the power of your intense fragility [these_go_to_eleven remix]

Jan. 7, 2004

Type: discussion

You must experiment with all kinds of gear before claiming your own
patch of dirt. Here are a few ideas to kick around.

For a cool shred setup:
* Use extra-light strings (.009-.042) to facilitate legato fretting
ad tapping techniques, and to reduce string resistance when sweeping
and consecutive picking.
* Use a high-gain preamp to generate compression and tons of sustain.
* Play through low-gain pickups to maintain note articulation.
* If your amp offers them, select pentode, full power, and
high-dampened options. These settings will further enhance
articulation.
* Choose high-power speakers for their fast response time and
increased fidelity. Over-rate them, relative to amp output. For
example, try driving four 50- or 75-watt 12s with a 100-watt head.
* Play through a closed-back cabinet.
* Rule of thumb: Keep your transducers (pickups and speakers) clean;
get your mondo grunge in the middle of the chain.

Conversely, for a singing blues tone:
* Run a low-watt, non-master volume tube amp wide open – or darned
close to it.
* Use heavier strings and relatively hot pick-ups to kick the amp's
input into overdrive.
* On large, modern amps, select half-power, triode, and low-damped
settings; these options invite a loose, open tone.
* control distortion from your guitar's volume knob and with picking dynamics.
* Choose low-wattage speakers that your amp can distort. Of course,
you risk blowing a few voice coils for that golden tone.
* Use an open-backed cabinet.
* Rule of thumb: Keep the front end of the chain (pickups, effects,
and preamp) reasonably clean; push the tail end (power tubes,
transformer, and speakers) hard.

- Andy Widders-Ellis, 1992

http://www.poets.org/poems/poems.cfm?45442B7C000C07040170
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/eno.html
http://www.intelligentagent.com/archive/Vol3_No1_reviews_netart_cloninger.html
http://www.intelligentagent.com/archive/Vol3_No2_radical_cloninger.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000005NHL/

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