You’re New Guitar in 2012

[rogues-in-paradise]

Originally Posted by !straightfuckingedge

Sorry dude, but in my opinion Jacksons just don't cut it. For me it's anything Strat or nothing.

Really? Well i challenge you to play real Metal with a Strat, i had one, a REALLY good Squier but it is not designed for the same kind of use at all.

To me there is NO guitar really "superior" to another one, they all fit a niche and does what they are designed to do, for Trash/Metal etc, Jackson R series are rather hard to beat.

Originally Posted by rogues-in-paradise

Really? Well i challenge you to play real Metal with a Strat, i had one, a REALLY good Squier but it is not designed for the same kind of use at all.

To me there is NO guitar really "superior" to another one, they all fit a niche and does what they are designed to do, for Trash/Metal etc, Jackson R series are rather hard to beat.

Alright, if I ever get my computer fixed I'll take that challenge. You want it in down tune or just w/e? Ive played Slayer/ A Day to Remember shit on my Squire several hundred times.

[rogues-in-paradise]

Originally Posted by !straightfuckingedge

Alright, if I ever get my computer fixed I'll take that challenge. You want it in down tune or just w/e? Ive played Slayer/ A Day to Remember shit on my Squire several hundred times.

Good for you, you still can't have the sound of a real metal guitar on a Strat, and by playing it is exactly what i meant.

I'll spare you little details like the Strat's Tremolo and how it goes out of tune all the time only pulling on strings without using it, and we do a lot of it...

I saw a 16 years old girl playing "reign in blood" on an acoustic guitar, doesn't sound like metal to me but she still cold play it tight, and if it wasn't the case, metal guitarist wouldn't be using Jackson that much.

Originally Posted by rogues-in-paradise

Good for you, you still can't have the sound of a real metal guitar on a Strat, and by playing it is exactly what i meant.

I'll spare you little details like the Strat's Tremolo and how it goes out of tune all the time only pulling on strings without using it, and we do a lot of it...

I saw a 16 years old girl playing "reign in blood" on an acoustic guitar, doesn't sound like metal to me but she still cold play it tight, and if it wasn't the case, metal guitarist wouldn't be using Jackson that much.

I never have trouble with mine cos I bend rather then tremelo. And if you meent without a pedal than yah theres no contest but if you mean with one then OH YAH! BRING IT! lol

[Rex Kuntz]

i am not that picky. i like black guitars but any box of strings that plugs in, i'd consider. any guitar can sound good these days, it's true. comfort has no equal. i really like the ones i have.

there will always be the classic bodies. there will always be interpretations of the classics. and some lucky craftsmen actually get to amaze us all with original guitars.

i will get a gibson at some point. i wasn't planning on this year or next, but i will get one. they make at least a half a dozen i'd feel comfortable playing.

[Rex Kuntz]

Originally Posted by !straightfuckingedge

Alright, if I ever get my computer fixed I'll take that challenge. You want it in down tune or just w/e? Ive played Slayer/ A Day to Remember shit on my Squire several hundred times.

post it. i wanna hear it.

like i said my comps on the shitz but once it's fixed I will, whenever that'll be haha!

[rogues-in-paradise]

Originally Posted by !straightfuckingedge

I never have trouble with mine cos I bend rather then tremelo. And if you meent without a pedal than yah theres no contest but if you mean with one then OH YAH! BRING IT! lol

It is not a question of distortion, King uses EMG81 PLUS a 20 db booster to get the sound he wants even before the effect or whatever he uses (could just as well be simple Messa-Boogie pre-amps), even with a pedal as you say you wont have the sound and level of control over it, and that's a final....

I use a combination of EMG81 (Bridge) and original Seymour Duncan Jazz SH2N (Neck) to get the sound i want, depending on how hard i want it, i use one or both, never the neck pick up on its own, the output level loss is much too great, used together i got a slightly warmer sound.

I used to play with a Hughes & Kettner Metal Master half-Rack with two lamps, the Strat single coil couldn't hack it even with this sort of optimized distortion, expecially when having to cope with ultra-high frequencies, it results on larsen, i need more control over the output.

Now i use an Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff and i got the sound i want anyway, palm muting is easier, harmonics kick-in (and stops) when you want them, sustain i great.

We have to start with the guitar output first, distortion is more a question of budget than taste, what we're looking for is both the HOOOMPH factor with palm muting and very high gain + control over the whole thing, you cannot pretend to get this from a single coil pick up or else everyone would use them.

As for the necks, if the Strats are good and easier to play at first, they also have limitations, such as the high neck width because the neck is not as flat so there are some technical stuff i couldn't play with it which are already hard to play with the Jackson because they requires a real classical left hand position, for the rest i figured the Jacksons let you solo faster as well, it's that good.

I loved my Squier and it was a very good model but i have to say that for Metal it is nowhere near to equal what the Jackson allows me to do, i used to play Hardcore with it though, and it was enough.

