# How to get the perfect shred/metal tone?



## horacexgrant (Nov 27, 2010)

This is one of my biggest guitar/music making dilemmas, if you would be so kind as to help:

I need that great metal/shred tone ala John Petrucci, Michael Romeo, etc. 
How does one obtain this tone? What combination of gear is necessary to get this? I've been searching for years, and I can't really find that prog metal/shred tone. 
So far, the best tone I've gotten for shred/metal is a crappy Zoom pedal with the metal/shred sounding preset connected to an old Crate amp.

And also, how do we know what pickups sound like if we can't even try them out at a store? Do we just order one and hope that we get a sound that we want?

If you guys can help me out, I would greatly appreciate it. I would prefer the advice of expert shredders/metal players in the prog metal genre. Thanks a lot.


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## MaxOfMetal (Nov 27, 2010)

horacexgrant said:


> I need that great metal/shred tone ala John Petrucci, Michael Romeo, etc.
> How does one obtain this tone?



By practicing your technique A LOT. It might seem strange, but most of those guy's tone is in their fingers. It's why they always sound like them when playing, no matter what the gear really is. Of course gear will matter, but even if you play through JP's own rig, unless you have the phrasing, pick attack, and chops you won't sound like him. 



> What combination of gear is necessary to get this? I've been searching for years, and I can't really find that prog metal/shred tone.
> So far, the best tone I've gotten for shred/metal is a crappy Zoom pedal with the metal/shred sounding preset connected to an old Crate amp.



Tons of amps, pedals, guitars, speakers, etc. can help give you that tone. It has less to do with the individual pieces of gear and more to do with how all the pieces of the puzzle, yourself included, mesh together. 



> And also, how do we know what pickups sound like if we can't even try them out at a store? Do we just order one and hope that we get a sound that we want?



You're lucky since you're in the US, as most major pickup makers will exchange pickups if you don't like the set you bought. Throw in the hundreds of online reviews, albums, and YouTube vids, and choosing pickups/gear is more of an educated decision than a total shot in the dark.


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## AySay (Nov 27, 2010)

Or...

Buy a EBMM JP6 ( Pickup combos= Air Norton/ Steve Special, Liquifire/ CrunchLab)
Buy a Mesa Boogie MkV

Problem solved!


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## horacexgrant (Nov 27, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> By practicing your technique A LOT. It might seem strange, but most of those guy's tone is in their fingers. It's why they always sound like them when playing, no matter what the gear really is. Of course gear will matter, but even if you play through JP's own rig, unless you have the phrasing, pick attack, and chops you won't sound like him.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the response. I do understand your main point, but I think am beyond that phase. I have played on different amps/setups and recorded them, and some of them sound like complete crap, while others are better. So I think that is the case right now. The best tone/setup I have right now could definitely be improved, but will suffice for now. 

If you could give me an example of a pedal and amp combo that gives the tone that we're talking about, that'd be great. Thanks.


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## MaxOfMetal (Nov 27, 2010)

If you have the cash you can't go wrong with Mesa or older Marshall designs. 

What have you played and what were the settings? I can't tell you what's going to sound good to your ears if I have zero reference (besides the Zoom) of what you have experienc with.


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## horacexgrant (Nov 27, 2010)

AySay said:


> Or...
> 
> Buy a EBMM JP6 ( Pickup combos= Air Norton/ Steve Special, Liquifire/ CrunchLab)
> Buy a Mesa Boogie MkV
> ...



Hey thanks. The EBMM is pricey though. Would a high end Ibanez do pretty much the same? And I've heard alot about Mesa Boogie amps. The Sam Ash store in my city doesn't carry them. Maybe I'll try them out at Guitar Center...

I've been looking at the BOSS pedals (ME-70, GT-10, etc) and the guitarist Rob Marcello gets an insane buttery metal tone from it. This is a link to Rob's tone: 

But I actually tried it out at the store with a Line 6 amp, and I couldn't find the preset for that buttery tone. And no one at the store knew enough to help me. And I don't know what amp Marcello uses with that pedal.


