Guitar sounds

Mother-ANiMal · #1 October 4th, 2006

I have a BC Rich Warlock, and when i hook it up to my amp it doesnt sound very 'Metal'. Do i need to get a pad to get the good noise?

allthumbs · #2 October 4th, 2006

You need to overdrive the amp or get a tube screamer or metal distortion pedal.

jhoita · #3 October 4th, 2006

Hi Mother-ANiMal

I am assuming you are refering to the sound or sounds that we can assimulate by using add-ons (Bells and whistles).

Your local music dealer can introduce you (possibly used as well - ask) to a variety of sound alternating devices. Such as "Cry-Baby pedal, Distortion units, Overdrive units, etc that you plug your guitar into then into your amp.

Someone here can give you their honest opinions on their views regarding the use of "effects" etc.

It looks like you like AC/DC.

Regards

John Hoita

Mother-ANiMal · #4 October 4th, 2006

arite, so all electric guitars make the same noise if they are plugged write into the amp?

Yeh AC/DC are my favourite, but i like MetallicA and Slayer aswell

My step father got a ToneWorks Korg AX1500G, tht good to use then?

jhoita · #5 October 4th, 2006

HI

I am not familiar with the ToneWorks Korg AX1500G.

Sounds like it may not cost you anything to at least try it.

The Hawians have an interesting life-principle called the "trysee" principle.
It means: "Try it and see what happens."

John

Justapicker · #6 October 4th, 2006

The Korg AX1500G is an amp and stompbox simulator that has a variety of presets that will let you sound like AC/DC, Metallica or any number of other players. Very cool piece of gear.

Hre's the thing though, focus on getting the music down, then worry about messing around with different sound. Practice with a nice clean uneffected tone and get your chops together. It's the notes that matter in the long run.

scotty_b · #7 October 4th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mother-ANiMal

arite, so all electric guitars make the same noise if they are plugged write into the amp?

In a word, no. The reason why there are so many options when it comes to guitars is the variety of tones. My strat sounds nothing like my Ibanez, and neither really sound like my 335, which in turn sounds nothing like my archtop. Pickups, string choice, picks, the fingers of the player, the guitar lead, wood the guitar is made from, all influence the tone.
The AC/DC sound is created by turning up a valve amp as far as it will go. Gain structure is important in shaping the tone. For that sound it is more about master volume rather than preamp gain. Depending on your amp you may not have this option.
Metal tones are more saturated at the input stage, and so something like a distortion pedal would help there.
The Toneworks will get you close, especially to the saturated metal sounds.
One factor a lot of people overlook is the movement of air from the speakers. That sound really shapes the impact of the guitar far more than most realise.

WernHalen · #8 October 5th, 2006

Scotty,

I agree on the speaker moving the air... A speaker can make a huge difference to a amp... I played a AC30 witht he VOX blues speaker the other day, and then plugged straight into a AC30 with a Celestion speaker... The sound difference was astounding...

I was doing a room eq with a sound engineer on sunday past using a brilliant processor. We did the EQ and the sound improved plenty, but from the eq we could see that the speakers falls out of range in the 40Hz and below and 12kHz and above areas... Whic is precisely where you get that real ballsy bass and those nice harmonics from the speakers...

Mother-Animal, give us an idea about the rig that you are using. The Korg AX3000 is a very nice piece of kit. It is a copy of the VOX tonelab, but it does not have the valve that the tonelab has, but it still does the right think... Play around with that and see if you get the sound that you want... I bet you'll get it.

Matty22 · #9 October 5th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justapicker

The Korg AX1500G is an amp and stompbox simulator that has a variety of presets that will let you sound like AC/DC, Metallica or any number of other players. Very cool piece of gear.

I have an AX1500g, and its a beauty by all means.. But in addition to what Justapicker said, you can create your own effects...

Personally, i think multi effects are the better option economically. Rather than spending big bucks on amps, or individual stompboxes...

scotty_b · #10 October 5th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty22

Rather than spending big bucks on amps, or individual stompboxes...

They are better economically, but I don't think you can substitute a good amp with a multi-effects unit. If I had the money I would buy a Bad Cat or Matchless amp today

Mother-ANiMal · #11 October 5th, 2006

Thanks guys, I appreciate your help