Pedals for fattening sound

[InbredJunk]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

I say hit the strings harder, hit more notes in your power chords, more midrange, less gain, and more punch. Also, power chords on a bass are way fat. That really helps as well. I've had great results doing these things, and got a programmable looper to play rythym parts under a solo.

It's tough to switch from playing off of somebody else to just playing by yourself as a guitar player, especially if you have never been a part of a 3 piece. It's not so much about cutting through the mix as it is filling space. Maybe think about tuning even lower, to b or a#.

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[blueman335]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

This isn't your responsibility alone.

Very true. Everyone in the band needs to help make a fuller sound.

[Mincer]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

Go stereo! Listen to guitar/bass/drum bands, and hear how they do it- Sabbath still sounds amazingly heavy live. Tune lower, use a fatter tone, adjust your technique (or learn some new ones), and carve your own path. Play with non-rhythmic noisy loops in the background. Tell the bass player to listen to more Geezer. This isn't your responsibility alone.

[VinceT]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

The biggest thing to keeping things sounding full in a three piece is technique, you'll have to adjust your playing to compensate.

You're getting great advice about delays, and I have to agree with Matt here, and would add that you'll also need your rhythm section (presuming bass and drums) to think about their role in thickening the overall arrangement.

On a side note, playing "out in the open" can add a layer of vulnerability/exposure, especially if you're used to burying mistakes/insecurity in a "wall of sound" approach. It's like playing ultra-clean without OD/distortion - note-choice and intention becomes really, really important (one of the reasons many who try to go David Gilmour completely miss the mark - he underplays much more than folk think, but when he plays...)

Best of luck.




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[regan]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

I occasionally use delay to thicken tones, the 2 'tricks' I utilise is to use as a short a delay as possible, set your delay up with one short repeat and play a barre chord, muting it with your fretting hand and adjust the time until you hear it go 'chik chik' with the delayed part practically instantaneous after the played part, when you play without muting you won't hear the delayed part it will merge with the original seamlessly and almost double the sound.
The 2nd is only possible if you have an analog delay, there's an oscillating effect you get with short delay and high repeat values, play around with it and you'll find the sweet spot which gives you an incredible feedback/infinite sustain effect which is incredible for solos.
If you use a long ethereal delay to thicken tone it just makes a mess and sounds like a ***tty reverb
Also bear in mind gain is the enemy of fat guitar sounds and mids are it's best friend

[Dahla]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

Yeah, something akin to that. Pantera pulled it off gracefully. Me, not so much :P

Play it like you mean it!


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[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

I use a very slight de-tune,FWIW...

[Myaccount876]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

I would start by having the bass player play hard and heavy on either power chords or very busy basslines during leads during solos, preferable with a octave fuzz. A doubled octave above the bass will sound more like another rhythm guitar, which will really fill out during solos. Also, EQ. The bass should have a lot of lows and low mids, with the guitar somewhat above that frequency pocket. Don't stomp on each other's sonic space, but just the right amount of overlap in the midrange will sound huge/powerful.

[PFDarkside]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

Yeah, something akin to that. Pantera pulled it off gracefully. Me, not so much :P

I'm going to say that Pantera didn't exactly pull it off. I think the key may be threefold:
-Have the bassist play double stops and power chords to fill out the sonic space, as well as play higher on the neck
-Play your solos in the "meat" of the neck, positions 5 through 9 as opposed to above the 12th, at least for a good portion until you go high to make a statement
-Boost Pedal. When you go from chord rhythm to single note lead, you are reducing the amount of signal that hits the Amp, and by nature will sound less full. A Tube Screamer style boost will allow you to hit the amp at least as hard as your rhythm playing, and boost mids to make the tone more full and juicy. The TS in front of a distorted Amp has been a classic lead trick for heavy rock and metal for years now.

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

Another idea: guitarists like Charlie Hunter have developed technique to be able to accompany themselves, playing chords and melody lines at the same time. Stanley Jordan did so using both hands on the fretboard, Hunter using just one, and Michael Hedges on acoustic using a combination of techniques.
Some of these guitarists had special instruments built for them with separate pickups for the bass strings wired to separate outputs so different parts they were playing went to different amps.

It's a sizeable commitment in technique, composition and gear, and not something most guitarists can justify, but this is a brainstorming session. Any idea can be put out there, right?

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

Second guitarist in my band quit and I need to fatten up my sound for live gigs. Esp solos sound thin now that there's no rhythm guitar to back things up.

Effects aren't going to compensate for the way your band's songs are composed.
A few ideas for going on as a band with just one guitarist:
1.) Your bassist could play keyboards while you solo, allowing him to cover both bass and chords.
2.) Your bassist could play a 12 or 8 string bass, or play through a pitch shift pedal adding an octave up, to sort of provide something in the frequency range of a rhythm guitar and also the low end.
3.) You can play the riff you're going to solo over into a looper, then solo over it. You have to figure out how to keep your other band members playing in time to the loop.
4.) You can recompose your songs, removing the solos and replacing them with instrumental sections ("breakdowns", whatever you want to call them) where instead of soloing, you play a cool and attention-grabbing riff that's different from riffs already used in other parts of the song.

Using a combination of the above ideas in various songs might give the band a really interesting sound.

[Coma]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

I'm invisioning the tone of some Pantera songs where Dime solos and there's no rhythm guitar. Rex banging away on the low string, Dime up at the 15th fret and nothing in the middle.

Is that what you mean by the band sounding thin?

Yeah, something akin to that. Pantera pulled it off gracefully. Me, not so much :P

[PFDarkside]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

I'm invisioning the tone of some Pantera songs where Dime solos and there's no rhythm guitar. Rex banging away on the low string, Dime up at the 15th fret and nothing in the middle.

Is that what you mean by the band sounding thin?

[Aceman]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

Wow - opinions vary here. My take - I can't tell what you mean by "thin/thick"

If you mean a fatter sounding note, I'm thinking less treble. Turn the guitar tone known down, or do like EVH and get a Custom Custom.

If you mean a "thicker" not - a delay ABSOLUTELY works.
Simple thicker = set the delay to ~50ms with one repeat. Level is key here - it needs to be low enough you don't really hear the delay!
Alternate version = slight detune or chorus. By the way - chorus IS a slight delay.

You could do both…


As mentioned, as a solo guitar player, you'll get away with less BS type of shreddy stuff.

[HALENisking]

Re: Pedals for fattening sound

Cool thread. Being the only guitarist in my band, and we play very heavy hard rock, I:
-Use two cabs, one on each side of the stage
-Octave shapes in guitar melodies often
-Often use an analog delay set with a fairly close slapback, and then my digital delay over it
-Custom string set, w/ 9.5 on top since I'm playing leads, and 48 on the bottom (in between traditional 10s and 11s low e size)
-A dedicated buffer in my pedalboard!!! A row of TB pedals are great, but only with a nice buffer, otherwise your tone gets anemic
-Fair amount of mids
And I hit the strings like a mofo! Pretty heavy handed, and I didn't used to be. It came out of subconscious necessity.

edit- Chorus too... but only if the song permits. I honestly don't find it necessary after all of the above happens.