Well done mate. You nailed the way to deliver tone in a great way. I don't think you realise how well you presented this. Epiphone guitar. Decent Marshall amp. Cheap basic overdrive pedal. Decent noise suppressor. All in all easily affordable stuff. Playing was terrific. I have stupid amounts of gear that cost stupid amounts of money, I'm nearly 60 and invested well, and this video shows how talent and setting up basic gear is the best way to go. This is a great video.
This comment warmed my soul, Mick! Thanks so much for this. Funny enough, I’ve had high-end gear and I’ve cycled through some insane rigs, from rackmount setups to all-digital and everything in between. It took all that … to realize you don’t need *all that* to sound good! Haha So I stripped it back down and presented this video instead. I’m glad you enjoyed and appreciated it. Truly means so much to me.
@@HunterHomistek Your welcome. It's a well deserved appreciation of your effort. Delivered in a pleasant non egotistical manner, I watched it a couple of times before commenting.
I like how you did this with lower-cost equipment, not $4000 amps. It really shows the effects of the overdrive and the noise gate. I play more rock/hard rock but over the years my simple rig evolved into using less gain on my amp and relying more on the overdrive to give me some chunk w/o needing much gain at all.
I appreciate the kind words! Glad you liked the video. It's cool to hear you've had a similar tonal experience/journey as well. It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution, but it does work for the vast majority of people and situations.
One thing I'll add is that scooped mid tones *CAN* work, and often do work in band and mix settings more often than a lot of people think. *HOWEVER*, you absolutely do not want to nuke them. The guitar is a mid-ranged instrument, so you need mids whether you're using a mid-scooped or mid-forward sound. The overdrive in front will help by hitting the amp at the front with a lot of mids, but you still need to have some in your amp settings. When I'm using a mid-scooped sound, I'm setting them on the amp to around 11:00, maybe 10:00 on the lower end. EQ pedals in the effects loop can also help with making a mid-scooped sound that won't get buried since you can attenuate the more boxy and muddy frequencies in the low-mids while keeping or even boosting the ones that will help you cut through in the upper-mids. Just a few tips from a stubborn-ass meathead death metal dude that will not ever quit scooping mids.
Not a lot of people mention getting a pedal when learning, but when I picked up an SD-1, it unlocked so much more creative space. Still love that pedal a year and a half into playing! (I recommend a Revv G3 preamp/distortion, I know it’s not labeled as an overdrive.)
Babs knows! The mids are tricky to dial in for sure. There's something about that 2000's nu-metal tone that still works for me every now and then, lol! Great video.
I had a small, solid-state Marshall with a 10" speaker and a mostly open back. I lined the inside of the cab with a towel, and blocked much of the opening in the back of the cab to make it more like a Marshall sealed stack cabinet. It sounded pretty good, but I couldn't make the guitar, a Korean Kramer start-type with Seymore-Dunkin humbucker near the bridge, really sing. I was at a guitar shop, and a guy with an Aussie accent said "You need an HM-2 BOSS Heavy Metal box. I told him I didn't't like the fuzz effect, and he said "this is exactly what you need." I bought one, and when I ran it with the gain at 10 and the distortion at 0, the think sounded like whistling metal. This was a 12-watt solid-state amp, and sounded really good. Pinch harmonics were whistling out of it. I use an NS-2 for guitar and a Mark Bass compressor/limiter for bass.
you probably dont care at all but does someone know a trick to get back into an instagram account? I somehow forgot the password. I would love any tips you can give me
@Alec Tony i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im in the hacking process atm. I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
Mids- you are 100% correct. Every one of us make that mistake in the beginning....because it sounds "better" (album-ish) when we are playing ALONE. But the second you start playing with a band, you make the next big mistake- crank the volume because "I can't hear myself...." Now you've got a fizzy/boomy mess, that sounds like hot trash in a live situation....and you still can't hear yourself or differentiate notes. Turn the mids up, turn the gain down, boost with and overdrive and maybe invest in an EQ or two.
Honestly even as a LONG time metal player this was a huge help to me. We all get stuck in our ways at some point 😅 this helped reset my approach to my tone
Tone is in the hands. A good guitar player can make any amp sound decent (as long as it's not got bad tubes etc). A bad guitar player can't make any amp sound good. Lowering gain is huge. I don't know how many times I've had friends over and they say "Where's the gain man?" You just need enough to make the tone and you want as little of that as you can stand. And it will sound much heavier when tracked if you do. Great video.
Appreciate the kind words! And agreed totally. Lowering the gain was a huge discovery for me. Hoping I can save some other players time (like... years in my case haha) with this video.
Sir Hunter Homistek, you have successfully earned my subscription. Up until this point i felt very bad about my playing and my tone and in general i felt like shit dude i swear i only got up to 7 minutes if the video, the 3rd tip is incredibly huge. I just copied your eq settings and i feel like that's the best sound i've ever had.
Nice lesson, very useful. So good to have someone who doesn't take themselves massively serious. Or sniffs a lot. Bedroom metal players do that a lot. Great to have some humour in there as well, makes the whole thing much more watchable. And God bless Babs😀.
Dude!! Thank you so much for these tips!! I'm just starting to get into Metallica and don't know much about getting a metal tone and this video helped a ton!!! Thank you so much man! Gained another sub!
This has saved me a lot of effort and money - I’ve always struggled to get that full sound when playing - as it can get lost in the sea of peddles out there. This keeps it nice and simple - I use this through my blackstar Tvp boss overdrive peddle and a budget noise gate - seems to really do the trick on creating a nice sound
Another great way to enhance your amplifier tone is to add a 6 band EQ in the FX Loop, and then use the face knobs on your amp like you would an overdrive. The best pedal i've heard about for this is the Mesa Boogie 5 band EQ pedal designed to function just like the 5 band EQ on a Mesa Boogie Mark series amp. As a bonus, using the OPT Compressor on a Boss MS50G after the 5 band will give your amp a really nice saturation that would fit right in with whatever you're trying to achieve. I've been running this setup with my Orange Crush Pro 120 and i've had friends tell me that my tone sounds like the blue channel on a Peavey 5150. 😂
Bro i hit that subscribe button the min i seen you roll your eyes at your dog barking because the min im trying to drive a point to someone the damn dogs never fail....woof woof!!! Great video keep it up and dont change the tude brother you can get paid for doing this ....keep it 💯
Hey mate, cheers for the tips! You're a natural at both shredding and content creation. I just scored a Marshall Code 50 because of all the bad reviews it got lol. The main issue most will have is not understanding the controls they have at fingertips. Coming from a DJ background I worked mainly with sound / EQ and effects, which instantly had me think a little research and some patience goes a long way... The fine tuning takes time but we'll worth figuring out! If you have any tips for nice tone on the Code 50 let a brother know, cheers!!💯🤘
I appreciate the kind words, Wayne. Means a lot, man. Cheers! As for the Code 50, I've never played one, but after some quick research, I think you're dead on. Those type of amps are all about tinkering and exploring to find the right combo/settings. I still think the basics I outlined above as far as EQ will provide a good launchpad, but you'll need to find the right amp/cab model to make it breathe.
