Which Amp is the Biggest Kick In The Nuts?

[guitarguru777]

As far as Gain in the NONO Zone ... if you want major high gain be prepared to sacrifice tone. Good tone starts with good Dynamics in the sound. By ganing the shit out of an amp our compressing he hell out of the signal and theres less dynamics. With that being said ....

What the norm is nowadays for bands like Nevermore, Arch enemy, Fearfactory, and all these brilliant guitar tones, is the Tibanez TS-9 Pedal. What they do is they run the pedal as a clean boost with no gain into the amp. What this does is it ups the mids and pulls lowend which cleans up the sound ALOT. It also allows you to back off on the gain of the amp allowing more dymanic response in the tone. Which leads to a sound that is ALOT less muddy.

Rectos, 5150s, and most High End tube amps are what they are using with this technique. Add to that most of these guys are using active pickups (EMG's) and they are SLAMMING THE SHIT out of the preamp tubes with the guitar signal. This is what gives these bands their sound.

Your really not looking for SUPER high gain cause it will just KILL your tone. Squash it like a bug and make it sound thin. Also remmeber not to scoop the mids so much ...

If you give me an example of which guitarists tones you like i can tell you what they are using. Even Romeo though hes using a modeling amp uses specific amps to get tones. I believe hes been using the Engl model as of late, with a TS-9 model in the vetta infront of the amp.

Da Fukn Guru

 

[Horus]

If you want to know who I want to sound like with my second distortion, I'll tell you. The lead in Blind Guardian.. I don't know who plays lead for them, so I just said that. That's who. I'm actually not looking to sound like those death metal bands. I already have that kind of sound with one pedal, and I don't need it twice.

 

[Yngvai X]

If you want to know who I want to sound like with my second distortion, I'll tell you. The lead in Blind Guardian.. I don't know who plays lead for them, so I just said that. That's who. I'm actually not looking to sound like those death metal bands. I already have that kind of sound with one pedal, and I don't need it twice.

Why don't you find what sound works best for you? Copying someone else's tone never sounds good.

 

[Horus]

Okay. I plead guilty to wording that badly. The thing is that G. Guru told me to give him some examples of guitarrists' tones, so I gave him an example. Unfortunately, instead of sAYING, "An example of a guitarrist's tone would be..." I said "I want to sound like..."
And about sacrificing tone, i have a Graphic Equalizer, and it works wonders for me.

 

[guitarguru777]

Believe me ... when i said sound like i mean the same thing. Sounds you like and cloning someone. But listing similarities always helps. Personally for me the best guitar tone i have ever heard just came off the new Nevermore CD. Its mindblowing....

Da Fukn Guru

 

[Horus]

Im confused. Are you saying that cloning other peoples' tones is good or bad? Because the first line is worded very badly. No offense.

 

[guitarguru777]

I say cloning is BAD ... But using someon else tone is a good refrence point for finding your own. Not everyone hears everything the same way. Everyones ears are different.

Heres an example.

I LOVE THE TONE FROM THE NEW NEVERMORE CD!!
I think its the best guitar tone ever put to tape. It's got this mid-rangey BARK to it that just jumps out of the speakers with a shitload of dymanics. Probably the best guitar tone ever put to tape since Metallicas Master Of Puppets.

In the search to find this tone i figure out how to get it EXACTLY. Nail it so it sounds just like it did in the studio when they recorded it. From that point i realised that i liked a bit more low mids in the sound and a bit more highs. So i added them.... Its actually completely changed the way the tone works in a mix and live, but its still amazing tone.

Understand what im saying ? Just use the tones you like as a refrence point. Then tweak from there to find your own sound.

Da Fukn Guru

 

[guitarguru777]

Oops double post .....lol

 

[guitarguru777]

And in an answer to what they guys from blind guardian use. Here is a quote from an interview done a few months ago.

Quote:
I still use a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier, Gibson, ESP & Ibanez Guitars and
a Rocktron Intellifex for all my sounds.

