Alexi Laiho´s Sound

[khabibissell]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

I was listening to Follow the Reaper today, and I don't think Alexi was being very liberal with the gain knob, that's for sure. You can hear every note, and his technique is about as precise as you ask, but there is a ton of gain in his guitar sound.

[donvandam]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

Also Alexi tunes to Open-D

[toejam]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

[ QUOTE ]
Also Alexi tunes to Open-D

[/ QUOTE ]
No, he tunes to D standard (a whole step down from E), which is D, G, C, F, A, D.
Open D is more for country playing and would be D, A, D, F#, A, D.

[pusikurac]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

[ QUOTE ]
J50BC's are very low output bro. i have one on my desk, not a hot pickup whatsoever

[/ QUOTE ]

roope uses invader which is high output pickup, alexi uses emg hz-h4 which is like medium output. and they both boost them with active electronics. so the signal is PRETTY HOT. i hate to be dick, but how the hell you thought is possible to use low gain preamp and low gain pickups and get metal sound...you'll get blues and nothing more. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

and for the j50bc, never tried it but with je-1000 it must be hot (i'm not buying it's "very low output pickup" either) [img]/images/graemlins/refuse.gif[/img]


go to www.cobhc.com and read roope's section about getting sound from gp1000

[mogar]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

As far as I know, j50BC's are averaged at about 8.8-9.0k ohms. This is rather medium output. The GP-1000's are also in the medium output range. Sure, they got some gain, but by themselves you aren't hitting brutal. They get their gain from the boost the je-1000 has in its trim pot. With a medium powered pickup thats boosted, the result is a very tight distortion.

Now, some won't agree with me on this, but this is just my opinion.

P.S.- I agree on the whole "tone is in the hands of the player" thing. I am pretty damn sure that roope would sound like roope regardless of what he's playing through.

[metallicarocks]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

[ QUOTE ]
P.S.- I agree on the whole "tone is in the hands of the player" thing. I am pretty damn sure that roope would sound like roope regardless of what he's playing through.


[/ QUOTE ]

+1

EQ still helps you out a lot. We can all agree that if we want a thrashy Slayer sound that we can dime our mids, no?

I say kill the lows, crank the mids and highs (not all the way). Random guess for ya: mids:2o'clock high:2o'clock as well. Gain, that really depends on the amp. For any solid state in general I'd put that around 3o'clock. Bass, roll clear down to 10-11.

If you really want to hear what just he sounds like himself, listen to Kissing the Shadows (1:20ish). You'll shit yourself on just how much the rest of the band fattens him up. The mix sounds great, it's one of my favorite metal mixes of all time. But when he plays by himself you just want to rip your fucking ears off.

Remember that when you imitate a guitarist's sound, you are also trying to emulate the band to some degree as well.

[Sunbane]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

Very true. Guitar sound is a different animal when in a band and when by itself. While playing by yourself, you will often need a little bit more gain and reverb to get a pleasing tone. When mixing the guitar with the rest of the band, all that reverb and gain will often make the sound muddy instead.

Alexi's raw sound on Follow the Reaper sounds rather dry and uninspiring, but it works really well in the mix.

[Fragle]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

+1 on what the other guys said.
as for the band mix vs. guitar only issue, i was SHOCKED how much of a difference it can be. listen to nevermore-this godless endeavor, the part around 2:45 or something, where just the guitars on the left are playing....sounds VERY abrasive, harsh, and crappy in general. as i said, pretty shocking, because it's an insanely heavy and clear yet smooth sound when the whole band is playing, one of my alltime faves actually.

as for alexi's sound....lotsa mids, lotsa highs, low end rolloff, high gain without being over the top.
btw, is it just me or is the "follow the reaper" lead sound even brighter than the rhythm tone?

[PallarAndersVisa]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

peter tagtgren pretty much ruined the sound of the band on the FtR album. i dont really consider that album when thinking of the bodom sound. i usually think of HCDR, and the last Sinergy album, as well as most of bodom's live stuff, especially recently, you can tell they dont use alot of gain

[NightRider]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

[ QUOTE ]
roope uses invader which is high output pickup, alexi uses emg hz-h4 which is like medium output. and they both boost them with active electronics. so the signal is PRETTY HOT.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's correct, IN THEIR ESP'S, but we were talking about the sound in Hatebreeder, which were released in 1999. Then Alexi and Roope used their Jacksons with J-50BC's. And Roope didn't even play in COB then.

[PallarAndersVisa]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

roope doesnt use the invader, thats just what the production model comes with. read his info on the cobhc site. hes using the same stuff that was in his old jacksons. youll never see a live pic on the internet of his random star with a shit pickup like the invader in it

[Josh Jackson]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

It's hard to say what gear a guitar player uses in the studio.
A lot of players don't use their gear they are endorsed by in the studio, but will use it for playing live.

[PallarAndersVisa]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

i have a feeling roope is still rocking those old Randys in the studio \m/

[pusikurac]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

i was talking about j50bc + je1000 combination also. signal must be pretty hot, for sure it will not be "very low output"

first of all: invader is not shit pickup and roope said he is using same ELECTRICS (je1000) in his guitars. he ain't using j50bc in his esp. here's the pic where you can clearly see that.




roope's esp sound pretty good, unlike alexi's (because of pickup)


cheers!

[RR0849]

Re: Alexi Laiho´s Sound

J50BC and JE1000 are essential to Alexi's and Roope's sound. You don't have to EQ the amp cause the electronics give it that accented midrange. JE1000 is important to get that singing distortion and sustain to the lead sound. I have one of Roope's old RRs here and the Jackson electronics really dominate it's sound. I also have a Jackson Star with J50BC/JE1000 combination and it delivers the same lead tone.

I haven't been following their new stuff much but then again the question was about the old sound.

Also do remember that a lot of tweaking goes on in the studio and slight variations in mixes can make a guitar sound totally different.

And please don't seriously expect that someone here or anywhere can give you settings that make you sound a certain way. But these are fun discussions anyway. [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]