# Best bands guitar tone?



## Daemoniac (Apr 1, 2009)

Probably a couple of threads on it, but i couldn't find any with the search... SO, what band do you think has the best guitar tone? Which is your favorite? What kind of tone is it? And so on and so forth 

For me, its a cross between 16 Volts thick, recto-ish tone, with loads of chunk, Linkin Parks heavy, grinding tone, and a little shit band called Reach 454's really muddy, ridiculously high gain tone.

Whats yours?


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## MF_Kitten (Apr 1, 2009)

it depends on the specific band, but i like meshuggah&#180;s tone on DEI and most of the 8 string albums. i love Bulb&#180;s tone, and as an interesting variation, i like textures&#180;s tone on the latest album. it&#180;s like they went for a djenty tone, but then just really really thickened it up.


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## Curt-Platt (Apr 1, 2009)

im really into the krank tone which i thinks just really definitive, so i guess probably Nevermore, Architects.


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## Nick (Apr 1, 2009)

i quite like a dry clear tone.

i randomly listened to hatesphere today and quite liked the tone i heard but cant remember the album name.


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## ArtDecade (Apr 1, 2009)

Testament.


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## DemiseJosh (Apr 1, 2009)

DEMISE OF ALL REASON HAS AN AMAZING TONE!!!!!!

MESA BOOGIE CABS
ENGL POWERBALL AND FIREBALL HEADS
IBANEZ 7 STRINGS WITH EMGS
IBANEZ TUBE SCREAMER
BOSS NS-2 NOISE REDUCTION

ALSO PEAVEY XXX HEAD USED OCASIONALLY

DEFINATLY THE BEST TONE CHECK DEMISE OF ALL REASON OUT!!!!

MYSPACE.COM/DEMISEOFALLREASON


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## Scar Symmetry (Apr 1, 2009)

caps are fail.

my favourite guitar tone is Dead Heart In A Dead World


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## jymellis (Apr 1, 2009)

im not goingto name any bands but i will explain the tone i really like for my 7. i like lots of distortion/gain/o.d or whatever you call it. but i like for my low end palm mutes to ring clear when held. how can i explain this better? ummmm. when playing chords or mutes i like it to be distorted but not muddy, highs there but not to sgrill. just enough mids to cut through the lows, and enough lows to feel it in your chest. now for the clear part. i really like a distorted sounding chunky mute but when i let the mute ring i dont want it to buzz, or break up. i like it to stay bassy and clear, with no ringing or djent, just BOOOOMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm.


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## Wi77iam (Apr 1, 2009)

DemiseJosh said:


> DEMISE OF ALL REASON HAS AN AMAZING TONE!!!!!!
> 
> MESA BOOGIE CABS
> ENGL POWERBALL AND FIREBALL HEADS
> ...



shameless self plug much? 

anyway, Mushroomhead have a pretty tastey tone.
So does Blotted Science, The Absence.


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## Scar Symmetry (Apr 1, 2009)

Demoniac said:


> recto-ish tone, with loads of chunk, Linkin Parks heavy, grinding tone



Link Park's tone on Meteora and Evanescence's tone on Fallen are actually fucking sick.

another one of my favourite guitar tones is on Martriden's album The Unsettling Dark, I think that's ENGL Powerballs. that album was engineered by James Murphy, who also engineered The Absence's album Riders of the Plague.


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## darren (Apr 1, 2009)

I'm probably going to get completely laughed at for this, but i have to say that Nickelback has some of the best recorded guitar and bass tones in modern rock. They're thick and heavy with a nice grind, and the guitars, bass and drums all sit perfectly in the mix.


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## jymellis (Apr 1, 2009)

darren said:


> I'm probably going to get completely laughed at for this, but i have to say that Nickelback has some of the best recorded guitar and bass tones in modern rock. They're thick and heavy with a nice grind, and the guitars, bass and drums all sit perfectly in the mix.



hated them in my younger years but have grown to love the bass work in almost every stone temmple pilots song. forget the guitars, drums, and vocals. if you listen to the bass playing it makes the music!


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## Scar Symmetry (Apr 1, 2009)

oh and I forgot, the tone on Scar Symmetry's Holographic Universe and Bloodbath's The Fathomless Mastery is also is sick


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## ZeroSignal (Apr 1, 2009)

darren said:


> I'm probably going to get completely laughed at for this, but i have to say that Nickelback has some of the best recorded guitar and bass tones in modern rock. They're thick and heavy with a nice grind, and the guitars, bass and drums all sit perfectly in the mix.



Seconded. And Linkin Park's tone on Hybrid Theory is amazing.


(Not sure how good that video is because I'm in Uni right now so I can't listen. )


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## TheSixthWheel (Apr 1, 2009)

Meshuggah's Vetta II tone, I do love Dino's old JCM800 tone, and on the other side of the spectrum, some of his newer Divine Heresy stuff. But recently I have REALLY been digging Petrucci's tone on the album 'An evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess'. All the epic soaring solos are amazing and have a lot of depth, especially for that live sound. 

