Gear setup

[Brett89]

What's type of gear is the best? Use cabs&head, or combo, use recks? I dont know which is the better, what are the advantige and disadvantige...

Other things... what kind of gear do you use at gigs? A 100W amp is ok for gigs or need a bigger one? What order sould I concet my pedals?

Sorry If I write something wrong...

 

[thepunisher]

gear is a personal preference. just try some of it out and see what fits you and your wallet best.

i find 100 watts enough for most venues. i also find distortion pedals, for the most part to be crap with a good amp. there are exceptions to this.
other pedals however, can be useful.

first off, you need to think about what sort of tone you want. the right guitar and amp will usually get you more than 95% there, provided you can dial it in. pickups can also help here, as they have different characteristics that allow them to shape the output of your guitar's tone.

after you have that set, then look at pedals. pedals are best used in moderation.

if your band has a pa, you could get a modeler and just plug into that. i use a modeler as a backup, just in case.
what type of guitar do you have, what sort of stuff are you planning to do in three years, guitarwise, what style and sound do you like, and what is your budget?
all of these questions you have to answer for yourself, and decide what is best for you.


usually, to a gig, i take my amp, a wah pedal, 2 guitars, lots of cables, and my gnx4, in case my amp screws up, along with tools and spare picks and strings, just in case.

as for the order, what pedals are you running? if you havent shared your gear, how the fuck can i be expected to help you with that?

 

[Brett89]

Thanks man!

Well... I know that most distorsion pedals are crap... but I dont know any amps or heads that has DISTORSION, and NOT OVERDIRVE... also, I dont like LINE6 amps sound... so I dont know...

Well... In the future I would like to buy Ibanez 7strings... I dont know but I would choice cab+head... someway a wouldn't buy a big combo for concert... is it wrong?

For tone... well... I love heavy, bassy, clarit and well bodyed sound... I'm mainly a rhytem guitarst... what pickup sould I buy? Low or high gain? Dimarzio PAF7 or Blaze ? I love Trey's (Morbid Angel) tone... the main thing is that it most by clarit, and not lifeless, not "digital" sounding...

And what about effects? For solos I would like to use many effects in the same time... like chorus+reverb+phaser, or like that... like Trey does Soo if I use analog pedals I cant puss 2-3 buttons in the same time during a song, soo what would by a good choice???

Sorry If I write something wrong or unanderstandeble

Thanks

 

[Brett89]

"as for the order, what pedals are you running? if you havent shared your gear, how the fuck can i be expected to help you with that?"

Sorry man, a didnt see that you write this...

Well I have distorsion, a reverb, phaser, chorus... thats all...

 

[Hexer]

well, distortion basically is a heavy overdrive...

I'm not a fan of big combos, too. the problem with those is that they are big and heavy

the advantage of a head+cab setup is that its simple. find a head that you like, find a cab that goes well with it and thats it (for the basic tone). if the venue you are playing has a backline (cabinets) you dont even have to bring your own cab.

advantage of a rack setup is that you can combine different parts to get "your" sound (like a specific preamp with a different poweramp and stuff like that)

for using many effects at the same time I think it would be a good option to get some multi-FX unit (either a floorboard or a rack-unit) and maybe a midi-setup to controll the amp AND FX at the same time.

about not liking Line6-tone: Line6 isnt the only company making modelling-amps, you may like something else better
advantage of modellers is, that they usually have a shitload of effects and all that stuff build in so you may not need to use any other effects-gear

about PUs: I think most of the time its best to first get to know the PUs you have and then decide what you want to change about the tone. do you want it hotter? less hot? clearer? more trebly? more bass? more mids? warmer? more agressive? stuf like that you know

 

[Brett89]

Thanks!

 

[thepunisher]

distortion on amps is usually called gain. so look at that as well. as pedals go, i recomend the rat.
as for heads and cabs, i think personally, if you are on a low budget, it is stupid to buy a solid state head with a cab, except for the fact that you could possibly use the cab again.
you are better off looking at a solid state combo, or a smaller tube combo. i use a 100 watt solid state combo, and it suits me perfectly. even as light as some heads, believe it or not.
personally, i find some solid state combos to be as good if not better as tube combos. try some out.
also, you could try to get an amp with reverb. i personally think most reverbs sound shitty, but hey, it's not my choice. this might eliminate some switching.
personally, i would buy a quality multieffects unit, such as the gnx, the gt(boss) or the pod. i use a gnx, and would be happy to discuss it with you, but not in this thread. shoot me a pm if you are interested. the reason i say this is it will give you options with different effects, for much less than it would cost you to go out and buy all of these. plus, you can save settings, and just switch between the settings, even switch things in the settings. one of these can easily be used with a pa as a substitute amp until you can afford exactly what you want...
i am assuming you are very much a beginner, and therefore, you will probably change your mind quite frequently for the next 2 years. therefore, i suggest you leave yourself open to whatever gear will fit you and your playing style once you have developed it a bit more. if you are not, i am sorry if i have offended you. by using gear that has a variety of tones, it can help you decide what you truly want from a more expensive piece of equipment. play around. it will save you frustration and possibly alot of money. pick up your friends guitar. go to a shop, and play everything in there. you will quickly see what you want.
in no way feel limited to line six for modeling amps... however, they make some of the better ones.
for a heavy metal sound, there are many possiblities in pickups. but, you need the guitar first. i went with a jazz and a jb, and i get any style i want from those two. also, the x2n and evo should be considered for heavy, along with emgs. remember you have to route a guitar for emgs.
there are also more expensive pickups from lesser known brands, such as bareknuckles and lundgren that really kick some ass.

effects: i would say guitar-distortion-phaser-chorus-reverb-amp.

sometimes, the best thing you can do for tone is to use a good cable.

