Is it any good for metal?

[retrosurfer1959]

Everybody knows metal guitars are pointy

[milod]

The vid of the acoustic "metal" guy was interesting. Not quite my cup of tea, but it reminded me of some stuff I heard in the '60s! <grin>

 

I'm actually glad to hear I'm not the only one who figures even somebody with an average bit of talent (probably most of us here) can enjoy playing a decent quality guitar in whatever style he or she is interested in - and have it sound good within its own general style.

 

The capability of the guitar, from nylon classical to the pointy added-string solidbody versions, is awesome when you think about it. As a vehicle of musical expression that can go from Bach to blues and the roughest of folk, rock or whatever, it's unmatched. Better than that, even a relatively unskilled player can enjoy making music that sounds pretty decent to others. We're lucky folks, I think.

 

m

[Versatile]

 

 

Seriously, the man in question (Alex Skolnick) is a very impressive player. He left testament for a number of years and played in a Jazz band apparently.

 

I think it often comes down to money....relatively easy to get a 'big gig' in the Metal genre...to pay the bills....

 

V

 

[dem00n]

Flowers and B.C. Rich guitars go well.

[Searcy]

With enough gain any guitar is good for metal.

[Pukeblud]

For GOOD metal tone you'll probably want a mahogany guitar, an ebony fretboard, and some type of high- output humbucking pickups. i recommend Seymour Duncan Blackouts if you're going with actives. They are very aggressive, but still have an organic sound, while (in my opinion) EMGs have digitalized sound. Also if you plan to drop tune your guitar, get it set up professionally. The intonation will be off and you risk warping the neck if you don't.

 

Hope thats helpful

[FirstMeasure]

With enough gain any guitar is good for metal.

You can ride a BMX in the Tour De France, but that doesn't make it the best Bike for the Race. I must take acception to this "Any Guitar Will Do" stance.

 

A Gibson SG is more suited for metal than an Epiphone Emperor Regent. A BC Rich will deliver a Metal Tone with less fuss than a Danelectro with Lipstick Pickups. A Taylor Acoustic Electric will sound like a Fog Horn if you plug it into a Mesa Triple Rectifier.

 

Just because you CAN play metal on any guitar doesn't mean every guitar is Best for the job.

[Kimbabig]

You can ride a BMX in the Tour De France, but that doesn't make it the best Bike for the Race. I must take acception to this "Any Guitar Will Do" stance.

 

A Gibson SG is more suited for metal than an Epiphone Emperor Regent. A BC Rich will deliver a Metal Tone with less fuss than a Danelectro with Lipstick Pickups. A Taylor Acoustic Electric will sound like a Fog Horn if you plug it into a Mesa Triple Rectifier.

 

Just because you CAN play metal on any guitar doesn't mean every guitar is Best for the job.

 

Dude, you're breaking the tradition of telling people "tone is in the fingers" and offering no real helpful advice.

 

 

 

What are you going to say next? You can get Slash tone with a Les Paul Style guitar, overdriven on the neck pickup, and tuning down a half step?

[FirstMeasure]

Dude, you're breaking the tradition of telling people "tone is in the fingers" and offering no real helpful advice.

 

 

 

What are you going to say next? You can get Slash tone with a Les Paul Style guitar, overdriven on the neck pickup, and tuning down a half step?

Yeah, I'm whacky like that. Slash's tone may be in his fingers, but his fingers ain't gettin' it with an L-5 and a Roland JC120.

[Searcy]

You can ride a BMX in the Tour De France, but that doesn't make it the best Bike for the Race. I must take acception to this "Any Guitar Will Do" stance.

 

A Gibson SG is more suited for metal than an Epiphone Emperor Regent. A BC Rich will deliver a Metal Tone with less fuss than a Danelectro with Lipstick Pickups. A Taylor Acoustic Electric will sound like a Fog Horn if you plug it into a Mesa Triple Rectifier.

 

Just because you CAN play metal on any guitar doesn't mean every guitar is Best for the job.

 

 

Well then I take acception to your taking acception to my stance!!

 

I just watched Ted Nugent rip the roof off the Ryman playiong some mega metal riffs with a Gibson Birdland jazz box.

[FirstMeasure]

Well then I take acception to your taking acception to my stance!!

 

I just watched Ted Nugent rip the roof off the Ryman playiong some mega metal riffs with a Gibson Birdland jazz box.

The exception that proves the rule. And, the Brydland is a Thinline Semi-hollow with a tone block in it. Not a full Hollow Jazzbox with a Floating Mini Bucker. And, just cause the great Nuge can wrangle that feedback monster doesn't make him the average.

