Tightening up the LOW B string

S

SteveTurner

Member
So anyway the title says it all. I use 10-60 guage on Ibanez Prestige and JCustom guitars.

What kind of tweaks do you guys use to tighten up the LOW B on a seven string gutiar? Is anyone using an 8 String?

Would a PareEQ help? What kind of frequencies? High gain models.

Steve.
 
SteveTurner said:
So anyway the title says it all. I use 10-60 guage on Ibanez Prestige and JCustom guitars.

What kind of tweaks do you guys use to tighten up the LOW B on a seven string gutiar? Is anyone using an 8 String?

Would a PareEQ help? What kind of frequencies? High gain models.

Steve.
Click to expand...

low cut in the advanced parameters of the amp,
If you don't like that then alternatives are distortion pedal in front ts808mod most likely as it has a highpass with distortion set to 0, level to taste.
Another is a highpass filter block with a 200-400Hz or a graphic or parametric EQ in front with around the same frequencies.

If you loose too much bass you can put a graphic or parametric eq after the amp to boost them.
 
I'd start by considering dropping the 60 to a 59. Might seem a bit odd, but I tried a fair few gauges with my 7s, and the 59 is where I ended up. The 60 has a tiny bit more tension, but IMO the change in clarity between the 59 and 60 was greater. The 60 just sounded too dark and muddy to me.

Other than that, if I need to tighten up the feel of an amp, I'll use something in front of the amp to bring the lows down a bit. With my lil practice amp it's an ol' Boss PQ-4. In the Axe, it's typically a filter block. Not too into using ODs for this kind of thing, as they tend to colour the sound too much for my liking. If I want something other than just a tightening up of the low end, I might look at TS type ODs and such.

Also depends on the amp used I guess. Sometimes I like a nice Treble Booster. ;)
 
start by telling us what amp and settings you are using. then we can help you tweak what you have or tell you that what you have is not good for what you're doing. i'm currently using both 7 and 8 strings with the axe and both are clear.
 
I play in drop A and putting a TS-808 drive block in front with the mix at 100%, drive 0, level at unity gain (not boosting the signal) Everything is tight as hell.
 
I tune to Dropped Bb and I've used .58's too thin, .60, .65 & .70 sounded thick as fuck but it was so thick that I don't think the string vibrated properly to allow it to distort the way I wanted it to... not sure if that makes sense. Only problem is finding a "custom" set that works for you... I've been using the Zack Wylde (or what used to be called the Zack Wylde) set from GHS Boomers... as I said, I've used the .70 and I prefer the .60 over the .70. I've also tried the a custom low C# tuning set that were .65 to .14 and IMO they were way too thick... I'm used to playing with thick strings but these didn't ring out as much as thinner strings. So the distortion would come out too clean.
 
So so many ways to skin this cat. Putting a drive block in front of the amp or boosting, putting a filter in front of the amp (Cliff had a great thread on this), and or using a graphic EQ at the end of the chain works for me. I usually just boost the front end with a drive block and use an eq at the chain end.......but I've tried that Filter too and that also works.....that being said I just moved to C standard as I have come to the point that the B tuning sounded a little more dull and less lively to my ears than C....
 
Thanks for all of the above guys!

I was certain someone would have covered this already :)

I will try it out and post results.

Steve.
 
I am a bass player in addition to being a guitarist and use a 7-string bass (The F# I usually use is .170, so you can pretty much choke a rhino with it. On the high end, the high C string I use is a .34) The reason I'm telling you this is that I experience an even bigger difference in volume between my high and low strings. To balance out my sound, I am a huge believer in using compression. For bass, I might use a 4 or 5:1 ratio. I run the compression first in my chain.

For guitar, it's a bit different. Unfortunately, compression makes high levels of gain even noisier, so I only use a 2 or 3:1 ratio and liberally use the noise gate. It tightens up the lower strings, but doesn't color the sound like overdrive would (which might or might not be a good thing). The other (possible) downside to compression is that you lose some of your dynamics. If you were playing 70's style rock or rolling off the gain to clean up your sound, then this would be a bad thing. If you're going for the modern gain chugga-chugga thing, then this might be a good thing. Plus, if you are playing a lot of single-note stuff or harmonics, compression will help your shredding.

Finally, one other thing mentioned in other threads is that you can lower the bass at the preamp level and then boost it after the amp.

Hope this helps,

-AL
 
SteveTurner said:
bluffalo said:
This works very well

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10796&start=0


also, some highgain amps like to have the master set lower and drive turned up higher, experiment.
Click to expand...

Just did this. Yes. It does work. Noticably...

THANK YOU !!! Did I mention I love this place?

But what should I set FREQUENCY to?

Steve.
Click to expand...
Leave the frequency at the default setting. The way you set up the modifier takes care of adjusting it on the fly as you are playing.
 
Genghis said:
SteveTurner said:
bluffalo said:
This works very well

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10796&start=0


also, some highgain amps like to have the master set lower and drive turned up higher, experiment.
Click to expand...

Just did this. Yes. It does work. Noticably...

THANK YOU !!! Did I mention I love this place?

But what should I set FREQUENCY to?

Steve.
Click to expand...
Leave the frequency at the default setting. The way you set up the modifier takes care of adjusting it on the fly as you are playing.
Click to expand...

So in effect it does not matter what the frequency is?

Can notice the difference after this filter insertion - very nice tip!

Steve.
 
SteveTurner said:
So anyway the title says it all. I use 10-60 guage on Ibanez Prestige and JCustom guitars.

What kind of tweaks do you guys use to tighten up the LOW B on a seven string gutiar? Is anyone using an 8 String?

Would a PareEQ help? What kind of frequencies? High gain models.

Steve.
Click to expand...

I see you've got a lot of suggestions already, but in regards to strings, I found in my Prestige and JCustom's, that although I tried a lot of different guages, I find I like the .59 for my Low B.
I found .60 and above too think, and .58 and below too thin for my tastes.
That, and cliff's suggestion on the link further back in one of the posts worked the best for me.

Scott
 
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