Ironic what you are saying about DJ background. I come from a telecommunications voice troubleshooting background, and it really helped me realise what frequencies have what effect on hearing and on what you feel. Looking at the Code 50 (never touched one), it appears to be MORE than capable of a range of grindingness. (Have a look at Will It Chug Code 50 for an example of making a Code 50 do the Grind-O-Doom from someone else who's never seen one either lol) I suspect its ability to change power amps to different models will make it MORE than possible to sound absolutely amazing. Note that the nice Ola Englund basically leaves the tone controls within a couple of numbers off centre the entire time! HE knows his stuff!
One thing many overlook is that so many musicians, especially in the metal and rock community was broke as shit when they started. They bought cheap amps and pedals and managed to find a great sound with that! However, those same things they used in the 80s and 90s have since become expensive and hard to find, with some classic amps made only in the 70s and 80s, and classic pedals like the HM-2 which is now pretty expenssive compared to in the 90s. what I wanna have said with this is that you can go the same route yourself and buy cheap stuff and try to find your own tone, instead of copying gary holt or something. 90% of it is still if you can make good songs it's not AS important with the perfect guitar tone.
07:04 deja vu vibes for me hahaha took me YEARS to add mids into my EQ settings. Gets more harmonics without cranking the gain, at least with my guitar and equipment. I like to use triple 7 on my amp EQ with a Mooer Blade gain set at 2 O'Clock, tone knob to taste. Next buy is a suppressor
Hahaha. I was watching your vid but got so cracked up laughing at Babs barking when you talked about scooped mids sounding ok in the room but not good with live band. Dude. My son always comes in the room when I am recording some riffs . You gotta love it. My son is autistic but loves adding Rob Halford screams while I am videoing my practice for writing riffs. Your dog has good taste in music hahaha
I use OG MG15w in home, on gigs and basically anywhere. Yes. It's my first amp from over a decade ago! It has a mode that basically mimics "tube" ampish sound. Instead of using OD pedal i use Sharp Fuzz cranked up to 11 and the same noise gate as you. Ad some of the amps own gain and it gives massive sound for it's size.
Great video man! Not exaggerating with Gain is so essential I’ve seen this too much even with bands playing for 5-6 years, you see them live and you cannot appreciate the songs because everything sounds too mushy and then you realize the guitar player trying to max the gain out without reason
Mannnn pleeeeassse do a video on your picking technique. Super impressed by your control and touch. I’d love to see some exercises and tips to get that!
Thanks, man, I appreciate that. I'll see what I can put together. It's not something I actively think about/practice but I do think there are some tips I could share.
Just bought a used Marshall MG100DFX and will use your tips. Thanks! I'm in process of buying the same noise gate, but I'm intending to use the send and return inputs on the pedal to send to the send/return on back of the amp to reduce noise even more. "The four cable" method. Just curious why you didn't do that with your set up since you have the noise gate with 4 jacks to allow you to do it.
That’s a great call. That is definitely the best way to hook it up. Super simple reason why I didn’t hear: No FX loop on the amp. 😂😂 Also, just for a beginner set up, the straightforward way I show is a little easier and cheaper. But the 4-cable method is absolutely legit and awesome.
Thanks, Topa! It is definitely a more “raw” sound. For me, it’s more of how it “feels” to me vs the actual sound. It just doesn’t give me as much confidence without the OD. Haha
Dude you are a lifesaver, thanks for this. All the other explanations of how to get that tight articulate metal tones were shit in comparison. Subscribed and looking forward to see more vids from you.
The amp should be on the overdrive setting for that setup. So you’re using the OD pedal with gain on zero but level or volume maxed out ON TOP OF the already-overdriven amp.
Another little tip to play around with...an EQ pedal. Doesn't have to be a high end one, as even a Danelectro will do. You can really dial in a custom sound. Play around with it by scooping your mids on the amp, and add certain mid frequencies back with the EQ pedal...you'll get some interesting tones that are hard to reproduce any other way. Just goof with it and you'll find that nearly perfect tone for you that could make you stand out from anyone else.
An EQ pedal can make a crazy difference for sure. It works better in the FX loop IMO, and this amp doesn't have an FX loop. That also gets into an entirely different (and more elaborate) discussion haha
I just ordered the joyo overdrive pedal, but already have the noise suppressor. Curious to see how it sounds through my monoprice 15w stage right tube amp.
@@DS-zo8xs Keep me posted! Might need to add a little gain on the OD pedal if it doesn’t seem quite crunchy enough. I’m not sure what the built in OD/distortion channel is like on that amp.
This is the exact guitar tone I like and want…not overdone…nice and crisp od,and not trying to compete with bass players in those “other”bands nowadays.
When i was 3 months into playing i bought a ds-2 and i thought it was broken cuz i did not know how to set it up and i jsut forgot i had it and now i found it year later and holy shit it sounds amazin ty man hahah.
Hmm, the noice gate have to be AFTER the ting you want reduce noice from right? But before, thing that doesn't produce noice, not to effect their sound ( dly, chorus..) If your preamp producing noice, than you have to put the noice gate in your amps effect loop..
