Lately, the vast majority of metal players are looking for ever more aggressive sounds and lower tunings; but that search can easily bring us a problem or two. There's no point in having the fattest, most brutal tone if it makes it sound like we've amplified a chainsaw and we end up muddying the band's overall sound. The first point is to know, more or less, what we're looking for, and the second is to see which gear setup may be the most suitable.
The first guitarists who ventured into this territory had to achieve the sound many of them are now famous for through trial and error; but there are now products on the market clearly aimed at these styles. Fifteen years ago, if you asked a store for a set of strings to tune to D or a baritone guitar set, they'd most likely have called an exorcist; today, however, they're commonly found in most specialty stores, and almost every brand offers this kind of string.
The same goes for guitars: few brands mass-produced seven-string or baritone guitars, and most musicians turned to independent luthiers to build them one; now we have plenty to choose from, and with a value for money that, in some cases, is hard to believe. Let's look at the best options if we want to blow the singer's wig off.
Choosing a guitar
It's important that the guitar has a look we like, but it's even more important that it has the right scale length and woods. I'm not mentioning the pickups yet because, although they're a very important point, they're something that can be sorted out relatively easily; the points above can't. If you choose wrong, there's little you can do to improve those aspects.
Scale length is the distance from the nut to the bridge, that is, the two points on which the strings rest. A short scale length (24.75") makes the guitar more comfortable to play and produces a darker, less percussive sound with less harmonic richness than a longer scale (25.75"), which is, to put it simply, your classic Strat. Which should we choose? If we're planning to play blues or hard rock, a short scale is fine; but that's not what we're talking about here.
If we want definition, whether in standard or lower tuning, the best choice is a 25.5" scale length and, in terms of comfort, I don't think anyone will have much trouble switching from a Les Paul to a Strat, since the difference in length is easily manageable.
Next step: the woods and type of construction. The most suitable ones, for my taste and that of many others, are the following:
- Maple neck with an ebony or rosewood fingerboard and an alder or mahogany body.
- Maple neck with an ebony or rosewood fingerboard, with an alder, mahogany or basswood body and a maple top.
The combination of ebony and maple on the neck favors high frequencies and sustain, which is highly recommended if we opt for a mahogany body. But the most suitable and versatile option, for my taste, would be to pair this neck combination with an alder body. Of course, I'm setting aside aesthetic preferences; however, if we prefer a body with a beautiful grain, the combination of a maple top and a mahogany body isn't a bad choice. In fact, it's almost the best, but alder is much more versatile. If that versatility is of no use to you, the best thing is to try both combinations without paying too much attention to looks at first, since no two guitars are alike, even if they're the same model with the same woods.
If you take a look at the specs of your favorite musicians' guitars (a good place is the ESP or CORT website), you'll see that the vast majority have the wood combination mentioned and that one type of construction prevails... Where there's smoke, there's fire... or in this case, wood.
The types of construction, or body-neck joints, used for guitars are as follows:
Bolt-on necks: As the name suggests, these are attached to the body with bolts. Usually four bolts are used, although some manufacturers use five or six and have a larger portion of the neck set into the body to give the joint more stability. Bolt-on necks favor a percussive, bright sound, which is especially interesting when it comes to soloing.
Set necks: They favor sustain and a rounder, less percussive sound. A portion of the neck is set into the body, but instead of being fixed with bolts, it's glued.
Neck-through: In this case, the neck is built from one or more pieces of the same or different types of wood, and it runs through the body all the way to its end. Gluing two pieces to the sides of the neck forms what will become the body, which makes it possible to create wood combinations with very interesting results.
Their most common characteristics are greater sustain and a more muted tone than bolt-on necks.
