How to Make an Electric Guitar Sound Like Heavy Metal

Metal guitar requires mastery of both tone and technique.

Death, demons, blood and guts lurk inside that guitar resting in your hands, and it's up to you to let them out. Heavy guitar playing requires a strong command of tone and technique, so aspiring metal guitarists should condition their ears, their hands and their instruments to work together and produce the music they love.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Electric guitar
• Guitar tuner
• 2 1/4-inch instrument cables
• 9-volt battery
• AC adapter
• Distortion/high-gain pedal
• Amplifier

Using A Distortion Pedal

1. Power the pedal. Most distortion pedals use either a 9-volt battery or an AC adapter made specifically for that pedal.

2. Connect your guitar to the distortion pedal. Insert one end of one of the instrument cables into your guitar's input jack, and the other into the pedal's input. Typically the input is marked as "input" or "in."

3. Connect the pedal to the amplifier. Insert one end of the other instrument cable into the pedal's output jack, typically marked as "output" or "out." Insert the cable's other end into the amplifier's input.

4. Turn the amplifier's master volume all the way down.

5. Turn the amplifier on.

6. Activate the amplifier's "clean" or low-gain channel. If the amplifier has only one channel, set the gain low--around a "3," for example.

7. Press the pedal's on/off switch with your foot.

8. Increase the amplifier volume gradually. Do this slowly. Turning the amp up too high with a gain pedal activated will cause ear-piercing feedback, even if you're using a low-powered amp.

9. Increase the pedal's output by turning the gain up. This control knob may be marked "Gain" or "Dist," though some pedal manufacturers use more creative words; the Snarling Dog distortion pedal, for example, marks its overdrive control as "bite." The more gain, the "heavier" the tone, but beware: Too much gain compromises the clarity of the notes you're playing.

10. Adjust the equalization level to your liking. Some pedals, such as the BOSS DS-1, have only one equalization control, while more advanced or specialized models have several. Equalization is largely a matter of taste and style. Classic metal tends to emphasize the high frequencies, while more modern metal favors mid-range and bass frequencies.

Palm Muting

1. Place the pinky edge of your hand on the bridge of the guitar--the piece of metal that suspends the strings over the guitar's body.

2. Fret a chord, preferably one in the guitar's low register, such as an open E chord.

3. Play the lowest note (or lowest two notes) with your pick hand still resting on the bridge. When executed properly, palm muting allows notes to sound, but dampens (cancels) them within milliseconds. Classic examples of palm muting include the climax of Metallica's "One" and the verse of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train."

Detune Your Guitar

1. Power the tuner. Some tuners use batteries, while others use AC adapters.

2. Connect your guitar to the tuner. Insert an end of one of the instrument cables into your guitar's input and the other into the tuner input.

3. Tune the guitar down a full step. From the lowest to highest strings, standard tuning lowered a full step would be spelled D-G-C-F-A-D. Tuning down a full step allows you to use standard-tuning chord voicings--it just lowers their pitch and makes them sound more menacing.

4. Detune the sixth string even further. Drop the pitch of the sixth string to C. This tuning (C-G-D-F-A-D) allows dropped-tuning chord voicings. For example, pick the open sixth and fifth strings in this tuning. The result is a C5 chord much lower and heavier-sounding than the C5 voicings most commonly played in standard tuning.

Tips & Warnings

• If you use a modeling amp or guitar-modeling software, you don't even need a distortion pedal. Simply switch the control to one of the amp or program's high-gain settings.

• Use a guitar with humbucking pickups, which produce higher output.

• Use heavier strings, particularly if you're going to detune. Detuning decreases the tension on strings, and light-gauge strings (specifically .09s and .10s) will wobble out of tune easily. If you switch to heavier strings and find your guitar going in and out of tune constantly, take it to a luthier (guitar mechanic) to have it adjusted so that the strings stay in tune.

References

• Supersonic.net: Heavy Metal Guitar
• Ultimate Guitar: Heavy Metal Style