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## horacexgrant (Nov 27, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> If you have the cash you can't go wrong with Mesa or older Marshall designs.
> 
> What have you played and what were the settings? I can't tell you what's going to sound good to your ears if I have zero reference (besides the Zoom) of what you have experienc with.



I have a Crate GLX15 and an older Crate GX-20R (yes, I know crappy amps for the most part). I bought the GLX15 because it sounded great to me shred-wise, but when I recorded with it, the tone was very tinny and harsh on the playback. It did not improve when connected with the Zoom pedal.

However, with my Zoom and the GX-20R, one of the presets has a pretty good shred/metal tone that I can shred with. But doing pinch harmonics on it is not that good. And it could use more boost in power and punch. I've tried Line 6's with and without my pedal and the tone is not that great. 

Yes, I'm kind of a newbie in guitar gear and all that technical stuff.

I mainly have been shredding on minimal quality gear for a long time.


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## MaxOfMetal (Nov 27, 2010)

Go to as many music shops as you can and try out every single piece of gear. Don't just plug in, play for a minute or two and move on, but spend some time dialing it in. It's really the only way to find what you want.


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## horacexgrant (Nov 27, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Go to as many music shops as you can and try out every single piece of gear. Don't just plug in, play for a minute or two and move on, but spend some time dialing it in. It's really the only way to find what you want.



I've tried that, but whenever I direct plug into an amp, it doesn't have a good shred tone. It is choppy when I'm shredding and doesn't have the connecting butteriness at full gain. And even then, I don't get that metal tone. It's just a really hard and arduous process. I was hoping people here could give me a shortcut as to what will definitely give that tone that we're talking about. Thanks for the help.


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## MaxOfMetal (Nov 27, 2010)

horacexgrant said:


> I've tried that, but whenever I direct plug into an amp, it doesn't have a good shred tone. It is choppy when I'm shredding and doesn't have the connecting butteriness at full gain. And even then, I don't get that metal tone. It's just a really hard and arduous process. I was hoping people here could give me a shortcut as to what will definitely give that tone that we're talking about. Thanks for the help.



To put it simply, unless you're getting a digital modeler, no amp is really going to instantly sound the way you want it to without playing with the controls a bit, that's why they're there. 

If you just want to bypass all that, pick up a Boss, Digitech, or Line6 modeling processor, as they typically have a few "shreddy" presets on them which are a good basis to tweak a bit.


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## aiur55 (Nov 27, 2010)

Tone is hard work! There are no shortcuts when it comes to tone...


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## horacexgrant (Nov 27, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> To put it simply, unless you're getting a digital modeler, no amp is really going to instantly sound the way you want it to without playing with the controls a bit, that's why they're there.
> 
> If you just want to bypass all that, pick up a Boss, Digitech, or Line6 modeling processor, as they typically have a few "shreddy" presets on them which are a good basis to tweak a bit.



Thanks. And this is where my tech lingo is kind of beginner. By modeling processor, do you mean a pedal? So if I get a Boss pedal like the GT-10, I have to find a good preset, and then tweak it? Because I have tried the GT-10 before with a Line 6 and I didn't find a good preset, like the one Marcello was using. And yes, I do know he is a shred god. But I have been playing for many years and can shred well. All I need is the gear. 

That being said, (this is probably a dumb question), given a certain pedal like the GT-10, are there certain amps that match better with the pedal than others, or would the pedal bypass the amp, and just give its own tone? I know this isn't the case with my Zoom, but I just want to make sure.


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## SpaceDock (Nov 27, 2010)

Maybe dial in your lead tone to use the neck pickup? I used to play leads on the bridge with my amp set up like dimebag style tone, the petrucci buttery tone is from the neck and high gain mids.


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## feilong29 (Feb 3, 2012)

PM'd ya on getthing that tone dialed in.


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## gandalf (Feb 3, 2012)

I think those to players have very different sound, Petrucci has a whole lot of effects in his tone and Romeo a more simple distortion. I think you will be happy if you start to find basic sound for yourself you like and from there start to add more effects like petrucci. Also I believe their sound are much more in what they play. When I think of romeo I think of tapped m7 arpeggios and Harmonic Minor runs. Try some of those ideas and see if that does not take you into the world of Mike Romeo


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