Good thrash metal tone?

[kirkhammett09]

Hey all, I'm having trouble finding a good tone. I'm broke so no suggestions of buying new amp, guitar, pedals, etc. Also I don't want to sell anything. Anyways, heres what I use:

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Schecter C-1 Blackjack (Has stock passive Seymour Duncan pickups), Ernie Ball Regular Slinky Strings (.11-.46), Dunlop Tortex .88mm Picks (Green Ones)

Cable

Electroharmonix Metal Muff (my distortion pedal)

Cable

ISP Decimator (to kill the amp buzz)

Boss BR-600 Recording Studio. I use for playback and drums mainly. I don't actually record very much.

Cable

Randall RX120H. It's a solid state half stack. I play through the clean channel and use my Metal Muff for my distortion. The Randall's stock distortion is horrible.

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What I'm looking for is a good thrash metal rythm guitar tone like Megadeth, Metallica, Testament, Exodus, etc. I can get decent classic rock, alternative, and grunge sounds fine, just no good metal tone. So basically, I can get clean and overdrive tones good enough, just not metal tones. I used to scoop my mids, but after 1,000,000 people told me not to, I stopped. Now I can hear how horrible they sound. I like a lot of mids and treble like Megadeth but I can't get even an okay metal tone. Everything sounds bad. Any suggestions on Megadeth (or any other thrash metal band) eq settings? Everything sounds muffled to me like theres no mids no matter what I do with the eq. I want my tone to be: Crunchy (More volume then distortion) Crisp (Clearly heard, plenty of mids) Have lots of bite (I like plenty of treble like Megadeth) Good palm mutes (I like clearly heard palm mutes with some bottom end... not boomy though... Thxs for your help all, I also have some other questions:

1.) I have all my stuff (Amp, Recording Studio, Pedals) plugged into 2 seperate power strips. Does that effect tone at all?

2.) Everything goes through the recording studio. If I have no effects on my recording studio on, does it suck tone or effect my sound in any way?

3.) Will my Metal Muff or Decimator suck my tone?

4.) I play in my garage. Will it sound way better if the door is up when I play?

5.) Will changing strings affect my tone a WHOLE lot? I know you need to and it helps, but will it fix my problem? Its been about 2 weeks since I changed them last.

[electricnightma]

Drop the mids on your amp to create the scoop effects, more bass than treble, and less than half on the mids.

[LaGrange]

You shouldnt need to change strings that often, once a month is good. And yes different gauge strings affact tone and so do picks.

[OThugSd]

I think you're over examining this, you really just need to adjust the EQ's on your amp/pedals until you find something you like more. Probably a mid-scoop. You aren't going to radically change you're tone without buying new gear unless you change the EQ's.

[Mettliccaa]

I have a BR-600 myself one thing to watch out for is it automatically puts reverb on whatever is coming in you can get rid of it somewhere by pressing the pan button. Its somewhere in that menu. Thicher strings will give a meatier sound. If you play with the door up it will give less echo.

[HIM%(^]

what the guy above me said would be true IF you were to be recording. in fact, when you scoop out your mids and your playing live AND rythem, you will not cut through and your notes wont be heard very clearly. when your playing live, you have to htink what it would sound like to thepeople that are 40 feet in front of you. the fact that you ar eplaying a solid state halfstack is just another reason to NOT scoop your mids out like another mindless idiot. id say to put your mids at about 1/2 or a little more, your bass should be very high and your treble should be just a bit more then your mids making your sound very EVEN and very clear for a rythem tone so your not overpowering the other guitarists..ect.

[hawk_kst]

scoop the middle:

Gain- 9

Bass- 8.5

Middle- 3

Trebel- 7

[HIM%(^]

id say that it sounds like youve outgrown your head. id say buy a good yet affordable valve head. i use a peavey valve king...no pedal, just head and it sounds heavy as hell. mind you..i play with very heavy hands because im a big guy but you can muster alot of tones out of that. even some dreamtheater stuff whcihi hold so near and dear to my ears. (he uses a mark iV)

[tlohrmann13]

the schecter is perfect for what you're looking for

[el rulfo]

Im guessing with the door of your garage open it will sound better, since there is no echo (it will be less deafening too).

But, if you leave in townhomes and/or have neighbors that get pissed often, it may lead you to trouble.

[s.r.v.]

