You can pretty much play anything song that's in a drop-tuning. I play a couple of Nile songs in Drop-C, even though it's in drop-A, I don't give a fuck . As long as the relative note positionings are correct(compare to standard).

Hey guys,

I got two tennis elbow one years ago and I had to stop to play.
Well I tried last week few things and I can see that my level is now quiet bad..

I was use to play some Cradle of filth / SUP / Dark Funeral songs.
The point is that all the same are too fast !

Well, I'm working on the first Troy Stetina book, Metal Rythm guitar lvl 1 in order to get again some basics level.
I'm at the second song, tales from the crypt, and I see that it's almost allright, mean the power chords / PM are allright but the rythm is too "harsh".

If I try to play "Pain Injection", from SUP, I can play the standards rythms but I do have some problem with the slide and the harmonic.

So what can I play ?
Something not too hard, and not too "easy" ?

Let's say with some power chord, PM, slide, with a medium speed, some kind of death melo like the old In Flames / Dark Tranquility or other. I heard that Amon Amarth can be ok but by example I'm not good at all for "galoping", like in the return of the viking song.

Do you have any idea ?

Thank.

So basically, I can play The Thing That Should Not Be in Drop-B?

Why not? It'll sound even darker this way anyway.

Sweet, fuck the rules. I'l do it my way for now on.

Perhaps the tubes, yes. If you change the output tubes, you really should have it re-biased though, unless you are exchanging like-for-like (brand/manufacturer/type). I changed my output tubes once with the same type and it needed to be re-biased because even within the same type, the replacement tubes had different voltage requirements.

Does that amp have the "lead boost" switch on it, or something similar? The Straight heads do, and I once had a problem very similar to what you describe, with the gain dropping suddenly. It turned out that something with the lead boost circuit was cutting out. An amp tech was able to fix it for me.

Just came up with a cool riff after listening to some Megadeth. I guess writing stuff while listening to some great riff-oriented bands really does wonders!

soul_schizm: Yes, there's a high gain button, but the problem persisted even with the basic distorion channel without using the gain boost. Even the clean channel sounded quite gutless. It was actually much better yesterday when I played it, though it was nowhere near the level at which it should be.

So I am doing something moderately/severely stupid for a bit, i.e. tuning my E string to G. I was tuned down to D so this makes the E string an octave lower than the A. While it is really easy to bend out of tune with so much slack and fairly muddy I don't think it sounds like complete garbage. The stuff I am working on like this might end up as my submission for the doom challenge so we can see if it sounds really stupid and muddy to everyone else.

Its kind of fun though, I like how low the sound is and the muddiness seems to be working for me so far. I have to be careful with double tracking because of how easy it is to bend out of tune but its not too painful to avoid. I using it to double power chords on the A string so I am using the familiar suspended 4th shape.

So has anyone else done really silly tuning like this without absolutely terrible results?

Just came up with a Running Wild kind of lick. Cool shit.

I've been doing some research on tubes. I ordered a sampler package of different types of 12AX7's. Trying out different combinations was a real eye-opener. Very different response and tone from different combinations of pre-amp tubes. It became obvious very early on that the tubes in my amp were old and in need of replacement.

I also replaced the power tubes, and frankly there wasn't as much of an effect as re-doing the pre-amp tubes. Plus, the pre-amp tubes are much cheaper

I can give you a few sites to check out if you are interested.

I have played around with this exact same thing and I love the low-end rumble it gives. I've never tried recording the tuning but I think you should be ok...just try to stay away from too much bending on the low string. When I was messing with it, I actually had to restrain my pick attack and try to play gently but it was fun. I might try it again tonight when I get home from work.

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Yes. It's quite fun, actually, but much more so on my 7-string than my 6, of course. I can get to G#/Ab tuning and stay there fairly well, but would like to upgrade my setup and increase my string gauges if playing there often. I could use a bit more tension and the ability to stay in tune better and longer, but it's manageable. Considering this guitar's standard tune is B std., I think that's great. That said, Abysmal Torment is the only band I know for sure (and for sure like) that use this low - and they do it on set up 6-strings. A lot is possible. Someday, perhaps I'll go for an 8 (or 9) string but there's a shitload of cool new stuff I've been able to do with various tunings on the 7.

i hope this is the right place to post this, well anyone knows a good metronome app for Android?

Just don't do it so often til you mess up the neck.

Does anyone have good tips on how to reduce arm tension when playing quick galloping rhythms?
I'm really playing myself kaput as my muscles cramp up the longer/faster the riffs are.

Full-on tremolo playing I can do (better).

There are two steps. First, practice slowly and increase speed gradually. Your max speed at an armbreaking rate is not your true max speed - your comfortable max speed is. Practice every day if possible, even if just for ten minutes. Only ten minutes every day is better than two hours at once, one time a week. As of now, I haven't played for a little over a week. When I practice daily, I can play the main riff of Desctruction - Death Trap comfortably at 176 or so. Right now I can do it at 150 at best.

Secondly, do extensive warming up prior to playing.

Sorry, there are no short cuts. Unless there's something wrong with your arm positions and posture, only these will help.

Oh, one thing. You are aware that you can play gallops with the same movement as you would pure 16th notes? Just don't pick with the first upstroke.

Try adjusting your strap and making sure that the rest of your body is as relaxed as possible. Posture is important as slouching might shift something else so it ends up being uncomfortable, and bending your elbow in or out too much can contribute.

