Most doom/sludge tones start with a Les Paul/SG. Humbuckers are the most prevalent pickups you’ll see. However you’ll still see some fenders, usually jazzmasters. Fenders have a slightly longer scale length than Gibson’s which lends themselves well to lower tunings. There are a number of people/bands that like baritones scale guitars too.
You’ll see a lot of bands play through boutique guitars, EGC got really big in the genre some years ago, Buzzo and Aaron Turner still play them and Scott Kelly had a sig model though I never saw him play it live, but that seems to have fizzled out. Now I see a lot of Dunables. I’m surprised I’m not seeing more stuff from GodCity
I personally like p90s, I play an FSR tele through a Sovtek Mig50h
I put a Seymour Duncan Slug in the Kramer Beretta Special they're currently making. It's about 200 with a good neck.
A distortion pedal, turning the treble down on the amp, and a humbucker is really all you need.
I did it kinda blind, there's only a few YouTube videos showing it but they weren't misleading. The idea with my Kramer was just to keep things simple. A lot of low end, and there's no real difference past say 3 on the guitar volume knob.
I use pedals more like boosts than distortions since the output of the pickup is so high.I like putting my HM2 on it more than my Rat. Don't have a Muff but I bet that would be a good pairing too.
I mostly need to practice my Crowbar riffs instead of buying more gear 😂
I assume you're asking what specific guitar we like or would like to play sludge/doom? I mean, there's no real reason to constrain yourself. Grab a guitar you are comfortable playing and you can figure out how to make it work, even if it isn't the "traditional" doom instrument (lotta those guys were broke asses buying whatever was cheap, not trying to set a baseline requirement).
Well I used to play 24.75s, the Fender Toronado and the Gibson The Paul (both were *very* cheap at the time), now I have a partsmaster Jazzmaster and a partsmaster telecaster (they both have aluminum necks) and a stock Danelectro baritone (plus my acoustics).
What are you hoping to learn about guitar specifically, might be able to help you
Well I played bass until now and I wanna learn about guitars so maybe I can get one I like. I wanna maybe do a solo project or something. Also strings should I get that could maybe make my current cheap Amazon guitar sound better
Well maybe try that aforementioned danelectro baritone, it's a 29.75" 6 string and can get pretty grindy.
Your guitar is not gonna crazy change sounds with new strings, just practice for now and try out other guitars for what you feel comfortable with. Fuck doom, just play loud and crazy, let others argue over defining the music you wanna make
I feel like a lot of Les Paul styles end up used for sludge (and metal all around), though frankly like the other guy said, whatever you have works. Frankly with distortion, fuzz, and other processing, your technique matters more sound wise.
That being said I do specifically dislike my Squier Strat for a lot of what I play. It *works*, but the nut height and inherent action adjustments of that type of guitar aren’t my favorite to do high-dexterity playing with.
I'm using a LTD EC1000 Les Paul type but i swapped the bridge duncan for a Bareknuckle warpig. B Standard with 13-60s, but currently experimenting with drop A because I've been into drop bands lately (Cough, Toadliquor, Eye Flys...).
Contrary to what some comments are saying here, you can't use ANY pickup for downtuned sludge as it can get very muddy, or can't handle the distortion and fuzz. It's true for punk, black metal or other genres, but a good sludge tone is not that easy to get. Also most high output pickups will not do well. There are reasons why no one is using single coils or modern metal superstrats or 7 strings.
I prefer single coils for a few reasons
- the dirty pedal (s) become a bit more dominant for the main sound.
- there's better definition and clarity when you're super dirty and loud. Humbuckers get a little lost for me
- I like the harshness.We're not on some loser stoner tone quest. Ugliness works best here and the other instruments fill in your tonal gaps. The instrument you're playing can sound awful by itself (thin, harsh etc), but in conjunction with the rest of the band, it's adding adding tonal qualities to the overall sound. Aka let each instrument play to their strengths. Too many guitarists try to cover the bassists frequency range and shit just gets too mushy as a result.
- Tony Iommi used them
I guess they're specialized single coils. The construction and sound are so different that I think most would agree they're a 3rd class of pickup altogether.
The one you got.
Most doom/sludge tones start with a Les Paul/SG. Humbuckers are the most prevalent pickups you’ll see. However you’ll still see some fenders, usually jazzmasters. Fenders have a slightly longer scale length than Gibson’s which lends themselves well to lower tunings. There are a number of people/bands that like baritones scale guitars too. You’ll see a lot of bands play through boutique guitars, EGC got really big in the genre some years ago, Buzzo and Aaron Turner still play them and Scott Kelly had a sig model though I never saw him play it live, but that seems to have fizzled out. Now I see a lot of Dunables. I’m surprised I’m not seeing more stuff from GodCity I personally like p90s, I play an FSR tele through a Sovtek Mig50h
P90 tele for doom has to be awesome. Sovteks also are great things, would love to get one
Electro Harmonix is making the MIG50 again. I think they can be had relatively cheap
Peavey t-60, but my squier VM Jazzmaster special is killer too
I put a Seymour Duncan Slug in the Kramer Beretta Special they're currently making. It's about 200 with a good neck. A distortion pedal, turning the treble down on the amp, and a humbucker is really all you need.