Another band 'In Mourning' are a relatively small-time swedish band (sounding somewhat akin to Opeth, as far as generalisations go) who have released their debut album called Shrouded Divine and are currently recording another. The overall tone on Shrouded Divine is really appealing to me and considering it's a debut album, the whole album is rather impressive. For the style, the tone on that album fits very well. Check 'em out.




Scar Symmetry said:


> Link Park's tone on Meteora and Evanescence's tone on Fallen are actually fucking sick.



Really?


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## jymellis (Apr 1, 2009)

TheSixthWheel said:


> Another band 'In Mourning' are a relatively small-time swedish band (sounding somewhat akin to Opeth, as far as generalisations go) who have released their debut album called Shrouded Divine and are currently recording another. The overall tone on Shrouded Divine is really appealing to me and considering it's a debut album, the whole album is rather impressive. For the style, the tone on that album fits very well. Check 'em out.


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## Thin_Ice_77 (Apr 1, 2009)

Killswitch Engage are definitely a big one. I love most hardcore bands tones really, Architects, ABR, Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, etc.


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## jymellis (Apr 1, 2009)

Thin_Ice_77 said:


> Killswitch Engage are definitely a big one. I love most hardcore bands tones really, Architects, ABR, Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, etc.



as i lay crying??? just kidding bro. have you heard austrian death machine yet?


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## Scar Symmetry (Apr 1, 2009)

TheSixthWheel said:


> Really?



yes, really.


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## Thin_Ice_77 (Apr 1, 2009)

jymellis said:


> as i lay crying??? just kidding bro. have you heard austrian death machine yet?


Haven't heard of them before. Oh, and I did listen to the songs you PM'ed me a while ago, I just forget to reply. Sorry about that, hope you didn't think I ignored them or something.


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## jymellis (Apr 1, 2009)

Thin_Ice_77 said:


> Haven't heard of them before. Oh, and I did listen to the songs you PM'ed me a while ago, I just forget to reply. Sorry about that, hope you didn't think I ignored them or something.



pm on its way!


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## vontetzianos (Apr 1, 2009)

Devin Townsend and Jed Simon on Alien for Strapping is one of my favourites. I also rate Petrucci, LTE and Dream Theater have some awesome sounding tones. The older Fear Factory JCM800 sound is also up there, as well as the DEI/Chaosphere Meshuggah tone.


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## jymellis (Apr 1, 2009)

Thin_Ice_77 said:


> Haven't heard of them before. .


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## distressed_romeo (Apr 1, 2009)

For clean/textural sounds: Rush, Queensryche and The Police.

For heavier sounds, I've been really liking Eric Petersen's 'Formation of Damnation' tone recently. For seven-string stuff, Loomis' tone on 'Zero Order Phase' was fantastic, and Fear Factory's 'Demanufacture' is still one of my benchmarks.

For lead tones, Holdsworth, Garsed, Vai, Morse and Yngwie are always good.


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## Toshiro (Apr 1, 2009)

Iced Earth on Something Wicked.

Dragonland on Astronomy.

Nocturnal Rites on Grand Illusion.

Scar Symmetry on Pitch Black Progress.


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## Konfyouzd (Apr 1, 2009)

darren said:


> I'm probably going to get completely laughed at for this, but i have to say that Nickelback has some of the best recorded guitar and bass tones in modern rock. They're thick and heavy with a nice grind, and the guitars, bass and drums all sit perfectly in the mix.



i honestly think their tone sounds pretty good. it's their music i have a problem with. no judgement here... 

i also like vai a lot. he always seems to have the right tone at the right time.


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## Herb Dorklift (Apr 1, 2009)

Airbourne's guitar tone on their album rocks the hardest.


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## HeavyMetal4Ever (Apr 1, 2009)

Like a couple of other have said, Eric Petersen's tone on Formation of Damnation has been a favourite of mine lately.

Some others I really like are Petrucci's tone on Images and Words, Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast, Peace of Mind and Powerslave, Satriani's tone on Crystal Planet and Swansong by Carcass to name but a few.

Rock on!


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## Nats (Apr 1, 2009)

e town concrete


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## ShadyDavey (Apr 1, 2009)

distressed_romeo said:


> For clean/textural sounds: Rush, Queensryche and The Police.
> 
> For heavier sounds, I've been really liking Eric Petersen's 'Formation of Damnation' tone recently. For seven-string stuff, Loomis' tone on 'Zero Order Phase' was fantastic, and Fear Factory's 'Demanufacture' is still one of my benchmarks.
> 
> For lead tones, Holdsworth, Garsed, Vai, Morse and Yngwie are always good.



Damn you and your similar taste-ness-ittude  (apart from Morse, not a huge fan of his tone but his playing rocks) 

Yeah, Demanufacture is still awesome - I'm also a fan of Chris Poland's lead tone, and let us not forget Devin has some of the most massive tones ever for my money. I guess if I really had to settle for "my" choice of tone it would be Dino on Demanufacture for rhythm, and Chris Poland with a little more gain/aggression for lead.