 

Besides, even Ted started using PRS in damn Yankees 'cause it was more suited to the High Gain of the 80's.

[Searcy]

Weather or not Teds work with his Birdland or Malcolm Young work with his Gretsch is average isn't really relevant. My point is that if you know how to play metal music you can play it on any guitar and if you run that guitar through enough gain it will even sound metal. Solving feedback issues isn't an sort of exclusively metal problem as Les Paul and Chet Atkins taught us. There are country guy all over the U.S.A. tonight playing Taylor Guitars through hundreds of watts and they seems to be able to manage the feed back. Sound hole covers, noise gates and volume pedals help.

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbelg03MJHU&feature=related

[FirstMeasure]

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbelg03MJHU&feature=related

"it's not simple... my pedal helps a lot cause' it has a noise supression function, i also usually play with the guitar volume at 1/4, even a bit less, and get most of the sound from the pedal and the amp. And yes, even with all that, it still feedbacks, when I don't play the strings... at least if I'm too close to the amp or turn it's volume up too much. Hope it helped!" - Quote from player in the video.

 

I took that quote from the comment thread from his video. It's the players response to questions about controlling his feedback (which is not be exclusive to high gain situations, but it is more prevalent in high gain situations).

 

What that kid is doing in that video is impressive because he's doing it on a Guitar that's not very good for metal. Proving my point in the process.

 

This is the way I look at it,

 

If you plug "Guitar A" into a Full Stack with a couple of distortion pedals in line and start playing metal then "Guitar A" is good for metal.

 

If you plug "Guitar B" into a Full Stack with a couple of distortion pedals in line and start solving issues then "Guitar B" isn't so good for metal, even if you can make it work and eventually get a decent sound out of it.

 

Looking at it that way I'd have to say "Guitar A" is a better guitar for Metal than "Guitar B".

[AlanH]

Well then I take acception to your taking acception to my stance!!

 

Well I'll take exception to your acception of his acception.....

 

 

Will anybody accept my exception..........or is that not acceptable?

[MojoRedFoot]

I read this all the time and it cracks me up.

 

Especially when I read "you can't play metal on a telecaster". My main guitar is a regular old American standard tele and it totally kicks *** for metal. I just plug it into my Devi Ever Hyperion and it's the thickest, most intense sludgy metal tone everrr. Seriously.. It ******* slays.

 

With the right amp and/or pedals, I think you can play metal and sound really good with a guitar that doesn't have a metal-style setup or whatever.

 

+1...I recently bought a USA Tele and to my surprise works just fine for metal. Love that guitar. Sounds great thru B52 AT100 half stack w/ Line 6 XT live or the Line 6 MK112.

[Searcy]

It seems that ability to resist feed back is your only solid criteria for what makes a proper metal guitar.

Well, I have a short scale, single pickup Dano and a 60W super distortomatic solid state amp and I can (and do) make crazy metal tone and riffage with that combo with no pedals at all. Magicly I seem to be able to manage the feed back issue just fine.

[Riffster]

It'd be funny to read reviews on guitars with high gain pickups, 24 frets and floyd rose tremolos and ask: but is it good for blues or country?

[stein]

Well I'll take exception to your acception of his acception.....

 

 

Will anybody accept my exception..........or is that not acceptable?

I accept your acception and your exception.

 

But I don't accept all Metal without exception. I personally would play metal on ANY guitar without exception, but my metal playing would be more likely taken as an exception then acception.

[FirstMeasure]

It seems that ability to resist feed back is your only solid criteria for what makes a proper metal guitar.

Well, I have a short scale, single pickup Dano and a 60W super distortomatic solid state amp and I can (and do) make crazy metal tone and riffage with that combo with no pedals at all. Magicly I seem to be able to manage the feed back issue just fine.

It's not the only criteria, nor is it the issue I brought up about the Dano's or other Single Coils.

 

It takes more gain to push them into the Metal Zone and Single Coils are usually pretty noisy. Making Humbuckers a little easier to work with.

 

Noise and feedback are definitely important criteria in a guitar that is Good for Metal. That doesn't mean you "CANNOT PLAY METAL ON ANYTHING ELSE", but it does mean the a solid body guitar equipped with Hot Humbuckers is better suited. You're arguing against a point that was never made.

