[gclef]

Lately, i have been on another gear discovery journey.

I have sort of an internal struggle going on with pickup heights.
On one side is "raise 'em up as high as possible, because......tone?"

The other is to where they feel good under my hand.

The latter is where I am now, and i think they will stay this way.

Now, the real part is i have also been using less gain. For reference i used to be 2/3 up with the blue channel gain on my bogner blue pedal (always on type of thing). Keep in mind the high adjusted pickups.

Lately, I have been using, and loving the bogner on its low gain plexi mode and only with the gain at 12 o'clock. And this with lower pickups.

Did i reach the point of no return?

Am i now considered old?

Is this the beginning of the end?

Am i doomed to a life of clean jazz tones from here?

Lol

I did compensate with my bogner red pedal though! It went from 9 to 3 o'clock. Sound killer here.

Anyone else experience something like this?

Oh, and breeds sound f'ing amazing set low! Mine are 4mm bridge and 6 to 6.5mm neck.

Killer tones!

 

[ibaraki_gaijin]

Yep on the low gain thing.
The turning point for me was moving on from a looper to doing more with a DAW.

When recording you almost always sound better with about 20% less gain than you initially think you need based on habit/the sound in the room.

 

[BigBazz]

I started turning the gain down years ago, I find if you can make it work it just sounds better to a point. I like to set it so that I can go from a medium gain to an almost clean on the guitar volume pot without much effort.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Don't fight it, man, it's the true path. Soon you'll be wanting an acoustic nylon string.

I guess many get to a point in their playing where they also want to hear more nuances in their playing, having reached a certain level, and have more dynamics, which brootal gain doesn't facilitate so much. I've progressively done this also, though I never used crazy gain (the players who were my inspiration didn't). My use of gain was more due to trying to get enough sustain with single notes when called for.

I also like having low pups, regardless of type, just feels/sounds better to me, and whatever reduction in volume this results in can be compensated by adjusting the amp.

Certainly in recording, turning down the gain and double tracking a rhythm part is the path to big sounds.

 

[gclef]

Don't fight it, man, it's the true path. Soon you'll be wanting an acoustic nylon string.

I guess many get to a point in their playing where they also want to hear more nuances in their playing, having reached a certain level, and have more dynamics, which brootal gain doesn't facilitate so much. I've progressively done this also, though I never used crazy gain (the players who were my inspiration didn't). My use of gain was more due to trying to get enough sustain with single notes when called for.

I also like having low pups, regardless of type, just feels/sounds better to me, and whatever reduction in volume this results in can be compensated by adjusting the amp.

Certainly in recording, turning down the gain and double tracking a rhythm part is the path to big sounds.

I am considering an acoustic!

I guess this path is well traveled. Lol.

I am thinking about an emerald CF acoustic.

 

[FireEagle]

Recording did it for me, as mentioned above... The tone in the room sounded good to my ears, but recorded sounded fizzy and thin. Less gain, double tracking, and tinkering with EQ (boosting a bit here, cutting bit there) really sounded better.

I do like clean guitar sounds, but almost all songs I know require distortion... plus who doesn't love that sustained harmonic that comes in... \m/

That being said, most of the tones I've been chasing lately have been cleaner... As in The Outfield and The Fixx to name a couple, but also some rockabilly.

 

[Mr_Scotia]

I am considering an acoustic!

I guess this path is well traveled. Lol.

I am thinking about an emerald CF acoustic.

Playing acoustic totally opened me up to stuff i had never considered playing before, i was all about Megadeth, Lamb of God, Anthrax etc when i played purely electric guitar.

When i got an acoustic i started learning things like Dee by Randy Rhodes and I Love My Parents by Buckethead, completely changes your perspective on how you can use 6 strings. One of the things im writing on the electric guitar just now incorporates that playing style, using the low E for bass notes with my thumb and finger picking the other 5 strings.

Im looking to buy an acoustic aswell but i sit in a classical style position with the guitar over my left leg and my old acoustic had a big fat ass that made it difficult to sit in a classical position with, im hoping to get one of those slimmer body acoustics in the future.

 

[gclef]

It is getting worse.

I think i have a terminal case of getting old. Lol i jear it is always fatal. Pray for my soul. Lol

I was, gulp, playing finger style last night! What the hell is coming over me!

I have a really thick right pointer nail and thicker skin on my right hand pointer, which made not using a pick near impossible.

Each note i hit with the pointer stands out in a bad way. Until last night.

I guess my brain learned to compensate for that handicap. I was ripping around last night with my thumb and pointer. It was so weird.
Its even more alien because i am a ledty playing righty, so my fingers arent as dextrous as you righties.

Today, my goal is to super file down my nail and moisturize said finger to see if i can better my lot in life.
I have to admit, it has huge potential. I haven't been this excited about exploring new techniques in, well, forever.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Meh, forget picks, amps, electric guitars etc., acoustic fingerstyle is the ultimate .

 

[gclef]

Meh, forget picks, amps, electric guitars etc., acoustic fingerstyle is the ultimate .

Slow down there, cowboy.

 

[diablomozart]

recording will change everything...once you close mic a cabinet you find out that, before, you were hearing the room, and the speaker at whatever angle you were at...in short, not quite a true representation of what is actually coming out of the speaker...i ended up turning off all effects, turning down the gain a bit and re-eq'ing my whole tone...d.m.

 

[Formerly Given To Fly]

I guess my brain learned to compensate for that handicap. I was ripping around last night with my thumb and pointer. It was so weird.
Its even more alien because i am a ledty playing righty, so my fingers arent as dextrous as you righties.

Today, my goal is to super file down my nail and moisturize said finger to see if i can better my lot in life.
I have to admit, it has huge potential. I haven't been this excited about exploring new techniques in, well, forever.

Lute players use their thumb and index finger when they rip around on the lute. (Fast, virtuosic, single line type stuff.)