What makes a guitar sound heavier?

Question

I know drop-d, distortion, and effects but what else? Does body shape or thickness etc. effect how heavy a guitar sounds? What about pick-ups? Anything I might of missed?

I may be in the market to buy a new electric guitar pretty soon. I don't really know how to find what I want. I do know if I can see if a guitars frets are close together, if it has a whammy bar, and price (I'm looking in the range of maybe like a couple $100 or so)by looking. Clarity and overall sound I'll have to play to find out. And that's part of the fun of going to a guitar store. I just want to narrow my search a little more by being able to pick out whether a guitar may sound heavy or not. I mean really heavy, like hard core heravy metal heavy. Hopefully someone can help iron out the details.

Answer 1

You can usually find your fav players rig (with diagrams) of all their FX gear in guitar player magazine, but it will cost you some big bux to buy the same gear. Other than that its the tube amps and pickups that really move the air, Zoom FX pedals mights be useful? try some out. Id go for Kramer or Ibee or Eclipse guitars maybe a Charvel? and some kind of Zoom FX (maybe the old 9002 box?)

Answer 2

Many players believe that the man element in the guitar's sound (not counting the player) are the guitar's pickups. The pickups rest underneath the vibrating strings. They are essentially a unit that houses a microphone for each individual guitar string. Without pickups your electric guitar would have no sound when plugged into an amplifier. But there are many more parts of an electric guitar that influence the sound.

The Wood
Now you may not think that the type of the wood in an electric guitar makes much of a difference but it makes a BIG difference. Their are MANY different types of woods used. In this article, we'll discuss the most popular woods used in the most popular solid body electric guitars. Some of them make a dramatic difference in the sound and some of them make subtle differences. Let's discuss the types of woods electric guitars are made from and what kind of effect they have on the guitar's sound.

The Weight
Different types of wood have different weights and have a dramatic effect on the sound of the guitar. Heavier woods sustain well and have a bright and articulate sound making it ideal for electric bass guitars. A heavier wood can also make a decent regular, 6 string electric guitar if the player desires a sound that has a lot of bass and sustain. Some woods used in electric guitars are extra light. This can make a difference on how the player's back feels at the end of a 4 hour gig but these instruments may have a very muddy sound or a sound that doesn't really stand out among the rest of the band when the player needs it. A medium weight wood is VERY popular as it gives you a decent sound complete with sustain and the bite that is found in lighter weight woods.

Types Of Wood
The types of woods make a big difference in the solid body guitar's sound. In some guitars, the body may be made primarily of one type of wood but have a different type of wood layered on top of the instrument giving it sound characteristics of both woods.

Alder
Alder is very popular for solid body guitar bodies because of its lighter weight and its full sound. Alder has been the mainstay for the Fender guitar and amplifier company solid guitar bodies for many years. A Fender Stratocaster alder body weighs about 4 pounds.

Answer 3

Active Pickups are great for distortion. "Active" means there is a battery that goes inside the guitar that externally powers it.

EMG is the top active pickup manufacturer. You would typically replace a passive Humbucker with an Active one. A good example of a "wicked" sound is anything by Zack Wylde. "No More Tears" by Ozzy or anthing by Black Label Society.

Answer 4

Its mostly in the amp. Turn on Boost/overdrive, crank up the gain, then buy the "heavy metal pedal." Thats the real name of it. Guitar shape has nothing to with it.

Answer 5

Humbucking pickups (like on Gibson guitars) give a warmer, fatter sound. That might help. Body shape won't have any effect.

Answer 6

heavy distortion, in increasing high and low pitch in a crunch dis... and add volume to it.. if it cant.. plug it with an amplifier... furthermore.. donot play like a fool picking too hard.. you will end by breaking something! some relax.. and in sum, 'heaviness' is acheived in proper instruments and pitch.

Answer 7

The pick-ups or an external effects pedal.

Answer 8

Mainly it is technique.But pick-ups and amp factor in the equation as well.Pedals aren't as good as tube-driven amps.

Answer 9

The pick-ups homeboy!