Meatplow Guitar Lesson

[Westenn]

Hey, this was about the only guitar lesson on "Meatplow" I could find on the Tuber...what do U guys think?  Do any of you play this?  If U do, do U have a lesson up somewhere?  Lastly, can someone explain distortion...am I just turning knobs until I get a distinct sound?      TnX      this is the link 2 the lesson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPqx5w4C1U

 

[Pingfah]

You'll have to be more specific. What do you mean distortion? Are you talking about an overdrive channel on your amp, or a foot pedal effect?

[Westenn]

Oh, there's pedals?  Can U explain both then...especially the pedal cuz I'm new 2 the Guitar World even though I have tried 4 many years & know nothing about pedals...

 

[JBattista]

This guy has a lot of amazing tutorials. Take a look through his channel and you may end up playing STP songs you thought you'd never play :p

[Pingfah]

Oh, there's pedals?  Can U explain both then...especially the pedal cuz I'm new 2 the Guitar World even though I have tried 4 many years & know nothing about pedals...

 

Well if you don't have one, there's not much point telling you how to use it. Tell me what guitar amp you have got, and I will tell you how to get a distorted sound out of it. If you have a "gain" knob on your amp, you need to be turning that up to get a distorted sound.

[lovemachine97]

Hey, this was about the only guitar lesson on "Meatplow" I could find on the Tuber...what do U guys think?  Do any of you play this?  If U do, do U have a lesson up somewhere?  Lastly, can someone explain distortion...am I just turning knobs until I get a distinct sound?      TnX      this is the link 2 the lesson


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPqx5w4C1U


 

Oh, there's pedals?  Can U explain both then...especially the pedal cuz I'm new 2 the Guitar World even though I have tried 4 many years & know nothing about pedals...

 

Okay, so I used to have to answer this question when I worked at a musical instrument store, so I will give it a shot.

Distortion is often a catch-all term that people use to describe a guitar tone that isn't 'clean.' There can be varying amounts of distortion, and some people might refer to it as 'overdrive' or 'fuzz.' These terms actually carry meaning beyond 'distortion,' but for our purposes, to begin with, let's just think of it all as distortion.

First, let's start with what 'clean' is. A great example is Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4). There are other effects (or sounds) on the guitar, but you'll notice it has none of that fuzzy-type sound you're hearing on a song like Meatplow. This sound is almost acoustic in nature.

Original guitar amps weren't built to distort, but they were powered by vacuum tubes. When you turned the volume of the amp up and started really working those tubes, the amps would naturally distort. People would probably call THAT sound 'overdrive' today, but it's apt--you're 'overdriving' the amp and creating natural distortion. In other cases, to avoid turning the amp's volume really high (or in tandem with it), guitarists began modifying amps or damaging them--even would poke holes in the speaker cones--to get them to distort the sound.

Today, distortion is mostly built into guitar amplifiers. Here is a quick, short demo of Fender's EVH 5150 III 50-watt amplifier. The first thing you hear is a 'clean' sound, then he switches channels to a 'distortion' sound. The amp has three channels, clean, distortion, and more distortion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzu0Mxi7vcU). Typically nowadays there is a 'master volume' that controls the overall volume of the amp. On older amps, you had to play louder to get any distortion. Today, there is a different not usually labeled 'gain,' 'volume' (as opposed to master volume) or 'pre-gain.' Sometimes it will have more than one of those along with a 'master volume.'

However, distortion can now be achieved in many ways beyond just the amplifier. Maybe you use the clean channel on your amp and a footpedal that provides a distorted sound. There are countless versions of those out. Maybe you use a somewhat overdriven or distorted sound on you amp and then supplement that with a footpedal. The options are nearly limitless. I mentioned the word 'fuzz' earlier. While overdrive refers to the sound of an older amplifier being pushed and distortion usually refers to lots of distortion, like on Meatplow, 'fuzz' refers to a particular type of sound. Jimi Hendrix regularly used a 'fuzz' pedal to distort his sound.

