Godspeed64
Active member
Ok. I for one do not enjoy playing heavy chugga chugga riffs 24/7, maybe once in a blue moon. Hence, I obviously can’t share HOW to play metal. But I do know the optimum gear, and I will also state the COMMON misconceptions several fellow softies often make, I repeat, often.
I will go through each gear in order of importance (you’ll be surprised those EMG Actives aren’t first!).
1. Amplifier
Your amplifier is obviously an integral part of your tone. Apparently, tonnes of softies try to squeeze out a huge wall of sound through a puny 8” speakers or 10” speakers in a 10W SX amp of some sort. Let me give you a tip, you need an amp with bigger speakers at least, and hopefully higher wattage. To play metal, you need more headroom. You want to get that massive wall of sound, then obviously you need a better amp! I personally feel 2 by 12” speakers are the best combo for playing metal, 4x12” too but if you’re using such speakers by now, obviously you won’t be reading this post?
I find certain speakers handle gain better than others. Like the Celestion Seventy 80s, they give a more present lower end compared to the Vintage 30s, and gives a more controlled driven response, albeit being a budget offering by Celestion.
Goose's take on it:
An important thing to do with your amplifier is to sculpt your tone using your EQ. The guide is to not max everything out, since less can actually means more at times. Strike a balance between your bass (thumping, booming low end), middle (how “full” your sound is) and treble (the added bite, harshness to the tone).
Common Misconception 1:
Scoop scoop scoop!!! Well Scooped tones do indeed sound good on records, they don’t really work well live. The guitar is an instrument that provides the mids (more or less). By maxing the treble and bass, there’ll be a greater overlap with the bass, drums and vocals. And there’ll be a void of mids that you’re supposed to provide. Leave the scooped tones to your bedroom magik!
Now, if you’re wondering what amp to pursue for metal, here are some cheap recommendations:
Randall RG series
Laney LV series
Sound Drive SG series
Vox ADxxVT-XL series
2. Pedals
Pedals are a godsend for playing metal if you don’t intend to spend thousands on huge tube amps that you think would be the ultimate amp for metal. Sometimes, invest a couple of hundred bucks and you have a setup that can work for every amp.
The important thing about using pedals, is again, less is more. Don’t bother stacking 2 Metalzones with the gain on full so that you can get a “massive sound”. Chances are, you’re still trying to get some chugga chugga on an 8” speaker. And please do not complain about the “excessive noise” when you’re playing metal. Here are a few tips as to why it’s buzzing:
i) You’re using too much gain stacking pedals
ii) You’re using cheap cables
iii) Your amp is not grounded
Something Goose said! More about pumping the gain on your pedals and amp..
Of course, once you’re found the correct pedal, do tweak to your heart’s content. Some pedals sound magnificent, especially once tweaked. If you tweak it wrongly, then it sounds stellar. And do not be afraid to touch your settings after finding that sweet spot on another amp.
Recommendations for those on a budget:
Biyang Metal End King
Beta-Aivin HM-200 Heavy Metal
Danelectro Coolcat Metal
Boss MT-2 (may sound too fizzy, recommend check out Beez mod)
Line 6 Uber Metal (too harsh, trebly and digital sounding to some)
Digitech Death Metal Distortion
Digitech Metal Master Heavy Metal Distortion
Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff (all 3 versions work well, although the slight fuzz is a drawback to some)
MXR DD-11 Dimeback Distortion
Ibanez SM-7
Barber Dirty Bomb
Rocktron Rampage
Recommendations for those with more moolah:
Landmine LD-1
Guyatone MM-X Metal Monster
Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem
Goosoniqueworx Seventheaven (amp in a box!)
MI Audio Tube Zone (boogie in a box!)
Tip on stacking drives by Subversion:
Common Misconception 2:
Wahh tubescreamer ahh? Confirm high gain one! Well, tough luck. The thing about pedals is that they have funky names at times. Bad Monkey says nothing about AIDS no? Lol. Make sure you do your research online before purchasing your pedals.
3. Guitar
The thing about the guitar you’re using is that it does not come into play as a tool more important than your amp. Thing is, a Strat into a Dual Rectifier, or a Jem into a Dual Rectifier, can both do higher gain stuff quite well. Of course, the same can be said for the opposite. Obviously, some guitars would sound better for metal than others, like Jacksons and Ibanez. But that doesn’t mean a Tele can’t sound good as well, in fact, you may prefer it to your liking. Humbuckers tend to sound more massive, and ‘bigger’, while single coils have more bite and control over your sound. Both work equally well for metal.
Common Misconception 3:
High output pickups = better high gain performance. This is so not true! Well not all the time.. Do take note, there are low output pickups that do higher gain better and give a more controlled gain response. For example, the Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz model is pretty good driven.
On the topic, here is what Sub said which is very true:
http://theguitaraddict.blogspot.com/2008/10/should-i-swap-pickups.html
Shred's take:
An important thing about choosing your guitar is the bridge. Metalheads often tend to choose a guitar equipped with a floating bridge. Now, what's important is the stability of the bridge. Most lower-end guitars that do come with a floating bridge tend to go off tune REALLY quickly. It is best to invest in a better bridge, or a better guitar that has a better cavity that isn't prone to making the guitar go off tune.
It is true that not necessarily Jackson/Ibanez/ESP/BC. Rich guitars are better in playing metal. Made a misconception here myself, but I personally feel so lah. Everytime I plug in my SG into my amp, it doesn't sound as 'massive' as my teacher's Prestige S-series, or a simple LTD guitar using the same amp's drive.
Errr.