Hey all, I'm having trouble finding a good tone.
1.) I have all my stuff (Amp, Recording Studio, Pedals) plugged into 2 seperate power strips. Does that effect tone at all?

2.) Everything goes through the recording studio. If I have no effects on my recording studio on, does it suck tone or effect my sound in any way?

3.) Will my Metal Muff or Decimator suck my tone?

4.) I play in my garage. Will it sound way better if the door is up when I play?

5.) Will changing strings affect my tone a WHOLE lot? I know you need to and it helps, but will it fix my problem? Its been about 2 weeks since I changed them last.
1. are you eric johnson? if not, no
2. if it does, get a compressor or eq to help that out. no one can tell you without hearing if you are losing tone
3. Listen for yourself! damn are you that lazy?
4. it will sound different, but again you have to listen to it and decide for yourself.
5. strings do have an effect on sound, but its not THAT big. some are brighter, some are warmer, some thinner. play ones that feel good.

tone has good/bad days. i never change settings on my amp/pedals/guitar and some times it sounds great. the days it doesnt just start screwing around. nothing ventured nothing gained :cheers:

[s.r.v.]

and for the mids question:
bass is obviosly bass
drum cymbals=treble
where are the mids?

your guitar

[STABxYOU]

I can get reasonably heavy tones, suitable for thrash (specifically I aim for a Slayer/Converge ish tone now). I use mids at 10, scooped mids sound like poo, unless you're Metallica.

I'd consider pulling the recording station out of your signal path entirely. If you wanna record buy a USB mic or a Pod. Then set your eq with moderate bass, high mids and reasonably high treble. Reverb and other similar effects should be kept to a minimum.

[bulletrocks522]

I have a BR-600, and run it through my computer speakers with EMG's.

Here:
Compressor
Sustain: 37
Attack: 80
Level: 80
Preamp
Type: Metal D
Volume (Gain): 100
Bass: 60
Middle: 25
Treble: 90
Presence: 100
Master: 84
Gain: Middle
Speaker
Type: Metal
Mic Set: 3cm
Mic Level: 100
Dir Level: 0
EQ
Type: 4 band EQ
Low Gain: +1 db
Lo-M Gain: -9 db
Lo-M Frequency: 630 Hz
Lo-M Q: 2
Hi-M Gain: +5 db
Hi-M Frequency: 3.15 Hz
Hi-M Q: 16
Hi Gain: +6 db
Level: -2 db
Noise Suppresor
Threshold: 30
Release: 30
Foot Volume (Not sure what this does)
On
Modulation
Type: Chorus
Rate: 30
Depth: 40
Pre Dly: 5.0 ms
E Level: 30
Delay
Type: Tap
Dly Time: 138 ms
Feedback: 30
E. Level: 30

Wow, that took awhile. I hope you like it!!!

[651Tom]

I use a Metal Muff with a CE-5 Chorus Ensemble and an AVT 50 SE. The settings I use (this is basically a decent general Metal/Thrash sound)

Top Boost: 3.5
Treble: 9
Mid: 4
Bass: 8
Dist: 10

It's quite a heavy sound, but it's good. Try it out, see what you think.

[joshchevy4]

"Randall RX120H. It's a solid state half stack. I play through the clean channel and use my Metal Muff for my distortion. The Randall's stock distortion is horrible."

umm, first off you need to get rid of your metal muff and use randall's distortion. you're the only person in the world who thinks Randall has horrible distortion. that's what they're known for. all you need to do is set your EQ properly, i personally set mine up like this:
Bass-9 to 10
Mid-3
Treble-7
Gain-6 to 7
Presence-2 to 4
Reverb-1 to 2

i don't know what else to say, you have a username with kirk hammett, which i respect being that metallica is my #1 band, but then you bash randall, who kirk uses now. maybe it takes some getting used to, maybe it's your guitar, but my EMG-strapped fiddles scream through Randall distortion. i still can't find a comparable pedal to a Randall sound, unless you have a Boss GT-8 processor. even then i'll take Randall's distortion over any Metal Zone patch setting.

[azn_guitarist25]

^Pretty sure Kirk jumped on the randall wagon as of '09 or late '08 not too sure the OP was made back on '08 so ts probably had no knowledge of the deal either. Then finally while Kirk uses Randall who says you ever had to like the brand, I enjoy Michael Amott's playing but god damnit why Dean just why.