i boguht a guitar

[noob3]

$50 squire strat :/ yeah it sucks but it'll do for practicing until i can afford somthing that dosn't suck as much. somone give me stuff to practice all i'm doing right now is noodling and doing cyberfret.com stuff and random finger excersizes i made up myself :/ my amp is a bass amp, it kind of sucks for guitar cuz ith as a tweeter but oh well. i just roll the treble to 0.

oh, and i want a distortion pedal but i have no idea where to go for guitar distortion that dosn't sound like shit. i want somthing with alot of low end to utilize my bass amp's bassness and annoy my neighbors/family

[Helm]

Good luck with finding a distortion pedal you like. It's very much up to personal preference. I use a SM7 ibanez pedal for rehersals and I've gotten as much as one can get out of it. But what you need to get that low end actually is a good equalizer, to run the distortion through. Get a 10-band eq. You know, actually you're better off buying a used rack for like, 200 bucks so you get all the effects you need. Don't be like those guitarists that play with a distortion pedal for 6 years before they realise they sound like shit because they don't use reverd, equalising, etc etc.

On another note, when the fuck did I make 1500 posts?

[Mockery]

EQ's really do make a world of difference... though, I've still not purchased one. Maybe I'll get one whenever I join a band. In the meantime, I just use a z00m 3030 multi-effects console. It's got some decent EQ stuff built into it, but I'd still like a separate EQ pedal.



Now what I *really* want (besides a nice new guitar since I'm still playing the same one that I got 10+ years ago) is a Roland guitar synth.



I've got a nice amp for playing on my own or for band rehearsals, but if I actually were to get in a band and play shows I'd want something that packs a lil' more punch like a halfstack

I also want a hardshell SKB case for my Korg Triton so I don't have to worry about breaking it any time I transport it. Unfortunately, SKB cases aren't cheap. But that has nothing to do with guitars anyway.

[Darko]

Playing through a pedal is okay when you're limited on funds and are just using a practice amp, but when you make the move to a half-stack set up, get an amp that has good enough distortion that you don't need the pedal. Nearly all pedals sound like crap at higher volumes.

A good pedal that isn't too expensive is a Metal Zone. Don't know the make of it, but it's a pretty common pedal and doesn't run for much used.

[noob3]

I wanna get a digitech reverb, a mxr 10-band(10 band sounds nice, i have a shitty 7 band dod iwth the 2 highest sliders broken off. it's annoying to even use, i guess i'm just lazy), somthing for a really lo-fi staticy sound like a no-fi and this:


http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/480208/

[sspadowsky]

By the time you spend all that money on pedals, you may as well get one rack-mount unit that can do it all. The Korg floor unit I have costs about $300, and could make about any sound you want.

[Perndog]

For pedals, I agree with the Metal Zone suggestion; it's made by Boss. A 7 band EQ pedal will do wonders for your tone and you can get a workable one for like $30 (Danelectro mini pedal). Otherwise, Ibanez and DigiTech both make some good distortions.

Despite what Darko says it's plenty easy to have a tight sound at stage volumes with a distortion pedal, as long as your amp's clean sound is okay.

But if you want to get as much stuff for as little money as possible, I agree with the multi-effects idea. I've had good experiences with DigiTech's processors, and a couple of their models are pretty expensive. The Zoom 505 and 606 are really popular, too.

(I use pedals exclusively on stage at the moment and go to a processor for the studio. To go pedals, rack, or multi-FX is really a personal choice.)

[Darko]

Regardless of a pedal sounding decent at higher levels, nothing can touch tube state distortion from a Peavey 5150 II or a Mesa Double Rectifier.

[Perndog]

That's very true. The problem is that a Mesa Double Rectifier costs several hundred dollars.

[Helm]

Good heavens don't use a metal zone! Anything but a metal zone. Or that other orange boss pedal that sucks nuts. And if you get a marshall or something, don't play with it's distortion. Not that it's bad, but from the 80s to the early 90s there was NO heavy metal band that didn't play with marshal default distortion. You'll just sound the same as everybody else. I suggest you get some rack, not multieffect pedals. Having used both extensively, a rack is a better idea, I think.

