Tighten low end without boosting.

[CarlosG]

Hi!
What tricks do you know to tighten low end on guitars? I like thrashy sound low end.
I know pickup height and type is important, A2 especially has muddy low, A5 and Ceramic pickup are better.
I noticed that low action can tighten low end, but sound thin.
I recently discovered that straight neck (no relif) makes the guitar sound tight, Dan Erlewine talks about it on movie with Joe Bonamassa tech.
I'm impressed that it works I can finally play with higher action (which I prefer) and I has tighten low end but is stronger than with low action, with straight neck tuning stability is better is less sharp when I hard picking.

I wonder if there are any more tricks?
I've heard of damping the tremolo springs and strings on the headstock, but I'm not sure if it works, I think I like my springs, they add a bit of reverb.
And what do you thing about string type and size? Pure Nickel are more muddy.
But I'm confused with thickness. I've always found thin strings to be less muddy, when I replaced to thicker I get more muddy tone.
But on the forums people say that thick strings have a tighter sound. What am I doing wrong?

 

[devastone]

Squats and lunges?

A trem stabilizer can definitely help with tuning and sustain, I guess it may help with tightening low end too. Damping the springs to prevent noise is a different issue.

What is your current setup, that is the best place to start.
.

 

[dave74]

Thicker strings do not always make for tighter lows. To a point having tighter string-tension can help, but larger strings can also make for boomier bass.
Say you are staying at E-standard tuning and you go from 9-42 up to a 10-46 set. That might indeed make for snappier more controlled/tighter lows, but if you go up to 11-52 it can actually get too boomy/beefy. It depends somewhat on the guitar itself and the way the materials "handle" the lows, aka resonance.

Hard to make generalizations when there are so many factors involved. Guitar,pickups,boost,amps,cabs ect.

 

[Clint 55]

Eq sir.

 

[JMP/HBE]

um having strated out in the 60's & 70's w/o a boost pedal for 15 years, all i can say is thank God for pedals >