Dark guitar DIs- need advice

[He's Dead, Jim]

In brief, I'm not totally satisfied with my guitar tone. I have an ESP LTD EC-407 7-string that I'm running into a POD HD Pro for DIs to use with amp sim VSTs (not POD sims, since they are terrible.) I've been mixing a lot of stems recently and listening to the DIs, and overwhelmingly they're a lot brighter than mine- twangier, brighter, and less muddy and more thumpy in the low end. These effects are magnified once you put them through a high-gain amp sim- I spend a lot of time playing with VST settings for my guitar, and I still get more satisfying results with ~5 mins working with other folks' DIs.

So, should I:

1. Buy a new interface to replace the POD, as the low-quality preamp in the POD may be affecting my DIs? I'm thinking a Roland Quadcapture, Onyx Blackjack, or Presonus 22VSL. (I know these aren't cream of the crop, but I figure they have to be better than the Line 6 stuff.)

2. Install a different bridge pickup known to be brighter?

3. Use lighter-gauge strings?

4. Pay somebody to install a switchable pot for a single coil split mod on the bridge pickup? I feel like this would be killing an ant hill with a nuclear bomb though.

5. WILDCARD: Even though I think I have a pretty good quality guitar, is it just that the body has a dark tone that I'll never escape? I haven't really owned enough (nice) guitars to be able to judge this one.

For reference, here's a DI of my tone with new strings.

Any and all insight is appreciated

 

[MultiM]

Having the same problem here, using my guitar with a Zoom G5 to use VSTs amp sims.
Still trying to figure out the problem, maybe the multi effects aren't good for recording direct.

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

Having the same problem here, using my guitar with a Zoom G5 to use VSTs amp sims.
Still trying to figure out the problem, maybe the multi effects aren't good for recording direct.

Interestingly, I actually found a thread on here where a guy recorded before-after clips of his DI, same guitar and everything, through a POD XT multi-fx unit and a Mackie Blackjack. Results are here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19237144/PodXT_MackieBlackJack_DI.zip

They sound exactly the damn same to me! Which makes me think that it's the guitar body or pickups, not the preamps.

 

[indecizo]

I noticed an improvement going directly from POD to my saffire pro 40 pres, but not a difference that blew my mind. That DI sounds fine, although the chord at the beggining does sound a bit dark. I got this too a while back but I noticed I was playing in a way that didn't sound good and defined, I did some changes to the way I play plus I tune better now and now my tone sounds defined and I perceive this as brighter. Like the spot you place your right hand when palm muting changes the tone significantly depending how for to the bridge, how hard you pick, stuff like that. My ltd has the exact specs as yours and I can make it sound a bit better I think. I would post my DI's but I gotta go to work, maybe I'll do that tonight.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

If its not the preamp. You can change pickups, see what suits better with the type of wood you have. Strings make difference and also guitar pots, I think I read that 500k would be a improvement for clarity. Cant assure you of that, cause I never did it.

Also, a good DI box will improve the sound.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

Ah, more one thing, the guitar pick! Yes man, it makes really a lot of difference and of course your picking technique but I dont want to go there. If you are picking with a fat pick you will have a much more muffled sound.

 

[LBTM]

high pass the DI and add much top end (like 8db) before hitting the guitar preamp.

here's how it will sound: http://cl.ly/Wscf/download/Guitar%20DI%20sample.mp3
much cleaner!!

or get an eq pedal.

^^ all these before wasting money on new pickups. you can imporve the DI by just eqing (a new pickup would just give you a different eq curve so...)

 

[Quitty]

81-7s are dark pickups. Have you heard brighter DIs from 81-7-equipped guitars?
I don't think the POD is the problem, provided that the signal is clean. You could try and reduce the volume going into your computer, though. -10dB should be a good starting point - any higher and you run the risk of clipping transients, which you don't want.