 

Here, let me make the statement very clear. You can play metal on any guitar that sounds when you hit the frets. No one is disputing that. However, when a beginner says, "I want a guitar that good for playing metal" I'm not going to send him to the acoustic room. Nor am I going to show him Jimmy Page playing a Hard Rock song and tell him Dano's are the way to go. The answer to that beginners question is, "A solid Body electric with Humbuckers is a good starting point." Any existential musing on the subject are just misleading.

[Searcy]

when a beginner says, "I want a guitar that good for playing metal" I'm not going to send him to the acoustic room. Nor am I going to show him Jimmy Page playing a Hard Rock song and tell him Dano's are the way to go. The answer to that beginners question is, "A solid Body electric with Humbuckers is a good starting point." Any existential musing on the subject are just misleading.

 

I understand. My issue is this. I used to work in a guitar store and time after time I saw kids that already had a perfectly good guitar being discouraged because their guitar wasn't "Metal Enough". It wasn't hard for their friends and MTV to convince them that with out a very pointy solid body guitar with a single bridge humbucker and a Floyd , this was the 80's after all, they could never play metal. This is how we ended up with all those cool old Melody Makers that were routed for Kahlers and humbuckers. That's when I developed the habit of playing metal riffs on any guitar in the shop. For about 15 years my main metal guitar was a bone stock 1991 American Fender Tele. Never had the slightest bit of trouble playing metal on it. These days I use a 1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent for metalish stuff because my old hands like the wide neck better.

 

My worry is seeing kids discouraged from playing what they want to play because they don't have the right guitar. So I always make sure I tell them that you can play Metal on any guitar and if you feed it enough gain it will even sound very metal.

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj3ec2cCaJw

[damian]

Searcy is the most knowledgable member here on pickups......Now, I don't play much metal, but, as a "hired gun", for recordings,

 

I use a Les Paul with '57 classics................Clients are happy with the results....

[Searcy]

Well... that's the other thing I constantly get emails about my pickups asking "Yea... but is it good for metal?"

 

 

:blink: :blink: :blink:

[FirstMeasure]

I understand. My issue is this. I used to work in a guitar store and time after time I saw kids that already had a perfectly good guitar being discouraged because their guitar wasn't "Metal Enough". It wasn't hard for their friends and MTV to convince them that with out a very pointy solid body guitar with a single bridge humbucker and a Floyd , this was the 80's after all, they could never play metal. This is how we ended up with all those cool old Melody Makers that were routed for Kahlers and humbuckers. That's when I developed the habit of playing metal riffs on any guitar in the shop. For about 15 years my main metal guitar was a bone stock 1991 American Fender Tele. Never had the slightest bit of trouble playing metal on it. These days I use a 1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent for metalish stuff because my old hands like the wide neck better.

 

My worry is seeing kids discouraged from playing what they want to play because they don't have the right guitar. So I always make sure I tell them that you can play Metal on any guitar and if you feed it enough gain it will even sound very metal.

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj3ec2cCaJw

One of my Favorite Megadeth albums (World Needs a Hero) has a Country Gentlemen all over it. And I totally agree that young players need to know that Metal (or any other musical style) is in the hands. Picking and Muting Techniques, Noiseless Fret Hand Speed and what all. I'm just into accurately answering question. Like....

 

What guitar do I NEED to play metal on? Answer: one with a straight neck and good strings.

 

What guitar is BEST for metal? Answer: Time to start defining criteria, what metal tone are you going for?

 

Chances are, if the young player is looking for a new and exciting sound their not asking for tonal advice in the first place, so I generally don't give the "Just Be Creative" advice because anyone who can follow that advice is already on that path. You can't coax creative thought, It can be nurtured if it's there, but there's no gifting creativity to the student(IMO)But then I'm not a very good teacher, so.......

 

And, for what it's worth, I was in High School in the 80's. I saw all those pointy, single bucker, basswood guitars and heard all the Crap I could about my Stratocaster. I still have my Strat and my Musical Obssesion, most of them don't play anymore and they certainly don't have their old guitar. Personally I just let posers like that follow their misconceptions until they rot and fall off.

 

PS. Nice Yngwie!

[Searcy]

If I were in a shop talking to a kid in a store about what their first guitar should be there would be lots of questions and much more information exchanged. But if I'm checking out a YouTube video of the latest Les Paul studio and the obligatory " but is it good for METAL!!>??" post with "Given enough gain... any guitar is good for metal."

 

But this isn't a topic started by a kid wanting to learn what his first guitar should be. It's a topic started simply to discuss the merits of that age old question. The OP and I look at the subject in very much the same way.