For me, I have an original Peavey 5150 that I use for harder rock, because that typically uses a more distorted sound. That is a beast to lug around though. So I also have a workhorse of an amp, a Fender Deluxe Reverb. It has a beautiful 'clean' sound, but if you turn it up past 7/10, it has a beautiful natural, lightly distorted sound. I can supplement that with a Boss OD-3 overdrive pedal to a get a sweet, bluesy, classic-rock-style sound. And if the gig is intimate and I want to be able to do any kind of sound, I also have a Boss ML-2 that I use with the Fender amp to get lots of distortion. I have all kinds of sounds at my fingertips with one small amp and a few pedals.

Then things get more complicated, because while some pedals provide overdrive or distortion, many provide other 'effects.' Popular ones are delay, reverb, chorus, flange, phase shifter, octaver, and so on and so forth. That's a whole other can of worms.

[Blue]

As far as replicating Dean's distortion, if that's the goal, Dean almost universally uses amp distortion rather than pedals.

If you have a gain knob, try turning that to about 8 (3 o'clock). Turn your treble to around 5 (12' o'clock),  and your bass to 6 (1 o'clock). If you have a mid knob, set it that same as your bass. If you have a reverb knob, turn that to 2 (9 o'clock) for a little warmth.

I have a little Marshall 15 Watt that I use, and those settings work pretty well for me in getting Dean's sound. But they won't sound exactly the same for every amp, so just use those as a baseline and play around until you get the sound you like.

As far as guitar, I like to play the bridge pickup with the tone knob to about 7 and volume all the way up. You can always dial back the volume to get a cleaner tone.


EDIT: This guy has literally the only accurate instructions I've ever seen of Seven Caged Tigers online. Very impressive.

[Westenn]

Pingfah I have the Vox amPlug 2 "Classic Rock" which features a mid-boost (whatever that means), fully-analog circuit, Nine selectable effects (Chorus x 3, Delay x 3, Reverb x 3) are built into the guitar-type models.
A multi-stage gain circuit featuring VOX's proprietary analog technology perfectly reproduces the complex distortion created by a vacuum tube amplifier.  It's pretty cool cuz I live in an apt. handy...

and I'm looking 2 get the Peavey vypyr 1 20w so I've been playing on that when I go 2 Guitar Center...
I have a Yamaha eg112c someone gave me that is converted 2 play left-handed but eventually I am getting a Fender Strat..
You answered my question anyway...I guess I was trying 2 understand why I'm not getting the same sound as the song cuz I must not have the ability w/ what I have 2 create it...

Blue tnx I'm going 2 try that when I go 2 Guitar Center & mess w/ their amps...I thought that guy was cool 2...can't w8 2 learn it...but 4 now all I have is gain & tone


lovemachine97 thx 4 the info...that evh 5150 sounds awesome, next time I go 2 Guitar Center, I'm trying that...ok so, gain is another word 4 distortion and/or effect? Then, What is being used 4 this song cuz I can't recreate it

[Blue]

Okay, it might be pretty tough to replicate on a Vox AmPlug. Maybe try turning the tone to about 6 or 7, gain to 8, and use either chorus or reverb in green mode. If it's too distorted like that try pulling the gain back a notch or two.

Anyway, I'd recommend not to get too bogged down in replicating tone if you're starting out. Get close enough to approximate, but really focus on your playing.

[Westenn]

yea, much better like I can tell if I'm doing it right cuz I've heard it so many times

 

[lovemachine97]

Westenn, when I sold musical instruments, it was mostly entry-level gear. Meaning we sold Taylor acoustics and American Fenders, but not many. I don't live in a very well-to-do area, so it was a lot of entry-level to mid-level gear. So one of the things I really stressed when I did this was to make sure that parents bought gear for their kids that sounded like their kids wanted it to sound. For example, if your kids listen only to thrash metal, buying them a Fender Telecaster and a Fender Bassman is not going to do the trick.


