Can you play metal on a Hollowbody guitar with low output pickups?

[Utkarsh Mohan]

The short answer is yes
Over making last week's video, I was pleasantly surprised by the tones I was getting running my core PRS Hollowbody II through a Friedman esque as well as a higher gain patch. There is this overall myth about needing high output pickups for tightness. Also hollowbodies of the past have a bad rap for feedback

The PRS Hollowbody II has no feedback. This is well documented and the reasons are to do with the construction. And though it has PAF like 58/15 LTs, it's all about the right hand technique to get the tightness and chunk.

Ran a quick comparison with a admitted more metal ESP Eclipse 7 String with EMGs and if you are like me, you will be shocked at how good it sounds

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Breaking Benjamin did and it sounded great to me. Ben played custom Hollow body II baritones tuned to drop A#

 

[Thesius]

If the question is "can you play metal on x" the answer is always "yes"

 

[somethingsomething]

It's actually illegal under MM Sec. 254(b)(i)(2A) to play metal on a hollowbody guitar. And here you are recording the entire sordid incident.

The TRVE Police will be at your door momentarily.

 

[Utkarsh Mohan]

If the question is "can you play metal on x" the answer is always "yes"

Yeah!!! In a James Hetfield voice

 

[budda]

Paging Emil Werstler.

 

[Musiscience]

Paging Emil Werstler.

This.

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

I once saw a thrash band called "metallingus" at a dive in San Jose called The Caravan. These dudes had clearly been doing this since the early 90s and continued despite getting older and getting office jobs, etc. The lead guitarist was a bald, shirtless guy with a big gut and boundless energy wailing on a sweet Vee.

Halfway through the show he broke a string and had to pull out his backup guitar: some kind of 335 style. Still ripped.

It was awesome.

 

[PuckishGuitar]

Great video! I have a HBII SE and it does well with high gain. Usually like to play it on my JR Terror or MiniRecto on vintage 10w with the gain cranked, nothing really tight but prefer it round and a bit fuzzy. No feedback at all. The neck is chunkier than my other guitars, but playing it is really fun and has become my couch guitar. I did some recording a few weeks ago with it and NDSP Cali plugin and it worked great on the lead channel.

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Paging Emil Werstler.

Beat me to it. 👏

 

[død]

The trve kings of the Norwegian underground, The Cumshots, did this 20 years ago, but with Gibson ES-175s and 335s. Sounds absolutely insane.

 

[Alsvartr]

Reverend Horton Heat plays a big orange Gretsch with a Bigsby through Fender amps. Listen to Baddest of the Bad to hear them go full Emperor for a bit in the middle.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

this dude plays Battery with a hollowbody and single coils.

 

[odibrom]

... so... was this a "click my youtube video" thread?

Why are people using video titles like "Is this ok?" or "Can I do this please?" or "This is the first metal strat..." (yeah right...) or something? What's that target audience? 6 year old kids? They know better than that already...

 

[Wiltonauer]

I would have said “Yes” anyway, but then I remembered that “metal” these days is usually taken to mean modern metal, so I was curious enough to watch. Nice job! Do you feel like you have to adjust your touch or playing dynamics slightly when you switch between the two guitars, if you want them to sound about the same through the same patch? It seemed like the pinch harmonics came a little easier with the ESP, but it sounds like those lower-output pickups will yelp too when you just smack ‘em a little harder. 🤘

 

[Themistocles]

Yeah its nonsense... my Kiesel Vader with Holdsworth pickups (slightly hotter unpotted pafs) absolutely scream.

 

[USMarine75]

Reminds me of Quora posts where someone asks a question so they can answer their own question.

 

[Dekay82]

Brent Hinds been done doin' it for years.

 

[Gorespe]

Low output pickups hardly matter. Drive that amp harder and crank your hog man. When we can get a semi hollow, hollow with a Floyd rose is the next step.

 

[VGK17]

Brent Hinds been done doin' it for years.

Tom Maxwell from Nothingface / Hellyeah has been doing it for a long, long time too.