Da Fukn Guru

 

[Yngvai X]

The most crushing rhythm guitar sounds IMO are what Jon Schaffer gets in Iced Earth and what Victor Smolski got on Rage's Unity and Soundchaser albums. Jon uses Marshalls with a Les Paul, while Victor used I think a Peavey Triple X for his rhythms (either that or some Yamaha amp, I don't know what he uses for what) and his custom Siggi Braun guitars.

So completely different rigs can get equally awesome tones, just experiment and find what you like the most. My producer hated me for using EMG81's in my guitar, but I love the abrasiveness that they get. Its not very dynamic, but it is very metal

edit: Kreator's tone on Enemy of God is extremely crushing as well.

 

[Yngvai X]

Also, keep in mind that guys do a LOT in the studio sometimes to get the amp to sound huger than it really does. Be it doubletracking (its standard to double, and sometimes quadruple track rhythm guitars to thicken them up) adding effects, or EQ. Plus a lot of guitarists don't realize how much bottom end the bass guitar takes up in a mix, and then wind up putting too much bass into their rhythm tone.

So chances are you will never get your amp to sound exactly like the way someone elses does on a CD, simply because of everything I just stated.

 

[Horus]

And now, I realize that in the midst of this whole personal sound discussion, I forgot all about my decission for an amp. But still.
Some bands do get insane sounds, like Jon Schaffer on Burnt Offerings. It's the most rediculous distortion ever! And I finally found my perfect sound with my Jackhammer. Now I just need to find an amp to apply it to.

 

[Yngvai X]

IMO a really good amp should never need a distortion pedal in front of it, unless its a really light overdrive pedal like a tube screamer or DOD250 just to push the front end a bit to smooth the tone out for leads. Especially if you're using a guitar with single coils or weak pickups.

 

[guitarguru777]

the tube screamer in front is there for a simple reason to pull out some low end and boost the mids it also helps push the preamp tubes so you can back off on the amps gain and keep the dynamics. Its like using Active pickups. The pedal delivers NO GAIN to the amp at all, just a hotter signal.

You can do this with an EQ pedal befor the amp aswell. But the TS9 already has a great eq curve so you dont have to fiddle with things.
Last i saw john he was using an ENGL powerball live.

Da Fukn Guru

 

[Horus]

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that as of now I dont use stock distortion. Thats why I got the pedals.
The reason why I dont use the stock is 2 simple reasons:
1- The pedals will kick its ass
2- My footswitch is broken.
I just thought that this deserved notice, but I kept forgetting to say it.

 

[the_satanic_rabbit]

The triple rectifier is indeed a big kick in the nuts. My friend has one, with the Mesa cab too and it really does knock you on your ass. The sound right out of the box is phenomenal....and I've never heard anything emulated, via pedal, or otherwise that even comes close.

 

[guitarguru777]

Ptah part of your problem is most likely that your using the distortion from the pedal. What kind of amp are you currently running ....

List your EXACT rig down to the strings and pickups and i might be able to help you find a tone similar to what your looking for.

Da Fukn Guru

 

[Yngvai X]

Ptah part of your problem is most likely that your using the distortion from the pedal. What kind of amp are you currently running ....

List your EXACT rig down to the strings and pickups and i might be able to help you find a tone similar to what your looking for.

Da Fukn Guru

Yeah, natural distortion from a top quality amp will *always* sound better than distortion from a pedal. *always* I think the only reason distortion pedals exist is so people with shitty amps can get decent distortion from them or if someone is using a low gain amp primarily (like a Fender Twin) and wants a high gain sound occasionally.

 

[guitarguru777]

I totally agree with that.

Da Fukn Guru

 

[Horus]

The amp I'm using: its a Crate XT-120R
It gets really muddy alot; Especially when I try going to band practice volumes.
You guys are probably right though. Now, I can't wait for my next amp. It will most definitely kick me and everybody else in the nuts. I'm only a few thousand bucks away. I really need a job.