Secret 80's admission - John Sykes tone on Whitesnake's 1987 was fucking amazing - but he did blow tubes in his Coliseum head every 6 weeks or so


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## Meldville (Apr 1, 2009)

The tone on Trap Them's newest album is fucking sick. Not full-on buzzsaw, but very raunchy and crunchy. Mmmmmmm mmmmm.


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## yingmin (Apr 1, 2009)

At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
Opeth

The middle break in Zombie, Inc. by In Flames has one of my favorite tones ever.


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## Triple7 (Apr 1, 2009)

[/quote]another one of my favourite guitar tones is on Martriden's album The Unsettling Dark, I think that's ENGL Powerballs. that album was engineered by James Murphy, who also engineered The Absence's album Riders of the Plague.[/quote]

+1 Martriden's album sounds insane, not suprised that it was the same engineer as the newest Absence.


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## Esp Griffyn (Apr 1, 2009)

Best tones

Devin Townsend
Steve Vai
Shawn Lane
Tony Macalpine
Dave Weiner
Stunz and Farah

in no order really, all of these guys have the perfect tone for what they do (or did, in Lane's case)


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## Excalibur (Apr 1, 2009)

distressed_romeo said:


> For clean/textural sounds: Rush, Queensryche and The Police.
> 
> For heavier sounds, I've been really liking Eric Petersen's 'Formation of Damnation' tone recently. For seven-string stuff, Loomis' tone on 'Zero Order Phase' was fantastic, and Fear Factory's 'Demanufacture' is still one of my benchmarks.
> 
> For lead tones, Holdsworth, Garsed, Vai, Morse and Yngwie are always good.


Andy Summers has godly tone.

For clean stuff......

I'll have to go with Steve Rothery and Andy Latimer, without a doubt.

As for lead......

Steve Morse, Greg Howe and Steve Howe.

And as a testament to Rother's amazing tone (he's squeezing this out of a practice amp and an off the shelf Squier)


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## Inazone (Apr 1, 2009)

Scar Symmetry said:


> another one of my favourite guitar tones is on Martriden's album The Unsettling Dark, I think that's ENGL Powerballs. that album was engineered by James Murphy, who also engineered The Absence's album Riders of the Plague.



Yes! My band has had the good fortune to play with both Martriden and The Absence, and they sound quite good live as well, which is saying something when playing venues that don't necessarily have the best sound quality. On their respective albums, I think Mr. Murphy's influence is very apparent. Then again, his work on Testament's Low (along with Eric Peterson) is among my favorites. His lead tone has a certain vocal quality to it, and it's extremely fluid.

My personal favorite Christofer Malmstrom of Darkane and Non-Human Level, who has a violin/cello-type tone on a lot of his solos AND incredibly tight riffing. Jon Nodtveidt from Dissection (RIP) and Jerry Cantrell are also favorites, especially for the really melodic stuff, and Dimension Zero's first album had some great rhythm tones.

It really depends on the musical style, and usually specifically lead or rhythm. Few guitarists seem to have excellent tone for both.


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## fire engine (Apr 1, 2009)

Adam Jones from Tool

This guy isn't even a technically accomplished player, but when his guitar makes noise it sounds like an orgasm.


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## Rick (Apr 1, 2009)

darren said:


> I'm probably going to get completely laughed at for this, but i have to say that Nickelback has some of the best recorded guitar and bass tones in modern rock. They're thick and heavy with a nice grind, and the guitars, bass and drums all sit perfectly in the mix.



Nothing wrong with that at all. They use Mesas with EMGs. You're gonna get pretty decent tone out of that. 

I like FF/Obsolete, Unearth/The Oncoming Storm, and Apartment 26/Music For The Massive as my favorite 3.


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## poopyalligator (Apr 1, 2009)

I love the tone on holographic universe by scar symmetry. It sounds pretty damn awesome. I also like darkest hours tone on undoing ruin and deliver us (engineered by devin townsend).


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## ShadyDavey (Apr 1, 2009)

Excalibur said:


> Andy Summers has godly tone.
> 
> For clean stuff......
> 
> ...




The added body mass probably helps in that instance. I love Marillion (haven't clocked them for a while) but I had no idea Steve had become that comfortable with his living - still a great player however 

Let's have some Latimer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLarYtjkPRA


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## Konfyouzd (Apr 1, 2009)

Inazone said:


> Yes! My band has had the good fortune to play with both Martriden and The Absence, and they sound quite good live as well, which is saying something when playing venues that don't necessarily have the best sound quality. On their respective albums, I think Mr. Murphy's influence is very apparent. Then again, his work on Testament's Low (along with Eric Peterson) is among my favorites. His lead tone has a certain vocal quality to it, and it's extremely fluid.
> 
> My personal favorite Christofer Malmstrom of Darkane and Non-Human Level, who has a violin/cello-type tone on a lot of his solos AND incredibly tight riffing. Jon Nodtveidt from Dissection (RIP) and Jerry Cantrell are also favorites, especially for the really melodic stuff, and Dimension Zero's first album had some great rhythm tones.
> 
> It really depends on the musical style, and usually specifically lead or rhythm. Few guitarists seem to have excellent tone for both.



