Anyone else play high gain 95% of the time or more?

[jimmyohio75]

Although I can appreciate a nice clean tone I almost always find myself playing mid-high gain. Whether it's the original music our band plays or just by myself at home I am not satisfied unless I am ripping through some crunchy goodness. There's something about smooth, powerful, crunchy gain that gets me going. I must be wired that way. I have friends that play Jazzy, clean stuff all the time and it's cool but I need the chest thumpin' high gain stuff to be satisfied.
If this was HC I wouldn't even be asking this queston but TGP seems to have a more diverse bunch of players with various styles.
I would like to know how many high gain freaks are out there besides me?

[SteveO]

It really depends on the guitar that is in the living room at the time. I've been spending a lot of time lately with a Telecaster and a slightly hairy tone, but my PRS favors high gain.

[rockon1]

Mostly medium to high gain classic rock tones with a couple of exceptions with the band Im in. Going thru a bit of a funk and havent been practicing at home so thats it. Bob

[Flyin' Brian]

I'm exactly the opposite.

[skhan007]

I think I would qualify...grew up listening to Kiss, Priest, Purple, Aerosmith, Sabbath, AC/DC, Cheap Trick...not many clean tones to be had in those influences.

[Stratobuc]

Originally Posted by Flyin' Brian

I'm exactly the opposite.

Yep. I've grown out of that high gain phase. There's always a pedal to take care of that.....

[tennisplayer]

No other way to play electric my friend....if I want clean, I've got acoustics for that. I'm smooth hi-gain 99.9%

[Analog Assassin]

After playing Fender amps for so long, I finally built a clone of a plexi 50 watt, with a PPIMV. It gets pretty gainy especially after the mods I've done to it. I've been really digging the sound. I've tried tons of pedals, and I've even built and modded pedals, and there's really no pedal that gets that sound. Some approximate it, but besides the harmonic complexity, the upper mid response of a Marshall I just haven't heard, or "felt" in any pedal I've bought or built. It just makes it fun to crank and wail.

[suparsonic]

I wind down the gain when noodling around so I don't get a lazy technique. I find high gain fatiguing on the ears after a while.

[Bluewail]

Style aside for a moment, IMHO it's easier to bury mediocre technique with a lot of gain. Cleaner tones leave you no where to hide. That's why some players use way too much.
For example, I always chuckle when I play through this one local players rig. He always used a ton of gain but realized a few years back that he was getting dissed by the blues nazi's for stomping on his pedals. So he moved his board on to the top of his rig and now plays with a EP Booster on 3/4 into a Landgraff OD with the gain at at about the same spot and an OCD wide open - all on, all the time - no tap dancing. His guitar volume is on like 2 and moves to 3 or 4 for solos. Any more and the feedback breaks windows in the bar. Sounds like poop IMHO but sustains like a mutha'. Heck, he can hold one note for 12 bars - longer maybe. So I'll show up with a Timmy and he tells me I need to learn how to work my volume control to get "the tone", not stomp on a box. Can too much gain cause a brain freeze?

[~Abstract~]

My Herbert stays on channel 2+ or 3.

Channel 1 is sweet...but it doesn't have the gain I'm looking for.

[MGSchindel]

I'm yer Huckleberry....

Clean channel? What's that? Sumthin' sissy fer older folks and fairy a$$ ballads n' such?

The only clean thing about my rig is its immaculate condition. Thrash and shred are our friends...I prefer the settings on my amps that kill all animal and plant life within a 10' radius of the cabinets. The bass response is adequate if it causes disorientation and nausea, and keeps me from having to hear the bass player : )

Anyone that tells you that you don't need as much technique to play with high gain and can hide your mistakes in a landslide of muddy fizz has been taking their advice from some kid at Guitar Center, and has no idea how to actually play with high gain, USING the gain. LOL!! I don't think Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, Van Halen, Dave Martone, Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine, Greg Howe, etc. use high gain to hide their mistakes HA HA HA HA!!! I somehow doubt Mike Romeo, James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Ron Jarzombek, Jeff Loomis, Gary Holt, Eric Petersen, Glenn Drover, Tim Calvert, Dave Linsk, etc use high gain to cover up their sloppy technique LOL!

[jimmyohio75]

Originally Posted by MGSchindel

I'm yer Huckleberry....

Clean channel? What's that? Sumthin' sissy fer older folks and fairy a$$ ballads n' such?

The only clean thing about my rig is its immaculate condition. Thrash and shred are our friends...I prefer the settings on my amps that kill all animal and plant life within a 10' radius of the cabinets. The bass response is adequate if it causes disorientation and nausea, and keeps me from having to hear the bass player : )

Anyone that tells you that you don't need as much technique to play with high gain and can hide your mistakes in a landslide of muddy fizz has been taking their advice from some kid at Guitar Center, and has no idea how to actually play with high gain, USING the gain. LOL!! I don't think Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, Van Halen, Dave Martone, Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine, Greg Howe, etc. use high gain to hide their mistakes HA HA HA HA!!! I somehow doubt Mike Romeo, James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Ron Jarzombek, Jeff Loomis, Gary Holt, Eric Petersen, Glenn Drover, Tim Calvert, Dave Linsk, etc use high gain to cover up their sloppy technique LOL!

Yeah, what he said!!!!

[MGSchindel]

I'm from the metal oldskool. If you're gonna plug up in front of somebody you'd better be ready to crush it flat, or don't bother. Strum pretty chords for yer mama. The boutique stuff's in the jam room.

[smolder]

high gain? if you mean distortion, then no, certainly not 95% of the time. I find there is direct correlation between how much sustain/boost/distortion/echo/delay and other effects a player might need to sound reasonable and how good they are. Great players tend to plug straight in and sound really good clean. So... yea, I use do use some of those things.