Chest-thumping lows?

[wat]

Do you like chest-thumping lows in your sound?

The reason I ask is that I've been using an RG7321(drop A#) with crunchlab/liquifier and a TS9 for a boost and absolutely loving the clarity I get playing loud with a drummer. The low A# blends perfectly with the other strings and it just sounds like a guitar.

However, I recently restrung an old Schecter C1FR 6 string(drop C#) with the "duncan designed" version of the blackouts and played it some with the TS9 turned off because it doesn't need it and was floored with the low end punch I was getting. It was still plenty clear but I was getting a nice, tight hit in the chest from palm mutes that I wasn't getting with the boosted RG7321 and it felt/sounded great. Not flabby at all, just a deep, punchy chug.

So the major factors here are:
Drop A# vs Drop C#
Passives w/ TS9 vs Actives w/ no boost


If I use a different boost that lets me adjust the low end cut, will I be able to get a little bit of that chest-thump in drop A# and will it still work out when we bring in a bass player or will it be too much?

When you're already tuned low, is it worth it to pursue that chest-thump with a full band at volume, or does it just get in the way of the bass player?

Obviously this is a subjective YMMV type thing but I'd like hear multiple people's experiences.

 

[kamello]

it's fun to play that way when your alone, but not when you are in a band context...


think of it like being naked around the house when no one is there


edit: try some Gojira-style fourths with the Schecter. Best feeling evah with the thumping lows

 

[will_shred]

It sound great when you're playing alone, but when you're playing with a band it's best to leave that frequency range to the bassist for a clear mix.

 

[Abaddon9112]

I think a little bit more low end than the standard modern djenty-djent tone can work out alright. But it does usually turn out better in a band setting when the bass owns the lowest frequencies.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

I like having a little bit of "thump" in there, even in a band mix. I find that turning off the OD in a band setting helps with this. Your amp is compressing because it's loud anyway, so without the OD engaged I get a little more ooomph and clarity. Somehow i found that spot where there's a nice fat low mid to my sound but it still sits above our bass player.

I haven't used a boost live for a long time now, but i still like to turn it on at home to chug things up at lower volume.

 

[Mprinsje]

i try to get as much thump as i can get away with in my band. Though are bass sounds is fairly distorted and it has a lot of midrange in it. I'm also the only guitarist in the band so i try to get as much oomph as i can get.

 

[Defi]

I prefer the sound of a punchy or overdriven bass rather than bassy guitars in the big picture

 

[Lifestalker]

I think a little bit more low end than the standard modern djenty-djent tone can work out alright. But it does usually turn out better in a band setting when the bass owns the lowest frequencies.

Definitely agree with this.

 

[Floppystrings]

I like it when I hear really thick guitars, with perfect clarity, meaty palm mutes...

...And then the bass player stops playing and the guitar sounds like a am radio.

 

[hairychris]

In personal experience the biggest chest (as opposed to gut) punch is at standard tuning with something like a well dialled in Rectifier.

 

[kamello]

In personal experience the biggest chest (as opposed to gut) punch is at standard tuning with something like a well dialled in Rectifier.

almost same opinion here, atleast when playing alone, I feel that the tunings that give the most thump are Drop C and D standart


when I gab the 7 string, the feel changes a lot, maybe mostly because you have to EQ's the instrument a bit different to get clarity with the 7 string, but in a full mix they can sound just as massive

 

[FILTHnFEAR]

The majority of my playing with others consists of just a drummer and occasionally another guitarist.

When it's just me and my drummer I leave the low end alone, boost the low mids and upper mids a lot, and the extreme highs slightly. I mean, why not hog it all if I don't have to share the tonal spectrum?

With the other guitarist, I'll cut the highs more as he likes more of a trebly tone, and maybe boost the lows a bit.

With just my bassist buddy, I'll cut the low end pretty good on my eq pedal and on the amp and leave the rest about the same as my "drummer only" settings.Works for me.

 

[Sketches]

As others have said, there is often a massive difference between what works when playing alone vs in a mix.

In a recording context especially, which often leads to guitar players moaning at me when I solo their tracks during mix downs and I am like, dude you can't have every frequency range and if you want scooped chugga chugga that is fine but when I throw the rest of the faders up you are not going to be able to hear you and everything will be really muddy </offTheCuffRant>

 

[hairychris]

almost same opinion here, atleast when playing alone, I feel that the tunings that give the most thump are Drop C and D standart


when I gab the 7 string, the feel changes a lot, maybe mostly because you have to EQ's the instrument a bit different to get clarity with the 7 string, but in a full mix they can sound just as massive

I spent a few years in a band in the early 00s, standard tuning, 2 guitars (Rectifier vs JCM800)... the low mids are where the chest thump is at. Even going down a half-step makes a difference to where you feel the lows.

 

[kamello]

well that explains a lot, I scoop the shit out of the low mids when I play 7 strings

 

[Sketches]

well that explains a lot, I scoop the shit out of the low mids when I play 7 strings

Scooping the mids is really tempting, we've all done it. The reason being it is easy to make your playing sound "good" that way without much effort. It doesn't work live or in a mix with a band though. It is tough to take the leap into have a more biting and cutting guitar tone and stick with it while you work out how to control it but it is SOoooooooo worth it in the end.

I'd compare it to when I started playing violin. It is a nightmare to get it to sound like anything other and a screatching cat and the adjustments you make to gt past that are very subtle and hard to describe mechanically but if you stick with it and focus on the sound you are producing you get there eventually.

 

[kamello]

LOW-mids man , they are just honky frequencies the majority of the time (around 350 and 650 Hz), and I tend to leave that space for the bass and snare. High Mids are a whoooooooole different story, I boost those, thats from where the cut of a guitar tone comes

edit: here at around the 1:00 mark of this you can hear my guitar tone isolated, it's anorexic by itself , but I think it cuts in a decent way (the overall mix though needs a lot of work)
[SC]https://soundcloud.com/kamello-chm/lord-resistance-army-mixtestby-feared[/SC]

 

[hairychris]

well that explains a lot, I scoop the shit out of the low mids when I play 7 strings

Scooping sounds good when you're playing at home, but you want that honk in a band because that is where the punch comes from when mixed with other instruments.

If anything you need to roll back a tad on the lows even if playing a 7 (unless your whole aim is to play sludgy stuff, mids = definition).

 

[JohnIce]

Personally, I've always had a hard time getting a 25.5" guitar to really sound as punchy once you drop below B. And I use a .72 string for drop A. Several producers have pointed out to my band that Drop C or B just sounds chunkier, and I agree.

I think longer scale length is the way to go if you want to get "thump" at lower tuning.

 

[Rizzo]

Even when i had a metalcore band, i really fighted for not detuning past drop C.
For me, punch comes from solid eqing (and mostly lots of mids), but mainly from good technique and tightness in performance by the entire band. Then let the bass do its job!
On a 25.5 scale, i think notes are hard to properly discern on the low strings below C.
Then again, detuning =\= heavy. Smart composition leads to heavy. Remember DEP mostly play in E
You could play something strictly major and drop to Z and still sound like a lamer Blink 182.