Distorted Guitar (attn: guitarists)

[EightMilesHigh]

Good evening everyone. I have recorded multiple takes of some distorted guitar over the last couple of days which I am reasonably proud of. The style of music is not really punk or metal though, it’s more of a singer/songwriter cut with an edge, it has what might be termed “light punkish overtones.” Distortion is only most prominently used in the choruses to make them more exciting. Here is my question:

What kind of guitar parts do you layer in to sweeten a distorted chorus? I often hear in professional recordings other guitar parts, not just the distortion of the top two guitar strings (power chords, which I recorded). What kind of playing do you know of that meshes with distortion? I was thinking of layering some high end chords or just regular chords lightly distorted. Also, I have acoustic guitar chords strumming in the background which I could lightly add to the mix. Without some sweetening, it sounds a bit too metalish, and also too thin. I am about to embark on some experimentation, so any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

Just for the record, I have a Mexican Strat, and also a Line-6 Pod. My parts of the last two days were carefully recorded from my Peavy Bandit 112 amp, however (low end I know, but save the tomatoes, it actually sounds pretty decent with the settings used!)

 

[KaveKong]

It's all in the mix.

Record tons of guitar tracks. Tons. Then, mix them in and out as you listen to the playback.

Sometimes something totally out of tune in the background will sound great when it's in the mix.

Dead air only works if you're Jack White.

 

[goodbyebluesky]

Heres an idea....

If a chorus is a simple distorted power chord riff and you want to make it full sounding, double track the guitars with 2 different tones/sounds.
The now moderately-famous band "Anberlin" used to be just another local band that played where I lived in Florida as a teen. I remember they had 2 guitarists, one played a bright and crunchy Telecaster on the bridge pup, and the other played a thick and meaty Les Paul thru a Marshall. The 2 guitar sounds were sonic opposites, and even when playing identical rhythm parts it was amazing fow filled out the sound was because the 2 guitarists tones picked up where the other's left off sonically.
So borrow a buddys guitar, and get 2 very different sounds and throw 'em together in the mix. Maybe accentuate the difference by panning one 90 degrees left, and the other to the right.