Malmstrom \m/


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## Excalibur (Apr 1, 2009)

ShadyDavey said:


> The added body mass probably helps in that instance. I love Marillion (haven't clocked them for a while) but I had no idea Steve had become that comfortable with his living - still a great player however
> 
> Let's have some Latimer:



I just KNEW you were going to play the Ice card


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## ShadyDavey (Apr 1, 2009)

Excalibur said:


> I just KNEW you were going to play the Ice card



Alas, that was my joker and I've run out of relevant youtube links on the subject unless I upload something from my personal frottage collection....I mean....Exemplars of Tone Collection. Not frottage.


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## MFB (Apr 1, 2009)

Iced Earth (Something Wicked/Horror Show)
Devin Townsend (Ziltoid)
Symphony X (Everything besides S/T & newest)

There's more but I'm lazy


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## Nick (Apr 1, 2009)

darkane
severed saviours recent release
behemoth - demigod
Martyr


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## Konfyouzd (Apr 1, 2009)

Nick said:


> darkane?



malmstrom, no? or are you saying that they don't have good tone?


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## BurialWithin (Apr 1, 2009)

Killswitch, The Faceless(planetary duality), Born of Osiris, SEVERED SAVIOR, Decapitated's newest album. The Black Dahlia Murder's tone on Nocturnal , and Unearth's tone is awesome
Muhamed's tone rules


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## Imdeathcore (Apr 1, 2009)

circus maximus tone and symphony x but scar symmetry,whitechapel and gallows of grace are amazing too!!


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## cosmicamnesia (Apr 1, 2009)

the faceless' tone on planetary duality and muhammed's tone on all the necrophagist stuff

i also reeeeally love steve morse's tone


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## ShadyDavey (Apr 1, 2009)

Konfyouzd said:


> malmstrom, no? or are you saying that they don't have good tone?



I had never heard them so I just went for a cursory listen and I have to say I didn't hear anything notably different in his tone. Its not a bad tone but its not that idiosyncractic in my absolutely honest opinion (no offence intended to Darkane fans - the music is absolutely fine).


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## Xanithon (Apr 1, 2009)

i'd have to say Necrophagist (specially on the leads), Meshuggah (from DEI to obZen) and Cynic's both clean and distorted stuff (only on Traced, Focus' production was mediocre).


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## whisper (Apr 1, 2009)

SRV
Santana / Neal Schon (kinda the same sounding to me)
Michael Keene (The Faceless)
of course Meshuggah has seemed to have nailed the extended low range tone, but then who else is playing custom 30.5" scale 8's? Are there any other metal bands using this scale length?


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## Bucks (Apr 1, 2009)

Some of my favorites:

JP's lead from scenes.
I also really dig paul & tymons' tone from traced, especially the cleans. =)


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## ArtDecade (Apr 1, 2009)

Bucks said:


> Some of my favorites:
> 
> JP's lead from scenes.
> I also really dig paul & tymons' tone from traced, especially the cleans. =)



Dead on. Those are my favorite clean tones of the minute.


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## phantom911 (Apr 1, 2009)

in flames have pretty much always had good tone


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## Daemoniac (Apr 2, 2009)

Im also a big fan of Mushroomheads tone, and a band called Factory 81... total, over-the-top sizzle, and that token "ripping" sound the high end gets when EMGs are involved. Love it


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## Scar Symmetry (Apr 2, 2009)

Demoniac said:


> Factory 81



I don't know about anyone else but I FUCKING HATE band names like this.

bands that think of a building and then add a number, it really pisses me off.

"Hangar 76"
"Factory 65"
"Abbattoir 22"

whether the music is good or not, I think the fact that they choose these type of names is really, really gay.

[/rant]


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## ZeroSignal (Apr 2, 2009)

Scar Symmetry said:


> I don't know about anyone else but I FUCKING HATE band names like this.
> 
> bands that think of a building and then add a number, it really pisses me off.
> 
> ...



What about Slaughterhouse 5? Kurt is a legend in his discipline.


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## Scar Symmetry (Apr 2, 2009)

that's a book!


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## CynicEidolon (Apr 2, 2009)

Adam Jones 
Aaron Turner 
Josh Homme


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## Daemoniac (Apr 2, 2009)

Scar Symmetry said:


> I don't know about anyone else but I FUCKING HATE band names like this.
> 
> bands that think of a building and then add a number, it really pisses me off.
> 
> ...



For me it depends on what kind of band name it is. These guys, yeah, the name is shithouse. But, on the flip side, "Psyclon Nine", and "Unit:187" i don't mind, cos theres actually a reason for the names (though i don't remember Unit's name decision off the top of my head ).


