Topic: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

Anyone have any suggestions for how to set up my amp or a pedal that would get me close to a Metallica-esque sound? Heavy on the power chords without losing clarity on solo stuff.

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

Tabs published in Guitar World magazine have what pedals and effects are used on different songs.Log onto www.guitarworld.com and maybe they will have what you're looking for

Don't take life too seriously, you're not getting out alive anyway

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

Hey thanks!

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

06

What amp are you using ?  I play some Metallica but I run my Les Paul through a Line6 SpiderIII 75 and I can pretty much tweak it to fit the Metallica sound

"Rhythm drives the Rock-n-Roll train"

Gibson Les Paul/PRS Custom/Ovation Celebrity Koa
Line6 SpiderIII 75

5 (edited by 06sc500 2008-12-30 16:28:00)

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

It's a 30 watt Crate combo with chorus and reverb.  Yeah, I've played on one of those Line 6 Spider III's, and you can get almost any sound through one of those.

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

I'm probably spoiled with the Line6 with all the presets ... I imagine with yours you might have to come up with one or two stompboxes to the get the sound you need ... a good MetalCore or MetalZone Boss stomp would help for the sound

I also have a Marshall MG 30DFX that I can't get a Metallica sound from ... the best I can suggest is do a google search for Crate amp settings and see what you find ... I did the same for my Line6 and Marshall and found a lot of good settings

"Rhythm drives the Rock-n-Roll train"

Gibson Les Paul/PRS Custom/Ovation Celebrity Koa
Line6 SpiderIII 75

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

I like the Metalzone, but I can't really justify spending $90 on a pedal, because I don't have $90 for a pedal, and convincing my parents I "need" one would take some work, especially since it's right after Christmas right now.  That said, the Digitech Grunge looks like a great pedal; I'd love to try one out if I could.  It sells for $50 on Musician's Friend.  I've read some really good reviews on it.

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

06sc500 wrote:

Anyone have any suggestions for how to set up my amp or a pedal that would get me close to a Metallica-esque sound? Heavy on the power chords without losing clarity on solo stuff.

A big fat tube amp( the bigger the better), overdrive pedal (DOD or Boss), a Cry Baby Wah pedal, a phase shifter ( chorus & flange in one pedal),a 7 band EQ(Boss, DigiTech, DOD, etc) and lots of Mountain Dew, Red Bull, or some kind of power fuel................

Oh yeah, and get familiar with the volume and tone controls on your guitar. If used properly, they will become the unique voice of your fingers.............

Don't neglect your mids. Many people turn the treble and bass up 100 % and push the mids down to 0%. Crank the mids up to the point of feedback, then back off just a tad. The mids will stand out over the drums and bass, when needed............

Peace and Guitars and Kirk and James,
SouthPaw41L

Give everything but up.

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

That sound is: active pickups (EMG's) to various time-based FX (chorus/flange/phase/delay/etc) as needed into a tube amp with preamp tube distortion (Marshall 900, MB rectifier, etc), with the mids 'scooped' and a 4x12 cabinet. Pretty much the opposite of 'vintage' distortion.

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

I've never used DigiTech boxes before but I assume they do just the same as the Boss boxes ... I use the MetalCore every now and then

SouthPaw ... I'm glad you explained the control knobs ... I was trying to find an easy way to explain changing your mid-range, bass, treble, etc without getting to technical

"Rhythm drives the Rock-n-Roll train"

Gibson Les Paul/PRS Custom/Ovation Celebrity Koa
Line6 SpiderIII 75

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

I only have one EQ knob on my overdrive channel called "shape" which I believe controls the mids, and I usually play with it turned all the way up.  If I roll back on it, I get more of a classic rock tone, and I can get a somewhat-blusey sound if I take enough gain off.  What I'm looking for is more distortion, because I can't turn the volume up much past 2 when I have the gain cranked as high as it will go.  With the gain at 10, I can get into some Black Sabbath-early metal territory, but not much more.

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

Your best bet might be to buy a distortion pedal if you can't get any more distortion out of your amp ... sad to say but when you buy an amp, make sure it's got the "stuff" you want ...

Instead of buying a distortion pedal, you can put the $$$ towards this:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Line-6-Spid … 1168996.gc

A great deal for $85 ... the metal sounds are modeled after the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier ... again this might be better than buying a stomp box

"Rhythm drives the Rock-n-Roll train"

Gibson Les Paul/PRS Custom/Ovation Celebrity Koa
Line6 SpiderIII 75

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

Well the thing is when I got this amp, it was with my first electric guitar, and I didn't know what kind sounds I was going to want.  But yeah, I'm going to look into some heavier-distortion pedals like the Digitech Grunge and the Boss Metalzone.  Thanks

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

LesPaulGuy wrote:

Dual Rectifier ...

Beavis and Butthead laugh after hearing this comment..............

Give everything but up.

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

As strange as it sounds you can actually get a crisper, fuller distortion sound by simply turning the gain(distortion) down and turning the volume up. If you have your gain at 100% and your volume at 20%, you're gonna get an irritating, skinny, little buzzing noise, like a gnat flying around your ear. Try backing off of the gain to around 40-60% and pump up your volume to around the same(40-60%). I betcha you're gonna like the tone. Give it a try..........

Give everything but up.

Re: The distortion "sound" I'm looking for

SouthPaw41L wrote:

As strange as it sounds you can actually get a crisper, fuller distortion sound by simply turning the gain(distortion) down and turning the volume up. If you have your gain at 100% and your volume at 20%, you're gonna get an irritating, skinny, little buzzing noise, like a gnat flying around your ear. Try backing off of the gain to around 40-60% and pump up your volume to around the same(40-60%). I betcha you're gonna like the tone. Give it a try..........

Well, I've tried this, and it doesn't seem to work too well.  Right now my settings seem to get me a decent sound, but I can mess around with my settings a little more.

"A steering wheel don't mean you can drive, a warm body don't mean I'm alive"
Switchfoot