choice for metal

[guitarmonkey]

what kind of guitar do all you metal lovers prefer?

[mikesr1963]

[tacobobbo]

Um.............something with STEEL strings?
Bob

[ranchtooth]

I'll just show a pic of my favourite shredder in action, as a picture is worth a thousand words.



Shreddderrrrrr

[sumgai]

ranch,

You had me at "Gypsy"! ;D


sumgai

[ChrisK]

???Metal???

Was that played by hair bands or despair bands?

[UnklMickey]

i dunno Chris,

but, given the number of "smooth tops" in the music biz these days,

i would guess "hair bands" and "despair bands" have been replaced by "Nair bands" and "glare bands"

[ChrisK]

but, given the number of "smooth tops" in the music biz these days,

i would guess "hair bands" and "despair bands" have been replaced by "Nair bands" and "glare bands"

Tanks, I've ben a searching for the extrapolation.

Hair bands,
Despair bands,
Nair bands.

[bcrichfan86]

Well obviously I am a Metalhead, but I do have other tastes such as jazz too, gotta love that warm mellow tone!

well for metal I'm gonna have to say the BC Rich NJ Series Guitars, I haven't tried the new neck-thru models, but the bolt ons I have tried, I actually own 2. But yeah i'd recommend if you get those, to put either seymour duncan pickups, or emgs because the tone will be so much better, with more dynamics and more clarity.

But also, I love Jackson guitars, and Gibsons as well, if you're thinking of jackson, try out either the SL2H, KV2, RR1, KE2, WR1, SL1, etc. But yeah I'd say just experiment with others and choose what YOU think happens to have the sound you want.

[dripfire]

I like my lite ash strat even though I play metal

most people like fret radius to be 12" or higher easier to bend or shred with

mahogany body guitars or alder

seymour custom or distortion pickups
emg's are nice for metal p90s can be great for their aggressive sound and bigger magnets

ebony fretboards are nice but not as important as big fret radius

I like Jackson soloists , charvel, schecter hellraisers!!, ibanez js-series, very old bc riches, bernie ricos are excellant but expensive, gibbies , reverends(heard nice things about 'em)


i like fenders but they can be hard on the left hand, great sound though! i feel the extra effort in playing them gives you mojo

[newey]

Drip-

Hello and welcome! You've resurrected a thread almost 2 years old, I think that may be a new record . . .

But that's ok, the topic can be revisited. Although I have nothing meaningful to add myself to it.

[mlrpa]

As much as I hate metal, I do have a guitar or three geared for it.
Ibanez S540 . Super thin neck, 3 hums and a floyd.
Ibanez RG550 Thin neck, 2 hums and a single, and a floyd.
Epiphone Goth Explorer. 2 Hums, and a stop tail piece.

Toodles

[prolife]

i'm more rock than metal by todays standards. so i don't play anything "drop" i'm in standard tuning and i'll play anything but for sustain i use a seymour duncan pickup booster. which makes singles sound like hums and adds some serious quiet sustain.
i have some power rails and they add far too much gain. if you want this go for something like them in any guitar. to me they sound like mud. but are great clean or rocky. in an epi g400 they were too dark.
i think alot of guitars are just in it for looks. pickups and wood are most important but mahogany and gainy pickups may be too muddy?

[chuck]

high gain Alnico pickups gan be a little muddy at times.
the hotter you wind coils , the more high end you lose.
using ceramic magnets can help this , since they tend to have more high end to begin with.

[D2o]

Pastey smeared makeup, especially black, helps with metal also.

;D

[chuck]

hairspray , makeup , spandex , and whatever else you wish to joke about are meaningless .... TALENT matters .

and when it comes to guitars , flat fingerboards , tall frets , thin necks , tuning stability ,and high output pickups with tone are all features that help make a good metal guitar ...
but then again , those features are great for all types of music as well.

a GOOD metal / shred guitar is like a Ferrari .... you can go 200MPH in it at the track , but you can also do 25 around town.

a guitar with a baseball bat neck , tiny frets , weak , or toneless pickups , and that wont stay in tune is like a Ford Pinto , it can also do 25 , but has no prayer of 200 ....

i prefer high end Ibanez guitars , my old Charvel Model 6's , a select few models of Gibson SG , etc ....

