Guitar Tone Woods And High Gain Axe-Fx II

N

npdcoremetal

Inspired
I am looking for opinoins of other fellow musicians and hi gainers on this topic.

I have two Ibanez 7 String Prestige 1570 guitars Basswood bodies 5 peice maple/walnut neck with Bareknuckle Aftermath pickups. I have an Ibanez RGA121 Mahogany Body with maple top and 5 peice maple walnut neck with emgs. I also have an ESP/LTD MH-417 mahogany body neck-thru 3 peice maple neck with emgs.

Don't get me wrong I love my Ibnez 7 strings, however the seem to be much more harsh and cut less than the Ibanez RGA121. I am wondering if the mahogany body is a better choice of wood for my 7 strings than the basswood. The only problem I have ever had with Mahogany was on an ibanez Iceman i purchased through EMGS in it and it was just too fat sounding no matter what I did it was bassy terrible.

Does anyone here have experince with Mahogany, Basswood, Alder etc. I would like to find out what my top options would be to get the sound I am looking for. It just seems like the Ibanez 7 strings I have like I said are very harsh sounding. To me they make the mids sound too honky the bass to flubby and the highs to shrill. I just became aware of this by accident when I decided to pick my RGA back up and do a song on the six string thinking maybe Id have some inspiration from it and it just sounded amazing. All the issues I thought where Axe-Fx issues went away everything fell into place. The mids cut through right the highs sat where I believe they should be and the bass was tight and heavy.

Any suggestions, tips, or insight would be much appreciated.
 
It's really hard to say.

Could be the individual guitar, how the pickups mesh with the guitar, Axe settings, or a million other things.

I've had 3 Ibanez guitars since I've owned the Axe, and to me they all sounded a bit harsh. I attribute this to the fact that all 3 had maple necks. My mahogany-necked guitars don't have that harshness. I suppose maple necks just aren't my cup o tea.

In my experience, neck wood influences tone more than the body, but that's just my experience.

One of my Ibanez guitars was an RGA121 like yours. To me, it actally seemed more harsh-sounding than my basswood RG 1421. Go figure.
 
My Axis is basswood with quilt maple top. And cuts through wonderfully. Perfect for lead but not my cup of the when it comes to rythm stuff.
 
I'd probably look at trying different pickups. My main guitars are an Ibanez RG2127X (mahogany, Evo7, Air Norton 7), RG7620 (basswood, Blaze Custom, AN7) and a UV777 (basswood, Tone Zone 7, AN7). The UV is by far the fattest, most resonant sounding guitar of the three unplugged, and then I went and put a Tone Zone in the bridge. :lol But even the AN7 in the neck is much warmer and fatter than in the other two guitars. It had Evos in it before, and I never really got on with the high end sound. The other basswood 7, the 7620, acoustically has a bit of an unusual mid-rangey sound without a great deal of low end. Plugged in, it's great for really tight heavy sounds, and rolling off the volume for lower gain sounds gives a a nice snappy attack that I don't get as much from the others. Flub is definitely not a problem with that guitar.

And then the mahogany RG2127X kinda sits in the middle of the two. One of the Evos from the UV went in to this one for a trial and I ended up leaving it there. The guitar sounded a tad muted in the high end compared to the others, so I figured the brighter Evo might work... and it did. If I were you I'd probably just try some different pickups in one of the 1570s to start with.



I notice you mentioned you also have an LTD MH-417, but didn't really say anything about what you think of it compared to the Ibanez 7s.
 
While the wood makes a difference in the tone, pickups make a way bigger difference. Way bigger. Find pickups you like, and the rest will fall into place.
 
Are they all in the same tuning? Same brand and gauge of strings? Using the same axe fx patch? Imo, those things make a much bigger difference than wood choice. Pickups are the #1 difference in tone, however.
 
Rex said:
While the wood makes a difference in the tone, pickups make a way bigger difference. Way bigger. Find pickups you like, and the rest will fall into place.
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Not surely I'd agree entirely. Like I said, my main three guitars all sound quite different unplugged, and the Air Norton in the neck of all three sound quite different too. It's of course not all down to wood. Two of those are both basswood, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. You can pick up a few of the same model of guitar and get different results. I think more just in terms of just how the guitar actually sounds unplugged, rather than what kinds of wood it's made of and how those kinds of wood supposedly sound.
 