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## ZeroSignal (Apr 2, 2009)

Scar Symmetry said:


> that's a book!



SHHHHHHHH...!!!!!!


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## Daemoniac (Apr 2, 2009)

ZeroSignal said:


> SHHHHHHHH...!!!!!!



Thats not a guitar tone _or_ a band


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## jymellis (Apr 2, 2009)

Scar Symmetry said:


> I don't know about anyone else but I FUCKING HATE band names like this.
> 
> bands that think of a building and then add a number, it really pisses me off.
> 
> ...



ever heard exit 13?


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## Scar Symmetry (Apr 2, 2009)

jymellis said:


> ever heard exit 13?



yep. my friend's band is called Exit Ten.

I just don't like the fact that you can blatantly see that they put no effort into their name.


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## Nick (Apr 2, 2009)

much as i want to hate killswitch engage for some reason they do imo have pretty good guitar tone for the most part


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## Marv Attaxx (Apr 2, 2009)

My favourites:
- Wes Borland (especially on the unquestionable truth)
- Dino Cazares
- Gojira!!!!
- Cannibal corpse since "Kill"
- Behemoth since Demigod
- Muhammed Suicmez 
- Devin Townsend
- Machine Head (especially "the blackening"
- Meshuggah (Chaosphere)
- Morbid Angel (especially the leads)
- Mick Thomson
- Tool


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## Wi77iam (Apr 2, 2009)

Austrian Death Machine .. 
and +1 to Wes Borland.


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## Nick (Apr 2, 2009)

+1 on gojira


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## ZeroSignal (Apr 2, 2009)

Marv Attaxx said:


> My favourites:
> - Wes Borland (especially on the unquestionable truth)



Oh my god yes! For some reason, my favourite guitar tones are uber tight and grindy and super clear tones but Borland just has this... vibe when he plays. He makes a cheap sounding guitar sound like it's got some serious soul in it.


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## labelthief (Apr 2, 2009)

darren said:


> I'm probably going to get completely laughed at for this, but i have to say that Nickelback has some of the best recorded guitar and bass tones in modern rock. They're thick and heavy with a nice grind, and the guitars, bass and drums all sit perfectly in the mix.


heh, couldn't agree more.


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## COBHC (Apr 2, 2009)

Mors Principium Est the cd with Pure and Fragile Flesh ( cant remember name off top of my head )

absolutely love the guitar / bass tones

edit:


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## Variant (Apr 2, 2009)

*Of the top of my hairy head:*

Most all of Devin Townsend's tones, esp. the old scooped & washy 5150 ones (my tone right now is pretty much a cop of his, with some Meshuggah Djentyness mixed in). 

Meshuggah's Vetta sound on the big eighters. 

Jim Matheos' dense Fates/OSI tone.  Clean stuff is lovely as well.

David Gilmour.

Rocky George had the best lead tones, esp. the harmonized ones on Art Of Rebellion.

Arjen Lucassen does awesome rhythm and leady stuff.

My favorite bass tones are Peter Iwers late I.F. tones, as well as Sybreed who have a crushing sound as well.



darren said:


> I'm probably going to get completely laughed at for this, but i have to say that Nickelback has some of the best recorded guitar and bass tones in modern rock. They're thick and heavy with a nice grind, and the guitars, bass and drums all sit perfectly in the mix.



 Uh huh, I have a multisample of the drummers snare that I'm probably going to use on our current project... it positively kills, too bad their songwriting does not.


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## phantom911 (Apr 2, 2009)

Uh huh, I have a multisample of the drummers snare that I'm probably going to use on our current project... it positively kills, too bad their songwriting does not. [/QUOTE]


Dont be selfish with that now...


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## SleepingSymphon (Apr 2, 2009)

Cynic for solos (traced in air), Meshuggah for rhythm.


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## eegor (Apr 2, 2009)

There was a video posted not too long ago that showed Fell Silent playing live. It was one of the most incredible tones I've ever heard.


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## EliNoPants (Apr 2, 2009)

i can't believe it took 73 posts before someone mentioned David Gilmour
Chuck Schuldiner's tone on the last Death album and the Control Denied album was pretty good for leads
and for the most part, i know a lot of guys here hate on EMGs, but almost every time you put them through a Marshall JCM, or a Mesa anything you get at least a decent tone unless you've got someone practically trying to make it suck, i mean, Hetfield, c'mon
and lately i've really been digging Tosin Abasi's tone with the Animals as Leaders stuff, not sure if he's using Q-tuners for all of it, but damn do they sound good through whatever he's playing with


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## Harry (Apr 3, 2009)

SleepingSymphon said:


> Cynic for solos (traced in air), Meshuggah for rhythm.



Agreed on both accounts


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## Isan (Apr 3, 2009)

unearth , and War of Ages


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## lefty robb (Apr 3, 2009)

Variant said:


> David Gilmour.




i can't believe it took almost 2 full pages for someone to say this. 


