Metal guitar tone

E

ericlingus

New member
I've been working on getting a good guitar tone for a while now and finally have gotten something that I somewhat like. I play black/doom/death metal. My amp is a Mesa Boogie F50 and my guitar is a schecter c1 xxx. I have a graphic Eq(boss) in the FX loop to cut the real lows and highs. I recorded two takes. One with the contour channel on and one with it off and panned them hard right and left respectively. Each take had two mics (57 and E609s)and a DI with a cab sim from my vamp2. The 57 was about 4 inches to the left of the dust cap and the 609s was just off to the side of the dust cap almost in the middle. The 609s track was about 7db lower than the 57 track and the DI was 11db lower. I did some eqing and added compression, reverb and a master limiter.


http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=5640
 
Gotta hear it in a mix, that's the only real way to tell how well it's gonna work. Other than that it does sound like your best effort yet.
 
ericlingus said:
I've been working on getting a good guitar tone for a while now and finally have gotten something that I somewhat like. I play black/doom/death metal. My amp is a Mesa Boogie F50 and my guitar is a schecter c1 xxx. I have a graphic Eq(boss) in the FX loop to cut the real lows and highs. I recorded two takes. One with the contour channel on and one with it off and panned them hard right and left respectively. Each take had two mics (57 and E609s)and a DI with a cab sim from my vamp2. The 57 was about 4 inches to the left of the dust cap and the 609s was just off to the side of the dust cap almost in the middle. The 609s track was about 7db lower than the 57 track and the DI was 11db lower. I did some eqing and added compression, reverb and a master limiter.


http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=5640
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If you're doing metal why are you cutting the bass and treble?
 
I honestly didn't like that tone much at all. Then again I'm not a big metal fan.

I would definitely add some bass in there, and some treble to give it a little bit of life.

I think KP put it better than I did. :)
 
I would definately switch the positions of the E609 and the 57. The E609 tends to yeild more treble and the 57 more bass. Swapping them around will help. The other thing is add some bass and mids! It's way too trebel happy for my taste.
 
There is a ringing hi end sound at the start of the song. Not sure what mic it would be. I wouldnt bother using a DI atall. I mean you have 2 good mics and a nice amp and guitar. Sounds like a nice tone and would work well in a mix, but maybe you could do with more lo end, but thats something you really need to wait until its in the mix I suppose.

Eck
 
okay im confused. Some people say too many mids and not enough treble, and others say too many mids and not enough treble. People seem to agree on the bass though. Thanks for listening guys. I actually made another clip after this one which I think sounds better. I'll post another one soon. I appreciate the help. I've been spending the last few days trying to capture a guitar tone I like for metal. I'm getting close I think.
 
ericlingus said:
okay im confused. Some people say too many mids and not enough treble, and others say too many mids and not enough treble. People seem to agree on the bass though. Thanks for listening guys. I actually made another clip after this one which I think sounds better. I'll post another one soon. I appreciate the help. I've been spending the last few days trying to capture a guitar tone I like for metal. I'm getting close I think.
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You really need to put it in a mix with a bass guitar. If you have a nice full bass sound, you may not want any more low end in the guitars. I can hear where this tone would fit in a mix.
 
That being said, I would still add more low end to the guitar tone. Its best to record with a little more low end than you think you need. This way you can hi pass any unwanted low end rumbles.

Eck
 
ecktronic said:
That being said, I would still add more low end to the guitar tone. Its best to record with a little more low end than you think you need. This way you can hi pass any unwanted low end rumbles.

Eck
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No, it's really best to do it right with mic placement/selection first. Why would you want to intetionally record something just to eq it off? That doesn't make any sense
 
HangDawg said:
No, it's really best to do it right with mic placement/selection first. Why would you want to intetionally record something just to eq it off? That doesn't make any sense
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yeah getting it right on the way in makes sense. For a 'traditional' metal tone, scoop the mids out, and up the bass and treble. Thats your typical 'Ride the Lightning' tone.
 
HangDawg said:
No, it's really best to do it right with mic placement/selection first. Why would you want to intetionally record something just to eq it off? That doesn't make any sense
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I see what you are saying but if you want a beefy low end I would suggest using a hi pass filter at the mixing stage. Think about if you are doing palm muting on your guitar. The low end is increased greatly there and if you want a heavy low end you need to record it with a bit extra low end and hi pass it. Unless the guitarist can play their guitar in a way that they never get any unwanted low end while still having a nice amount of low end on the amp.

Eck
 
TelePaul said:
For a 'traditional' metal tone, scoop the mids out, and up the bass and treble.
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Worst advice of the century.


That tone sounds fine to me. It could probably use a little more high end to open it up a little. With the drums and a good bass sound, this will work.
 
ecktronic said:
I see what you are saying but if you want a beefy low end I would suggest using a hi pass filter at the mixing stage. Think about if you are doing palm muting on your guitar. The low end is increased greatly there and if you want a heavy low end you need to record it with a bit extra low end and hi pass it. Unless the guitarist can play their guitar in a way that they never get any unwanted low end while still having a nice amount of low end on the amp.

Eck
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No, that's not the way it works. Most of that palm muting effect is done with compression, not hyping the lows on the amp and rolling them off in the mix.
 
Farview said:
No, that's not the way it works. Most of that palm muting effect is done with compression, not hyping the lows on the amp and rolling them off in the mix.
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I would have to agree to disagree, sorry. :)

Eck
 
ecktronic said:
I would have to agree to disagree, sorry. :)

Eck
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Disagree all you want. It's the way I've done it and seen it done for the last 20 years. (on albums you may have heard of)
 
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