Sounds to me ,could be the pickups.I play Ibanez guitars, bass wood guitars ,I use a dimarzio tone zone,mo joe and just pickup up a crunch lab all great. Although I am experimenting with the crunch lab.I did find something interesting out about the crunch lab,I like 80's metal ,rock tone and popped a set in a js 1200 and at first I wasn't too impressed ,kind of sounded sterile and not what I wanted.Think I had the hbe amp I was playing though.Turned the mids down abit on the amp and WOW they scream now.So maybe the aftermaths need different EQing. Also try setting you pickup height,I start at height of a nickel on the treble side and 2 nickels on the bass side 1/16 1/8. Too much bass lower more on the bass side Aftermaths do say the mids are intense.
 
Alright guys I agree with a lot of posts. A good selection of wood is very important for your tone.
But good pick-ups and configurations according to the wood also matter. If both these things are done well
then you can get the proper high gain sounds on a Mahogany body and maple neck combo.
Check this
 
I have BKP Aftermaths in both of my sevens, one is swamp ash with an ebony fretboard and the other is basswood with a rosewood fretboard. Their output is fairly hot for passives and they are "aggressive" sounding especially in the mid range. I setup my patches differently when using those pickups than I do most of my other guitars. I tend to roll off quite a bit of gain when using them. For me I found that the highs from the BKPs were much more pleasing to my ears than the 808s and in general they responded better to changes in playing. But they are not for everyone, I love them but I have had people play those guitars and dislike them too. I think because the BKPs are slightly more sensitive to playing style and dynamics that they are more "touchy" and almost force you to alter the way you play a little. For me this actually made me a better player, but I could def see how the EMGs would work better for some people. Def the mahogany/aftermath combo if you can! Fat bottom and lots of bite!



Heres a song I did with my swamp ash guitar with the BKP Aftermaths.
 
DNW said:
Not surely I'd agree entirely. Like I said, my main three guitars all sound quite different unplugged, and the Air Norton in the neck of all three sound quite different too.
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I hear you—wood can make a difference. But if you took your three guitars with the Air Norton and swapped in a significantly different pickup, I think you'd hear a bigger change in tone.


DNW said:
It's of course not all down to wood. Two of those are both basswood, maple neck, rosewood fretboard. You can pick up a few of the same model of guitar and get different results.
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So true. Even different pieces of the same kind of wood can sound diffferent.
 
I built a guitar, Alder back, Maple top, mahogany Neck, ebony fretboard. This thing cuts perfects through anything. Great for rhythm and not harsh. and great for lead, weather your wanting to cut through the mix or sit warmly in it.
DSC00324.jpg

DSC00327.jpg

After building all mahogany guitars, mahogany body/neck maple top, etc. I found this to be the best combination by far.
 
Everything I do I completely rip off Steve Vai...

So my main guitar is an Ibanez RG with an alder body and Evolution pickups (EVO)

And my other main guitar is an Ibanez RG with a basswood body and EVO2 w/Sustainer system (Flo)

I have an RGA (8 string) it's hard to judge but I do think it sounds like garbage but i'd guess the arched top of the RGA vs an RG has a lot to do with the sound...

The RGA8 has a mahogany body- i don't think the tops on ibanezes have the influence on the tone like a les paul maple top will...

I would think a mahogony body would be a little too bassy/deep low for a 7 string and might be a little muddy/flubby...for my kind of tone.

I also think nothing beats Ibanez and Dimarzio pickups esp with basswood body...
 
Jeries said:
I have an RGA (8 string) it's hard to judge but I do think it sounds like garbage but i'd guess the arched top of the RGA vs an RG has a lot to do with the sound...

The RGA8 has a mahogany body- i don't think the tops on ibanezes have the influence on the tone like a les paul maple top will...

I would think a mahogony body would be a little too bassy/deep low for a 7 string and might be a little muddy/flubby...for my kind of tone.

I also think nothing beats Ibanez and Dimarzio pickups esp with basswood body...
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The maple top on the old RGA121s definitely had a part in the sound. It wasn't some thin veneer on top of the mahogany body, it was a sizeable chunk of maple that gave a nice snappiness to the high end. Used to own one, stupidly sold it (although I did need the money at the time and was hardly playing the guitar at all).
 
you're probably right- the pickups and the fact that its an 8 strings are probably coloring the tone in my head more than anything else...
i hate 8 strings
 
Jeries said:
you're probably right- the pickups and the fact that its an 8 strings are probably coloring the tone in my head more than anything else...
i hate 8 strings
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Well the RGA8 as far as I know doesn't have a maple cap, it's just a carved mahogany body. But I imagine pickups would definitely be playing a part, and aside from the models that come stock with proper Dimarzios, I don't think I've ever played an Ibanez with good stock pickups. I remember when I was trying out the RGA121, I tried the RGA321 (fancier maple top)... that had somewhat more acceptable pickups in it. That's about the best I've heard from Ibanez pickups I think. :|
 
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