Yeah, and adjusting strap length helps with right arm placement. Some players with right arm problems have the strap way too high for what they're trying to play because of increased ease of fretting. As a rule of thumb, your bridge should be at about belt level.

About the importance of warming up, I played a little yesterday after a break of almost two weeks and I could play Death Trap comfortably at 150. Today I've played for an hour or so, and I can do 170. If I had practiced daily for a longer while, who knows what I could play, 190? Imagine that.

I usually practice while sitting; with the guitar body resting on either leg.
I get the same issue in both positions.

Also, sometimes the back of my shoulder starts to hurt, while I'm sitting straight and feeling comfortable.
Bugger.

Yep, your picking arm might be too high. Try to adjust yourself into a position where you can lower your picking hand to about belt level (do it gradually so your fretting hand can adapt to it). Depending on your guitar body shape, you can try holding the guitar between your legs. Alternatively, rest it on your picking hand side leg, but use a strap so that you can hold the guitar diagonally.

are 75W 1x12 amps have enough vol. for band rehearsals? or is better choice to have a 100W 2x12 amp?

Should be more than enough, Mechanix11. I use a 50w 1x12'', and I have the volume about halfway up at practice even though our drummer is too loud to play in most bars.

But, you have a tube amp or a solid state amp?
but on a solid state amp of 75w would be no problem or i should go for a 2x12 100w?

Well, tube. Our other guitarist used to have a solid state Marshall combo with 1x12'', but I can't remember the wattage. 50 or above.

50watts for a tube amp is more than loud enough to jam with drums. Some Bugera combo amps are loud enough too, even.

i looked the Line 6 Spider 75w and for me sounds good, any thoughts about that amp?

It's alright for home playing I guess. Not much else. Doesn't gel very well or cut through when jamming with others. And for me, only the Insane(red) setting sounds any good at all Most of the effects or presets are silly anyway, and the tuner isn't very accurate considering it's plugged in.

Colossal piece of shit, way too many settings that simply don't sound good at all, and even if you spend the time to find a decent tone with it, it doesn't even compare to a lot of comparable solid state practice amps. You can search the forum to find a lot of complaints/commentary on them.

I've had mine for about 5 years or so now. I've got the Spider III, and it's not nearly as bad as people say it is. Over the years I've been in death metal bands, to super light rock bands, and everything in between, and I've never had a problem getting the sounds I want to out of it. That's including using gretsches, teles, strats, jacksons, Schecters, you name it. I've never had an issue with my amp not meshing well with jamming, and I've gigged with it tons of times, and it sounds good mic'd, recorded, or what have you. I'm not saying it's a great amp, and I'm not saying you should buy one. Just saying that it's not all that bad. Plus, having it for so long, you get used to how it works and how to tweak it just right. One of these days I'm going rebuild my rig from the ground up, but until then, this amp is just fine for me.

Here we go guys, the end of all amps is here.

Cool link Gelseth, I think the idea is really interesting and I am sure the electronics behind it are fascinating. You have to wonder though how something like that will ever get to musicians outside of the big bands on major labels. I mean, it has to be fantastically expensive and they seem to recognize that by having a cheaper version. The article also talks about having musicians basically renting out the amp for gigs but not who would actually own it though.

I could see something like this working well in studios but I couldn't find any good samples of how it sounds so who knows. The real question is can other musicians like your presets on Facebook?

Hah, I could totally play that one at like 200 bpm. In fact I just tested and 180-190 bpm with no warming up goes easily, little warming up and I'm pretty sure I'd do it at well over 200.

Other than that you make good points, especially the one about 10 minutes every day being better than 2 hrs once a week. It's kinda like fitness training, if you wanna stay in shape you gotta do at least something every day, you cant just lie around doing nothing. Same goes for guitar and every other instrument for that matter, you have to practice all the time or your skills wont improve.

To be honest, Sonofabitch Thirdgeneration, the point was that Death Trap in 176 comes to me from merely playing every day for a few weeks - not practicing speed, which I've never done. I play in 12-60, so that ought to reduce the speed somewhat compared to 10-46, for example.

I play 11-70 on a 7 string, bite that

and yea I get that, just felt like pointing out a couple things you never practice speed? You really should, you know lot of good bands have fast songs and if you wanna learn to play them you gotta be able to keep up.

What strings do you use (or combo of strings) and where do you order them? I have a 7 and want to get lower.

that's not really all that low, I guess for some people it is, I usually run some 13s that go up to I think 74/76 or something I have to pull up the packaging

You play it from the low end in about 180? You'll probably change picks every eight bars.

Not if you are getting thicker picks. I use 1.5mm jazz picks. they are called 'Cool'

Yay my picks are 1,5mm as well, they take it pretty well.
And Ilwhyan, I usually play standard e tuned songs as they are, which means since my guitar is in drop a tuning I simply omit the 7th string when I play the song (of course every now and then I experiment standard e tuned riffs from the low end, just to see what it would sound like). That's the cool thing about 7 strings, you can play standard tuned stuff and really heavy stuff without having to switch guitars. It's like having 2 different tunings in one guitar
And someone asked what strings I use, I use La Bella HRS-75 strings and the gauges are .011-.014-.018-.036w-.046-.052-.070 and I get them from here.