:edit:



EliNoPants said:


> i can't believe it took 73 posts before someone mentioned David Gilmour



I was so excited to see his post I missed yours lol.


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## Mike_Philippov (Apr 3, 2009)

For rhythm guitar? Probably Dream Theater.

For lead, probably Michael Angelo Batio, and also my awesome guitar teacher Tom Hess. 

Of course this is only my opinion, but I haven't heard anyone with a better tone than these guys.


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## JoshuaLogan (Apr 3, 2009)

I like a lot of recorded tones, but a great guitar tone I've noticed lately is the tone on the Beneath The Massacre album Dystopia... just fucking excellent sounding... so heavy, so clear, not too bright or harsh... awesome


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## cpnhowdy (Apr 3, 2009)

I dig the tone Machine Head got off of The Blackening alot, also 
Mastodon`s tone on Crack the Skye. 
Big fan of Joe Bonamassa tone too


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## Cadavuh (Apr 3, 2009)

Shadows Fall has some of the sickest tones ever, both for lead and rhythm IMO. Decrepit Births tone on the new album. Newer Jeff Loomis lead tone blows me away with shredtastic intenseness. Necrophagists rhythm and leads as well. God I love dryness!


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## Yoshi (Apr 3, 2009)

I know a lot of you don't like them and EMG's but As I Lay Dying On their 2nd album *can't remember the name, the one with Confined on it*. And Unearth on all albums from Oncoming Storm.


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## Daemoniac (Apr 3, 2009)

ZeroSignal said:


> Oh my god yes! For some reason, my favourite guitar tones are uber tight and grindy and super clear tones but Borland just has this... vibe when he plays. He makes a cheap sounding guitar sound like it's got some serious soul in it.



 Totally agreed. I can't believe i forgot him either  Theres just *something* about his guitar tone thatis aweosme. It fits perfectly with a band, and is so powerful without taking over the mix. Great stuff



Demoniac said:


> Im also a big fan of Mushroomheads tone



Partially to quote my awesomeness, and partially to add that i can actually get pretty near their tone too  Awesomely thick.


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## Herb Dorklift (Apr 3, 2009)

To add my to my earlier posts...

*Airbourne* - For all round balls to the wall rhythm and lead.

*Andy Timmons* - The clean - mid gain master.

*John Petrucci* - Everything upto Systematic Chaos has been godly, Falling into Infinity in particular.

*Ayreon/Arjen Lucassen* - Another godly heavy tone.

*James Hetfield* - Garage Inc era.

*Alex Lifeson* - In the 70s, before everything got rubbish.


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## Variant (Apr 3, 2009)

Herb Dorklift said:


> *Alex Lifeson* - In the 70s, before everything got rubbish.



 Not true, he's had some great tones on some more recent albums, and live... but one in particular is his phenomenal solo album '*Victor*' which has an array of great guitar tones, lead, rhythm, clean, brown, jazzy, and so on. Buy it now!


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## Naren (Apr 3, 2009)

I've mentioned this before in several threads, but I guess I'll go again.

For heavy rhythm guitar, my favorite tone is Scar Symmetry's tone off Pitch Black Progress. For clean guitar, I have my own favorite tone that I can't compare to any band that I know of.
For lead guitar, I have a lot of favorites, but Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth's lead tone off Black Water Park, Bill Steer and Michael Amott from Carcass' lead tone off Heartwork, and Paul Masvidal from Cynic's lead tone off Focus.

And a whole lot more. My favorite rhythm guitar sounds are the Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier and then the Engl Powerball, but set up and EQed to my tastes.


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## Herb Dorklift (Apr 3, 2009)

Variant said:


> Not true, he's had some great tones on some more recent albums, and live... but one in particular is his phenomenal solo album '*Victor*' which has an array of great guitar tones, lead, rhythm, clean, brown, jazzy, and so on. Buy it now!


 
Ah, meant to put "rubbish in the 80s".

He does have some great new tones yes.


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## ZeroSignal (Apr 3, 2009)

EliNoPants said:


> Chuck Schuldiner's tone on the last Death album and the Control Denied album was pretty good for leads
> and for the most part, i know a lot of guys here hate on EMGs, but almost every time you put them through a Marshall JCM, or a Mesa anything you get at least a decent tone unless you've got someone practically trying to make it suck, i mean, Hetfield, c'mon
> and lately i've really been digging Tosin Abasi's tone with the Animals as Leaders stuff, not sure if he's using Q-tuners for all of it, but damn do they sound good through whatever he's playing with



Er... Chuck Schuldiner never used EMGs. He always used a DiMarzio X2N in his BC Rich's.

Good question on the Tosin Abasi pickups. I'd really, really love to get an answer for that one.


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## jymellis (Apr 3, 2009)

Demoniac said:


> Partially to quote my awesomeness, and partially to add that i can actually get pretty near their tone too  Awesomely thick.




 mrh tone is soooo nasty, i love it. did you ever get to check out (216)?


