More “bloom” from palm mutes?

[blastbeatdown]

I saw someone mentioned multi-band compressor. Have you tried that? I don't quite get into the djenty low-tuned stuff, but I love my palm mutes with a multi-band compressor. Keeps them powerful and tight without blowing out your signal and getting unwanted rumble.

Also, have this may sound too on-the-nose, but have you tried playing with the Speaker Thump parameter? THAT might be what you're going after with "bloom"

You know what’s funny, I do use this technique. And while it’s great for sitting evenly in the mix, I think it’s partially that volume swell that is giving me a perceived lack of bloom when I’m just playing solo. I might start turning it off for self gratification when I’m jamming.

 

[blastbeatdown]

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This is the most accurate response so far. I’m normally a 5150 guy, and the palm mutes bloom beautifully on those so that’s what I’ve come to expect. I’ve been messing with Marshall style amps lately and it’s great, kind of a Fear Factory / Meshuggah -esque tone that is very tight. But it doesn’t have that filthy resonance. Great input I appreciate all of you but unsurprisingly not everyone is grasping what I mean. It’s a very specific phenomenon that occurs with those amps. Gonna dial in a 5150 tone now

 

[RevDrucifer]

This is the most accurate response so far. I’m normally a 5150 guy, and the palm mutes bloom beautifully on those so that’s what I’ve come to expect. I’ve been messing with Marshall style amps lately and it’s great, kind of a Fear Factory / Meshuggah -esque tone that is very tight. But it doesn’t have that filthy resonance. Great input I appreciate all of you but unsurprisingly not everyone is grasping what I mean. It’s a very specific phenomenon that occurs with those amps. Gonna dial in a 5150 tone now

Can you post a preset you've been tweaking and tell us what kind of pickups/guitar/string gauge you're using?

I have a feeling the thing in the tone you're looking for isn't so much the guitar tone, but the way the string is interacting with the guitar/hands, it's hard to put it into words. There's an extra little flick of the wrist that gets the notes to sound like they're saying "ow" after the initial hit, is this making sense?

 

[Shask]

This is the most accurate response so far. I’m normally a 5150 guy, and the palm mutes bloom beautifully on those so that’s what I’ve come to expect. I’ve been messing with Marshall style amps lately and it’s great, kind of a Fear Factory / Meshuggah -esque tone that is very tight. But it doesn’t have that filthy resonance. Great input I appreciate all of you but unsurprisingly not everyone is grasping what I mean. It’s a very specific phenomenon that occurs with those amps. Gonna dial in a 5150 tone now

That fat low end chug is one thing I could never get right on my Axe II, but I get much better results on my FM3. I am all about that tone.

You never said what you play through. When I added a sub to my studio monitors, that definitely helped get that low end rumble.

I don't know if there is one specific trick, but a few things I have noticed.... I generally use the 5153 Blue 50w and boost it instead of using a higher gain amp. Sometimes I will use Recto 1 Red. (I own an actual 5153 50w and Triple Recto, so probably why I gravitate towards these). The Atomica is too tight for this sound. I dont like the master over about 2. When the headroom meter goes to 0 you lose that low end bloom. The speaker impedance curve matters a lot, and something like Recto Large goes a long way. On the output compressor I like to choose feedback and dial it up some. Like maybe .8 to 1 or so. If I am using the cab block I will use oversized 412 cab IRs, like a Recto or Orange. In the output EQ of the amp I always cut 500hz. This makes the low end stand out more. The pickup you use matters a lot also. I find it easier to get this sound with say, a Duncan Invader, than an EMG 81. I spend a lot of time EQing the sound in front of the amp, either with an EQ, or the amp input EQ. One philosophy I took which has helped, is to only use the amp block. It shouldnt take any other blocks to make the amp sound good. It has enough controls and dynamics to get the correct feel and tone. That will narrow down your focus on targeting what you want.

 

[nathan_393]

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This was… kind of amazing. I know how ChatGPT is doing this, but every time, I am just astounded.

 

[blastbeatdown]

Can you post a preset you've been tweaking and tell us what kind of pickups/guitar/string gauge you're using?

I have a feeling the thing in the tone you're looking for isn't so much the guitar tone, but the way the string is interacting with the guitar/hands, it's hard to put it into words. There's an extra little flick of the wrist that gets the notes to sound like they're saying "ow" after the initial hit, is this making sense?

I posted some tone snippets in here. I get that nice “bwooow” sound if that’s what you’re talking about.

 

[blastbeatdown]

I’m using a Strandberg 8, 9-42 + 56 + 78 strings. Lundgren pickups, Adam A7X monitors

 

[Poor Man]

i have never been able to get the angst out of the chugs, ive tried for the life of me, i have two 100w 5150 iii just regular versions, but i have never been able to get a preset to have the angst with palm mutes (i have axe3) that the amp has. my preset is okay, but i find that with the axe like the one dude said earlier, picking technique, it seems the axe really only gets angst when pick away from the bridge and closer to the pickup. but that gets annoying because its not how i play. and as you refer to, you dont have pick like that when you play on your amp, because its a monster everywhere. i think the thing is the axe fx presets are more set up for rockin, than gnarly metal and you have to make do.