 

[Brett89]

distortion on amps is usually called gain. so look at that as well. as pedals go, i recomend the rat.
as for heads and cabs, i think personally, if you are on a low budget, it is stupid to buy a solid state head with a cab, except for the fact that you could possibly use the cab again.
you are better off looking at a solid state combo, or a smaller tube combo. i use a 100 watt solid state combo, and it suits me perfectly. even as light as some heads, believe it or not.
personally, i find some solid state combos to be as good if not better as tube combos. try some out.
also, you could try to get an amp with reverb. i personally think most reverbs sound shitty, but hey, it's not my choice. this might eliminate some switching.
personally, i would buy a quality multieffects unit, such as the gnx, the gt(boss) or the pod. i use a gnx, and would be happy to discuss it with you, but not in this thread. shoot me a pm if you are interested. the reason i say this is it will give you options with different effects, for much less than it would cost you to go out and buy all of these. plus, you can save settings, and just switch between the settings, even switch things in the settings. one of these can easily be used with a pa as a substitute amp until you can afford exactly what you want...
i am assuming you are very much a beginner, and therefore, you will probably change your mind quite frequently for the next 2 years. therefore, i suggest you leave yourself open to whatever gear will fit you and your playing style once you have developed it a bit more. if you are not, i am sorry if i have offended you. by using gear that has a variety of tones, it can help you decide what you truly want from a more expensive piece of equipment. play around. it will save you frustration and possibly alot of money. pick up your friends guitar. go to a shop, and play everything in there. you will quickly see what you want.
in no way feel limited to line six for modeling amps... however, they make some of the better ones.
for a heavy metal sound, there are many possiblities in pickups. but, you need the guitar first. i went with a jazz and a jb, and i get any style i want from those two. also, the x2n and evo should be considered for heavy, along with emgs. remember you have to route a guitar for emgs.
there are also more expensive pickups from lesser known brands, such as bareknuckles and lundgren that really kick some ass.

effects: i would say guitar-distortion-phaser-chorus-reverb-amp.

sometimes, the best thing you can do for tone is to use a good cable.

Well...yes, the mullti FX would be a better solution! Thanks for the information!

 

[Brett89]

And what brand of cabel sould I use?

I just saw the Hughes&Kethner Matrix 100.... it looks so nice :l . . . what do you think about them? Other amp that has built in effects?

And if I use overdrive... is it a natural thing that my amp is noise? Its a Peavey Rage 158... better amps are silent and dont need to turn up the volume tomax to have a good, agressiv overdrive sound?
And low or high output PU's are better for overdrive, or theres not big differenc betwen them?

 

[Drew]

Some additional input:

There's no "right" answer for building a rig. Personally, my tastes run towards low-to-mid wattage amplifiers. This usually means that I should be looking for combos, as heads rated at less than 50 watts are rare (not nonexistant, but rare). As such, I play a 45-watt Mesa Nomad combo. I'm not currently gigging with it, but have in the past with absolutely no problems - 45 watts of tube power, especially from a Mesa, is enough to play in most venues I've seen, and anything where the power of the amp itself wouldn't be enough, I'd probably just be being mic'd up and run through the PA anyway.

If you want to use a lot of effects at the same time, a multi-FX unit is probably not a bad solution. Additionally, as most are midi-controlled, you might want to look into a rack setup (seperate preamp and poweramp units), as many rackmountable preamps are MIDI controlled, so you could set your rack up to change channels and FX settings with the push of a single button. I use very little in the way of effects, so for me I don't see the need, but if you do, this is certainly the easiest answer...

Also, if you're a beginner, I would caution AGAINST a Line6 or other modelling unit. The Punisher raises a couple good points, in that if you change your mind about what you're looking for a lot in the next year, this will give you more flexibility, but on the other side of the coin if whenever you want a new gutiar sound you simply call up a different model, you're not going to learn NEARLY as much about setting an amp's gain and tone controls to dial in a tone, nor will you learn how to use your guitar's volume knob and pickup selector switch to do the same with the same amp settings. It makes it TOO easy, and there's some valuable lessons you can learn there if you spend the time.

