I find myself using less and less distortion.

[Bob Zaod]

Natural progression? Maturity? (ok that wont ever happen) age? I dunno what it is but I find it much more pleasing to my ears and hands these days to use the bare minimum of distortion needed on anything I play. I am finding myself mid set looking forward to songs that are either clean or right on the edge. Without getting into the whole gain vs. distortion thing, yes I like gain to where things are touch sensitive and I can grit it up or clean it up with the guitar volume knob. I also find myself experimenting more with the tone knobs on my guitars lately. I never used to touch em I'd just leave em dimed. Matter of fact I used to bury the tone knob on some of my guitars because I never used it.

Don't get me wrong if it really fits the song I love smooth liquid distortion with punch but I have been gravitating away from material that requires that.

To me the ultimate tone is akin to early AC/DC Malcolm Young but with less bite. Early Alex Lifeson too. Like on Caress of Steel. When I want to get off on pure guitar tone I listen to that album. Eh it may be boring to love the breakup of Marshall amps but there's a reason they are on so many recordings and used by so many world famous artists. They kick a$$. Unlike many others I actually prefer Marshall cleans over any other cleans too.

 

[jay mitchell]

Don't get me wrong if it really fits the song I love smooth liquid distortion with punch

Which places at least as great a demand on technique as it does gear.

 

[KingsXJJ]

You are not alone. A lot of solid studio recording advice recommends turning the gain down. It’s a “feel” thing that doesn’t always translate to a “hear” thing IMO.

 

[Baba]

Nah man, I get it. That is the tone right there.

 

[Whizzinby]

Yeah, as much as my inner 15yo wants all the gainez, I now back off some in the name of clarity. Once I start losing the cut and note separation playing chords, I dial it back.

 

[Mongillo19]

Yeah, as much as my inner 15yo wants all the gainez, I now back off some in the name of clarity. Once I start losing the cut and note separation playing chords, I dial it back.

I've even stopped boosting my amps as much.....the horror

 

[PBGas]

When you are layering guitars in the studio, you reduce gain. Once you have all of the guitar tracks "glued" together in a mix, it sounds massive if done correctly.

 

[DrewJD82]

It was playing scooped metal in bands in high school that first got me to cut back on it, when I got the Carvin Legacy head, not a metal amp by any means, more like a modded Ecstasy with a sh*tload of mids and about the same distortion you'd find on an Ecstasy, but playing the same music all of a sudden I can hear myself and there was separation in everything!

You can sound more brutal with less gain, as long as you're not bitchpicking. It's almost as if the hand had something to do with the way the guitar ends up sounding.

 

[imperator]

I play a lot of tech death and my gain knob is always around noon with no boost. I use the yellow channel of the triaxis in my fm3.

 

[RaceU4her]

Not me, I like deep and complex gain structures for almost everything I do and turning the gain down is just not the way to get there in my experience.

 

[Orvillain]

I like beef riffs and dirty panty cleans.

That sentence makes no sense.

 

[ChangelingIX]

Natural progression? Maturity? (ok that wont ever happen) age? I dunno what it is but I find it much more pleasing to my ears and hands these days to use the bare minimum of distortion needed on anything I play. I am finding myself mid set looking forward to songs that are either clean or right on the edge. Without getting into the whole gain vs. distortion thing, yes I like gain to where things are touch sensitive and I can grit it up or clean it up with the guitar volume knob. I also find myself experimenting more with the tone knobs on my guitars lately. I never used to touch em I'd just leave em dimed. Matter of fact I used to bury the tone knob on some of my guitars because I never used it.

Don't get me wrong if it really fits the song I love smooth liquid distortion with punch but I have been gravitating away from material that requires that.

To me the ultimate tone is akin to early AC/DC Malcolm Young but with less bite. Early Alex Lifeson too. Like on Caress of Steel. When I want to get off on pure guitar tone I listen to that album. Eh it may be boring to love the breakup of Marshall amps but there's a reason they are on so many recordings and used by so many world famous artists. They kick a$$. Unlike many others I actually prefer Marshall cleans over any other cleans too.

More and more I feel the same way, with regards to both the lower gain settings as well as learning the beauty and value in varying your settings with your volume and tone knobs on the guitar. Once I started doing all of that it also forced me to really focus on the inefficiencies and issues with my playing technique. I was hiding a lot of bad technique and problems behind a lot of gain and volume.
Especially when it comes to recording now I tend to really clean up the sound and use layering to thicken things up. Two or three layers of rhythm guitar played through a Marshall Plexi creates a sound that feels perfect to me.
And really good call on Lifeson and "Caress Of Steel", I think his tone and playing are near perfect on that album. The guitar tone and playing on songs like "Bastille Day" and "Noone At The Bridge" still gives me goosebumps.

 

[andergtr]

i use less gain than i have in the past, but mostly because it sounds better recorded.

 

[ejecta]

Even in pretty heavy stuff I think less gain is better IMHO. You get to a point with gain where your just lose all dynamics and clarity with just mush. With modern treble bleeds on volume pots I find I didn’t really need more than one channel…. set your gain right and you can go from clean to mean. Also I don’t like pristine cleans…. I like a touch of grit in my cleans.

 

[ejecta]

I like beef riffs and dirty panty cleans.

That sentence makes no sense.

Actually to me it does. Not sure why.

 

[Life Eats Life]

Bob, the key is that you find yourself.
This way,
-less emotional distortions,
more GAIN!!!
LTFOL!!!

 

[Alex Kenivel]

 

[JiveTurkey]

Not me

 

[vino_buono]

i use less gain than i have in the past, but mostly because it sounds better recorded.

For me it especially sounds better live, less gain = more punch. It also requires better technique, which forces me to improve.

@Bob Zaod How old are you? I am 50 and like you I am discovering “strange” things like, a clean tone obtained from crunch by rolling down the volume can be very effective. The guitar tone control is there for a reason, as is the neck pickup. And songs with a beat below 140 bpm are not always boring. Maybe I am just getting old?

 

[RaceU4her]

what some call "needing better technique" i call fighting with the amp which is not something i particularly enjoy doing