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## groph (Apr 4, 2009)

Not so much guitar tone, but the mix on Cannibal Corpse's Gore Obsessed is amazing. The guitar is a tad too "rectumfrier" (too much sizzle) but the bass is heard really well, and it's just gut-ripping. The intro riff to Hatchet to the Head exemplifies this.

Ulcerate's guitar tone on The Coming of Genocide and Everything is Fire is pretty wicked.

Kataklysm's In the Arms of Devastation is some of the most brutal solid state tone (pretty sure it's SS) ever

The Last Felony's Aeon of Suffering has this wicked snarl to it, 6505 I think. The bass tone is buttfuck-terrible though. Like really bad, as in it sounds like the synth guitar in Fruity Loops.

Ion Dissonance's Minus the Herd, obviously. Yeah, it's a wall of noise but it sounds massive.
Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God - not as good as older AA but they've got the shitty tone issue fixed.
Disgorge - Consume the Forsaken = brutal
Devourment - Butcher the Weak = unintelligible but brutal
Big +1 on Bloodbath's The Fathomless Mastery, Unblessing the Purity's tone is really similar and I think a bit better.
All Shall Perish - Awaken the Dreamers, basically have the deathcore tone formula down to a science. Same deal for After the Burial and most deathcore bands in that vein. Burning the Masses - Mind Control, also righteous tone.

I've always loved Every Time I Die's tone

As for the tone on Planetary Duality, everything but the palm mutes sounds amazing. Too much gain wrecks palm-mutes. Is that a Randall V2?

Behemoth's tone on Demigod has a really satisfying looseness to it..


And Suffocation's tone on Despise the Sun KICKS ASS


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## GCM (Apr 4, 2009)

The Red Shore, definitely. Peavey 5150's. love it.


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## canuck brian (Apr 4, 2009)

Nevermore (TGE) and Carcass (heartwork) have my favorite guitar tones hands down.


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## Scar Symmetry (Apr 8, 2009)

this thread's been away fo too long!

Catch 33 has incredible tone, so in your face, I love it.

I actually really like the tone on Annihilation of the Wicked, it's not by any means the best of anything but I think it really suits the album.

Decapitated - The Negation, Nevermore - Dead Heart In A Dead World, Whitechapel - This Is Exile, Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe, Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery and After The Burial - Rareform although it is really fizzy.

those are my current faves


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## petereanima (Apr 8, 2009)

cpnhowdy said:


> I dig the tone Machine Head got off of The Blackening alot, also
> Mastodon`s tone on Crack the Skye.
> Big fan of Joe Bonamassa tone too



exactly this. you sir, got taste.


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## vampiregenocide (Apr 8, 2009)

Static-X - Some say their tone has got a bit digital with recent releases, maybe but I still love that thick, heavy chordwork.

Meshuggah - Nothing is probably the oen album that stands out to be tone wise, completely flawless.

Seether - Whether its cleans or downright heavy shit, Seether do it well.

Tool (Adam Jones) - His solo work ranges from suttle to epic, and its just beautiful.

Mastodon - Blood Mountain ftw.

Dino Cazares w/ Divine Heresy - I don't really like 'shred' guitar work, but Bleed the Fifth made me want to try harder.


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## ArtDecade (Apr 8, 2009)

Couple of outsiders... Just about all of the tones that Robert Fripp and Steve Hackett lay down are pretty darn tasty. They don't always sound like "typical" guitar tones, but they always work within the context of the piece.


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## Crometeef (Apr 10, 2009)

i think evergrey's tone on torn takes the cake for me 

YouTube - Evergrey - Fear


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## Daemoniac (Apr 10, 2009)

Actually, Dir En Grey's tone on some of their songsis just incredible, Marmalade Chainsaw especially 



Actually... that song is just generally one o myfavorite songs right now


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## darbdavys (Apr 10, 2009)

Nevermore for me, especially their live sound


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## Cyco Nino (May 7, 2009)

Exhorder - The law


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## Scar Symmetry (May 7, 2009)

Darkane
Nevermore
Textures
Gojira
Anaal Nathrakh
Martriden
The Absence
Bloodbath
Dimmu Borgir
At The Gates
Arch Enemy
Whitechapel
Scar Symmetry
Decapitated
Meshuggah
Aborted
Dream Evil
In Flames
Killswitch Engage
The Faceless
Nightrage


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## Triple7 (May 7, 2009)

^^

I was just listening to Martriden and Darkane before both have nasty tones, don't they both use Engl?


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## rasse (May 7, 2009)

Nevermore

A Life once lost - Iron gag

Killswitch Engage

Gojira - The Way of all Flesh

Lamb of God - As the Palaces burn

Sikth (I mean... blackmachine/PRS and Diezels holy fuck?)

Textures - Silhouettes

And I kinda like the tone on the new The Human Abstract's album too


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## auxioluck (May 7, 2009)

Blotted Science.


