SAVAGE DISTORTION
New member
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
yeah there are many variables involved.
yeah there are many variables involved.
Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
- Thread starter papersoul
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papersoul
New member
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
I agree. I have an Egnater MOd 50 with all the gain I need so I tend to favor low to medium pickups. However, look at something like the Duncan Alternative 8...that is hot and DEIGNED for high gain amps. Confused about that one! I always thought hot pickups were designed to drive low gain amps.
Not sure...because I love a 15k WolfetoneTimbrewolfe in my one LP.
I agree. I have an Egnater MOd 50 with all the gain I need so I tend to favor low to medium pickups. However, look at something like the Duncan Alternative 8...that is hot and DEIGNED for high gain amps. Confused about that one! I always thought hot pickups were designed to drive low gain amps.
Not sure...because I love a 15k WolfetoneTimbrewolfe in my one LP.
F
Forbes
Guest
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
With identical settings my invader equipped guitar always sounds fattest, and thats very high output, however its eq curve is also big on bass and mids and low on high end, so it could be down to that. However much gain i use the invaders always going to sound big due to its EQ.
With identical settings my invader equipped guitar always sounds fattest, and thats very high output, however its eq curve is also big on bass and mids and low on high end, so it could be down to that. However much gain i use the invaders always going to sound big due to its EQ.
hanumanlangur
New member
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
:smack:
So... guy who likes one style of music doesn't like the guitar tones of another style. Who would have thought? When someone likes a style of music, they naturally like the guitar tones and recognize them as being an integral part of the musical style.
The problem with running a Hot Rails bridge pickup into a stock DS-1 is that neither has a full-bodied EQ. There are high-gain distortion pedals out there that could have made your Hot Rails sound huge. Most high output pickups are designed to feed plenty of mids and treble into a high-gain amp, for a very crisp and clean signal, and then the amp will naturally add more mids/bass in the post-clipping EQ stage.
:smack:
So... guy who likes one style of music doesn't like the guitar tones of another style. Who would have thought? When someone likes a style of music, they naturally like the guitar tones and recognize them as being an integral part of the musical style.
The problem with running a Hot Rails bridge pickup into a stock DS-1 is that neither has a full-bodied EQ. There are high-gain distortion pedals out there that could have made your Hot Rails sound huge. Most high output pickups are designed to feed plenty of mids and treble into a high-gain amp, for a very crisp and clean signal, and then the amp will naturally add more mids/bass in the post-clipping EQ stage.
Robert Delahunt
Showmasterologist
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
I have to agree with the other posters here. It's not just what you use, it's the settings and how you use it. I for one like the "default" sound (i.e. all knobs at half way, regardless of what knob it is), yes, but I also like to thicken it up so it has more "life". You gotta play with the settings, man. Also, experiment with strings, picks, where you pick the strings, volume and tone knobs on the guitar, etc. Many, many things you can do.
I have to agree with the other posters here. It's not just what you use, it's the settings and how you use it. I for one like the "default" sound (i.e. all knobs at half way, regardless of what knob it is), yes, but I also like to thicken it up so it has more "life". You gotta play with the settings, man. Also, experiment with strings, picks, where you pick the strings, volume and tone knobs on the guitar, etc. Many, many things you can do.
cream123
JustAskinologist
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
haha +1
Hey!!!
What's wrong with jangly?
haha +1
Zhangliqun
Questionologist
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
Nothing wrong with jangly so much, but lose the Pignose!
Nothing wrong with jangly so much, but lose the Pignose!
drew_half_empty
Looking for Real Life
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
man the tv jones in the neck of my gretsch is doom as HELL with the right amount of dirt
it's insane, like this big orange demon
man the tv jones in the neck of my gretsch is doom as HELL with the right amount of dirt
it's insane, like this big orange demon
Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
i was gonna refute this post and point out all the things you assumed and are wrong about me but, i'm just gonna put this guy up and go to sleep.
:lame:
i was gonna refute this post and point out all the things you assumed and are wrong about me but, i'm just gonna put this guy up and go to sleep.
:lame:
Zhangliqun
Questionologist
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
They do -- far, FAR away from me!
Although a small funky amp that breaks up pretty quick is ideal for a harmonica.
Trashy tones do have their time and place, you know.
They do -- far, FAR away from me!