You're correct for sure here, Jon. Some noise gates (ISP Decimator G-string leaps to mind ... mine, the NS-2, will actually do it as well) have the ability to run both in front of the amp (as demonstrated in the video) and in the loop simultaneously. That will kill ALLLLL sound extremely effectively. It is no doubt better and would be recommended for recording, etc. But keeping one out front simply to tame the boost from the OD is what I was after in this video and what I felt was appropriate for beginners to know. But you're dead on.
I think it depends on what you're using and trying to quiet. My distortion has a built in noise gate and I bought an eq pedal last night, when the eq is the only thing in the chain or if it's before my distortion it's noisy, but putting the eq after my distortion quiets the noise from the eq for some reason.
If your recording a vst amp your best friend is going to be IR files this changes the tone entirely without even messing with the amp or the guitar tone. Making it sound like it's coming from an actual amp and cabinet system
The EMG pickups are good for heavy music, and I do like their sound a lot. But they're not 100% necessary by any means. I switch to a guitar with passive pickups near the end of the video to demonstrate that!
The mids are the body of the sound tip just fixed two of my songs already. It sounds so much better. Thank you. Also does anyone have any recomendadtions for VST guitar tone plugins?
if i use headphones with an amp and pedals, i'll still get the effects of everything right? i'm looking to buy a budget setup soon but live in an apartment where i won't be able to blast it
0:05 my tone actually has plenty distortion but way too much string noise and when I take out the kids it doesn’t sound nearly as good and I don’t even have a noise gate pedal😭😭
Hi, Is it ok to use one proper power board and to it add, connect a power brick that will power up three guitar pedals in total? I'm using Katana 50 amp and plan to get something like Boss noise suppressor, Revv G3, and a Korg tuner. Thanks 😁
Hey, brother! From what I understand, those are AMAZING pedals, but I've personally never used them. I would start with the bass/middle/treble set up like I have my amp as a basis then tweak from there. If it seems to sharp/sounds like an ice pick, roll off the treble. If it seems too weak/thin, add some bass. If it seems like it's "quiet" or muffled, roll in more mids. There's no super technical or "correct" answer. Let your ears decide!
Dude, I'm new to electric guitar. I have the black star idcore v4 20. It doesn't have a mids nob physically on the amp, I know there's one in the software, but I don't have a pc. So is it still fine without the mids? I mean, I'm not planning on playing with a band or anything. It's more of a hobby. Also thinking about getting the boss Ds-1 pedal and a cheap noise gate. Mainly, is that OD pedal good? Edit: Actually should I get the boss SD-1 or boss DS-1 and a cheap noise gate? Because I can either get the sd1 or for that price, ds 1 and a noise gate
Hey, brother! I'm not super familiar with that amp, but I would imagine there's a way to tweak the EQ. If that's via software, I'd check into that for sure. That's a huge part of the tone. The DS-1 is a good pedal, but it's more of a distortion pedal than an overdrive from my understanding. They're similar.... but different. haha Looks at the Boss SD-1 instead perhaps. I've had several of those over the years, and they're always great.
Great job man . I got that Zakk mini stack too just as a collectors item . I do play it some but my main amp is an EVH 6l6 head. That little Marshall jams tho . Especially with some dirty bluesy rock tones. Lol
Thanks, dude! That's awesome that you have one too. I didn't realize they were so rare honestly. Gonna hang on to it for as long as I can though. It is a great little practice amp.
@@HunterHomistek yeah man they've already gone up since I bought mine years ago . You already know when Zakk moves on to Valhalla they'll be really pricey. I'll probably pass mine down to my daughter.
Thanks a ton mate. I've been playing metal for a whole, improving for sure but never got around to processing the tones right. So trying to attack it from the basic stuff. So here's my question, "can your tips be executed on a multi effects processor and simultaneously throwing all of the amp settings to zero (gain, treble, bass, mid)??
Glad you enjoyed the video, Ash. Thanks for checking it out! To answer your question ... I really don't know. I have never tried that. I would imagine, though, this would work better if you set all the amp's EQ to noon rather than zero then adjusted from your pedal. Is there any particular reason you'd want to do it this way?
Hey, dude! I would recommend the OD pedal and noise gate for sure with that amp. I'm not sure what the distortion/gain channel is like on that particular amp but I would imagine it will need a little boost!
That is a nice looking setup! I have that same overdrive and love it. I use my boss katana on the lead channel with the pedal and it sounds great. If you're looking for a good budget distortion, I'd check out the biyang metal end. I use that pedal most often
I have a similar amp but not ZW edition. I added more Contour but I didn’t know that’s what “mids” are. Turning the mids down makes it sound kind of flat or something. I can’t play anywhere close to Zakks son, lol, but it’s fun to make noise.
Tip 2, get pedals. I have a Marshall Code 50 would pedals work with that? or would it still sound the same? I dunno I'm not really a expert but I was told that It wouldn't sound that good since it already has built in Pedals.
I'm not too familiar with that amp, but I would *assume* the tips I outlined would still work over its overdrive channel. Perhaps if it has a built-in boost that would work as well.
This is useful. Thank you. Every other explanation for metal tones i could find were so overly complicated. Yours was straight and to the point. Cheers to that. This whole time I had scooped mids and only ever played with distortion as an attempt to sound metal. After the disgusting noise feedback and just overall ugly tone, i felt like i sounded more punk than metal which is not what I wanted. On my way to buy a noise gate and overdrive pedal!
I’m trying to get a great metal tone out of a Marshall 410h with a revv g3 through the effects return. Any tips? I find it’s not quite there, plus it seems to lose a lot of volume . I tried to boost the volume with an eq but it just got too noisy.
