advice on my metal guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter jmxdrummer
  • Start date Start date
jmxdrummer

jmxdrummer

New member
I can sure use some advise on my guitar track recordings. Im about to smash my daw, I just can't seem to get the right tone, recording, whatever.

here are the samples
www.jmxdrummer.com/guitar.wav
exported out of Sonar

www.jmxdrummer.com/guitar2.wav
exported out of Sonar w/ compression and eq applied


what you are hearing:

one track panned 50% left
ibanez rg series guitar >digitech metalmaster > Crate GX130c combo amp (clean channel)

one track panned 50% right
ibanez rg series guitar >digitech metalmaster > Peavey ValveKing 112



each session I used an single SM57 placed at the center of the cone which was powered by my BEHRINGER MIC2200 ULTRAGAIN MIC PREAMP
which goes into my m-audio delta1010 rackmount unit.

any suggestions would be great. I've been playing around with mic placement, tone out of the amps, everything.The recording sound muddy, basically very crappy. Ive gotten alot better with others recordings, but my own compositions are seriously lacking.

Im just a frustrated metalhead, who cant seem to get the deathmetal tone right.

peace
 
I might have found my problem. Its my behringer preamp (MIC2200). I recorded a guitar rif three different times. Once with using the behringer preamp, second a nady preamp, and a small 4 channel mixer (samson). The results were mind blowing. I got a more desireable sound using the mixer. If I cant come up with the dough to buy a more expansive mic pre, then I might consider puchasing a used mackie mixer on Ebay, and ditch the Behringer preamp
 
Your pedal also isn't going to really help your tone much. It takes a lot of tweaking for it to not sound kinda crappy. I can tell the valve king take sounds a little nicer but honestly I can tell it's a crappy pedal. Either try a higher quality pedal or just the valve king's distortion. All in all though it's fairly acceptable. A better preamp would probably help also but overall it's nothing to be that upset about. A digitech pedal just isn't going to yield the same results a high quality amp is.
 
jonnyc said:
Your pedal also isn't going to really help your tone much. It takes a lot of tweaking for it to not sound kinda crappy. I can tell the valve king take sounds a little nicer but honestly I can tell it's a crappy pedal. Either try a higher quality pedal or just the valve king's distortion. All in all though it's fairly acceptable. A better preamp would probably help also but overall it's nothing to be that upset about. A digitech pedal just isn't going to yield the same results a high quality amp is.
Click to expand...

thanks for the advice Jonnyc and your encouraging words. I sometimes get so angry with my amp. It just drives me crazy. It also doesnt help that Im a drummer and been playing for 20 years and only been playing guitar for 3 years.
 
Sometimes my ears mistake out of tune notes for bad tone, i know that sounds weird, but if something is off in the mix and i can't figure out why, i might check the tuning of the guitar.

also, i would definately second the amp > pedal remark from jonnyc
 
..I've been playin metal guitar for twenty odd yrs and i can tell you your BIGGEST problem right off the bat is your geetar is out of tune, especially your low E to A strings..Fixing that alone will make a world of difference in your recordings..Secondly not to be a smartarse or anything but i can tell your a relative newb by the way your attacking the guitar..It sounds like you might be pulling the strings sharp by pressing too hard on them when you make a chord..Also ya wanna kinda rest the outside of your palm on the bridge and slightly muffle the strings when your hitting the E chord parts..It takes practice but makes a big difference for what your playing..As far as your tone..Throw that digitech in the garbage asap! lol..Digitech pedals always have that nasally flubby sound for some reason ..Grab a Boss DS 1 or something similiar..If you want to record metal you need alot more gain (crunch) via the amp itself or a good distortion pedal..just lowering the mids a bit on your amp will help alot..Ive found the best way to get a Nasty tone when recording is the tried and true method of a cranked tube amp w a 57 at a 45 degree angle to your speaker..When you get those tubes angry by cranking the volume it brings out harmonics that cant be had any other way (though i must admit recently ive heard some cab simulators that come REAL close) Your well on your way and it sounds like youve got it in ya, get yourself a decent pedal, play for an hr or two a day and you'll be shredding in no time..I dont know crap about recording yet but i can definitely help anyone w guitar issues !! :D
 
I've taken a listen and the tone is harsh, weak and thin. I can only think your chain between the guitar and mic needs a total revamp. I'm not familiar with your equipment, but I would recommend you start all over with your tone.

maybe this post will help a smig

ps: please consider MP3s next time :D
 
advice on my metal guitar........................

Wood ones sound ssssssssooooooooooooooo much better!!!! I like ash or alder :p :p :p :p :p :p( cheap post count pump)!!!!!!!!
 
The advice I hear everywhere is to use less gain and more mids for recording than you would live. What sounds brutal and heavy live will sound messy and muddy recorded. You don't need to go overboard with it, but don't just crank the gain and cut the mids because that's the classic metal thing to do. Recording requires a bit more meat and definition to the tone. Also, just because a guitar doesn't sound great by itself doesn't mean it won't sound alright in a mix. Obviously getting a good guitar tone by itself is a starting point, but you really need to hear it in relation to a bass and drums.

My two cents anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top