Why do some guitars squeal better than others?

[JJO]

well... I can squeal with passives too, but it's easier on EMGs

BTW. is anyone doing the up-picking-squeal with you index finger? Saw an instruction video by some guy that did that, so he never have to change to a down-down picking just to fit in a squeal, awesome, but soo hard :S

Haha no never needed it yet, or just came up with a solution i guess... I try not to get into trouble when watching these kinds of vid. They make me go insane sometimes cuz i can't do them. And then i suddenly realize i was already doing something else that makes the same concept Just being irritated i cared about wanting to do it like the vid But now again this does sound interesting for the speedy loops and finishing with a pinch when it's an upstroke!

 

[Noumenon]

JJO yeah. In my old band we had this triplet-lick that ended with a squeal, but since I was doing alternate picking I got so damn frustrated with the squeal note being an upstroke, so I had to change it to a downstroke just in the end and it never was that tight :/ d-u-d u-d-u d-u-d d~ instead of d-u-d u-d-u d-u-d u~ *mumbles* oh well

 

[Joematthews]

A LOT is about string tension and height. Try droping your guitar to drop A or something similarly ridiculous and raise the height, and the pinches are so easy and mental sounding. I guess EMG's help a lot because they are compresses sounding, so the normally quiet sounding pinch pops out really well.

Joe

 

[beyond dead]

pick ups are not very important with ph. ph can be achieved on an acoustic. the important thing are the NODES these are the sweet spots where you sound the harmonic (tough the string) how well you sound the harmonic and that you dont kill the harmonic with improperly executed vibrato. the node at which you sound the harmonic determines the octave of the harmonic. some nodes (or octaves) are louder/ring out better. some nodes sound better on different guitars. this is relative to the distance between the neck and the bridge.
try changing the position at which you sound the harmonic and you`ll see what i mean

 

[SickBoy]

I think it's mainly up to pups if the guitar will squeal like a pig...
My Kramer with SD JB and Flying V can't compare to friends Washburn X40Pro (SD Distortion) or Dean Razorback V (SD Dimebucker). Those 2 pickups are shit hot on treble department (Dimebucker being useless for anything other than Dimeish sound) - I suppose that's the key.

 

[Djabthrash]

pick ups are not very important with ph. ph can be achieved on an acoustic. the important thing are the NODES these are the sweet spots where you sound the harmonic (tough the string) how well you sound the harmonic and that you dont kill the harmonic with improperly executed vibrato. the node at which you sound the harmonic determines the octave of the harmonic. some nodes (or octaves) are louder/ring out better. some nodes sound better on different guitars. this is relative to the distance between the neck and the bridge.
try changing the position at which you sound the harmonic and you`ll see what i mean

+1

Guys when you were talking about the "sweet spot", you mean the fretting hand sweet spot or the picking hand sweet spot (like beyond dead mentioned) ?

 

[Djabthrash]

we had this triplet-lick : d-u-d u-d-u d-u-d d~

This sounds weird to me seriously. When you mean a triplet-lick, you mean like the second riff in Slayer's "Raining Blood" right ?

Because most of the guys i know (friends and pro guitar players) and myself play it this way :

d-u-d d-u-d d-u-d d~

 

[Metaltastic]

A LOT is about string tension and height. Try droping your guitar to drop A or something similarly ridiculous and raise the height, and the pinches are so easy and mental sounding. I guess EMG's help a lot because they are compresses sounding, so the normally quiet sounding pinch pops out really well.

Joe

True that on both factors, especially low string tension - squeal city!

 

[Metaltastic]

This sounds weird to me seriously. When you mean a triplet-lick, you mean like the second riff in Slayer's "Raining Blood" right ?

Actually a "3x 16th notes / 1x 16th note rest" lick, not a triplet lick

 

[TravisW]

I disagree with the assertion that the guitar design/wood make no difference. Take two guitars with the same strings, pickups, setup, and give one a solid maple body and the other a mahogany body. I guarantee that there'll be a difference in the way that pinch harmonics "jump".

 

[Wolfeman]

I disagree with the assertion that the guitar design/wood make no difference. Take two guitars with the same strings, pickups, setup, and give one a solid maple body and the other a mahogany body. I guarantee that there'll be a difference in the way that pinch harmonics "jump".

I don't know about that. I have been able to hear pinch harmonics with my naked ear on every guitar I have ever picked up, even acoustics. And it all sounds the same with the naked ear. It's not til they are amplified where I hear a difference. And like I said in my first post, all those things make the difference.

I dunno. The way I hear pinch harmonics it sounds like all string, not vibration in the wood. I'd like to hear a scientific view from someone that actually studies this kind of shit.