Although a small funky amp that breaks up pretty quick is ideal for a harmonica.
papersoul
New member
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
I played a lot this weekend and you know.....I thikn I do prefer hotter pickups - 10-15k. There is just something there that works for me and I am not actually sensing less 'fattness' if the pickup is wound correctly. I have been buying some boutique pickups and the dude swore they would be thick and fat, even with higher output and he was right.
Guess I just know what I like.
I played a lot this weekend and you know.....I thikn I do prefer hotter pickups - 10-15k. There is just something there that works for me and I am not actually sensing less 'fattness' if the pickup is wound correctly. I have been buying some boutique pickups and the dude swore they would be thick and fat, even with higher output and he was right.
Guess I just know what I like.
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
Meshuggah use 8 string guitars with the lowest string open F... that's the first fret of a bass guitar. They use Line 6 Vetta which in my opinion would sound horrible but their music is based heavily on single-note grooves instead of powerchords (at least they know if they play powerchords that low it will become mush) so it works just fine for them.
Dallas from Nile's rig is as follows. Invaders>Boss GE-7 with the sliders making a smiley face and the gain turned all the way up>slightly crunchy marshall with the knobs to compensate. Doesn't work well for anything else EXCEPT NILE SONGS where it works best.
Use what works best with what you play and what sounds good to your ears but keeping in mind how dynamics and mixes work.
No-one can tell me how my tone should be sounding but me. I know what I like. I even know why it sounds the way it does. Who says we are limited to one tone each anyway? Isn't that the point in collecting guitars and amps?
Meshuggah use 8 string guitars with the lowest string open F... that's the first fret of a bass guitar. They use Line 6 Vetta which in my opinion would sound horrible but their music is based heavily on single-note grooves instead of powerchords (at least they know if they play powerchords that low it will become mush) so it works just fine for them.
Dallas from Nile's rig is as follows. Invaders>Boss GE-7 with the sliders making a smiley face and the gain turned all the way up>slightly crunchy marshall with the knobs to compensate. Doesn't work well for anything else EXCEPT NILE SONGS where it works best.
Use what works best with what you play and what sounds good to your ears but keeping in mind how dynamics and mixes work.
No-one can tell me how my tone should be sounding but me. I know what I like. I even know why it sounds the way it does. Who says we are limited to one tone each anyway? Isn't that the point in collecting guitars and amps?
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
I play everyday for many(!) years into a shared input amp, with my students, so both guitars get the same volume/gain/EQ and many times the guitars with the real hot pickups are muddy, unclear, congested everytime compared to my guitars which usually have low, vintage type output pickups. My guitar is often clearer, while there's is real compressed and murky sounding. That's with some overdrive on. On a clean tone, their guitar is 3 times as loud of course, and usually a unblanced EQ, like way too much midrange or like their guitar is shouting through a megaphone.
A lot of times with a hot pickup it might sound alright by yourself but then in a band/jam situation it gets lost. That big, open sound really comes from not too much compression, whether it's the amp or pickup.
I've come to really prefer lower output pickups for any style. as long as the amp/pedal have enough gain for what you need. Like I said earlier with a low gain amp like a JCM800, a hot pickup is great.
I play everyday for many(!) years into a shared input amp, with my students, so both guitars get the same volume/gain/EQ and many times the guitars with the real hot pickups are muddy, unclear, congested everytime compared to my guitars which usually have low, vintage type output pickups. My guitar is often clearer, while there's is real compressed and murky sounding. That's with some overdrive on. On a clean tone, their guitar is 3 times as loud of course, and usually a unblanced EQ, like way too much midrange or like their guitar is shouting through a megaphone.
A lot of times with a hot pickup it might sound alright by yourself but then in a band/jam situation it gets lost. That big, open sound really comes from not too much compression, whether it's the amp or pickup.
I've come to really prefer lower output pickups for any style. as long as the amp/pedal have enough gain for what you need. Like I said earlier with a low gain amp like a JCM800, a hot pickup is great.
Zhangliqun
Questionologist
Re: Less output and less gain = bigger/fatter tone?
A higher output pickup isn't the same as beehive gain. You can get a legit big/wide tone out of them, it just depends -- as always with all gear -- on your touch and how it interacts with the pu.
A higher output pickup isn't the same as beehive gain. You can get a legit big/wide tone out of them, it just depends -- as always with all gear -- on your touch and how it interacts with the pu.
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