Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Tubescreamer OR Boss SD-1 OR ...5150/6505 footswitch. Maybe a delay.

DONE.

youngthrasher9 said:
The best for many, many people is guitar>tubescreamer clone (lots of people like the Maxon OD808)>amp. A noise gate can be thrown in if your amp is a tad noisy.

If you are playing lead as well, delay is cool sometimes, and wah if you are confident that you want sound like a hack using it.

This is all assuming that your amp has good reverb. If it doesn't, a reverb pedal is something I would consider.
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Maxon's not a clone... Maxon DESIGNED & MADE the original.


kingswebe said:
Who makes a Doubler stompbox, easily found on the used market? I checked into the MXR rack mount offering when I saw the Guitar World interview w Dimebag's tech Grady Champion who said Dime ALWAYS had it set to On, but I don't want to do rack mount and I was not impressed with the YouTube examples of the MXR I found on YouTube (granted the few I found were not good audio).

Thanks
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Dime NEVER had particularly good tone, nor was he much of a GASer/tone snob or even seriously explore on a hunt for optimal tone. Ever... People dig Pantera for the music I guess, or some innovative riffage or whatnot, but not best-in-class tone. Playing the exact same thing, if he sat down a decent pro session guitarist with access to any (reasonable) equipment they wanted to just redo the stuff he did live on recording for him, it'd make a far nicer album tone 100% of the time.

Or, in other words that perhaps might better get through to hardcore fans, if Dime had taken his rig and sat down to play Slayer/Metallica/whatever covers, they'd sound worse than the original, no matter how spot-on (or better than!) the original tracks his technique were. His gear just wasn't all that... did the job for him, I guess, or maybe he didn't care, but it's hardly exemplary equipment to make note of and copy for your own rig.
 
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Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Myaccount876 said:
I wah pedal and EQ pedal are way up there IMO.

I also "made" (didn't take any thought to be honest) a stupid-simple SPDT kill switch pedal that is extremely useful. Easier than turning your volume all the way down, especially if you have it preset at say, ~7 or 6 for rhythm. No battery, no lights; just two jacks, a standard Dunlop SPDT switch I cannibalized, three shielded wires, and an electrical outlet box.
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Hey, any idea if, instead of a switch, you stuck in a normal basic potentiometer ("volume"), would that work as an FX loop volume choke for a cheapo alternative to an attenuator? Or would that suck and/or not work for some reason??
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Adieu said:
Tubescreamer OR Boss SD-1 OR ...5150/6505 footswitch. Maybe a delay.

DONE.




Maxon's not a clone... Maxon DESIGNED & MADE the original.





Dime NEVER had particularly good tone, nor was he much of a GASer/tone snob or even seriously explore on a hunt for optimal tone. Ever... People dig Pantera for the music I guess, or some innovative riffage or whatnot, but not best-in-class tone. Playing the exact same thing, if he sat down a decent pro session guitarist with access to any (reasonable) equipment they wanted to just redo the stuff he did live on recording for him, it'd make a far nicer album tone 100% of the time.

Or, in other words that perhaps might better get through to hardcore fans, if Dime had taken his rig and sat down to play Slayer/Metallica/whatever covers, they'd sound worse than the original, no matter how spot-on (or better than!) the original tracks his technique were. His gear just wasn't all that... did the job for him, I guess, or maybe he didn't care, but it's hardly exemplary equipment to make note of and copy for your own rig.
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I think you're mistaking tonehunting for being good. I wouldn't say the inverse is true, but I would say that pros tend to nail down a sound and meander around in it and sometimes don't even know or care how their techs shaped it to sound more like "them".