 

[thepunisher]

I have a rage too. Still take it with me on trips. But man, does it not cut it in the distortion range. What settings are you using? I might be able to get a little bit more out of it for you.
True story. I had gotten a squire strat and that little rage when I started out. all I wanted to do was play some fucking death metal, same as you. So what do I do? Go out and buy a dod death metal pedal from musicians friend a couple of weeks later. Spent fifty dollars at musicians friend, never playing the thing before hand or hearing what it sounded like.
And when it comes, I turn all the gain all the way up on it and the amp, and rattle out some sloppy power chords. Man I thought I rocked for fifteen minutes. Then my little brother came in and started to play it. “Damn dude, you are making it sound like a fuckin’ fart. Lemme see that.” And I couldn’t make it sound any better. It was fuzzy, it was gritty, it sounded shitty. And the squealing feedback didn’t help matters. 2 months later when it broke, I didn’t care. In fact, I fixed it two years ago, and I haven’t touched the thing more than three times since then.
I got a small digitech multieffects unit, the rp 150 I think. I used that for four months, when I bought the gnx 4. gave the rp to a friend, and I haven’t missed it. It showed me however, that I didn’t want to buy shitloads of pedals, and that in an amp, I would rather have a good clean than a distortion, as clean is the staple. If you have a good clean, even the rage’s clean, you can build over that, and create the sound you want. The neat thing about the multieffects is that you can try things out. some also have amp emulations which you can play around with and tweak.
While I stand firmly behind what I said previously, Drew has an excellent point(kudos to Drew). i also agree with him about combos. And this is the perfect example of something you must do for yourself: choose what matters to you most.
I will be glad to talk to you through any issues you encounter, and even offer an opinion. However, I can not decide for you.

The noise can be solved with a noise gate, and majorly reduced by better cable. Noise gates are usually built into a multi effects unit, and since your amp is so low powered, it should be sufficient until you get an upgrade amp.
As for cables, I always recommend two: Planet Waves and Monster. You are going to be surprised by the price, but they are guaranteed for life. Meaning if they break, you get a replacement, free of charge to you. And It will ultimately save you money.

I personally would advise against buying an amp for now. just play around.
high or hot output pickups distort much better, but low outputs have advantages too.

Feel free to ask any other questions, and I will try to work with you and help you solve them.

 

[Brett89]

Thanks again, it helps much... my friends how play on guitar doesnt care about their gear so they can't help me.

Well I set my 15W Rage 158 in this way: Pregain 10, Postgain 3, becouse I cant play too loud at home... to be honest I dont know what te hell is this post and pregain stuff... (I only saw an amp before with a Gain and a Volume knob, so I dont know what does it mean) Low 6, Mid 7, High 7....
thats all, a try dont EQ to much my amp but it sound a bit lifles if everything is on 5.

 

[thepunisher]

dude, knock the pregain up to 7-10, and the post between 1 and 5
the way you have it set is on the bluesy tone. this should kick some more drive into your output.
low- 4-7 mid 3-5 treble 6-8 and vintage.

oh yea, and if the channel switch( the first one) isnt down, it will remain on the clean channel.

what guitar are you using?

 

[Brett89]

Yamaha Pacifica 112 : Alder body, rosewood fingerboard, tuned to B with 56-12 string set.

 

[thepunisher]

ah... yes, i advise a new guitar as a first.
did the settings work?

 

[Brett89]

Well... no...

First I went to a guitarshop and I tell them to tune down my guitar to B, and setup the vintagtremolo on it... It was ridiculously expansive but I thought thet "hey, but they are craftman, they will set up the guitar perfectly"...

When they gived back to me... they only put a 12'set on it end I dont know why... a 13'set would be better... so the strings are too floppy, and they dont set up a vintagestyle trem on it so its hard to use it...END they even scratched they headstock... so it was cool...and I can't bring it back... I dont tell you why, it would be too long but it was a bit my fault.

So, I was thinking about to put 13' set on it but I think thet the nut is too small for that... but if I bring it to a "craftman" to make it fit, it would cost to much money for a so cheap guitar... so, I will survive with this shit action until I buy a new guitar...

 

[thepunisher]

was the "well... no" about the settings or about me saying buy a new guitar before all of the rest of the stuff?

 

[Brett89]

"Well...no" is the awnser for the quastion "did the settings working?" . . . and I write it that no, the 12's set is to small for B tuning... or you mean that your amp settings are working on my amp? Yes, it work perfectly... sorry If I don't understand 100%-ly what are you asking... I'm not a pro in english :l

 

[Ibycan7]

I just have a question. why do you want to tune your guitar to B? to tell you the truth my guess is that the guitar is going to play like crap wheather you have 13 or 12 in there. those guitars are not designed to play that low because of the scale size of the neck. that's why there are baritone guitar. I'm not trying to put down what you are doing but the more information you give us, the better we can help.

 

[Brett89]

I just have a question. why do you want to tune your guitar to B? to tell you the truth my guess is that the guitar is going to play like crap wheather you have 13 or 12 in there. those guitars are not designed to play that low because of the scale size of the neck. that's why there are baritone guitar. I'm not trying to put down what you are doing but the more information you give us, the better we can help.

Well its true... that this guitar is not designed to be downtuned, but it doesn't sound shit becouse its got a short neck scale... its got a 25'5 neck, and the 7string ibanez necks are also 25'5 long... are am I wrong?