Hmmm a Marshall JVM 410H? First off, that's one of my favorite amps of all time. You genuinely don't need the Revv G3 at all with that amp (unless you just like the tone better). But at that point, you don't really need the JVM and could sell it/get a cheaper amp to use as a platform for the Revv. For the metal tone, I'd try taking the Revv out of the equation, and setting up the JVM as I have my amp in the video. I forget the exact channel names on the JVM, but I think it was the orange (OD2?) that I used to absolutely love. Take that channel and try the settings as I explained in the video. If it doesn't seem like it's enough, look into a cheap overdrive pedal and noise gate to give it a little kick. I've never used the Revv pedal (I understand they're really quality though) but you may be able to set it up as the OD as well. I'm just not sure if it'll color the natural Marshall goodness too much. I hope this helps! (I know it was a lot haha)
whats the difference between mids and contour? everything ive googled says turning up contour will lower your mids but you seem to say the opposite. unless im misunderstanding something
@@KalobPierson-l9x That’s a great question and something I didn’t clarify. This Marshall doesn’t have an FX loop, so everything was out front. This noise suppressor (and many noise suppressors) can run both out front and in the loop at the same time by using something called the “four-cable method” or “x pattern.” That’s ideal, because you’ll kill noise from your guitar/pedals as well as noise from the amp itself. But yeah, no FX loop here. This is the simplest solution for sure, but if you want to introduce the FX loop to the mix, you can get an even better result. That said, you’d typically put delay/etc in the loop, not necessarily an OD pedal. I’d keep the boost out front regardless.
yeah, you can put a attenuator to taimeed the plexi and not get deaf, and also keeping the mighty sound of a plexi cracked in a 12x4 cab, for amps like plexis, JCM 800 SL, JTM 45 ITts the best way to get the best sound without going deaf.
It is *similar* but not interchangeable. You'll usually use a distortion pedal with the clean channel of your amp. That way, all the distortion is coming from the pedal 100%. An overdrive, the way I'm using it in this video, is being used over your amp's natural distortion/overdrive channel. So it's just a BOOST, not the entire source of the distortion, like a distortion pedal.
Well done mate.
You nailed the way to deliver tone in a great way.
I don't think you realise how well you presented this.
Epiphone guitar.
Decent Marshall amp.
Cheap basic overdrive pedal.
Decent noise suppressor.
All in all easily affordable stuff.
Playing was terrific.
I have stupid amounts of gear that cost stupid amounts of money, I'm nearly 60 and invested well, and this video shows how talent and setting up basic gear is the best way to go.
This is a great video.
This comment warmed my soul, Mick! Thanks so much for this. Funny enough, I’ve had high-end gear and I’ve cycled through some insane rigs, from rackmount setups to all-digital and everything in between.
It took all that … to realize you don’t need *all that* to sound good! Haha So I stripped it back down and presented this video instead. I’m glad you enjoyed and appreciated it. Truly means so much to me.
@@HunterHomistek Your welcome.
It's a well deserved appreciation of your effort.
Delivered in a pleasant non egotistical manner, I watched it a couple of times before commenting.
I like how you did this with lower-cost equipment, not $4000 amps. It really shows the effects of the overdrive and the noise gate.
I play more rock/hard rock but over the years my simple rig evolved into using less gain on my amp and relying more on the overdrive to give me some chunk w/o needing much gain at all.
I appreciate the kind words! Glad you liked the video. It's cool to hear you've had a similar tonal experience/journey as well. It's definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution, but it does work for the vast majority of people and situations.
Ed Sheeran goes Metal
It's what the world's been waiting for... haha
Hahahaha spot on, true 😂
One thing I'll add is that scooped mid tones *CAN* work, and often do work in band and mix settings more often than a lot of people think. *HOWEVER*, you absolutely do not want to nuke them. The guitar is a mid-ranged instrument, so you need mids whether you're using a mid-scooped or mid-forward sound. The overdrive in front will help by hitting the amp at the front with a lot of mids, but you still need to have some in your amp settings. When I'm using a mid-scooped sound, I'm setting them on the amp to around 11:00, maybe 10:00 on the lower end. EQ pedals in the effects loop can also help with making a mid-scooped sound that won't get buried since you can attenuate the more boxy and muddy frequencies in the low-mids while keeping or even boosting the ones that will help you cut through in the upper-mids.
Just a few tips from a stubborn-ass meathead death metal dude that will not ever quit scooping mids.
That's some advanced advice right there, my friend. Love it! All really good points.
Not a lot of people mention getting a pedal when learning, but when I picked up an SD-1, it unlocked so much more creative space. Still love that pedal a year and a half into playing!
(I recommend a Revv G3 preamp/distortion, I know it’s not labeled as an overdrive.)
I had an SD-1 for years and years. Fantastic OD!
this is zakk wylde's son. thanks for the tips man!
haha Where's that child support, Zakk?! I appreciate that, dude.
That’s exactly what I thought!!! 😂😂
But its a cool dude
@@HunterHomistek Isn’t the American amp the scooped mid sound?
@@tieukhavu8832 yep, a reason why British amps are better than American
dude, that solo starting at 11:37 was awesome! Well done sir
Thanks, brother! Glad you liked that. Not really sure what I did there, but I'm glad it worked. haha
Babs knows! The mids are tricky to dial in for sure. There's something about that 2000's nu-metal tone that still works for me every now and then, lol! Great video.
Babs always knows! haha Appreciate the comment, Maurits. I get it. I still love a nice buzzsaw from time to time as well.
I had a small, solid-state Marshall with a 10" speaker and a mostly open back. I lined the inside of the cab with a towel, and blocked much of the opening in the back of the cab to make it more like a Marshall sealed stack cabinet. It sounded pretty good, but I couldn't make the guitar, a Korean Kramer start-type with Seymore-Dunkin humbucker near the bridge, really sing. I was at a guitar shop, and a guy with an Aussie accent said "You need an HM-2 BOSS Heavy Metal box. I told him I didn't't like the fuzz effect, and he said "this is exactly what you need." I bought one, and when I ran it with the gain at 10 and the distortion at 0, the think sounded like whistling metal. This was a 12-watt solid-state amp, and sounded really good. Pinch harmonics were whistling out of it. I use an NS-2 for guitar and a Mark Bass compressor/limiter for bass.
That’s awesome! Sounds super similar. There is definitely something to it. You don’t always need fancy, expensive equipment to rip.
you probably dont care at all but does someone know a trick to get back into an instagram account?
I somehow forgot the password. I would love any tips you can give me
@Enrique Uriel Instablaster =)
@Alec Tony i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im in the hacking process atm.
I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
@Alec Tony It worked and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thank you so much, you saved my ass !
subbed my dude.. actually enjoyed watching your video. great personality, having fun with it, knows his stuff.
Means a lot to me, Mike! I appreciate that on every level. Thanks for checking it out.
