn't really matter how hard you hit (that's why it seems to be easier), with a thick one you hear how hard you're picking, of course that means you have to pick very consistently, but hey.....we're complaining about drummers not hitting hard/consistently enough all the time, so we gotta do the same!
I'm playing pickboy st-4 stone picks exclusively, (coming from nylon .63mm) and i had a really hard time getting used to that "direct playing" with a stone pick, but it definitely made me a better player with a more unique attack.

plus stonepicks sound awsome!

You're absolutely right...I can't stand playing with really thin picks, but if you go too thick on thin strings, you lose some of the lighter touches with a medium gauge pick. Sometimes you want to pick very lightly, but no matter how lightly you pick with a thicker pick, you sometimes will lose some legato in your sound. Thin picks, on the other hand, tend to muddy up the sound. Again, for my seven string or my six string tuned to B, I have to use thick picks to get that defined attack on the string. However, I don't like thicker picks on string gauges between .009 and .010, which I use for E and D standard tuning. I don't like to pick with anything below .8 mm on thinner strings anyway, because I need that little bit of resistance in the attack, which you don't get with thin picks. However, using the same pick for tuning any more than 1-1.5 steps down just won't cut it. It loses definition and sounds like one long sound instead of a staccato pick attack where it should be.

 

[STINNETT]

Since we're on the subject, you guys should check out the 3mm Big Stubbies. Super heavy picks, but they are contoured in such a way that picking effort goes down compared to other thick picks and you can play with very subtle and short movements. They are also acrylic and I think they sound better (could be my imagination). I used to use 1.5 or 2mm gator grips, but since I switched to these I can't stand regular picks.

Just felt like sharing.

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

Since we're on the subject, you guys should check out the 3mm Big Stubbies.

I used to use them - they're great for picking, but they sound rank. As soon as you put any power behind them, it sounds like hitting your strings with a glass or something; they sound almost hollow and it used to really stand out when I recorded.

Steve

 

[nwright]

^I agree. those thick contoured picks don't have as much bite IMO, as the contour allows the string to slide too much, resulting in a mushy feel and legato-like tone, IMO. But you can play fast with them. I use Tortex sharps and looooove the shit out of them. Super sharp point, great pick attack, same feel as the regular tortex picks. green .88's!

 

[MX582]

a good pre-amp helps too..ive been using the neve 1073 alot lately and the guitars sound very clear..you can hear every note picked (aslong as you've got a good amp too) (KRANKKK)

 

[Dead Winter]

Also, we can't forget the oldest advice in the world: proper warm-up technique. If you try to do some Master of Puppets style downpicking with a cold wrist, you're probably either going to cramp up or not stay in time. I warm up at least 30 minutes before a gig...hell, even practicing I don't get into the groove until an hour after I started. I hear tons of people say, "The first half of the show my playing was shit, but after that it was fine." I ask them if they warmed up and the response is usually something to the tune of about five minutes. If you're going to play Green Day, you can get away with that, but if you're going to play Hammer Smashed Face, you probably need to give yourself at least a little more time to warm up. It can only help you, so why wouldn't you do it? Sacrifice an extra beer or two because you need to stay sober anyway. My bassist always had that problem. Drink like a fish before a show and then wonder why his playing was shitty. I've turned into an asshole about that kind of thing now. If I'm in a band, I have a no more than 1 beer rule before showtime because if I'm busting my ass to put on a great show and you can't even keep up because you drank too much then I don't need you in my fucking band. Go peddle your half-ass shit somewhere else on some other bunch of fucking drunks.

 

[joeymusicguy]

hey MX582
i wonder if i'd be able to afford one of those, lol

but you know, the thought of using a krank sorta scares me, after i heard some clips on krank's website. man every single one sounded horrible.

is it just me, or are those clips pure crap?

im afraid to use a krank, can anyone dispell that for me?

oh and on one of the replies someone mentioned tightness, thats probably the perfect word to describe what im looking for, just a really really tight sounding amp. im not so much worried about the cab as we will be running cab simulation.

 

[MX582]

if you wanna be safe i dont think you can go wrong with a Mesa dual rec. and as far as kranks go i think you just gotta mess around with it a shit load and find the perfect tone

 

[Massili]

i watched that technocracy video and i'd like to know why they put those tapes on the strings and that thing under the bridge?