11 Tips for Ultimate HIGH GAIN Guitar Sounds

“High Gain” - compound adjective 1 - Audio and Music: to describe the greatest sound that can be made from an electric guitar. High levels of input volume overload the device and become thick, sustained sounds that define rock, hard rock and metal.

2 - Physics: Reference to operational amplifiers or transistors with a large amplification factor. 

Do you love enormous guitar sounds? Does your idea of sound therapy involve a huge crushing wall of distortion?

If the answer to these questions has you nodding your head in a frenzy of agreement, then today’s article may be of interest to you. I want to share some tips on how to achieve your own best ever high gain distortion sound. These are all simple, practical things you can try out, so check out the tips and see if you can’t up your high gain game!

First off, set all of the EQ controls on your amp to noon, or half way, or pointing up. Whatever you choose to call it, set the EQ flat, basically.

Now play, and play for a while until your ears are tuned in to what you actually sound like. Make adjustments to your EQ controls from this point, not right at the beginning of your session. Your ears need a second to hear the finer details of your tone, so don’t pre-empt them. Basically, taste your lunch first, and then add the salt and pepper. So many players set their EQ before they play a note and then leave it.

This is an extension of my previous tip, but many of us are guilty of it. In metal, lots of players have a preconceived idea of how they should set their amp and pedal controls. This is based on seeing photos of Dimebag and Hetfield’s amps, and basically copying the settings. Now, this would be fine if A) you are Dimebag or Hetfield; B) you have their exact same gear, and; C) you happen to be playing in the same venue with the same amount of people standing in the same place.

You aren’t any of those things, though, are you? So stop dialling up your sounds from what you expect your gear to do, and start setting your gear based on what you actually hear. Most amplifiers have very different natural EQ properties, so cutting the mids a little on, say, a MESA/Boogie will change the sound differently from doing the same on a 5150, for example. Copying pictures of amp settings you found online are not going to deliver the results you want, because real-life physics plays so much of a part in how sounds are generated. Go with your ears over your eyes!

Do you use a compressor pedal? With your high gain sounds? One question: why?

If you like how it sounds and if it works for you, then more power to you. But if in doubt, I suggest leaving the compressor off. High levels of distortion basically ARE compression, and the more you add, the less dynamic and expressive your sound will be.

Try leaving it off for an entire rehearsal and consider how it sounded and felt afterwards. Switch it back on for clean sounds and solos by all means (both good ideas) but for your heaviest Captain Crunch sounds? I’d say try to leave the compressor off.

Most metalheads will know this one, but in case you don’t, here’s the fabled Tubescreamer trick:

What this does is focus the low end into a tighter response and add some nice grit to the overall tone. There’s a little extra midrange in there too. It’s subtle and very noticeable at the same time. I expect after trying this, you’ll join the legion of moshers who use this as standard practice.

You do not need as much low end in your guitar sound as you think. You don’t! When you hear a huge guitar tone on your favourite records, you’re hearing a fairly ‘fictional’ version of a guitar sound. By that, I mean that it has been EQ’d, processed, limited, shelved and mixed in such a way as to give the impression of being a huge sound. 

If you can find individual tracks or stems of a song with an amazing high gain sound, give those a listen and you’ll hear a guitar tone that is actually quite skinny. It just has the illusion of size, thanks to the bass guitar, kick drum and various production tricks all playing their part. 

So, calm down on the low frequencies (don’t cut them entirely, that would be counterproductive) and you’ll sound larger in context. Too much bass will actually help bury you in a mix. What guitarist ever wanted that?

Yes, I know this article is all about ‘high gain’, but trust me: take the distortion down just a smidge, and you’ll be all the better for it. You do need lots of gain for a high gain sound, but removing a little touch of gain will strengthen your notes, make them clear and hit with more punch. Your notes will cut more, start and stop more quickly, and generally sound tight and brutal. Too much gain sounds messy and incoherent.

Chuck on the gain for your solos if you do them, but for rhythm work, slightly less speaks volumes.

The ‘scooped’ guitar sound is something that can sound very cool on its own, but it’s not a general rule for metal at all. This is particularly the case when you play in a band.

Yes, if you have a mahogany guitar with active pickups and a boutique amp then you’ll be ‘midrange rich’ already and can experiment with the ‘smile EQ’ setting (on a graphic EQ, the high bass, no mids, high treble setting looks like a grin), but otherwise it’s a mistake. 

Most guitar and amp combos do not sound great when the mids are removed completely: you’ll virtually disappear in a band mix, for one thing, and you’ll also have to compensate with loads more volume. Midrange is YOUR territory as an ensemble musician: don’t just give it away! 

Do yourself and everyone else a favour and retain at least some of those essential midrange frequencies. Instead of turning up volume at a rehearsal, see what you get when you just turn up the mids. They add brutality to a guitar sound anyway, and is that not what it’s all about?

This is a different approach to the trick I just mentioned. Instead of backing off the gain at the amp (or pedal), try maxing it and then turning your guitar’s volume back a few notches.

What does this do? It does wonders for your sound, that’s what it does. Try it, compare it, do whatever you like: this is going to be great for your sound.

Using an EQ pedal is an obvious thing that so many players either ignore or don’t know about. So, I hope you become neither of those two groups, because using an EQ pedal is one of the most powerful ways to control and shape your entire tone.

Basically, there are two methods that apply here: placing the pedal before the gain stage, and placing it after the gain stage.

Before the gain stage: take the low end blub out of the tone before it hits the distortion, bringing a smoother distorted tone. Also determine how much of the midrange is hitting the power amp.

After the gain stage: sculpt the final sound before it goes to the speaker. Ultimate control!

Each of these methods is completely valid, and each will result in slightly different tones, thanks to the way the signal is clipped and changed by the preamp and poweramp. Test both ways to see which you prefer, or double down, get TWO EQ pedals and have one in both positions!

Instead of getting all of your distortion from one source (i.e. turning the amp’s gain to maximum), try using a number of lower gain drives together. We call this ‘overdrive stacking’ and the benefit here is that you get to change the overall tone a little each time with every additional pedal. The goal is to reach your desired high gain sound, but via two or even three moderately distorted pedals all playing their part. 

You’ll get a very different result compared to simply switching to your amp’s drive channel and diming it, and this multi-pedal method allows you to select the colour of your distortion with more art, variance and precision.

If you are playing heavy music, then you need some type of noise gate pedal. A big part of the reason why heavy guitars make such an impact in metal is that they go between complete silence and overwhelming, crushing volume. If you have loads of amp hiss, cable hiss and handling noise, then you are robbing your own performance of most of its impact.

Who wants that? Retain your dramatic sound by sticking a noise suppressor at the end of your gain stages (just before your ambient effects, basically) and your performance will tighten up and sound more professional.

Those are some tips to try out. I didn’t go into any avenues like ‘buy X guitar or Y amp’, because that’s pretty subjective. Some players prefer active pickups, others don’t. Some prefer pedals for their gain, others want it straight from the amp. All of these positions are valid: the end result is what matters! You have your preferences about tone and I have mine, after all, so these tips are more about making the most of what you have.

I’ve also avoided playing/technique tips, because that’s a whole other subject! I could say ‘play cleanly’, ‘mute with both hands’ and more along those lines, but today’s article is all about sorting out your equipment so that it sounds as good as possible.

I hope it has helped! Use what works for you and don’t worry too much about what doesn’t. Enjoy achieving and playing with YOUR ultimate high gain guitar tone!