Things you could'nt care less about that the vast majority of guitar players luv...

[xxxplorer]

Boosting an overdriven amp to tighten the gain. Or using an overdrive in general like that. Never feels right for me. I spent years doing it ala Zakk. But then got my Marshall modded by Dave Friedman lol. Never looked back.

[El Dunco]

Boosting an overdriven amp to tighten the gain. Or using an overdrive in general like that. Never feels right for me. I spent years doing it ala Zakk. But then got my Marshall modded by Dave Friedman lol. Never looked back.

This might seem wordy but it’s worth it and I implore one to read it as to why I agree or at least listen to the clips! I really prefer an amp I can plug my guitar straight into and get the sound I want. People scoff at my amp mods with “why don’t you just use an OD?” but when the components are tuned perfectly, for one thing there’s something about the way the pickups interact with V1 with nothing in between not least of which is the unparalleled note definition in chords under gain and the much more pleasing way it sits in a mix with minimal processing.

I won’t hear for a second the JVM “isn’t really a metal amp” when nobody who has heard mine, especially with my choice of speakers can reasonably argue it’s not anything enough for metal! (tight, punchy, ballsy etc) and it took little more than some minor cap/resistor value changes and the right tubes. I certainly wasn’t trying to make it sound like something it wasn’t designed to be.

I took a sound I already really liked and made it even more my own. It has an absolutely sick growl, it’s perfectly tight in any tuning (too tight is overrated to me and too tight to my ear means thin sounding) and fantastic definition of both pick and notes. Even my Dual Rec while I understand boosted is a sound in itself that is classic for extreme metal for a good reason, I can dial it in to where not only does it not need one for what I play but can in fact be detrimental and cause a congested sound, rather than the huge, whomping yet clear sound I like it for.

My absolute favourite rhythm sound after developing it over many years and evolving through many releases is blending the dual rec with the Marshall on one side and blended again with my “secret sauce” amp on the other with strategically placed crossover frequencies. I just can’t get enough of blending a tight amp with a fatter sounding amp.

Before anyone brings up the Cornhole, I know I had a custom overdrive built but I put a lot of work in to make sure it doesn’t take away what I like about the core tones of my amps (the very thing I hate about tubescreamers and its derivatives,) I don’t always use it and it so much more than the always on bandpass filter most metal guitarists use overdrives for.

I had a chance to try a Fryette Pitbull and while I absolutely love how incredibly dry and uncompressed it is no matter how much gain is used, it just doesn’t have the size I’m after. It’s by no means thin and I can immediately hear and feel why people love them so much but if I ever owned one, I would inevitably blend it with a fatter amp and I’m more than happy wity my blending choices. Leads and solos are another story but it’s too much to drop on an amp when that ground is covered nicely by the extra features of the CoHo.

TL;DR try and work with your guitar direct into your amp first before adding ODs. Also, here’s a cool little look under the hood of my tri-amping techniques (all miked, no sims)

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CX49C8XKg0v/?igsh=bTA3czM4YmM5NzR3

Also, you’ve GOT to hear how bad@ss this secret sauce amp sounds alone even just through a phone. I’ll never part with it. It’s just so awesomely beefy and tough effortlessly!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7vok08hv8lozrw7s13823/Secret-Sauce.mp3?rlkey=877hsyyi3f1qesypib6hw2avp&dl=0

I just love that!

[Rex_Rocker]

Can't say I loved that. Especially the bass tone. Not for me.

I don't think Metallica, new or old, or Thrash in general will ever get my blood pumping as much as some people, so that may have more to do with it. That's just my opinion, so please don't take this the wrong way, I just prefer a different kind of Metal.

[Phantasmagoria]

I don't think Metallica, new or old, or Thrash in general will ever get my blood pumping as much as some people, so that may have more to do with it. That's just my opinion, so please don't take this the wrong way, I just prefer my Metal from Sweden, LOL.

That's cuz you've been listening to the wrong thrash

[Rex_Rocker]

Oh, Sepultura were great when they were thrashy.

[Phantasmagoria]

Yeah, that was the last great Sepultura album for me....

[El Dunco]

Phantasmagoria, don’t get so defensive about theory. They aren’t rules that tell you the “right” vs “wrong” way to make music, it’s much more like a map that shows you where you are. I don’t believe for a second you would lose your flow as you put it if you took an interest in it.

If you happen to stumble across a really cool lick or riff, the difference theory makes is you know what it’s called, understand even more possibilities complimentary to it and it can help you explore its possibilities even more. I don’t think anyone is giving you nearly as hard a time as you seem to think. It doesn’t affect anybody who uses theory whether you use it or not. They’re allowed to disagree.

[Phantasmagoria]

Phantasmagoria,They’re allowed to disagree.

As am I

Not defensive about it at all. I just don't want it shoved down my throat. I've got on fine w/o it for going on 30 years. If I ever feel the urge there's nothing to stop me from immersing myself in it all day long. So far I have'nt ever had that urge though, not even remotely, truth be told.

