Gretsch and high gain ??

[StratFreak]

What do people think about Gretsch guitars with high gain ??? I absolutely love how Gretsch guitars look omg ! but i am aware that these guitars are usually not made for alt metal/hard rock

They could not sound any nicer on clean !!

Would it be such a terrible idea to grab one ?? or would i have to swap the pups ??

Something like the one at the top

 

[Jocelyn]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

High Gain is achieved from the amps. Yngwie plays pretty low out put pickups he gets his gain from the amps. Using medium to low output pickups alows you to roll back the volume and turn down the gain and get a nice clean tone. So yes you can use them and turn up the gain.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

cranking it nas never been a problem for Malcolm Young.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

cranking it nas never been a problem for Malcolm Young.

Sorry but malcolm is not a great measure of "high" gain. Maybe by 1976 standards he was but in reality is sound is very clean and just loud and over driven.

 

[formula73]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

OP: try it and tell us how it goes! I'd imagine there's at least a few youtube vids out there of this very thing...none of which I can see out here on this damn boat. Maybe the bright, clean nature would work well for gain and drop tunings...maybe not.

Sorry but malcolm is not a great measure of "high" gain. Maybe by 1976 standards he was but in reality is sound is very clean and just loud and over driven.

This.

 

[AdamBrad]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

A bunch of Finns trying to look like they're from Texas/Louisiana, and a guitarist trying to be Dimebag to such an extent it's quite weird. Regardless, the other one is playing a Gretsch semi-hollow with fairly high-gain (though of course, it maybe just for the video)...

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

High gain actually means lots of volume......
Lotsa of distortion is what is being talked about.

 

[BeeGee]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

Didn't James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins used to play a Gretsch similar to the one the posted above? They were never shy to crank up the distortion.

 

[Ball&Chain]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

High gain actually means lots of volume......
Lotsa of distortion is what is being talked about.

This depends on what type of gain you are talking about. Pre or post. In general public terms, high gain refers to the amount of distortion an amp can produce. I dont see too many amps out there advertised as high gain that are just really loud with a hint of crunch.


Check this out and see how many really loud clean tones you see.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

Gain is volume...period

 

[saladin]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I8mWG6HlmU

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

Gain is volume...period

If your talking in the strict electrical definition sense yes it is. But as we know it in the guitar lexicon gain is about the amount of distortion available not outright volume (yes i know the distortion is created by cascading the volume of multiple stages in the preamps then a master stage is used to control the over all volume) but when people ask about how much "gain" an amp has they arent asking how much volume it has they want to know how much distortion it has.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

We all know what the OP meant by "high gain", there's no need to argue semantics.

 

[Ball&Chain]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

Gain is volume...period

Well thats funny, because my amp has a gain control and when I turn it, I get little to no effect in volume, but the distortion level increases and decreases.

wierd, because its right next to the volume knob. I wouldnt think a preamp would need 2 volume knobs, but apparently so.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

I play a Duo Jet through a Mark V. It's awesome.

Any questions?

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

I play a Duo Jet through a Mark V. It's awesome.

Any questions?

Yes - under """""high gain,""""" do Gretsch pickups sacrifice body / fullness / girth / chugga for articulation?

I have never played a Gretsch under high gain, but I get the idea that they may sound thin under high gain.

Instead of me asking yes or nos, could you tell us a little about the sound of a Gretsch under high gain, possibly framing it against common sounds like a Strat / Tele / LP?

Thanks!

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

the duo jet is a chambered body, to the point it's almost semi hollow.

I tried one at my local store and found it to sound pretty good through the blackstar amp I was playing through.

Does it lose articulation? Yes.

It's not like it turns to mush, but you guys tell me, isn't it easier to tell apart a Les Paul from an SG on the clean channel?

 

[3'scompany]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

Regardless, the other one is playing a Gretsch semi-hollow with fairly high-gain (though of course, it maybe just for the video)...

While that may not be the guitar used in the recording, @ 3:02 in the video you can see that he's using a more conventional covered humbucker in the bridge, so the Gretsch very well may not be just a "prop."

 

[brunogio]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

You can rock that guitar on high gain and it will be cool for everything except heavy nu metal and even then it might sound good to you.

I've done it and continue to do it regularly. The nice thing about those guitars is that they don't feed back as much as guitars with real F holes when you run them hot.

 

[longcat]

Re: Gretsch and high gain ??

Didn't James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins used to play a Gretsch similar to the one the posted above? They were never shy to crank up the distortion.

95% of their popular works were recorded with james playing one of two LPCs, one of which was all black and could possibly be described as looking similar to the one posted above. his #1 up until adore (but then intermittently again on machina) was that black LPC, for recording and touring. there are photos of him 1995ish with a silver gretsch but i really have no idea what (if anything) he used it for, other than one rather unique song on machina.