Mids- you are 100% correct. Every one of us make that mistake in the beginning....because it sounds "better" (album-ish) when we are playing ALONE. But the second you start playing with a band, you make the next big mistake- crank the volume because "I can't hear myself...." Now you've got a fizzy/boomy mess, that sounds like hot trash in a live situation....and you still can't hear yourself or differentiate notes. Turn the mids up, turn the gain down, boost with and overdrive and maybe invest in an EQ or two.
You get it.
Great video!
Thank you for this. As a new player with zero knowledge, this was a huge help to me 🤘
That's awesome to hear. Glad I could help! Thanks for checking it out.
Honestly even as a LONG time metal player this was a huge help to me. We all get stuck in our ways at some point 😅 this helped reset my approach to my tone
I am gonna be new player too, this really help a lot🤘🏻😊
Bro for an advanced beginner that I am this was the best video that I found on this subject thank you I'm now ready to shred harder
That's what's up! That's the coolest compliment possible. I appreciate it, man. Shred on!
I need u in my band bro. Im assembling as we speak. U got the grove and the licks! Love the content and the playing
Tone is in the hands. A good guitar player can make any amp sound decent (as long as it's not got bad tubes etc). A bad guitar player can't make any amp sound good. Lowering gain is huge. I don't know how many times I've had friends over and they say "Where's the gain man?" You just need enough to make the tone and you want as little of that as you can stand. And it will sound much heavier when tracked if you do. Great video.
Appreciate the kind words! And agreed totally. Lowering the gain was a huge discovery for me. Hoping I can save some other players time (like... years in my case haha) with this video.
Please come back man! Recently found your channel and love your vids
I'll have some new stuff for ya shortly!
@@HunterHomistek I’m glad man, was so sad when I found your channel and saw you hadn’t uploaded in a year haha
@@bigbudugary1285 Trying to get in a better groove with regular uploading. Damn life... haha Stay tuned!
Sir Hunter Homistek,
you have successfully earned my subscription.
Up until this point i felt very bad about my playing and my tone and in general i felt like shit
dude i swear i only got up to 7 minutes if the video, the 3rd tip is incredibly huge. I just copied your eq settings and i feel like that's the best sound i've ever had.
That's awesome. Makes my day to hear that. Glad it helped! Happy shredding.
I bought a mini stack and was not completely happy with the sound. This video certainly changed my perspective! Thank you.
Nice! I hope this helped ya feel better about the amp and get some better tones rolling
I'm not going to lie you kept this video really interesting and you just showing off bro like you're good you're great
Thanks, Shawn. I appreciate that big time. Thanks for watching!
Nice lesson, very useful. So good to have someone who doesn't take themselves massively serious. Or sniffs a lot. Bedroom metal players do that a lot. Great to have some humour in there as well, makes the whole thing much more watchable. And God bless Babs😀.
Bro you're awesome this video was not like some oh this is it and nobody knows what you're saying like you really making real content I love that
Appreicate that, brother! Thank you for watching. I'm glad it was helpful for you.
Dude!! Thank you so much for these tips!! I'm just starting to get into Metallica and don't know much about getting a metal tone and this video helped a ton!!! Thank you so much man! Gained another sub!
Thanks so much, man! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and it helped you out. Happy shredding!
This has saved me a lot of effort and money - I’ve always struggled to get that full sound when playing - as it can get lost in the sea of peddles out there. This keeps it nice and simple - I use this through my blackstar Tvp boss overdrive peddle and a budget noise gate - seems to really do the trick on creating a nice sound
I'm happy to hear this, Caneisa. I'm glad you found it helpful and it's helping you get some great tone.
Another great way to enhance your amplifier tone is to add a 6 band EQ in the FX Loop, and then use the face knobs on your amp like you would an overdrive. The best pedal i've heard about for this is the Mesa Boogie 5 band EQ pedal designed to function just like the 5 band EQ on a Mesa Boogie Mark series amp. As a bonus, using the OPT Compressor on a Boss MS50G after the 5 band will give your amp a really nice saturation that would fit right in with whatever you're trying to achieve.
I've been running this setup with my Orange Crush Pro 120 and i've had friends tell me that my tone sounds like the blue channel on a Peavey 5150. 😂
You deserve more subs! Love the Zakk influences, great playing!
I appreciate that, Connor! Thanks for watching, man.
Here i am, one year later. This kid is awsome
Haha thank you, Victor! I appreciate it.
Bro i hit that subscribe button the min i seen you roll your eyes at your dog barking because the min im trying to drive a point to someone the damn dogs never fail....woof woof!!! Great video keep it up and dont change the tude brother you can get paid for doing this ....keep it 💯
Your tips saved me a lot of effort & time, you definitely deserve more subs
I really appreciate that, Krasniy. Glad it helped you out and saved some time.
Hey mate, cheers for the tips! You're a natural at both shredding and content creation. I just scored a Marshall Code 50 because of all the bad reviews it got lol.
The main issue most will have is not understanding the controls they have at fingertips. Coming from a DJ background I worked mainly with sound / EQ and effects, which instantly had me think a little research and some patience goes a long way...
The fine tuning takes time but we'll worth figuring out! If you have any tips for nice tone on the Code 50 let a brother know,
cheers!!💯🤘
I appreciate the kind words, Wayne. Means a lot, man. Cheers! As for the Code 50, I've never played one, but after some quick research, I think you're dead on. Those type of amps are all about tinkering and exploring to find the right combo/settings. I still think the basics I outlined above as far as EQ will provide a good launchpad, but you'll need to find the right amp/cab model to make it breathe.
Ironic what you are saying about DJ background.
I come from a telecommunications voice troubleshooting background, and it really helped me realise what frequencies have what effect on hearing and on what you feel.
Looking at the Code 50 (never touched one), it appears to be MORE than capable of a range of grindingness.
(Have a look at Will It Chug Code 50 for an example of making a Code 50 do the Grind-O-Doom from someone else who's never seen one either lol)
I suspect its ability to change power amps to different models will make it MORE than possible to sound absolutely amazing.
Note that the nice Ola Englund basically leaves the tone controls within a couple of numbers off centre the entire time!
HE knows his stuff!
You can also tighten the sound with thinner gauge strings.
But drop g
Impressive playing skills!
Thanks, Igor! Appreciate that.
