Distortion Guitar Clarity

[DrewPeterson7]

I was thinking about doing something like that before. Although more along the
lines of doing the exact same take twice except one being high-gain and the
other one just being "a little crunchy" and blending the two. I shall keep you
posted, maybe post up an mp3 of my endeavours l

That could definitely work too, but If you have one tone that sounds awesome with power chords and another that sounds awesome with full chords, it seems to me like your best bet would be to play to their strengths. If you have the available channels to record (probably not an issue if you're working on a computer), then double tracking each other them and panning each set (two crunchy full chords left and right, two high gain pwoerchords left and right), or even pan the lower gain chords and then do a single take of the power chords down the center or something...

I'm not familiar with that pedal, but I guess you lose nothing by trying - take an OD patch, set the gain very low, and boost the level and see what happens. :yesway:

 

[philbagg]

That could definitely work too, but If you have one tone that sounds awesome with power chords and another that sounds awesome with full chords, it seems to me like your best bet would be to play to their strengths. If you have the available channels to record (probably not an issue if you're working on a computer), then double tracking each other them and panning each set (two crunchy full chords left and right, two high gain pwoerchords left and right), or even pan the lower gain chords and then do a single take of the power chords down the center or something...

I'm not familiar with that pedal, but I guess you lose nothing by trying - take an OD patch, set the gain very low, and boost the level and see what happens. :yesway:

It's a pretty cool idea, I likes it I don't know if it'll work for my bands
stuff but it'll be worth checking out, and I could always recommend it to a client
if I think it'd suit them.

 

[philbagg]

Just thought I'd let people know that I went for a practice with the band today,
turned the gain down and it's already done wonders, but it might have been
hard to judge. Gonna wait til the weekend to try out the rest of the tips

 

[Zaphod B]

Cool.

I forgot to mention that you might want to give your strings a good dusting with talcum powder. This will deaden them to the point where tone problems just don't matter any more.

 

[Tadpui]

I would try using the pedal on the clean channel of that amp, or the amp's distortion. Both on top of each other doesn't sound good at all. Sorry.

While it's definitely worth experimenting with an overdrive or distortion pedal straight into an amp's clean channel, I find that combining or cascading distortions/overdrives is a terrific way to generate some complex and very pleasing distorted tones. Once I bought my TS9, I quickly became a member of the school of thought where an overdrive pushing a slightly distorted preamp and, in turn, a pretty power section of a tube amp is an extremely peasing sound.

In fact, I tend to dislike feeding an overdrive into an amp's clean channel. I just happen to love my tube amp's power section distortion and I like its preamp distortion at lower breakup levels. Push it with the pleasantly raw clip of a moderate to high-gain setting on the TS9 and it's awesome.

 

[philbagg]

While it's definitely worth experimenting with an overdrive or distortion pedal straight into an amp's clean channel, I find that combining or cascading distortions/overdrives is a terrific way to generate some complex and very pleasing distorted tones. Once I bought my TS9, I quickly became a member of the school of thought where an overdrive pushing a slightly distorted preamp and, in turn, a pretty power section of a tube amp is an extremely peasing sound.

In fact, I tend to dislike feeding an overdrive into an amp's clean channel. I just happen to love my tube amp's power section distortion and I like its preamp distortion at lower breakup levels. Push it with the pleasantly raw clip of a moderate to high-gain setting on the TS9 and it's awesome.

Interesting Phew, I'm overwhelmed with all the suggestions here guys. Thumbs up

 

[philbagg]

Cool.

I forgot to mention that you might want to give your strings a good dusting with talcum powder. This will deaden them to the point where tone problems just don't matter any more.

And there was me thinking that'd be a stupid thing to do. Silly me

 

[Tadpui]

And if you haven't received enough confusing stuff to try, how about this:

http://www.sourceaudio.net/site.php/blog/post/soundblox-distortion-review-in-premier-guitar/

This distortion pedal has several unique modes of generating overdrive and distortion. But the first thing I remembered about this pedal was how the reviewer said how he was able to retain incredible clarity even when using complex intervals in chords. Here's a quote, take it for what it is (it could just be a company employee blowing smoke up our asses):

I was eager to try out this Multiwave technique. The traditional rock sound is typically achieved by playing fifths with a distorted tone. I have always tried to incorporate more complex chords into rock guitar playing, but often get frustrated, since these chords are usually reduced to mush when using distortion. The Multiwave Distortion definitely solves that problem. I pulled off a complex G7b13+9 chord through distortion with unbelievable clarity. Not a traditional rock chord by any means, but that’s the point — a pedal like this allows you to carve out your unique sound.

:edit:
So I listened to the sound samples on that webpage and holy shit! There are some sounds coming from that pedal that are not of this earth. I'm not even sure I'd consider some of them musical, but interesting nonetheless. There were a few awesome sounds it could make too, although he didn't really showcase its actual distortion capabilities. The Octave Wah was awesome

 

[philbagg]

There were a few awesome sounds it could make too, although he didn't really showcase its actual distortion capabilities.

I'd be a little skeptical about it so. I'd love to go into a guitar shop and audition
the pedals THROUGH AN AMP!!. Instead what they give us is those
stands with a load of pedals on them and a set of headphones, which is great
for if you're running your pedal into a D.I., but for most people who run their
pedals into an amplifier, it's a guessing game, and you typically get a pedal
which didn't quite live up to your expectations.

F**kin stupid shower of useless b*****ds.

Sorry, been a long day

edit: if you work in a music shop, sorry if I offended you, but give the
customer the option of running the pedal through an amp of their choice.
It sounds nicer, so they'll be more likely to buy it, and at least it gives them
a much better idea of how it's going to sound.