While i can't tell you what it is, i can tell you what it's not.
It's not the POD. Maybe the settings, but not the POD.
A 500K pot is meant for passive guitars. Don't do it.
Thinner strings aren't really brighter as much as middier, but they'll respond better if you're a gentle picker. No problem getting bright tones with thick strings, though.

Picking harder and always using new strings, making sure your batteries are good, maybe adjusting pickup height if it isn't as close as possible to the strings... Try everything else.

 

[Red Phoenix]

For a long time i had really thick strings (54 on drop C) to keep them more in tune while hitting them hard. i had a pick with a slightly rounded tip and my pickups were as close as possible to the strings. Compared to others i always had a muddy tone. Then i changed the strings for lighter ones (46 on drop C, brought back the roooaaar), got a sharper pick for more attack and lowered the pickup a bit (finding the sweet spot where the low end isn't boomy but still getting hi gain sounds). It's a lot better for me now. You should try it if you didn't yet. Different interface or DI box made no difference for me, but different guitars did (all with probably different setup).

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I just adjusted the pickup height- three full turns downward, hope I'm not somehow damaging the guitar body haha. But it does sound significantly clearer. Still not all the way, but I'll try different strings and picks and see where it gets me.

 

[Ermz]

EMGs are generally designed to be as close to the strings as you can get them.

Few points:

- Mahogany bodied guitars will always have a darker tone. That's part of their charm.
- 81-7 is a fairly bright pickup, I imagine installed to offset the darker wood tone. That being said, in my experience it was a somewhat harsh and unmusical pickup compared to the standard 81.
- String thickness will affect top-end. Go as light as you can before tuning stability becomes an issue.
- Pick choice facts in too. Try not to go higher than 1mm. I find .73mm to be a great middle ground.
- Performance matters a ton. I own a Hellraiser with 707s, and it took me years before I had the power in my hands to coax a tone out of it. The darker the guitar, generally the more you have to fight it for clarity.

 

[Red Phoenix]

Just to get it right.
You as a pro, what do yo actually mean with "as close as possible"? The nearest position where the strings will still never touch the pickup while hard hitting and/or fretting on 24th fret?

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

EMGs are generally designed to be as close to the strings as you can get them.

Few points:

- Mahogany bodied guitars will always have a darker tone. That's part of their charm.
- 81-7 is a fairly bright pickup, I imagine installed to offset the darker wood tone. That being said, in my experience it was a somewhat harsh and unmusical pickup compared to the standard 81.
- String thickness will affect top-end. Go as light as you can before tuning stability becomes an issue.
- Pick choice facts in too. Try not to go higher than 1mm. I find .73mm to be a great middle ground.
- Performance matters a ton. I own a Hellraiser with 707s, and it took me years before I had the power in my hands to coax a tone out of it. The darker the guitar, generally the more you have to fight it for clarity.

Interesting. I just bought some jazz IIIs and I love the ease of playing they give me, since they're small and pretty heavy, but that does darken the tone.

So I put the pickups way too low and stripped the pickup height screws, can't get them to go back up toward the strings even with needle-nose pliers so now I have to go to Guitar Center. That'll teach me not to pretend I'm handy I guess.

 

[Pxz]

What string gauge are you using?

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

Dunlop heavy cores- 10/13/17/28/38/48/60. I really like the feel of the low strings, but I think when I re-string next time I'll swap them out for much lighter-gauge Slinkies.

 

[Pxz]

I dropped the guage a time ago, from a .60 low c to a .52 . I hear a lot more twang and crunch with the .52 . In your case i would try 10-54 or so for 7string standard tuning.

 

[Ermz]

That set doesn't sound too heavy. I used a 70 on the low B back in the day. *That* was definitely dark. I'd recommend ditching the Jazz IIIs for rhythm playing. Have done it for a number of clients, only for their rhythm tones to improve substantially. If you want something with a similar feel that will actually generate clarity try the TIIIs.

 

[indecizo]

I get a beefier sound when I pick with my dick.