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## Scar Symmetry (May 7, 2009)

Triple7 said:


> ^^
> 
> I was just listening to Martriden and Darkane before both have nasty tones, don't they both use Engl?



yeah man Martriden use the Powerball and Darkane use the Savage 120


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## bostjan (May 7, 2009)

+1 for pretty much everyone mentioned. I'm not a huge fan of Michael Angelo Batio's tone, though.

I especially agree with John Petrucci, who I think has the definition of Progressive Hard Rock tone, especially in the olden days of Awake and A Change of Seasons, but also even now.

Chuck Schuldiner had a very distinctive tone which I immediately think of when I think of death metal.

Any of the "big" guitarists with immediately recognizable tones, like Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana, Alan Holdsworth, and even Slash... etc. It's always amazed me how great these guys were at finding the perfect tone to voice their playing.

I think that the guys from Boston also deserve mention. I'm not much of a fan of the band, but I am a fan of the tone.


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## Meldville (May 7, 2009)

The tones I like, most people here will probably think suck. Oh well.

At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul. I fucking LOVE this tone, and the more I've learned about tones and the sounds I hear in my head, the more I love it. I used to think it was mediocre at best, but I've really come to appreciate the effect that it has on the songs/album's atmosphere.

Behemoth - The Apostasy. Crushing as fuck, but with enough...."room," for lack of a better term, to add to the style of riffing that they used here, as opposed to the more straight-forward tone/riffing style on Demigod.

Meshuggah - everything. I mean, come on. Who doesn't love their tone?

Mastodon - Remission. Crank this album up on good speakers and drink a cold beer. Life is good. Really fucking good. Even though I loathe everything they've done since, this album changed my world.

Wolfbrigade - In Darkness You Feel No Regrets. Swedish-DM-influenced buzzsaw tone, but it contrasts so well with the melodic guitar work that it just....man, it kills.

Ulcerate - Everything is Fire. MAN the sound of this album, especially the guitars, just blows my mind. I want to make music that sounds like this. THIS is death metal.


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## Holy Katana (May 7, 2009)

Metal-wise, I dig Meshuggah's tones, Nevermore's, Opeth's, and Mastodon's.

That's just about all the metal I listen to these days, though. I'm going to be crucified on an inverted cross for saying it, but I really like alternative and indie more.


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## bostjan (May 7, 2009)

Holy Katana said:


> Metal-wise, I dig Meshuggah's tones, Nevermore's, Opeth's, and Mastodon's.
> 
> That's just about all the metal I listen to these days, though. I'm going to be crucified on an inverted cross for saying it, but I really like alternative and indie more.



Nothing wrong with alternative music. I still have yet to hear an indie band with noteworthy guitar tone - but I have only heard about 0.005% of all of the indie bands around.


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## ZeroSignal (May 7, 2009)

bostjan said:


> Nothing wrong with alternative music. I still have yet to hear an indie band with noteworthy guitar tone - but I have only heard about 0.005% of all of the indie bands around.



I live in Northern Europe, so unfortunately I have heard 99.995% of all Indie bands and they all sound the same. Twangy sounding Teles/Strats/Rickenbackers playing incredibly poorly thought out music.


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## Holy Katana (May 7, 2009)

ZeroSignal said:


> I live in Northern Europe, so unfortunately I have heard 99.995% of all Indie bands and they all sound the same. Twangy sounding Teles/Strats/Rickenbackers playing incredibly poorly thought out music.



A lot of them do, but the challenge is finding the good stuff. To be honest, most bands in most genres sound the same, especially to unfamiliar ears.

Somehow, I knew your post was going to be exactly like it is. I mean, whatever, bash indie all you want. I used to, but then I started listening to it.


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## Devour3d (May 7, 2009)

Kataklysm - The Road to Devastation & Prevail
Decapitated - Organic Hallucinosis & The Negation
Decrepit Birth - Diminishing Between Worlds
The Faceless - Planetary Duality
The Absence - Riders of the Plague
All Shall Perish - Awaken the Dreamers
Necrophagist
Nevermore
Opeth
Scar Symmetry
Suffocation

I have quite a few favorites


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## Ben.Last (May 8, 2009)

I find it much more important to have a tone that "fits" than it is a case of there being a universal standard so some of these may seem odd.

-Machine Head(they've always had great guitar tone)
-Tool(Adam Jones' playing is instantly recognizable)
-Static X(they were mentioned and I thought about it, their tone fits their style perfectly)
-Gojira(H-E-A-V-Y)
-Meshuggah(ditto)
-NIN(based on the variety of ways to screw with the instrument alone)
-Scar Symmetry
-Prong(again, just perfect for the music)
-Sikth
-Opeth(classic)


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## abysmalrites (May 8, 2009)

Beneath the Massacre (first mechanics, then dystopia)
Origin
V:28
Decapitated - most of their albums

and more that I can't think of ATM.


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## Euthanasia (May 8, 2009)

I love Meshuggah's tone in I, Nothing and Obzen.
I also love the tone of Machine head in The Blackening, Bulb's tone and Tesseract's old tones.
Soilwork, killswitch Engage and Textures got a really sweet tone aswell.


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