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Alright, I'm not making this thread because I'm a pompous asshole and because I know about tone better than all of you. Not even close, chances are a lot of you probably have better tones than I do.
But I thought that I would offer some free advice on tone that I use and have drastically changed since a few years ago when I used to think my tone was good.
I'm sure a bunch of you know this and implement these techniques already but to the lot of you who don't, give it a try. Maybe you'll find that you like your tone more using these three simple techniques.
1. Power amp volume > Pre amp volume
I've met with a few guitarists over the years that I play(ed) with and 9 out of 10 times when I checked their rigs out, their preamp volume would be set relatively high and they would control their general output with just the power amp volume, resulting in pure preamp volume which sounded brittle and nasal. I did this for the longest time as well.
Try setting your preamp volume much lower and increasing the output of your power amp. You may come to realize that power tubes have an immense effect on your general tone. You'll definitely hear it come to life!
Now maybe you're someone who prefers preamp volume or have a rig that sounds better with it. If so, rock on!
2. Turn the gain down!
This is one that almost all of us know, but I just want to restate that you would be surprised to know that some of your most favorite metal bands don't use very much gain.
Metallica, Megadeth, and Death are three bands you'd be surprised to know have never used much gain.
Though back in the day, they were squeezing out as much gain as their could out of Plexis and JCM800s, modern amp equivalents require very little gain to match that.
3. Turn the mids up!
Scooped mids have become very common in metal over the years and Metallica was one of the most famous bands to do it on And Justice For All and pretty much onwards.
If you love your mids scooped and that's your tone, don't change it!
But to those who want to experiment you may find that mids adds a real great feature to your tone.
Not to mention, you'll actually be heard!
If you're a lead player, I highly recommend boosting them. Nothing is worse than hearing a great lead guitarist buried in rhythms and drums.
Again, this is something that most of you already know!
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So again, just to restate, MY TONE IS NOT BETTER THAN YOURS!
You use your tone because it sounds good to you and that is all that matters, but if you haven't tried any of these techniques and are interested in tweaking your sound, give it a try and let me know how it goes.
But I thought that I would offer some free advice on tone that I use and have drastically changed since a few years ago when I used to think my tone was good.
I'm sure a bunch of you know this and implement these techniques already but to the lot of you who don't, give it a try. Maybe you'll find that you like your tone more using these three simple techniques.
1. Power amp volume > Pre amp volume
I've met with a few guitarists over the years that I play(ed) with and 9 out of 10 times when I checked their rigs out, their preamp volume would be set relatively high and they would control their general output with just the power amp volume, resulting in pure preamp volume which sounded brittle and nasal. I did this for the longest time as well.
Try setting your preamp volume much lower and increasing the output of your power amp. You may come to realize that power tubes have an immense effect on your general tone. You'll definitely hear it come to life!
Now maybe you're someone who prefers preamp volume or have a rig that sounds better with it. If so, rock on!
2. Turn the gain down!
This is one that almost all of us know, but I just want to restate that you would be surprised to know that some of your most favorite metal bands don't use very much gain.
Metallica, Megadeth, and Death are three bands you'd be surprised to know have never used much gain.
Though back in the day, they were squeezing out as much gain as their could out of Plexis and JCM800s, modern amp equivalents require very little gain to match that.
3. Turn the mids up!
Scooped mids have become very common in metal over the years and Metallica was one of the most famous bands to do it on And Justice For All and pretty much onwards.
If you love your mids scooped and that's your tone, don't change it!
But to those who want to experiment you may find that mids adds a real great feature to your tone.
Not to mention, you'll actually be heard!
If you're a lead player, I highly recommend boosting them. Nothing is worse than hearing a great lead guitarist buried in rhythms and drums.
Again, this is something that most of you already know!
-------------------
So again, just to restate, MY TONE IS NOT BETTER THAN YOURS!
You use your tone because it sounds good to you and that is all that matters, but if you haven't tried any of these techniques and are interested in tweaking your sound, give it a try and let me know how it goes.
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