String noise is part and parcel of high gain playing

[nightlight]

This is a video of Metallica playing Ride the Lightning in 1984.



I consider this as a band already into its sophomore effort playing a relatively simple song.

But due to the gain, just the act of lifting your fingers off a string or changing chords will maybe 1% or 0.5% or 0.25 per cent of the time result in string noise.

So is it bad to have string noise? I'm convinced only the musicians in the audience pay attention to it. It's just part and parcel of high gain playing, the Youtube experts be damned.

 

[Tone Monster]

I didn’t notice anything wildly noisy . James was really working on stage presence with the hand gestures too…

 

[Solarflares]

You think too much

 

[shredi knight]

That's just Kirk's sloppy playing being too loud in the mix.

 

[Beyond Black]

This is a video of Metallica playing Ride the Lightning in 1984.



I consider this as a band already into its sophomore effort playing a relatively simple song.

But due to the gain, just the act of lifting your fingers off a string or changing chords will maybe 1% or 0.5% or 0.25 per cent of the time result in string noise.

So is it bad to have string noise? I'm convinced only the musicians in the audience pay attention to it. It's just part and parcel of high gain playing, the Youtube experts be damned.

You’re correct, and they should’ve used nylon classical strings.

 

[nightlight]

I didn’t notice anything wildly noisy . James was really working on stage presence with the hand gestures too…

That kind of proves my point. I hear a couple of strings ring out - the same strings, mind you - ring out at three points in the song. Didn't affect the concert experience at all.

 

[nightlight]

You’re correct, and they should’ve used nylon classical strings.

In my opinion, they should have kicked out Lars. Who knows what heights the band would have reached?

 

[dooredge]

In my opinion, they should have kicked out Lars. Who knows what heights the band would have reached?

What heights could they have reached that they haven't already, playing heavy metal?

As much as I disdain Lars, Metallica wouldn't be who they were/are without him.

They can play where they want, whenever they want.

They've sold more than 100M records. Combined, the band has an approximate net worth of $930M.

If that isn't the pinnacle of success, I don't know what is.

 

[HellraiserJohnny]

OK, I'm going to leave Metallica out of it since any particular band is irrelivant to the topic, but playing high gain really loud is a art form and any guitarist worth his/her salt does have to learn many "tricks" and techniques to avoid blowing thier bandmates and the audiences ears off. The only guitarist I ever let handle my axe on stage was my guitar tech who understood he was handing me an Atomic Bomb. No one ever knew how loud our guitar rigs were untill the first note we played. I felt the surprise of it always gave our shows a bit more BANG for the buck.

I would also point out that having 0 noise, static, buzz or hum before the 110-120 Db of high gain guitars hits the air is a other end of the "Surprise factor".

 

[VESmedic]

In my opinion, they should have kicked out Lars. Who knows what heights the band would have reached?

The guy who has given arrangement to their biggest hits and is a premier songwriter in the band? Lol…..ok.

 

[Techdeth]

To me it’s a bad mix . They also had just gotten boogies . Too much gain . They had t found their tone yet . They did during puppets in the studio
I just see kids using too much gain love like I did when younger

 

[thegame]

. Too much gain .

BANNED!!!

 

[DrewJD82]

In my opinion, they should have kicked out Lars. Who knows what heights the band would have reached?

Get this, Metallica is the biggest metal band in the world over here on Earth. I’m not even joking; on our planet Lars said he wanted to be in the biggest heavy metal band in the world and the guy actually went and pulled it off.

What happened to them on your planet?

 

[RaceU4her]

they should have got Bostaph

 

[Jakem]

BANNED!!!

Thanks, this was funny!

 

[cobrahead1030]

Sloppy string muting technique sounds bad, and it’s an aspect of playing with high gain that’s worth being aware of.

I’ve always found that you’ve gotta be careful when looking at other bands & players as an example of what to do vs not. Lots of my favorite players utilize gear, techniques & overall approaches that absolutely don’t work for me.

 

[311boogieman]

You think too much

You talked too much
What was the name of your banned?
Ooops. You can't reply. You're band.

To get to the larger question though, the higher the gain the higher the everything. That's what makes it fun. To a point right? I like the sound of things getting ready to fly off the tracks - but too much gain can make thing...much.