Alright. I don't know how to explain this right, but I'll try..

I've been learning Hammerfall - In Memoriam, and I can't get a steady lead sound.

When I have my tone knob all the way clockwise (most trebbly), and try to pick a note normally, the note seems to wobble in pitch. It sounds really really bad. When I turn my tone knob all the way anti-clockwise, the note becomes steady without the problem. But it sounds too bassy (bends aren't as effective either), and I can't get a good rythm sound with it like that.

So what I'm asking is, how to get a steady quality lead sound like Hammerfall using my guitar and GNX3. Is it the quality of my guitar/pickups, or are my parametric EQ/amp EQ/amp or cab settings/compression settings set badly?

I've been using the Rectifier amp sim, with 4x12 botoq cab.

two words... solos=neck pickup... unless youre chuck, who only had one pickup... i still wonder how his lead tone changes even live when he solos. must be the fingers.

__________________

Yeh, i almost always use the neck pickup for solos.. exspecially when sweeping.

__________________

The problem is present when using the neck pickup.

The only thing that seems to fix it, is turning the tone knob all the way down.

I played with the Rectifier model on a digitech Genesis 3, same basic modeling software and shit, and it does the same thing. What kind of guitar are you using?

neck pickup with the tone knob up... or bridge pu with the tone knob down about half way...

__________________

Jackson JX10, rrp AUD$699 (probably a lot less by now). Got it for $560. Cedro body, duncan designed SHR101 mini humbucks. You can get it off musicians friend for around USD$200 now.

So the same problem exists on your Genesis 3? Then I should maybe try another amp sim. Although a lot of them do the same.

I'm wondering if it's the gain, or the amp EQ or something that's doing it.

edit: Every amp does it when the distortion is added. The stomboxes too. I'll try changing cabs.

Replace your strings, if the strings are old and nasty it will cause the pitch to wobble like you say.

__________________

X2N's are coil tappable; Chuck used X2N's, also during his solos he would hit the chorus, which helped give the single coil X2N some more milky/watery tone, on the DVD when Chuck solos he seems to hit his coil tapping toggle so deductive reasoning concludes he has his X2N's tapped for solos.

Also this is how i have my guitar set up and it sounds, of course i may be wrong as to how Chuck did that.

They're still shiney and not too old, but I'll replace them and see if that helps. Thanks.

By the way, I'm using 9's at the moment. If I were to switch to 10's, do I need a truss rod adjustment? And would 10's last longer?

they won't last longer, at least not if you play a lot anyway.

no need for truss rod adjustment but probably some bridge adjustment if you have a floyd type bridge. truss rod adjustment is easy anyway if you do need to do it (but its only a small step thicker so most of the time you won't need to do it)

I know the thing you're getting at, it might be the way you're amplifying it, what are you using now?

btw. I don't use the neck pu for solos. I don't like its tone as much as the bridge pu, might just be me but I love the extra punch the bridge pu gives me, also in solo mode. I hardly use the neck pu, sometimes for clean, but for solos I don't use it, I do use my middle pu (dimarzio blue velvet) a lot.

I'd suggest a better neck pickup, perhaps?
When I solo I have it swtiched to the neck pickup and the tone knob on 5.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that my guitar is H/S/S config so I use the two single coils so solo. And I get decent solo tone out of that so..

__________________

The Neck Pickup will give you a nice warm, thick sound. That why i prefer it for solo's... Bridge pickup tend to lack note clarity and is a bit shrill for solo's.

But hey everyone has their own opinions

__________________

I'm using my guitar that I already mentioned in this thread, and my GNX3 through headphones. Any suggestions for hammerfall-esque settings are appreciated.

I like the bridge better for solos too. Bends sound much much better to me. When I do bends with my neck pickup, the range and 'squeel' factor is much less. The neck is slightly more stable than the bridge, though.



I don't think I'll be replacing any pickups any time soon. I may as well just save up for a new guitar with better woods.


I'll get new strings next week and see if that helps.

i think you should ditch the gnx3..... i find alot of digitech stuff to be to cold.... especially the newer pedals.
but their old school rack gear n' stuff are pretty nice.
also... headphones do not sound like an amp... i think you should at least buy a tiny combo.

__________________

I have a tiny combo.

I can easily get a warm tone out of my GNX by using the EQ and the right distortion and amps.

Are you a good guitarist? Because if you not then it might just be your hands. You cant produce a nice full note because you havent been playing long enough maybe or something.

__________________

I'm not an expert guitarist, but I'm pretty sure I'm capable of picking a note properly.

It may just be my GNX settings. It takes ages to learn how to get nice melodic sounds out of it.

Well, as you get better youll hear it sounding better. If your a good guitarist you can make a bad solo tone sound pretty good.

Hmmm. There could possibly be some slight fret buzz going on causing it to have bad tone. I dont know though.

__________________

i'm not exactly a virtuoso guitarist either.... but as you progress and get better at guitar you notice more and more that a huge part of your tone is simply in your hands... i have a thing i call "my tone" and i can find "my tone" in almost any decent amp or pedal... it may not be exact from gear to gear, but it's still got that "me" sound and feel to it. on average i'd say it's something you get after a couple years of playing...
just because you play the exact same rig as evh with the same settings and the same licks, doesnt mean it'll sound the same because he has his own tone.
anybody can simply fret a note.

__________________

I know. I read several accounts of experts playing other experts rigs, and still sounding like themselves.

Right click save as.

This is picking the third string at the 13th fret using the GNX3's SOLO preset (27 I think). It's wobbling and isn't steady. Every distortion I use seems to encounter this problem. I changed strings and I have the same problem.

Any more thoughts? I might give a friend of mine a call and see if he can determine what's causing this.

__________________