pinch harmonics

phatsack

anybody else have this problem?
....I use the GNX3000 and I like to use the heavier/ metal settings. The patches I use sound great; nice thick distortion, not too digital sounding. But when I do pinch harmonics (which I like to do a lot, probably over do it) they sound really thin and.......fake. That's all, just fake. thin, digital, and not realistic at all. I don't understand it. My natural harmonics sound fine, but the pinch harmonics just sound bad enough that I'm reluctant to even use them in any recording.

Any patches available that sound right for artificial harmonics? Maybe I should be using a little chorus to thicken it up a little? Kind of sucks when my Roland micro cube sounds better than my GNX. :roll:

BlackIbanezRG270DX

did it only start sounding like that since youve been using the gnx?

iliace

Chorus won't really help. Try boosting the Mid on the amp model. Also, try turning down the gain and increasing the volume.

Tal Rules

How are you getting the Pinch??? (Thumb or index??)..
Do they sound good going through a straight amp??

iliace

\Tal Rules\ wrote:

How are you getting the Pinch??? (Thumb or index??)..
Do they sound good going through a straight amp??

WHOA! :shock: Tal pinches? :?

Actually, I used to use the nail of the 2nd (middle) finger. Thumb is generally easier, but depending on the situation you might have to do it one way or the other.

BlackIbanezRG270DX

im guessing being a metal player he uses the thumb as most of us do, the variations on pinchs usually just make the already unreliable technique harder to replicate

Tal Rules

I actually use the tip of the index as the pick falls off....
(Think ZZ Top \"La Grange\"...)..

I've been working on those damn \"Lenny Breau\" harmonics for a few months... Those are killer.. but now where near to the point where I can just use them at will..

(Lenny Breau Harmonics.... Hold Pick with middle finger and thumb...with index finger play the harmonic 12 frets above where the fingers of the left hand are fretted...)

Try it...Real cool but pretty challenging... 8)

BlackIbanezRG270DX

thats the one i was thinking of when i said over complicated, a kid in a guitar class at school said he invented it cuz he couldnt get the thumb. no one was impressed so im sure your guy is much better at it than this guy was. i say using the thumb is only hard since its all about where you hit it between the pickups. very nessesary for any zakk wylde songs. ive heard songs where the main riffs are strictly pinch harmonics (stillborn, destructive overdrive)

singtall

no tubes. that's the problem. i have several rigs and the one tell-tale sign of tubes is the thick pinch harmonics you get from real tubes. tubes add odd harmonics that you can really hear and feel on on pinch harmonics. i have the newer gsp1101 and a rocktron voodo valve and they both do a good job of sounding tube-like...until you pinch a harmonic, then it thins out. i have a rocktron piranha and a bugera 333xl head that make the tubes cry when i pinch harmonics but they only do what they do soundwise. if you want a ton of sounds and modeling, that's the price you pay. i'm working on using my tube gear thru the gsp1101 and that problem may be solved. i'll keep you posted.

phatsack

Thanks for the replies.

First, I use my thumb. Been doing it for years and I have it down to a science (right down to the point where I change the key based on where I pinch it). So I know it's definitely not technique.

Singtall pretty much hit the nail on the head though, I'm not getting the full even and odd harmonics which makes it sound thin and digital. As far as tubes go, I know that tubes are going to make all the difference, but I also know that I can get a much better sounding artificial harmonic out of a solid state amp than I'm getting out of my GNX. I'm also using a Roland micro cube and that's solid state. And I can get good sounding squeals out of that all day. In fact they sound good enough to make me want to do it all day

For now I'm just going to have to work on a patch that comes close to what I want. Any more suggestions?

BlackIbanezRG270DX

go to

http://www.digitech.com/cgi-bin/guitarworld.pl

search for some heavy metal songs, find a zakk wylde or lamb of god song or something like that and put it on the gnx. theyre from guitar world magazine and any preset always sounds like the song theyre posted for. i just looked around for some 3k patchs and to be honest theres not alot BUT if you use the date finder on the top right just search recently to find some. another tip, the newest ones posted are from june 2007 so go there and then backwards one month at a time. hope this solves it for you.

phatsack

I found a patch that sounds AWESOME!!!! As well as having excellent pinch harmonic tone. Not that perfect harmonic tone you get from an overdriven tube amp.....but damn close.

First I did factory reset to start all over again. Then I downloaded every patch available from guitar3456. Went through them and meticulously adjusted/tweaked until I got the tone I was after. Turns out the patch that worked the best needed the least tweaking It's the Engl Powerball patch. Just a little bass and treble adjustment, turn up the gain a hair and there it was. Kick ASS!

this patch for the GNX3000:
http://www.digitech.com/soundcomm/guitar_view_patch.asp?productid=215&patch_id=9904



I'll post a demo of the squeals later 8)

phatsack

ENGL_PWB pinch harmonics demo recorded and posted with no post EQ or effects :!:

singtall

glad you found a good preset brother. check out my gnx3000 presets. they are under my user name \"singtall\". they are designed for direct to console use like mfxsupermodels.
check this preset:
http://www.digitech.com/soundcomm/guitar_view_patch.asp?productid=215&patch_id=11918

partch

\phatsack\ wrote:

ENGL_PWB pinch harmonics demo recorded and posted with no post EQ or effects :!:

8) Sounded good man!! I liked that!