I mean, we're talking metal. What's good tone, anyway? It's all various EQings of highly clipped guitar tones. Sloppy stoner metal needs a tube power section and preferably a tube rectifier, but most everything else can be captured by a stompbox by Tech21. Metal guys are all sticking with solid state for that reason. Now if someone wanted to sound like Dime...why not?
I like the Black Keys a lot and I liked the White Stripes. Was Jack White's tone bad because he played through a Silvertone? NO! It was bad because he played bad. Was Dime short on Diezels and Engls and a pile of other means to heavily clip a signal? yea. Was his tone bad? nooooo sirrr-ee. His tone was what it was, and now people copy his rig instead of him trying to copy Slayers or something.
Dino Cazares plays through one of a few digital rigs in a 4u box with his wireless. His tone's fine. Doyle plays his guitar through Ampeg bass amps because he's an unrepentant meathead and his tone is fine.

For the record, he literally "got a box from a scientist" that he plugs into and that's his tone. Find the rig rundown; it's pure gold.
 
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Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Well, whatever... true, good tone is way subjective.

However, what I mean is that I find that a bunch of Euro and Japanese guys (and girls, too!) take the same FLAVOURS of tone as pantera metallica slayer etc, but manage to make them far FULLER, SPICIER, BIGGER. Not even always just big names, but virtual nobodies playing a couple small club gigs a year during thursday happy hour to five-and-a-half bored pierced college guys sipping beer, too.

Can't find/don't know the musical terminology to explain, but for a metaphor... It's like using real cinnamon sticks vs. some dodgy crap in a teabag or some musty ground stuff that's been in your kitchen 20 years and counting. Or, HERE: real jalapenos vs. "red peppers (w/salt msg etc etc)" in a packet. Same type of spice, but far nicer.
 
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Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Adieu said:
Hey, any idea if, instead of a switch, you stuck in a normal basic potentiometer ("volume"), would that work as an FX loop volume choke for a cheapo alternative to an attenuator? Or would that suck and/or not work for some reason??
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Attenuators are something you should not cheap-out on.

A volume control between the head and cabinet is a bad idea. The killswitch idea between the head and speaker could kill your amp, so varying resistance between the head and cabinet is going to be just as bad - if not worse.
 
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Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Myaccount876 said:
Attenuators are something you should not cheap-out on.

A volume control between the head and cabinet is a bad idea. The killswitch idea between the head and speaker could kill your amp, so varying resistance between the head and cabinet is going to be just as bad - if not worse.
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NO NO NO!!!! a volume control PEDAL in the EFFECTS LOOP... seems to me about 50% of pedals consist of massive active boosts (gain knob) plus a passive potentiometer (volume - which in fact unless wide open is ALWAYS dialing down)... well, why not take the passive pot - without a boost, for a VOLUME DOWN pedal instead of the usual volume-up antics of the likes of distortion overdrive clean boost fuzz wah EQ etc - to dial down through the FX loop? Won't work/would make sound fugly??
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Adieu said:
NO NO NO!!!! a volume control PEDAL in the EFFECTS LOOP... seems to me about 50% of pedals consist of massive active boosts (gain knob) plus a passive potentiometer (volume - which in fact unless wide open is ALWAYS dialing down)... well, why not take the passive pot - without a boost, for a VOLUME DOWN pedal instead of the usual volume-up antics of the likes of distortion overdrive clean boost fuzz wah EQ etc - to dial down through the FX loop? Won't work/would make sound fugly??
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If you get the value and taper right, I don't see why there'd be a problem in functionality. I'd have no idea how it sounds. You could probably but some decent dirt pedal in there with the level set below unity and get the desired effect.

I don't think it'll achieve the desired effect of a good attenuator though. You'd essentially just be adding another master volume control to the amp.
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Myaccount876 said:
If you get the value and taper right, I don't see why there'd be a problem in functionality. I'd have no idea how it sounds. You could probably but some decent dirt pedal in there with the level set below unity and get the desired effect.