One thing many overlook is that so many musicians, especially in the metal and rock community was broke as shit when they started. They bought cheap amps and pedals and managed to find a great sound with that! However, those same things they used in the 80s and 90s have since become expensive and hard to find, with some classic amps made only in the 70s and 80s, and classic pedals like the HM-2 which is now pretty expenssive compared to in the 90s. what I wanna have said with this is that you can go the same route yourself and buy cheap stuff and try to find your own tone, instead of copying gary holt or something. 90% of it is still if you can make good songs it's not AS important with the perfect guitar tone.
07:04 deja vu vibes for me hahaha took me YEARS to add mids into my EQ settings. Gets more harmonics without cranking the gain, at least with my guitar and equipment. I like to use triple 7 on my amp EQ with a Mooer Blade gain set at 2 O'Clock, tone knob to taste. Next buy is a suppressor
this is the most useful vid on TH-cam, thanks so much
I don't know about all THAT, but thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you found the video useful.
Hahaha. I was watching your vid but got so cracked up laughing at Babs barking when you talked about scooped mids sounding ok in the room but not good with live band.
Dude. My son always comes in the room when I am recording some riffs . You gotta love it. My son is autistic but loves adding Rob Halford screams while I am videoing my practice for writing riffs. Your dog has good taste in music hahaha
@@freesoulsoldierdavid9883 haha I love it! That’s the best. Babs definitely knows tone 😂
I use OG MG15w in home, on gigs and basically anywhere.
Yes. It's my first amp from over a decade ago!
It has a mode that basically mimics "tube" ampish sound.
Instead of using OD pedal i use Sharp Fuzz cranked up to 11 and the same noise gate as you.
Ad some of the amps own gain and it gives massive sound for it's size.
Great video man! Not exaggerating with Gain is so essential I’ve seen this too much even with bands playing for 5-6 years, you see them live and you cannot appreciate the songs because everything sounds too mushy and then you realize the guitar player trying to max the gain out without reason
Mannnn pleeeeassse do a video on your picking technique. Super impressed by your control and touch. I’d love to see some exercises and tips to get that!
Thanks, man, I appreciate that. I'll see what I can put together. It's not something I actively think about/practice but I do think there are some tips I could share.
@@HunterHomistek that would be awesome!!
Hey dude nice video but when I’m playing along to a song with my speakers,when i have the mids will it help me hear my guitar better
It might help a little! The key there is to "match" volumes (in my experience) so it really feels like you're playing along with the band.
nice vid man. keep it up 😎
Appreciate the kind words! Glad you liked it!
Thanks so much for this video it’s been so hard trying to find someone that actually explains eq right
No problem, James! I'm glad you found it and enjoyed it, man.
Just bought a used Marshall MG100DFX and will use your tips. Thanks! I'm in process of buying the same noise gate, but I'm intending to use the send and return inputs on the pedal to send to the send/return on back of the amp to reduce noise even more. "The four cable" method. Just curious why you didn't do that with your set up since you have the noise gate with 4 jacks to allow you to do it.
That’s a great call. That is definitely the best way to hook it up. Super simple reason why I didn’t hear: No FX loop on the amp. 😂😂
Also, just for a beginner set up, the straightforward way I show is a little easier and cheaper. But the 4-cable method is absolutely legit and awesome.
Your tone is awesome
Thanks, Malik. Glad you like it and hope you can recreate it, man!
Great tips and sick playing. I can hear the Zakk influence. 🤘🤘
I appreciate that! Glad you enjoyed the playing and glad you got something out of the video.
Great Video man! I learned this the hard way starting out. Good stuff.
Appreciate that, dude! And same here. I figured if I could save somebody time, that'd give me some good karma. haha
i like your guitar sound with out the overdrive..raw power!!
Thanks, Topa! It is definitely a more “raw” sound. For me, it’s more of how it “feels” to me vs the actual sound. It just doesn’t give me as much confidence without the OD. Haha
@@HunterHomistek 😊👌🙌🏻🙌🏻
Stooges lol
Dude you are a lifesaver, thanks for this. All the other explanations of how to get that tight articulate metal tones were shit in comparison. Subscribed and looking forward to see more vids from you.
Thanks for that, Vic. Really appreciate it, man. Glad you enjoyed and glad it was helpful for ya.
Killer video, just snagged a an NS-2 for $30 and looking for some inspiration! Thank bud!
Hell yeah! Happy to hear that. Enjoy it
Shoulld i have amp on clean or crunch when i use overdrive pedal, for metallica sound, like Sandman songs
The amp should be on the overdrive setting for that setup. So you’re using the OD pedal with gain on zero but level or volume maxed out ON TOP OF the already-overdriven amp.
Another little tip to play around with...an EQ pedal. Doesn't have to be a high end one, as even a Danelectro will do. You can really dial in a custom sound. Play around with it by scooping your mids on the amp, and add certain mid frequencies back with the EQ pedal...you'll get some interesting tones that are hard to reproduce any other way. Just goof with it and you'll find that nearly perfect tone for you that could make you stand out from anyone else.
An EQ pedal can make a crazy difference for sure. It works better in the FX loop IMO, and this amp doesn't have an FX loop. That also gets into an entirely different (and more elaborate) discussion haha
Super helpful and easy to follow video
Thanks for watching! Glad it helped. 💪
I just ordered the joyo overdrive pedal, but already have the noise suppressor. Curious to see how it sounds through my monoprice 15w stage right tube amp.
@@DS-zo8xs Keep me posted! Might need to add a little gain on the OD pedal if it doesn’t seem quite crunchy enough. I’m not sure what the built in OD/distortion channel is like on that amp.
@@HunterHomistek okay thank you for the tips, I appreciate it!
This is the exact guitar tone I like and want…not overdone…nice and crisp od,and not trying to compete with bass players in those “other”bands nowadays.
Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the video!
When i was 3 months into playing i bought a ds-2 and i thought it was broken cuz i did not know how to set it up and i jsut forgot i had it and now i found it year later and holy shit it sounds amazin ty man hahah.
hahahah That's awesome! Made my day. I'm glad it helped.
Hmm, the noice gate have to be AFTER the ting you want reduce noice from right? But before, thing that doesn't produce noice, not to effect their sound ( dly, chorus..)