Of these three options, I think the best ones, a priori, are bolt-on and neck-through. As I said above, bolt-on guitars lend themselves to a more percussive, open sound, but if we choose the woods properly, a neck-through guitar can have the best of both types, that is, sustain, brightness and a wide response across all frequencies. Here, the most obvious winning bet for getting these characteristics is to combine the maple and ebony neck with an alder body, which gives us an ideal guitar for both rhythm and solos. I should say that there are many more woods that can be used to build guitars, but I've decided to stick to the ones most popular among manufacturers.
Tunings and strings
If we're going to use standard tuning, it's not too complicated: a 009/046 is a highly recommended gauge, especially if we use a tremolo; if not, it wouldn't hurt to go up to a 010/046. The problem comes when we want to tune down. Here the approach changes, because if we don't get the string gauge right, factors such as the scale length/tension ratio can play tricks on us. The only remedy is to go up in gauge and, in some cases, increase the scale length, that is, switch to a baritone. Tuning down a whole step and getting a good sound, as well as good string action, tremolo tension, etc., is generally not a big problem if you install a 011/50 or 011/53 set. Some manufacturers' new string designs are of special interest: they make strings with a thicker core and thinner winding, resulting in a string with a shorter vibration pattern, which prevents fret buzz and gives a feeling of greater tension. After changing the strings, all that's left is to readjust the action, the truss rod and the intonation.
Things get complicated when we want to tune down two whole steps, or two and a half; no matter how much we increase the gauge, it will never sound as defined as a guitar in standard tuning, since here we're entering baritone territory and, believe it or not, an inch and a half more, 27" in total, makes the difference. Another option could be a seven-string guitar; even if the seventh string doesn't sound very defined, at least the rest do. One of the most common problems when we want to tune a guitar designed for standard tuning that low is that, after changing string gauge, we can't intonate some of the strings properly, because the travel of the bridge saddles isn't enough to provide the necessary compensation. You can't fight the laws of physics: for a given note to sound right, you need a certain scale length and a certain string gauge, with small variations, which doesn't apply here.
Another aspect to keep in mind is that most guitarists don't feel comfortable having to play with a .060 gauge. I've done many setups on guitars to tune down two whole steps, or two and a half, and I assure you that in no case can it compare to how an instrument with a longer scale length sounds, although perhaps that may be what some players are after, since it provides a hoarser, darker sound; but I assure you that if you add more definition to that, it won't just make your stomach churn, it'll kick you in the chest.
Pickups and electronics
This point is easier to control: active or passive humbuckers with ceramic magnets are the choice we'll never go wrong with. They're pickups with high output, sharp attack and great sustain, just what we need. EMG makes both passive and active models and has long been the favorite brand of musicians and manufacturers. Seymour Duncan also has some interesting models, especially the Blackouts (active), which are being very well received.
As for controls and configuration, the simpler the better. If we opt for a single pickup in the bridge position, one volume control will be more than enough; the more directly the pickup's signal travels without going through tone controls (which we'll generally keep wide open and which will only slightly color the signal), the better. If we have two pickups we'll need to install a selector switch, although it wouldn't be a bad idea to have an independent volume for each pickup so we can blend or mute them as we please, which I think is much more versatile than the option of a selector with just a master volume. Likewise, a tone control would also be of little or no use here.
In issues 89 and 97 of this magazine you'll find two articles on woods and low tunings with more detailed information on these topics. Don't rush into making a purchase or modifying a guitar you already own; take some time to test things, consult other musicians and see what setup artists with a sound similar to what you're after are using. Still, if you use everything discussed here as a reference, you won't go far wrong, since these are currently the most common options on the market.
Another important aspect would be the amplifier and speakers. I'll be very brief, since this is a topic that could fill another article. As a reference, I recommend brands such as Laboga (incredible value for money and a brutal sound) or Bogner (here the quality borders on the sublime, but the price isn't for every budget); other brands such as Krank, Diezel, etc. also have models that may be of interest. The best thing is to try as many as you can; but of course, the guitar must be the first thing to consider, and the second is figuring out where you'll live when your mother or your partner kicks you out of the house. Good luck and better music.