I’ve said what I needed to say, and my greatest advice is to get your gear according to that order, with swapping the pups the as the last option, getting the amp as the priority and pedals as the second best option. Now back to playing da blues!
I will go through each gear in order of importance (you’ll be surprised those EMG Actives aren’t first!).
1. Amplifier
Your amplifier is obviously an integral part of your tone. Apparently, tonnes of softies try to squeeze out a huge wall of sound through a puny 8” speakers or 10” speakers in a 10W SX amp of some sort. Let me give you a tip, you need an amp with bigger speakers at least, and hopefully higher wattage. To play metal, you need more headroom. You want to get that massive wall of sound, then obviously you need a better amp! I personally feel 2 by 12” speakers are the best combo for playing metal, 4x12” too but if you’re using such speakers by now, obviously you won’t be reading this post?
I find certain speakers handle gain better than others. Like the Celestion Seventy 80s, they give a more present lower end compared to the Vintage 30s, and gives a more controlled driven response, albeit being a budget offering by Celestion.
Goose's take on it:
An important thing to do with your amplifier is to sculpt your tone using your EQ. The guide is to not max everything out, since less can actually means more at times. Strike a balance between your bass (thumping, booming low end), middle (how “full” your sound is) and treble (the added bite, harshness to the tone).
Common Misconception 1:
Scoop scoop scoop!!! Well Scooped tones do indeed sound good on records, they don’t really work well live. The guitar is an instrument that provides the mids (more or less). By maxing the treble and bass, there’ll be a greater overlap with the bass, drums and vocals. And there’ll be a void of mids that you’re supposed to provide. Leave the scooped tones to your bedroom magik!
Now, if you’re wondering what amp to pursue for metal, here are some cheap recommendations:
Randall RG series
Laney LV series
Sound Drive SG series
Vox ADxxVT-XL series
2. Pedals
Pedals are a godsend for playing metal if you don’t intend to spend thousands on huge tube amps that you think would be the ultimate amp for metal. Sometimes, invest a couple of hundred bucks and you have a setup that can work for every amp.
The important thing about using pedals, is again, less is more. Don’t bother stacking 2 Metalzones with the gain on full so that you can get a “massive sound”. Chances are, you’re still trying to get some chugga chugga on an 8” speaker. And please do not complain about the “excessive noise” when you’re playing metal. Here are a few tips as to why it’s buzzing:
i) You’re using too much gain stacking pedals
ii) You’re using cheap cables
iii) Your amp is not grounded
Something Goose said! More about pumping the gain on your pedals and amp..
Of course, once you’re found the correct pedal, do tweak to your heart’s content. Some pedals sound magnificent, especially once tweaked. If you tweak it wrongly, then it sounds stellar. And do not be afraid to touch your settings after finding that sweet spot on another amp.
Recommendations for those on a budget:
Biyang Metal End King
Beta-Aivin HM-200 Heavy Metal
Danelectro Coolcat Metal
Boss MT-2 (may sound too fizzy, recommend check out Beez mod)
Line 6 Uber Metal (too harsh, trebly and digital sounding to some)
Digitech Death Metal Distortion
Digitech Metal Master Heavy Metal Distortion
Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff (all 3 versions work well, although the slight fuzz is a drawback to some)
MXR DD-11 Dimeback Distortion
Ibanez SM-7
Barber Dirty Bomb
Rocktron Rampage
Recommendations for those with more moolah:
Landmine LD-1
Guyatone MM-X Metal Monster
Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem
Goosoniqueworx Seventheaven (amp in a box!)
MI Audio Tube Zone (boogie in a box!)
Tip on stacking drives by Subversion:
Common Misconception 2:
Wahh tubescreamer ahh? Confirm high gain one! Well, tough luck. The thing about pedals is that they have funky names at times. Bad Monkey says nothing about AIDS no? Lol. Make sure you do your research online before purchasing your pedals.
3. Guitar
The thing about the guitar you’re using is that it does not come into play as a tool more important than your amp. Thing is, a Strat into a Dual Rectifier, or a Jem into a Dual Rectifier, can both do higher gain stuff quite well. Of course, the same can be said for the opposite. Obviously, some guitars would sound better for metal than others, like Jacksons and Ibanez. But that doesn’t mean a Tele can’t sound good as well, in fact, you may prefer it to your liking. Humbuckers tend to sound more massive, and ‘bigger’, while single coils have more bite and control over your sound. Both work equally well for metal.
Common Misconception 3:
High output pickups = better high gain performance. This is so not true! Well not all the time.. Do take note, there are low output pickups that do higher gain better and give a more controlled gain response. For example, the Seymour Duncan SH-2 Jazz model is pretty good driven.
On the topic, here is what Sub said which is very true:
http://theguitaraddict.blogspot.com/2008/10/should-i-swap-pickups.html
Shred's take:
An important thing about choosing your guitar is the bridge. Metalheads often tend to choose a guitar equipped with a floating bridge. Now, what's important is the stability of the bridge. Most lower-end guitars that do come with a floating bridge tend to go off tune REALLY quickly. It is best to invest in a better bridge, or a better guitar that has a better cavity that isn't prone to making the guitar go off tune.
It is true that not necessarily Jackson/Ibanez/ESP/BC. Rich guitars are better in playing metal. Made a misconception here myself, but I personally feel so lah. Everytime I plug in my SG into my amp, it doesn't sound as 'massive' as my teacher's Prestige S-series, or a simple LTD guitar using the same amp's drive.
Misconception 4: Jackson/Ibanez guitars are better to play metal
Errr.
I’ve said what I needed to say, and my greatest advice is to get your gear according to that order, with swapping the pups the as the last option, getting the amp as the priority and pedals as the second best option. Now back to playing da blues!
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