If your preamp producing noice, than you have to put the noice gate in your amps effect loop..
You're correct for sure here, Jon. Some noise gates (ISP Decimator G-string leaps to mind ... mine, the NS-2, will actually do it as well) have the ability to run both in front of the amp (as demonstrated in the video) and in the loop simultaneously. That will kill ALLLLL sound extremely effectively. It is no doubt better and would be recommended for recording, etc. But keeping one out front simply to tame the boost from the OD is what I was after in this video and what I felt was appropriate for beginners to know. But you're dead on.
I think it depends on what you're using and trying to quiet. My distortion has a built in noise gate and I bought an eq pedal last night, when the eq is the only thing in the chain or if it's before my distortion it's noisy, but putting the eq after my distortion quiets the noise from the eq for some reason.
If your recording a vst amp your best friend is going to be IR files this changes the tone entirely without even messing with the amp or the guitar tone. Making it sound like it's coming from an actual amp and cabinet system
Without the OD and Noise Gate already sounds killer but is it due to EMG pickups?
The EMG pickups are good for heavy music, and I do like their sound a lot. But they're not 100% necessary by any means. I switch to a guitar with passive pickups near the end of the video to demonstrate that!
The mids are the body of the sound tip just fixed two of my songs already. It sounds so much better. Thank you. Also does anyone have any recomendadtions for VST guitar tone plugins?
if i use headphones with an amp and pedals, i'll still get the effects of everything right? i'm looking to buy a budget setup soon but live in an apartment where i won't be able to blast it
Yep, all the effects will come through your headphones. No worries there.
It'll sound drastically different as many amps sound like trash through headphones but you'll be able to hear everything in the signal chain
Guilty on the to much Gain Thing. Thanks my man.
It happens to the best of us. haha Glad I could help. Thanks for watching.
Great vid! Loved Babs bark too, a relatable experience tbh lol
Babs can't help herself! haha Thanks for the comment. Glad you enjoyed the video.
0:05 my tone actually has plenty distortion but way too much string noise and when I take out the kids it doesn’t sound nearly as good and I don’t even have a noise gate pedal😭😭
Hi,
Is it ok to use one proper power board and to it add, connect a power brick that will power up three guitar pedals in total? I'm using Katana 50 amp and plan to get something like Boss noise suppressor, Revv G3, and a Korg tuner.
Thanks 😁
That *should* work just fine. I see no reason that wouldn't work, although I have no experience with the Revv G3. But that sounds like a great setup!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! Awesome video!
Glad you liked it! Thanks for checking it out 🤘
hi. so how many mid and treble we need put at pedals like Revv G4?
Hey, brother! From what I understand, those are AMAZING pedals, but I've personally never used them. I would start with the bass/middle/treble set up like I have my amp as a basis then tweak from there.
If it seems to sharp/sounds like an ice pick, roll off the treble. If it seems too weak/thin, add some bass. If it seems like it's "quiet" or muffled, roll in more mids.
There's no super technical or "correct" answer. Let your ears decide!
Dude, I'm new to electric guitar. I have the black star idcore v4 20. It doesn't have a mids nob physically on the amp, I know there's one in the software, but I don't have a pc. So is it still fine without the mids? I mean, I'm not planning on playing with a band or anything. It's more of a hobby. Also thinking about getting the boss Ds-1 pedal and a cheap noise gate. Mainly, is that OD pedal good?
Edit: Actually should I get the boss SD-1 or boss DS-1 and a cheap noise gate? Because I can either get the sd1 or for that price, ds 1 and a noise gate
Hey, brother! I'm not super familiar with that amp, but I would imagine there's a way to tweak the EQ. If that's via software, I'd check into that for sure. That's a huge part of the tone.
The DS-1 is a good pedal, but it's more of a distortion pedal than an overdrive from my understanding. They're similar.... but different. haha Looks at the Boss SD-1 instead perhaps. I've had several of those over the years, and they're always great.
Loved this kid, i wish i knew these 3 tips when i was 15. New sub here
Appreciate that, Victor! Means a lot.
I love the sound the amp makes cause that's what I like noise music like melt banana
I'll be honest, Jose, I have no idea what the eff you just said, but I love it. Keep that energy.
@@HunterHomistek thanks bro you keep up the videos too much love
thank you so much for the tips man, you’re amazing.
Appreciate the kind words! Glad you enjoyed the video 🔥
Great job man . I got that Zakk mini stack too just as a collectors item . I do play it some but my main amp is an EVH 6l6 head. That little Marshall jams tho . Especially with some dirty bluesy rock tones. Lol
Thanks, dude! That's awesome that you have one too. I didn't realize they were so rare honestly. Gonna hang on to it for as long as I can though. It is a great little practice amp.
@@HunterHomistek yeah man they've already gone up since I bought mine years ago . You already know when Zakk moves on to Valhalla they'll be really pricey. I'll probably pass mine down to my daughter.
Thanks a ton mate. I've been playing metal for a whole, improving for sure but never got around to processing the tones right. So trying to attack it from the basic stuff. So here's my question, "can your tips be executed on a multi effects processor and simultaneously throwing all of the amp settings to zero (gain, treble, bass, mid)??
Glad you enjoyed the video, Ash. Thanks for checking it out!
To answer your question ... I really don't know. I have never tried that. I would imagine, though, this would work better if you set all the amp's EQ to noon rather than zero then adjusted from your pedal. Is there any particular reason you'd want to do it this way?
Love the vids you do!
Appreciate the kind words! Thanks for watching.
I bought the Nux Metal core Deluxe MKII, it has built-in noise gate🤘🏻
Bro 4:23 I want that sound on my mustang lt25 amp what can I do to produce that
Hey, dude! I would recommend the OD pedal and noise gate for sure with that amp. I'm not sure what the distortion/gain channel is like on that particular amp but I would imagine it will need a little boost!
@@HunterHomistek just sold that amp for Blackstar Silverline and I got the joyo OD so excited
@@Vegitobluuuuu Nice! Blackstar makes great stuff, man. You'll love it I'm sure.
That was swift clean man!
Really appreciate that! Thanks for watching.
how did u make it sound like that with the overdrive and noisegate off
That's just the amp's overdrive channel with the settings like I show at the end of the video. No pedals, just guitar and amp.