My fave thing to do is play fast solo's and thinking about theory gets in the way/is detrimental to that. As Matteo Mancuso says it gets in the way/disrupts one's flow (which is exactly what I said first btw, years ago) when you're improvising solo's..

If's like painting on a blank canvas as opposed to one that's already full of all kinds of ****. that you have to erase & get past....at least that's how it is for me (and Matteo Mancuso too apparently). I've never tried to shove my methods down anyone's throat & that's all I expect in return

[Phantasmagoria]

Phantasmagoria,

If you happen to stumble across a really cool lick or riff, the difference theory makes is you know what it’s called, understand even more possibilities complimentary to it and it can help you explore its possibilities even more.

I don’t think anyone is giving you nearly as hard a time as you seem to think. .

lol, How hard a time would that be? They were posting meme's about kicking me to the curb/stomping me etc. (which I somehow don't ever see happening IRL btw I'm 6.2 weigh 230lbs & am a college & state football (soccer) / MMA champ many times over...so good luck w/ that & keep those hot fantasies coming )

If I stumble upon a good riff I commit it to memory or record it. i've found that to suffice. I can build on it from there by ear..

For me depending on my ear instead of theory has always opened the door to a hell of a lot more possibilities which are automatically explored in real time as I go along like so...

[Chistopher]

I may have already said this, but music theory is like grammar. Even if you never formally learn the rules, you learn it from experience and get the point where you don't have to think about it, it just falls out of your mouth. Grammar training will formally teach you to talk, and as such you will tend to speak different from people that learn the rules of speech just by listening to other people talk. Regardless of which way you learn, your speech patterns will be based more around the words and phrases that you overhear and find cool. But saying that you don't use grammar just because you've never taken an english class will do nothing but upset the pedants.

Also I think a spar would be pretty fun. I am also 6'2" roughly 230 lbs, college swim and track, bench 260 lbs, and a few years ago I've taken to boxing roughly twice a week.

[Phantasmagoria]

I honestly don't care or mind about how anyone goes about playing their guitar's. How some other guy chooses to play his instrument is pretty much 100% his business not mine.

Similarly it's 100% my perogative to either accept or reject (unsolicited) advice...so trying to shove it down my throat on pain of death is a) pretty dumb b) won't work c) not your (ie. anyone's) business

Matteo Mancuso is well versed in theory if you hear him speak, yet he says the exact same thing I'm saying..it disrupts his flow when he's improvising & he prefers not to think just play. The truth is there's no time for thinking when you play very fast.. The more thinking he does the ****tier he plays (his words)....

As for sparring ..there's the little matter of the roughly 10,000 miles between us...

But yeah, pretty much identical in height and weight..except I don't lift (not since my early 20's) only freehand stuff (calisthenics)...

[El Dunco]

please don't take this the wrong way, I just prefer a different kind of Metal.

You monster! Have you no respect! Why I oughtta! Oh wait, sorry. I read that as “do take it the wrong way.” My mistake. I took a pineapple the wrong way once and immensely regretted it.

[El Dunco]

Similarly it's 100% my perogative to either accept or reject (unsolicited) advice...so trying to shove it down my throat on pain of death is a) pretty dumb b) won't work c) not your (ie. anyone's) business

I’m not arguing that. But is that something that happenss often?

EDIT: Kicking you to the curb? What?? I must have missed something. In that case, they’re clearly keyboard warriors or insane so just fuggedaboudit mam!

[beaubrummels]

I totally agree with El Dunco's and Chistopher's assessment of theory. It's not rules for right/wrong. It's directions on a map, or a grammar for language, which helps you better decide the next direction to take or how to form your phrases to communicate. Once you are well-versed on the map and have navigated all the paths a fair amount, you don't need to depend on the map to navigate, because the best fluid paths are well-known to you and become second nature.

Some people have an aversion to 'the map' (musical theory) and just prefer to constantly hack their own path with a machete. That's another possible approach. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. IME A formal approach puts you on a better fluid path to music a lot quicker. A trial-and-error approach is much harder and takes a lot longer to get to something valuable musically. I hacked it trial-and-error for about 6 years and then decided I needed to get formal lessons at the Conservatory. But as long as you get there one day, the result is what matters most.

[Phantasmagoria]

I always thought the good thing about the guitar was that they didn't teach it in school.
~ Jimmy Page

You can't overthink the music. Mood and intensity can't be manufactured. The blues isn't about structure; it's what you bring to it. The spontaneity of capturing a specific moment is what drives it.
~ Jimmy Page

Let me explain something about guitar playing. Everyone's got their own character, and that's the thing that's amazed me about guitar playing since the day I first picked it up. Everyone's approach to what can come out of six strings is different from another person, but it's all valid.
~ Jimmy Page

So many people are frightened to take a chance in life and there's so many chances you have to take.
~ Jimmy Page


^ I think he says it all....it's essentially what Mancuso's saying & what I'm saying. I mean I've said all I have to say on the subject, but that ^^ probably covers everything in a nutshell.