 

[Metaltastic]

Diggin' the new banners, Wolfe (though even if I'm no Mac user, I don't think I would proudly advertise my affinity for Windows ). How'd you make the Gutierrez banner?

 

[Darkening]

There is no way to play a string on a stringed instrument and not have the construction of the instrument play a part in the vibration of the string.

P.S. EMGs will squeal as well as the player can.

It IS about the player and the touch (the feel of cotton).

I've seen some great guitar players pick up a SQUIER STRAT with single coils and make it sound like BABE getting stuck with a pitchfork.

Gain is a big part of the equation, though. EMGs deliver the preamp with a full-scale signal (and put LESS of a magnetic pull on the strings) allowing such things as pinches to just work better.

Those guys that make SQUIERS sound like a pig, can make an EMG equipped guitar sound like a bloody NAZGUL.

 

[Wolfeman]

Diggin' the new banners, Wolfe (though even if I'm no Mac user, I don't think I would proudly advertise my affinity for Windows ). How'd you make the Gutierrez banner?

Vista is the most kickass operating system I've used(well a few linux distros are better). I have come to realize that everyones hate of it comes from misinformation and user error. I've never had an issue and it runs much more efficient that XP ever did for me. But to each their own

You can make those banner thingy mabobs at http://ubdesigner.com/ I figured it was time for a change

 

[16S]

It IS about the player and the touch (the feel of cotton).

Thats not a big factor. I already said i play 5 different guitars here at home, all with the same shitty technique and they are not all equal in "squealability"...

The most insightful points imho:

I think it's mainly up to pups if the guitar will squeal like a pig...
My Kramer with SD JB and Flying V can't compare to friends Washburn X40Pro (SD Distortion) or Dean Razorback V (SD Dimebucker). Those 2 pickups are shit hot on treble department (Dimebucker being useless for anything other than Dimeish sound) - I suppose that's the key.

this is relative to the distance between the neck and the bridge.
try changing the position at which you sound the harmonic and you`ll see what i mean

A LOT is about string tension and height. Try droping your guitar to drop A or something similarly ridiculous and raise the height, and the pinches are so easy and mental sounding. I guess EMG's help a lot because they are compresses sounding,

now i 'm learning

 

[TravisW]

I don't know about that. I have been able to hear pinch harmonics with my naked ear on every guitar I have ever picked up, even acoustics. And it all sounds the same with the naked ear. It's not til they are amplified where I hear a difference. And like I said in my first post, all those things make the difference.

I dunno. The way I hear pinch harmonics it sounds like all string, not vibration in the wood. I'd like to hear a scientific view from someone that actually studies this kind of shit.

Sure, a guy can get harmonics on pretty much all guitars, but there can be a good degree of variance in the tone, quality, and sustain that doesn't relate directly to pickups or amplification.
Anything that involves the string involves vibrations in the wood (via the bridge and nut or fret). Once the wood starts vibrating, some frequencies are attenuated more than others, and the vibration transfers back to the string via the bridge and the fret (and, to some degree, direct reflection). If the frequency of the harmonic is attenuated by the wood of the body and fingerboard, the harmonic won't ring out as boldly as one where the the frequency isn't attenuated. Likewise, the hardware tends to affect this as well--a tuneomatic bridge will transfer different frequencies differently than a floating Floyd Rose.

 

[Darkening]

Thats not a big factor. I already said i play 5 different guitars here at home, all with the same shitty technique and they are not all equal in "squealability"...

That's not what I said, but go ahead and tune down to A if that's what is gonna make you feel better about it.

Someone said they think Killswitch delivers godly squeals. That person is right. Killswitch plays in C. Emgs. That's it.

There is no secret black box or way to set up the guitar.

Not gonna offer any more "advice" on this subject since you seem to be completely convinced that there is some special gear that will make your squeals improve.

THUMB + VIBRATO + GAIN =

 

[Chryst Krispies]

THUMB + VIBRATO + GAIN =

FOR REALZ

 

[Wolfeman]

There is no secret black box or way to set up the guitar.

Not gonna offer any more "advice" on this subject since you seem to be completely convinced that there is some special gear that will make your squeals improve.

Lies!! Here is the gear that brings the bRotalZ for squueliez!!!

It works for Zakky!

 

[Darkening]

Lies!! Here is the gear that brings the bRotalZ for squueliez!!!

It works for Zakky!

Ahaha. You can tell by his HAIR that the squeal he's playing is slaying.

When I do pinches, my hair usually flies up like that too. But not as much.

P.S. Zakk PRACTICES something like 8 hours a day or some shit. But that has NOTHING to do with it, right? It MUST be some secret modification to his guitar. SOMETHING...

Any guitar + Zakk =