I never worked with the Vox headphone amp you have, but I did watch a demo and Blue pretty much gave the advice I would have. I could only hear on my iPhone speaker, so I was going to suggest tone about 5, gain around 8, and chorus on. That said, so much of 'tone' is in one's fingers. I used to tell customers, 'If got on stage and plugged in through Eddie Van Halen's rig, would I sound like Eddie or me? And if Eddie came to my house and plugged in through my rig, would he sound like me or himself?' Same goes for you and Dean DeLeo. Getting bogged down in exact replication is something you can do later if you want to start an STP tribute band.


On your guitar, if you didn't have it professionally switched to left-handed, I would take it to a store and have them take a look. The nut (the white or black piece between the fretboard and the headstock that strings sit in) should have been switched out for a left-handed nut, and the guitar needs to be intonated (the frets are static, but the length of each string can be adjusted to make sure it plays in tune all the way up the neck). The other thing is to make sure you're using the humbucking pick up (the double pick up nearest the bridge) and you do that my putting the pickup switch all the way towards the back (in other words, if the guitar were sitting on a stand, the switch would be all the way towards the ground).


In my 12 years in musical instruments, I came to the conclusion that when it comes to practice amps and inexpensive guitars, the amplifier is much more important when it comes to getting good tone than the guitar. So I would really take some time and research and PLAY through these amps to make sure you get one that sounds good. And bring YOUR guitar along when you do it.


I was never impressed with Peavey's modeling amps, like the Vypyr, but I would check out the Roland Cube series (a bit cold sounding, but really easy to use), the Fender Mustang series, and the Vox Valvetronix series. I really liked the Roland's ease of use and I really liked the sounds from the Mustang and Valvetronix series. Lots of people like the Line 6 stuff, so that is something else to look into.


If a Fender Strat is you next guitar purchase and it is going to REPLACE your Yamaha, make sure you get a left-handed version AND get the 'fat strat' version with a humbucker in the bridge position. It's the most versatile pickup combination. One of those and one of the aforementioned amps and you'll get tone for days for your purposes. However, if you plan on using both the Yamaha AND the Fender, then consider getting the regular, 3-single coil pickup version (though I think you will be a happier with a nicer guitar that was build to be left-handed).


And finally, if you're having trouble, try playing right-handed. Left-handed guitars are really a misnomer. There's no left-handed pianos, flutes, violins, etc., even though all of those use two hands like the guitar. Guitar uses two hands and if you're just beginning, you could learn either way. But your life may be easier if you play right handed. Otherwise, get ready for a lifetime of more expensive guitars, fewer choices, and a whole bunch of euphemisms for the color 'black.'

[Blue]

I'd also recommend looking into the Roland Cube series. They're relatively inexpensive, don't take up a lot of space, and offer a lot of tones. And like lovemachine97 said, they are very easy to use.


But ultimately, go with whatever you're happy with.

[Westenn]

Hey, thx 4 all the tips & advice...I know more about amps in this question than trying 2 understand what I read online...I'll def try those models U guys suggested...

lovemachine97 I had the guitar professionally done so I'm guessing what U said, he did cuz I told him my intentions w/ it...as far as playing right vs. left...I tried my whole life 2 play right but 4 some reason, my left hand on the fret board is very uncomfortable & takes 4ever 2 make a chord...my right hand on the fret board is so natural & I only figured that out a couple of years ago when I was watching "Cold Case"...funny, I was so depressed cuz I just couldn't play then the show is on & it was the episode about these high school kids w/ the Cobain Suicide Pact...that's when it dawned on me 2 play the other way...my mind was blown...I still trip on it...I have 2 play left it's the only way if I want 2 play guitar...I know what U mean about the guitars, limited & pricey...it's a ripoff

 

[sarwanov]

I really like this useful post.Thanks a lot for sharing it.