# Need advice for a great heavy deathcore tone



## duckdood23 (Apr 4, 2014)

I'm trying to find a good tone for heavy deathcore. Any tips, advice, and etc. please help


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## Adventrooster (Apr 4, 2014)

I'm not sure what deathcore is. But perhaps you can tell us what you are playing on and playing through right now?


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## rectifryer (Apr 4, 2014)

Deathcore? Google Joey Sturgis.


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## Oreo_Death (Apr 5, 2014)

Well what are you using to get these tones? You using/building a pedalboard? Amp modeler? Looking for amps/cabs? There's a lot that goes into making some solid tones, and in a lot of cases it's a combination of several things.


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## noUser01 (Apr 5, 2014)

rectifryer said:


> Deathcore? Google Joey Sturgis.



Meh, he's more of a metalcore guy in my opinion. He does great work regardless though.

Best advice I can give you is that it's in the hands sooooo much more than you think. Honestly. First thing I would recommend is to watch Devin Townsend's video on heavy sounds and REALLY focus on what he says about picking and where you should land in reference to the beat.



Secondly, HIT HARD. I don't mean huge motions and hard strumming but firm picking in everything that you do. Think of it like this, if you do huge motions and hit really hard you'll break your strings and lose a lot of control, if you pick too light you have control but not very good tone. Your picking should be thought of like Bruce Lee's "one inch punch". Very small movements, very powerful strikes. It sounds silly but please trust me, it's one of the greatest things I've done for my playing is picking harder without wasting movement.

Thirdly, cut out your bass a ton. Not completely, leave your bass at around 2-3 (use your ears when in doubt) and crank your midrange. That really crunchy rhythm tone that sounds really heavy is not the guitar itself, it's the combination of the guitar and the bass guitar. The trick to your guitar tone sounding huge is cutting out a decent amount of the bass so that you both tighten up your tone, and allow the bass guitar to take up the space it's meant to be in. If you focus on providing the midrange crunch and grind and take out the muddiness of the bass in your guitar tone you'll really combine with the bass guitar well. Bass will provide all the thickness, your guitar will provide all the aggression.

And lastly, find gear that helps provide that aggressive, grindy midrange you're looking for. Remember, I put gear last on this list for a reason. I know too many people with killer rigs and awful tone, as well as guys with cheap rigs and awesome tone. Points 1 and 2 are things I'm constantly working on even more than dialing in my amp tone, and working on those two things is consistently providing me with better tone.

Hope that helps man, if you have any questions let me know. Just please trust me when I say how important my first two suggestions are, they will pay off!


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## Oreo_Death (Apr 5, 2014)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This

great advice

*noted*


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## Leuchty (Apr 5, 2014)

What Connor said.

Then buy a 6505, Mesa cab and Maxon OD808.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Apr 5, 2014)

^Beat me to it

Deathcore=picking hard+EMG's+OD+6505+Mesa Rectifier 4x12.

Easiest settings for this I've used on a 6505 are pre gain at 4ish, volume to taste, everything else at 6. From there you can tweak as needed, but it's a good starting point IME


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## noUser01 (Apr 5, 2014)

I highly disagree with the EMG's part (they can totally give you that tone, but I don't think they are the best fit), but yes a 6505/5150 is the industry standard for metal tones, especially in deathcore. There's a reason for that, it's awesome. An overdrive in front of any amp just makes it better - tighter, and more aggressive.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Apr 5, 2014)

^I agree with the EMG's thing, but listed them since they seem to be a go-to for the genre. I'd say the good majority of deathcore bands I listen to use EMG's, and the remaining bands often use D-Activators. 

They have their place, but I generally prefer passives; especially if I'm using an overdrive.


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## noUser01 (Apr 6, 2014)

TheWarAgainstTime said:


> ^I agree with the EMG's thing, but listed them since they seem to be a go-to for the genre. I'd say the good majority of deathcore bands I listen to use EMG's, and the remaining bands often use D-Activators.
> 
> They have their place, but I generally prefer passives; especially if I'm using an overdrive.



Odd, I found quite the opposite with the bands I listen to! Haha. In any metal genre though there's always a large group who use EMG's, and they sound solid so it's no surprise.


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## abandonist (Apr 6, 2014)

Buy loud old tube amp and distortion pedal. 

Done. 

Every time this is the answer. Every time. Always.


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## Michael T (Apr 6, 2014)

List of your guitars,strings, tunings, pickups and gear would help us help you drastically.


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## tastehbacon (Apr 6, 2014)

Use more mids and less bass. The bass is the bassists job


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