[newey]

a GOOD metal / shred guitar is like a Ferrari .... you can go 200MPH in it at the track , but you can also do 25 around town.

Ha! Go talk to some Ferrari owners who do a lot of city driving about that topic, you'll have to find yourself another analogy. Lugging a V-12 along at 900 rpm in first gear, on a continual basis, will keep one on a first-name basis with one's mechanic . . .

Not to mention one's orthopedic physician, who'll be treating chronic left leg and foot pain from using the clutch repetitively.

And, back on topic, some of the best guitarists you've heard prefer a thick neck.

[chuck]

no , i will stick with the analogy ... it works.

and continuing on topic ... some of the best guitarists YOU have ever heard prefer a thin neck .

[newey]

some of the best guitarists YOU have ever heard prefer a thin neck

Well, I prefer a thinner neck, but I'm not one of the best guitarists I've heard, not by a longshot.

My point is, I think it's more a matter of personal preference, and the "feel" of a particular instrument to a particular player, than it is about one specific piece or other.

[chuck]

you are dead on Newey ... i have played horrible thin necks , and sweet fuller profile ones over the years .

but all things being equal , ( in my opinion ) the thin neck wins.

perhaps a lot of it has to do with when we started playing ... i caught the full effect of the Ibanez Revolution .
there is nothing quite like the Original Ibanez Wizard necks for me.
the old Charvel Jackson neck thru guitars with the Compound Radius board are quite awesome as well .
if i get hold of a Gibson 50's profile , or various Fender necks it feels horrible ...
i dont think "vintage" is always better ... especially when it comes to necks .

but its all about what works for each of us .... to each his own

[rabidgerry]

My own personal choice has to be uhhhhhhh

Fender Strats and anything else guitarists like Wolf Hoffman of Accept and K.K Downing of Judas Priest used to get those true classic (the original incarnation of) Heavy Metal tones.

So Flying V's are another........I regretfully have to say Les Pauls too (ahhhh I hate them).

I've also heard Hamer Slammers metal it up to great affect and a few others, but I personally love the original weapons for the original sounds.

round about now someone is going to jump me with a.......
"you must use a black pointy jackson for metal or you aren't metal"
and to which I will say................"eat it"

Some guitars like a Strat might take a bit more work to get a killer metal tone but putting effort into something usually results in a good outcome!!

Other great Metal strat users.......Russ Tippens from Satan/Pariah,
Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Clarke from Motorhead, Wurzle from Motorhead, Hank Sherman from Mercyful Fate, Kirk Hammet from Metallica, Dave Murry from Iron Maiden, Janick Gers from Iron Maiden!!!!

All amazing strat and heavy metal players!! (at some stage in their careers)

[chuck]

throw in some quality pickups , and a Strat can be a metal machine as well as a Gibson can .

the reason many of our guitar heroes used Gibson and Fender guitars is that there wasnt anything better at the time .

same thing with amps ... they had to use treble boosters , and all sorts of other doohickeys to makes the amps of yesterday distort .

today we are not limited to the choices of yesteryear .
if you cant get a GREAT high gain sound nowadays , it must be user error.

[rabidgerry]

Yeah well I totally know what ya mean there, I just plug into me effects pedal though and BAM!

GAIN

Yes back in the day they used to have allsorts a gear, but today there still seems to be allsorts a gear!!

I left out Gibson SG by the way, Tony Iommi made it sound good amongst other like Glenn Tipton and the dude from Witchfinder General.

[chuck]

i hear ya on the SGs ... i am an SG fan from way back.

as a matter of fact , i have my Iommi SG sitting here beside me ... i do believe that i will take it for a test drive
now , do i fire up my Peavey VTM60 , or my Jackson JG2 .....

[D2o]

Hey, chuck – while you’re at it, can you read this and give me your feedback (pardon the pun).

Thanks, buddy
D2o

[chuck]

you know ... the right features can help a guitar be more suitable for " metal " ...

but true metal comes from the heart ... it is an attitude , and a passion .


thats what i have to say about that