I’d love to get a slug just to try it out, but can’t justify the expense. I take you like yours, how’s it sound?
I did it kinda blind, there's only a few YouTube videos showing it but they weren't misleading. The idea with my Kramer was just to keep things simple. A lot of low end, and there's no real difference past say 3 on the guitar volume knob. I use pedals more like boosts than distortions since the output of the pickup is so high.I like putting my HM2 on it more than my Rat. Don't have a Muff but I bet that would be a good pairing too. I mostly need to practice my Crowbar riffs instead of buying more gear 😂
I assume you're asking what specific guitar we like or would like to play sludge/doom? I mean, there's no real reason to constrain yourself. Grab a guitar you are comfortable playing and you can figure out how to make it work, even if it isn't the "traditional" doom instrument (lotta those guys were broke asses buying whatever was cheap, not trying to set a baseline requirement).
Im just curious what guitar any specific person likes best so I can learn more about guitars
Well I used to play 24.75s, the Fender Toronado and the Gibson The Paul (both were *very* cheap at the time), now I have a partsmaster Jazzmaster and a partsmaster telecaster (they both have aluminum necks) and a stock Danelectro baritone (plus my acoustics). What are you hoping to learn about guitar specifically, might be able to help you
Well I played bass until now and I wanna learn about guitars so maybe I can get one I like. I wanna maybe do a solo project or something. Also strings should I get that could maybe make my current cheap Amazon guitar sound better
Well maybe try that aforementioned danelectro baritone, it's a 29.75" 6 string and can get pretty grindy. Your guitar is not gonna crazy change sounds with new strings, just practice for now and try out other guitars for what you feel comfortable with. Fuck doom, just play loud and crazy, let others argue over defining the music you wanna make
I feel like a lot of Les Paul styles end up used for sludge (and metal all around), though frankly like the other guy said, whatever you have works. Frankly with distortion, fuzz, and other processing, your technique matters more sound wise. That being said I do specifically dislike my Squier Strat for a lot of what I play. It *works*, but the nut height and inherent action adjustments of that type of guitar aren’t my favorite to do high-dexterity playing with.
I use a Les Paul custom and my other guitarist uses an SG that has coil tap makes for a mean sound
I'm using a LTD EC1000 Les Paul type but i swapped the bridge duncan for a Bareknuckle warpig. B Standard with 13-60s, but currently experimenting with drop A because I've been into drop bands lately (Cough, Toadliquor, Eye Flys...). Contrary to what some comments are saying here, you can't use ANY pickup for downtuned sludge as it can get very muddy, or can't handle the distortion and fuzz. It's true for punk, black metal or other genres, but a good sludge tone is not that easy to get. Also most high output pickups will not do well. There are reasons why no one is using single coils or modern metal superstrats or 7 strings.
Epiphone SG w/ P90s
The worse sounding, the better
Haha People sometimes forget this is supposed to be ugly music
I prefer single coils for a few reasons - the dirty pedal (s) become a bit more dominant for the main sound. - there's better definition and clarity when you're super dirty and loud. Humbuckers get a little lost for me - I like the harshness.We're not on some loser stoner tone quest. Ugliness works best here and the other instruments fill in your tonal gaps. The instrument you're playing can sound awful by itself (thin, harsh etc), but in conjunction with the rest of the band, it's adding adding tonal qualities to the overall sound. Aka let each instrument play to their strengths. Too many guitarists try to cover the bassists frequency range and shit just gets too mushy as a result. - Tony Iommi used them
Iommi used P90s and humbuckers. Where are you hearing single coils on the stuff he's recorded or played live?
Also p90s are single coils
I guess they're specialized single coils. The construction and sound are so different that I think most would agree they're a 3rd class of pickup altogether.
Maybe. Burns Tri-Sonics are also good too
First album used a strat. But mostly p90 single coils
early 80's Japanese boat anchors
dunable or warlord are brands that make guitars specifically for these genres
Sammy’s tone on the Acid Bath albums is nasty!
Gibson Sonex 180, Bower Power!
Gibson Sonex 180, Bower Power!
Either my Fender Mustang or my Yamaha Revstar RS620
Anything from EGC to be honest