 

[blastbeatdown]

i have never been able to get the angst out of the chugs, ive tried for the life of me, i have two 100w 5150 iii just regular versions, but i have never been able to get a preset to have the angst with palm mutes (i have axe3) that the amp has. my preset is okay, but i find that with the axe like the one dude said earlier, picking technique, it seems the axe really only gets angst when pick away from the bridge and closer to the pickup. but that gets annoying because its not how i play. and as you refer to, you dont have pick like that when you play on your amp, because its a monster everywhere. i think the thing is the axe fx presets are more set up for rockin, than gnarly metal and you have to make do.

I just messed with the 5150 block letter amp model for a while. It definitely has more of that quality I’m talking about. But something about the Atomica the way I have it sounds super angry. Maybe it’s the saturation switch. I’m gonna stick with it. It sounds even better super loud even through my FRFR. Something about the way it resonates through a real cab just hits.

 

[blastbeatdown]

it seems the axe really only gets angst when pick away from the bridge and closer to the pickup.

when I’m recording sometimes I like to exaggerate my picking. I pick way harder than I normally would, and yes resting your hand a little away from the bridge can get that really aggressive throaty quality. What I’m talking about in this post is more referring to resting your hand closer to the bridge, and letting the palm mutes resonate longer. Think breakdowns lol

 

[Shask]

I’m using a Strandberg 8, 9-42 + 56 + 78 strings. Lundgren pickups, Adam A7X monitors

I have not used Lundgrens, but from what I have read they are very light on bass, have a lot of clanky upper mids, and super tight. Those may not be the best pickups for a super chuggy sound. I would probably play with EQing before the amp to add some bass, and cutting hi-highs.

 

[Shask]

I just messed with the 5150 block letter amp model for a while. It definitely has more of that quality I’m talking about. But something about the Atomica the way I have it sounds super angry. Maybe it’s the saturation switch. I’m gonna stick with it. It sounds even better super loud even through my FRFR. Something about the way it resonates through a real cab just hits.

I never liked the saturation switch, lol. It always seems to blur the notes together, instead of having that tight pick attack.

 

[hensh!n_vfs]

Just wondering if there are any specific parameters that you associate with getting more bloom from an amp model. I use the Atomica High with the Grinder boost +19, gain around 6.5-7, saturation drive at default settings. I don’t really want any more gain feel like I would be losing clarity at that point. I cut a lot of lows in the preamp to keep the chugs tight (I tune low). I usually keep speaker drive low on high gain stuff. Let me know if there’s something I should tinker with.

You don't get a ton of noise with these settings? Any time I turn the Grinder on, I get an annoying amount of hiss/noise. Even at default values.

 

[blastbeatdown]

I have not used Lundgrens, but from what I have read they are very light on bass, have a lot of clanky upper mids, and super tight. Those may not be the best pickups for a super chuggy sound. I would probably play with EQing before the amp to add some bass, and cutting hi-highs.

I’ve used a lot of pickups and they seem pretty nice and even across the wide spectrum.

 

[blastbeatdown]

You don't get a ton of noise with these settings? Any time I turn the Grinder on, I get an annoying amount of hiss/noise. Even at default values.

Bright switch is off. That’s important. When it’s on I get insane hiss. Idk something about it gives me too much noise with just about any high gain amp, especially with the Grinder you can absolutely forget about it lol. The Grinder doesn’t work with bright amps, but it’s awesome for really fat / muddy amps.

 

[Shask]

Bright switch is off. That’s important. When it’s on I get insane hiss. Idk something about it gives me too much noise with just about any high gain amp, especially with the Grinder you can absolutely forget about it lol. The Grinder doesn’t work with bright amps, but it’s awesome for really fat / muddy amps.

I usually find turning off the bright switch takes away the aggressive pick attack. If it is too bright, turn down the value on the bright cap instead.

 

[Ben.Last]

I just messed with the 5150 block letter amp model for a while. It definitely has more of that quality I’m talking about. But something about the Atomica the way I have it sounds super angry. Maybe it’s the saturation switch. I’m gonna stick with it. It sounds even better super loud even through my FRFR. Something about the way it resonates through a real cab just hits.

Maybe set up a dual amp patch with both amps?

 

[blastbeatdown]

I usually find turning off the bright switch takes away the aggressive pick attack. If it is too bright, turn down the value on the bright cap instead.

Too bright isn’t the problem, noise is. Couldn’t tell you why. The Grinder gives you great pick attack, and if I still need more brightness I compensate with a little High Treble. Just what works for me.

 

[Shask]

Too bright isn’t the problem, noise is. Couldn’t tell you why. The Grinder gives you great pick attack, and if I still need more brightness I compensate with a little High Treble. Just what works for me.

The extra hi-highs is what is giving extra noise. If you cut the highs before the gain, the noise will decrease. I almost always use the amp input EQ to hi cut down to 5k or so to remove excess highs before entering the amp.

 

[blastbeatdown]

The extra hi-highs is what is giving extra noise. If you cut the highs before the gain, the noise will decrease. I almost always use the amp input EQ to hi cut down to 5k or so to remove excess highs before entering the amp.

Thanks I’ll give that a shot. I usually leave it around 10k