How does Opeth get that clarity in their tone?

[imrichbeyotch]

Lately I've been listening to Opeth constantly. I noticed that when they play their odd chord voicings with heavy distortion, you can hear every note.

Damn it I want that!

I think they just use the stock pups in their PRS's and Les Pauls. I've come to the conclusion that I need a pickup that can handle high gain and still let every note come through. And also in the process, sound great clean. I'm thinking an Alnico II pro....

[Studiobuddy]

Re: How does Opeth get that clarity in their tone?

believe it or not but Opeth use a low gain setting on their laney amps, true they use stock pickups but ive seen peter use emgs in lespaul live at a couple shows. They also use standard tuning, so its not about having big ass rippin gain, its about controlling your gain, go mess with ur amp settings, mids at least past 12 o clock. Their sound may be also big from the big amps they have, think all of that saturation you get when you crank up a half or full tube stack but pickup wise i think sounds good for the bridge is a SD distortion , i like the opeth sound i get out of it more than my jb

[Studiobuddy]

Re: How does Opeth get that clarity in their tone?

also go check out www.opeth.com and go to discrography then select albums and their should be a list of gear they used

[imrichbeyotch]

Re: How does Opeth get that clarity in their tone?

I use a Laney VH100R, the same amp Peter uses. I don't turn my gain up that high nor do I scoop mids at all (I actually accentuate them) Yet I still can't get that kind of clarity. My current guitar is a low-end Jackson with an EMG 89 in the bridge. The only effects I use is a 535Q wah and a Boss GE-7 (with kind of a W setting)

[Studiobuddy]

Re: How does Opeth get that clarity in their tone?

not always the gear, sometimes its fingers and brains, i dont know if ur talking about live or the studio sound but in the studio they use laneys, mesas, dist. stompboxes, marshalls and stuff, also double tracking contributes to it, but if you want to get that sound then play like they do, the way you strum, hit, pick

[imrichbeyotch]

Re: How does Opeth get that clarity in their tone?

not always the gear, sometimes its fingers and brains, i dont know if ur talking about live or the studio sound but in the studio they use laneys, mesas, dist. stompboxes, marshalls and stuff, also double tracking contributes to it, but if you want to get that sound then play like they do, the way you strum, hit, pick

Yea, the fingers have a lot to do with it. I've really been working hard on my left hand technique. It's very classical and Rhoads-ish. I use 2.0mm Big Stubbies picks. They're great for soloing. Nice and articulate. They add a bit of brightness as well. But when I strum, I think the pick click makes it sound overly distorted or something....

[ishmun]

Re: How does Opeth get that clarity in their tone?

hey guys,
ive been into opeth and their sound for some time now, so hopefully i can shed a little bit of light on their gear

for guitars -
Peter uses stock PRS pickups on all his PRS guitars
Mikael is the same, except for his blue PRS - which he uses for songs such as deliverance and a fair judgement
this guitar has a Seymour Full Shred in the neck position - im still not sure what he uses in the bridge - speculation that its a JB, but not sure....
on the DVD, this blue guitar is only brought out for the heavier songs (if i remember correctly)
at the live shows ive seen, both peter and mikael use Boss GT6's to get their distortions and effects
i remember ppl telling me, by watching the LEDs on the laney amps, they dont channel switch to the Distortion channel - all distortion is thru the GT6s
on damnation and deliverance

IN THE STUDIO
acoustic guitars were done with Martins (the 12 string - cant remember wat brand it was)
for the heavy album (deliverance), Steven Wilson (producer and head of the band porcupine tree) tracked 4 rhythm guitars - 2 guitars were thru Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifiers and the other 2 were thru Laney's - the VH model i think

PRE BLACKWATER PARK
for albums like still life and before, they were recorded on Gibson SGs
i believe they used marshall and 5150 amps and distortion boxes
i remember reading an article that said Mikael used to play all the clean passages on his blonde 1970s maple necked strat
they used Seagull acoustics as well

other info

i also know that Deliverance and Damnation were recorded on Macs into Logic Software, if that helps

ok thats it for now
if i remember anymore, ill post again!

Ishan

[Studiobuddy]

Re: How does Opeth get that clarity in their tone?

you also forgot peter had a lespaul supreme with emgs and a standard stock, they also used fender amps, and a flying v jackson with emgs