setting up an iceman for metal playing

[toma]

other than using thicker strings, and raising the action, i there anything i can do to my mates iceman to make it sound more metal??like pickup positionong for instance??im suggesting he puts emgs in it, he really likes system of a down tone, any ideas????

cheers

tx

[Mr.WizardNeck]

Well the guitarist for System Of A Down uses one. Check out what he did to his.

[Nordhauser]

he used to. i believe he uses gibson now.

[toma]

yeah, he uses a lp.
im guessing that i want to slant the pickups bass heavy, but im not sure...generic metal setup??

tx

[Mr.WizardNeck]

Smooth mids, not that much bass from what I've noticed in his sound. Id say mids 7, bass 4, treble 5.

[studentofshred]

actually I saw some footage of a live show the other day and was playing an SG.

[Gex]

Its not really . . .what you do to the guitar. . .the amp is more of the concern.


There should be little round things on the amp.. . .turn them all the way clockwise.

It should start to sound pretty metal at that point. If you need more metal, turn down the midrange knob.

[pawel]

What exactly do you mean by "more metal"?

Higher gain bridge pickup might be a start (doesn't need to be an EMG necessarily), but in general it's a relatively "metal" guitar (it's not a tele or a jazzbox), so the problem might lay in the rest of his gear...

[Mr.WizardNeck]

He uses a mesa but I dont know what type. I saw it on Mesa's site and that's all I can tell. He USED to use an Iceman with a wicked ass paint job. Check the Toxicity vid. Best bet is to put in a pickup with a mid-high range output with descriptions like smooth mids. Go with an Air Norton for starters then save up. That is if you're going for a SOAD sound. Give me the band description of what you're going for and I'll help you out from there.

[thadood]

Who cares about what he uses.

It would help if you posted what you had so we can make suggestions. If you're using a lower-midrange axe, a pickup upgrade would probably be your best upgrade, unless you're playing through some crap-ass Marshall MG 10w practice amp.. then you should probably start there =)

[toma]

ok first, its my mate, i dont play metal , and am a proud tele owner.

he had the stoch iceman ic400, through a ibanez smashbox, a crybaby, and in to a marshall 100dfx (he doesnt want a tube amp...???)

cheers for all the advice guys,



tx

[JTM45]

I put a pair (an 81 and an 85) of EMG's and a set of locking Sperzels in my old IC300 Iceman and it kicks a lot more ass than it did previously.
I don't use it a lot anymore but it still performs if required.


The pentagram helps a lot for METAL too,lol!!!!!!!!!!

[Mr.WizardNeck]

Active pickups require a bit of routing but if you want to do it, 81's and 85's are the way to go these days. Unless you want to try the higher output Dimarzio pickups. Now if he want's solid state, tell him to go Randall. Best SS amp he can get. Maybe even the G3 series might be good. Should be better than that Marshall but what do I know, I dont like the big M. Tell him to get an MXR Dimebag distortion pedal. They're damn great if you know how to play well. Tell us what bands he listens to and I'll figure out what he needs.

[toma]

SOAD, Tool, 36 crazyfists, slipknot, korn, metallica, trivium, sikth, deftones

im pretty sure these are his main bands, mostly, its just generic metal...he tunes to drop c, and uses 14s

tx

[JTM45]

Originally Posted by Mr.WizardNeck

Active pickups require a bit of routing

Only the 7-string models require routing.
The 81 and 85 will just fit straight in, no routing, no drilling,nothing.

Personally i reckon this is the nicest Iceman Ibanez ever made;


The 'J' model.An Iceman with a Lo-Pro,Mahogany/Maple body construction and a wicked paint job.
I'd sooooooooo Love one of those man!