Mock: you actually will never need anything more than 10/level eq... so get some cheap boss pedal or something. 30 bucks or so. Be sure to lower down those 250hrz frequences by some 5-7 Db, cut the lowest end and the highest end also and make a nice curve on the remaining bass tones up to +2 Db and a downwards curve on the high frequencies to +1 Db... just a simple metal setup, really.

Nearly all pedals sound like crap at higher volumes.

Not true. They do sound like crap if you're playing at 3242356 gain, they do. Guitarists need to understand that the crunch isn't about the biggest amount of gain possible, but about compression and equalizing. So don't bash pedals because one can do wonders with them. Check out My Dying Bride, they use a metal zone for recordings and some nifty EQing and it sounds just fine. Not that it couldn't be better, but it is professional sound.

Noob: don't be afraid of your equalizer. It's very important to have control over your frequencies. Try killing the middle a bit and bringing up the low end. And cut off both the lower stuff and the higher treble like I said to mock. Middle is the worst thing for distortion guitar, unless you want to sound like a third-tier nirvana knockoff.

Sspad's pedal is pretty good.


And don't kid yourselves with tube distortions and the like. If you know your effects very well, and know a thing or two about mic placement, you can make even the humblest setup sound awe.

[Cosmo Electrolux]

wow...I've actually learned something today. I've been using the default distortion in my Laney, and it leaves me wanting, to say the least. I'm going to start looking for an EQ on ebay...and a compressor.

[noob3]

okay now somone tell me how to get a big black tone

and somthing to fuckin' practice! tone sucks if you suck, and i suck i can only play joy division's digital and that isnt even for a guitar

[Perndog]

Noob: don't be afraid of your equalizer. It's very important to have control over your frequencies. Try killing the middle a bit and bringing up the low end. And cut off both the lower stuff and the higher treble like I said to mock. Middle is the worst thing for distortion guitar, unless you want to sound like a third-tier nirvana knockoff.

However, a guitarist with no mid frequencies is one of the live sound man's biggest irritations, because that's where the guitar's sound is - in the middle. Cut the low mids (~200-500) for sure (unless you're playing with really low gain), but a boost to the high mids (~1.5k) will usually make the guitar sound more powerful without sacrificing clarity.

Just because Helm's got a boner for being absolutely unique in every aspect of everything doesn't mean there's something wrong with Marshall distortion (or the Metal Zone, though Boss's orange distortion really does suck); bands use Marshalls because they sound good, not because they were trendy. There's a little thing called songwriting and another one called musicianship that's supposed to make guitarists unique even if they're using similar equipment.

And without good pickups, any distorted sound will be a little muddy, but you've probably got a lot of other priorities before pickups.

I learned to play by listening to Metallica CDs since they've got a range from really easy to middle of the road stuff. Other than that just play whatever you want. Punk rock is easy. Nirvana's easy. etc.

[Mockery]

Helm, aye, the pedal I was talkin about was a simple 10/level eq by Boss that I've seen many-a-time. I'll keep those settings that you suggested in mind though whenever I do get one.

Anyway, does anybody here use Crate amps? I've always used them and have been extremely happy with the results.

[Darko]

Wow, a person who likes Crate.

What kind of music do you generally play, Rog?

[Mockery]

Eh, a little o' this a little o' that.

Basically, anything from Weezer-ish rock to speed metal-ish stuff.

[Helm]

I don't like Crate :/

Perndog, individuality is one thing, getting lost in an endless swamp of same-sounding guitar tone is another. I have no real fixation with being all original (postmodernism taught me better ) actually... I guess if the same ol marshall tone works for you, whatever. I play with a gibson les paul with active pickups and it's true that you can't beat a big and tasty mashall with that combo, but still I try to find something a bit more fitting to my music. Down to personal preference.

Noob3: I think big black tone is pretty much impossible with your equipment... and even if you had better, I don't think I can figure it out... by approximation there's some chance but nothing spot on. It's pretty unique.

[FartinMowler]

This was a really long thread for a guy that bought a $50 guitar :/ I would have just suggested that you go and buy some new strings and some picks.

[Cosmo Electrolux]

I played through a Crate bass amp many moons ago...I really liked it. I like the Voodoo heads, but I've heard they're very unreliable. I don't know for sure, though...:/

I want a new tube amp..my Laney just isn't giving me what I want.