Thanks man , you are amazing and so young very impressive I’ve learned a lot thanks ✌🏻🎼💋
In the beginning that was actually a wicked riff 😺💕
haha Thanks!
That is a nice looking setup! I have that same overdrive and love it. I use my boss katana on the lead channel with the pedal and it sounds great. If you're looking for a good budget distortion, I'd check out the biyang metal end. I use that pedal most often
Thanks, Marcus! I appreciate the kind words.
does anybody know what riff is from 3:55 to 4:05 ? thanks
It’s a song my roommate and I made up in college. It’s not recorded anywhere or anything unfortunately.
@@HunterHomistek thanks for letting me know it sounds great
You were really helpful man thank you so much brother 😊
Of course. I’m stoked it helped ya out. Shred on!
The doggy has the mids his barks cut thru the mix.
I LOL'ed. Well played. Babs is all mids, all day. haha
Cool vids , thank man 🤟🏽
Of course! Thanks for watching. Means a lot to me.
I have a similar amp but not ZW edition. I added more Contour but I didn’t know that’s what “mids” are. Turning the mids down makes it sound kind of flat or something. I can’t play anywhere close to Zakks son, lol, but it’s fun to make noise.
hahah having fun is what it's all about, man! Love it. Thanks for watching.
Tip 2, get pedals. I have a Marshall Code 50 would pedals work with that? or would it still sound the same? I dunno I'm not really a expert but I was told that It wouldn't sound that good since it already has built in Pedals.
I'm not too familiar with that amp, but I would *assume* the tips I outlined would still work over its overdrive channel. Perhaps if it has a built-in boost that would work as well.
Also Just wanted to say Thank you! this video helped so much!
This is useful. Thank you. Every other explanation for metal tones i could find were so overly complicated. Yours was straight and to the point. Cheers to that. This whole time I had scooped mids and only ever played with distortion as an attempt to sound metal. After the disgusting noise feedback and just overall ugly tone, i felt like i sounded more punk than metal which is not what I wanted. On my way to buy a noise gate and overdrive pedal!
That's awesome! I'm glad you found it helpful. Enjoy the shredding!
I am going to just now start out playing guitar and I want your help if possible
For sure, dude. Just let me know what you need and I'll do my best to help out.
I’m trying to get a great metal tone out of a Marshall 410h with a revv g3 through the effects return. Any tips?
I find it’s not quite there, plus it seems to lose a lot of volume . I tried to boost the volume with an eq but it just got too noisy.
Hmmm a Marshall JVM 410H? First off, that's one of my favorite amps of all time. You genuinely don't need the Revv G3 at all with that amp (unless you just like the tone better). But at that point, you don't really need the JVM and could sell it/get a cheaper amp to use as a platform for the Revv.
For the metal tone, I'd try taking the Revv out of the equation, and setting up the JVM as I have my amp in the video. I forget the exact channel names on the JVM, but I think it was the orange (OD2?) that I used to absolutely love.
Take that channel and try the settings as I explained in the video. If it doesn't seem like it's enough, look into a cheap overdrive pedal and noise gate to give it a little kick.
I've never used the Revv pedal (I understand they're really quality though) but you may be able to set it up as the OD as well. I'm just not sure if it'll color the natural Marshall goodness too much. I hope this helps! (I know it was a lot haha)
whats the difference between mids and contour? everything ive googled says turning up contour will lower your mids but you seem to say the opposite. unless im misunderstanding something
My amp only has a volume,high,mid,low, and a pressure knob. It doesn’t have a gain knob :(
love this dude
haha Appreciate that, man! Thanks for watching. Means a ton.
@@HunterHomistek I appreciate you, man
Anyone got tips to get that perfect pick squeal on the low E
Hey, Brendan, I actually plan to do a pinch harmonics lesson soon. Stay tuned!
I know it’s a little late, but I hope this helps! th-cam.com/video/nMtJe7qU--Q/w-d-xo.html
You should put links to all your equipment
Do u go thru efx loop
Or thru the front
W pedals
@@KalobPierson-l9x That’s a great question and something I didn’t clarify. This Marshall doesn’t have an FX loop, so everything was out front.
This noise suppressor (and many noise suppressors) can run both out front and in the loop at the same time by using something called the “four-cable method” or “x pattern.”
That’s ideal, because you’ll kill noise from your guitar/pedals as well as noise from the amp itself.
But yeah, no FX loop here. This is the simplest solution for sure, but if you want to introduce the FX loop to the mix, you can get an even better result.
That said, you’d typically put delay/etc in the loop, not necessarily an OD pedal. I’d keep the boost out front regardless.
Nice video dude. Clear concise funny.. simple.
Also, you MAY be related to Bill Burr...
I’m still waiting on that child support, Bill! Glad you liked the video haha
Every Rock guitarist wants that classic plexi sound.
well
The Plexi Super Lead did not have a Gain Control.
Either overdrive the amp or use a pedal.
yeah, you can put a attenuator to taimeed the plexi and not get deaf, and also keeping the mighty sound of a plexi cracked in a 12x4 cab, for amps like plexis, JCM 800 SL, JTM 45 ITts the best way to get the best sound without going deaf.
@@frodrigues1011 ala Van Halen.
Definitely the coolest looking MG15 I've seen
Thanks, dude. It’s the Zakk Wylde edition. I’m not sure how limited it is/was honestly.
@@HunterHomistek Looks like a few for sale on ebay and reverb, all 1,000$
@@MetalZoned Well that’s wild. It was like $350 new. Haha
Is that the zakk wylde edition mini stack?
Yes it is, my friend. As far as I know, it's identical to the standard mini stack (besides the cosmetic changes).
Is a distortion pedal similar to an overdrive one???
It is *similar* but not interchangeable. You'll usually use a distortion pedal with the clean channel of your amp. That way, all the distortion is coming from the pedal 100%. An overdrive, the way I'm using it in this video, is being used over your amp's natural distortion/overdrive channel. So it's just a BOOST, not the entire source of the distortion, like a distortion pedal.
Well worded my friend, and hello from Rochester NY. U.S.A.
Appreciate that! Thanks for checking out the video.