The R serie are like Mustangs, you need to be very good to get the best of them but when you do or get closer, they are hard to beat and the results is really rewarding.

So i stick to my statement about guitars, unless they are crap quality, they can't claim to be that better than others, they never really are designed to play all styles, they are more or less optimized fro one and most often than not, biased toward a particular style, that';s the result of the design, woods, constructions, and pick up characteristics.

btw playing on your pc and live with the volume are two very different things for the reasons i stated above...

[joethehoe]

Originally Posted by rogues-in-paradise

Good for you, you still can't have the sound of a real metal guitar on a Strat, and by playing it is exactly what i meant.

I'll spare you little details like the Strat's Tremolo and how it goes out of tune all the time only pulling on strings without using it, and we do a lot of it...

I saw a 16 years old girl playing "reign in blood" on an acoustic guitar, doesn't sound like metal to me but she still cold play it tight, and if it wasn't the case, metal guitarist wouldn't be using Jackson that much.

Actually dude you can, Iron Maiden, Sepultura and Yngwie Malmsteen use strats almost exclusively. Kirk Hammet used a strat for One which is likely why most guitarists have a problem nailing the solo tone. For one thing divebombs in my opinion are not a necessary part of metal and even if they were you can get strats with Floyd Roses. Second metal tone is more to do with the hotness of the pickups and the amp than the guitar itself. A strat with some really hot active single coils played through a driven Mesa Triple rectifier would be perfectly adequate for metal. In fact i think it would be better for soloing because single coils have much better clarity than humbuckers.

[rogues-in-paradise]

Originally Posted by joethehoe

Actually dude you can, Iron Maiden, Sepultura and Yngwie Malmsteen use strats almost exclusively.

Iron Maiden are not exactly the kind of metal i have in mind, they are more at the edge of hard rock than a band like SOD who uses pure metal techniques like palm muting a lot, they aren't a reference as for their sound with the metal fans ether.


Black Sabbath invented the sound of Metal, Tony Lommi used to play 1965 Gibson SG Special at the time, Maiden totally departed from this.

As for Malsteen, if playing Paganini on a scalloped Strat is called Metal to you then I am not surprised you insist into not wanting to make the distinction.

He plays using a lot distortion but it is not necessarily metal that he plays, metal is NOT all about solos, quiet the opposite in fact it relies mainly on rhythmic and palm muted sound in particular ,not one uses non muted rythmic and calls themself a metal band.

Sepultura used mainly dual coil or active pick ups, guitars being BC Rich Warlocks and Jackson R or V...

Kirk Hammet used a strat for One which is likely why most guitarists have a problem nailing the solo tone.

Thats' an exception, for this LP he was experimenting and used his Strat for a couple of tracks only, Hammets loves Strats but as a matter of fact it is a Flying V which he used on most albums before And Justice for all, he tours with Strats, Les Paul Junior, Flying V, ESP.

James Hattefield mainly uses Gibson Explorer with a monogamy body and EMG81 and the reasons are those I explained, Metallica sound comes from that combination exactly and he said himself in early interviews, reason why I was looking for dense woods and EM81 combinations, it gives you a lot more grunt when palm muting.

For one thing divebombs in my opinion are not a necessary part of metal and even if they were you can get strats with Floyd Roses.

A Strat which is no longer one, as it not only requires the Floyd rose tremolo but also locking mechanics at the neck…

We use the trems for a lot more than divebombs, pulling harmonics is something I regularly do even without the bar fitted, I simply press on the tremolo with my palm, you can use pulling effect for soloing, breaks or even rhythmic which is what I do.

Jackson propose Floyd Roses on all their models with tremolos if not a liscence Jackson Floyd Rose like the R3 I own.

Second metal tone is more to do with the hotness of the pickups and the amp than the guitar itself.

It first have to do with wood density and ACTIVE pick ups, denser wood means higher output, Active pick mean higher output too, as for the reason why we look for this output levels I have given them already.

A strat with some really hot active single coils played through a driven Mesa Triple rectifier would be perfectly adequate for metal.

Actually if it was as simple as that, there would be a lot more bands playing Strats than there actually are, and for the exact reasons I quoted, in the number of bands doing Metal, Strat users are the large minority, all big four members plus Soulfly, Nailbomb, Cavalera bros uses EMG81, Dave loves mahogany top + body and Live Wire usa active humbuckers as well.

Every single metal guitarist knows what this combinations gives you...

In fact i think it would be better for soloing because single coils have much better clarity than humbuckers.

Say who? One of my friends, actually a student at Music Tech commented on the quality of the EMG81 and it doesn’t seems like it bothers Kerry King, Zakk Wylde, Vernon Reid, Jairo Guedes, Mustaine etc

In fact I wonder how many of you have played an R3 equiped with an EMG and can compare with a Fender...




Demonstration of Metal techniques for palm muting...