I don't think it'll achieve the desired effect of a good attenuator though. You'd essentially just be adding another master volume control to the amp.
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ANOTHER master would be good, albeit incorrectly named... the 5150 family doesn't come with master volumes. If it did, the attenuator problem would be rather moot.
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

A lot of great suggestions here. Just one more addition: check out things on premier guitar, music radar and on youtube, see andertons music. It might help you narrow your choices and these sources provide honest, useful information on gear (instead of marketing shills fronting as reviews).
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Adieu said:
Or, in other words that perhaps might better get through to hardcore fans, if Dime had taken his rig and sat down to play Slayer/Metallica/whatever covers, they'd sound worse than the original, no matter how spot-on (or better than!) the original tracks his technique were. His gear just wasn't all that... did the job for him, I guess, or maybe he didn't care, but it's hardly exemplary equipment to make note of and copy for your own rig.
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Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

^ Nice cover. It'll be nine years tomorrow.
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

I remember the first time I heard Cemetery Gates when it was fresh on Headbanger's Ball. Pretty mind-blowing experience. It was that and Waking the Dead from Suicidal Tendencies that keyed me into heavier stuff and away from the 80's tone that Metallica had. Never forgot about And Justice, but I needed more...something to my guitar than what Metallica offered. Pantera was squealy and Entombed was an operating meat grinder and Suicidal had dat thickness.

Or drums. That's when I got way into death metal too. Blessed are the Sick was my first album with long sections of blast-beating.

Stoner/Doom gives me those feels now. Last night I rolled around youtube for a bit and caught some Yob and Cough. So soul-crushingly heavy.
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

A nice overdrive pedal when I need that push over the cliff. For a two guitar band, a switchable master volume/soundman eliminator/post preamp eq might be handy (or should I say footy?) as well.
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Adieu said:
Dime NEVER had particularly good tone, nor was he much of a GASer/tone snob or even seriously explore on a hunt for optimal tone. Ever... People dig Pantera for the music I guess, or some innovative riffage or whatnot, but not best-in-class tone. Playing the exact same thing, if he sat down a decent pro session guitarist with access to any (reasonable) equipment they wanted to just redo the stuff he did live on recording for him, it'd make a far nicer album tone 100% of the time.

Or, in other words that perhaps might better get through to hardcore fans, if Dime had taken his rig and sat down to play Slayer/Metallica/whatever covers, they'd sound worse than the original, no matter how spot-on (or better than!) the original tracks his technique were. His gear just wasn't all that... did the job for him, I guess, or maybe he didn't care, but it's hardly exemplary equipment to make note of and copy for your own rig.
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I disagree completely. I think Dime nailed HIS tone perfectly for what he was trying to get across. An example of someone with **** tone would be Kirk Hammett. And yes, like good tone, **** tone is also in the hands....cause we know he has good gear. It's sad, because I think his tone on the first few Metallica albums was great. But for the last 20+ years, just thin tone + wah and nervous vibrato and intentionally holding back as much as possible to avoid "overplaying". :rolleyes:
 
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Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Little Pigbacon said:
^ Nice cover. It'll be nine years tomorrow.
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Wow....don't know where the time went. I was at the December 5th Damage Plan Show at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY. Shadows Fall was the opener...what a show. I'm just glad I was able to see it. There was one moment during the show that had me laughing so hard...Dime was on the side stage as Shadows Fall was playing "The Light That Blinds" to open. Brian Fair was whipping his 6 foot Dreads like a f***ing helicopter when out of nowhere a roll of toilet paper comes flying in from stage right and catches hold of Brian's dreads....hilarity insued as the roll of TP unraveled in a perfect spiral of dread banging fury. It was like the Metal version of Gymnastic Ribbon Baton Dancing. I'll try to give you guys the visual. It was something like this:

BrianFairHornsUpRocks.jpg + -font-b-Ribbon-b-font-font-b-ribbon-b-font-font-b-dance-b-font.jpg
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Boss NS-2 and tuner.

I also have TS and gonna have wah & delay soon. But the above are really everything you need.
 
Re: Must Haves for Metal Guitarist's pedalboard

Overdrive (optional), Flanger/phaser for color (preferably something analog with a level or wet/dry knob), Chorus for cleans (I like my Hardwire chorus), MXR 10-band EQ. Weird fuzz pedals for stoner/doom.
 
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