All This Talk About the Subtleties Of Drives...

[TSJMajesty]

... boost or not-to-boost the amp, vs. using the boost in the amp block (wrt modelers), and the variations of how it affects your tone... I don't really hear huge differences myself.

But what I do hear, is when soloing with any high-gain tone, and your string changes are not accurate, and you get that millisecond of note overlap, that causes a glaring dissonance while those 2 notes sound together.

It takes lots of practice, with decisions as to whether you keep your fingers raised off the fretboard, in which case your timing has to be perfect. And, you have to decide whether you want to completely lift your finger off the note you just played, or raise it just enough that you retain contact, thus muting the string, which is made more difficult the lower your action is.

Or, you go about the issue completely differently, in that you keep your fingers at a low angle across the strings, and use the tips and undersides of your fingers to mute the strings for you, which doesn't work for all patterns and directions the riff is heading.

I still find myself using various combinations of those techniques, as I strive to get my string changes perfectly accurate.

So I was kinda wondering if any of you guys spend this same amount of time with this sort of thing, as you do with using, or not using, boost pedals, since both have an effect on how your playing sounds, ultimately.

 

[Stone]

Always working to improve my technique, but its not easy , so i soldier on

 

[the-trooper]

and the variations of how it affects your tone

All minutiae variation from toanwoodz, over what percentage of nickel is in pickup covers, to 0.002 more or less error that NAM has over ToneX, that is discussed ad nauseam on forums is done 99% by bedroom players and basement dwellers for who 100% of any of it doesn't matter. As someone whose on stage guitar playing is down to twice a year, I'm 98% one of them.

VAST majority of posts about it are regurgitated by noobs, subaverage players, or average at best, who couldn't find their own ass in a blind test let alone hear the difference between two variations of PAF pickups. I'll never forget the guy who made an LP review focusing on every single microscopic finish detail, than half way into the video says he's been playing for 6 months. Goddamnit!
I'm especially allergic to guys who aReNt InSpIrEd by a piece of equipment. Inspiration comes from your brain not the guitar or the speaker goddamnit! People have been creating wonderful music on absolute pieces of crap instruments. If you're not inspired (to learn yet another cover ) it's you, it's not the item in your hands. Everything else is just an excuse.

How does the saying go, those who can - play, those who can't - fight about how much is the signal stronger in the 9-9.3k range between bone and Nubone nut (as if you're playing only open strings 100% of the time goddamnit!).

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm of to The other place to see if there's an active thread I can jump in about the difference in tone between a cable with 0.22mm² cross section and one with 0.23mm² cross section.

 

[DrewJD82]

Absolutely. I think if anything, the time I put into practicing in the younger years turned into stuff like that, where I’m figuring out the marriage between tone and technique. A lot of times I like boosting something for a lead, but it can be a detriment as much as it can make a stiff tone feel more forgiving. There’s generally a fine line, for me, between too much and just enough.

I prefer to keep things 50/50, where the amp is doing half the work and the guitar/fingers are doing the other half, the boost is generally to be 50% + a pinch extra on either end, depending on what it is. For faster runs it’s easy having the distortion cranked, but you start losing dynamics and even at higher speeds, my right hand is still playing dynamically, hitting some notes harder than others and I try to get that coming out in a mix but with high gain it gets lost a lot. Probably why I really fell in love with the mid-gain Strat tones/single coils/med-output humbuckers, it’s a lot easier to retain dynamics in that zone.

Overall, the decisions are more tone/dynamics based than playing-based.

 

[la szum]

 

[Sascha Franck]

These days (since a while actually) it has pretty much come together for me. Which I think is great.
Whenever I'm looking for sounds to play whatever it might be, I try to grab whatever is on my usual palette and add anything else with my playing.
And otoh, once I feel my playing (or what I think I should be playing) might not be too happy with what I have at my disposal soundwise, I can pretty much narrow things down to some smaller things I might have a look at.
The days of "let's try to get this and that sound" for no apparent valid reasons others than possibly being able to, are gone. Quite fortunately.

 

[Eagle]

If you’re using a digital rig you can go either way with no issues.

 

[Eagle]

Small differences and details only matter if they matter to you . Then they can make all the difference. If you’re rig makes you smile you will play better the the audience will hear the difference. The thing is always do what makes you feel better about yourself and the rest will take care of themselves. But don’t let yourself be persuaded that things don’t matter if deep down you think they do. Listen to yourself not us and especially not him.