Let's talk about attack.

[youngthrasher9]

So this is a pretty obvious issue with me. I've been playing my latest guitar, a Washburn WM24 renegade with an Alt. 8 in the bridge, through my Blackstar HT-20, and I am having serious trouble getting the attack that I need out of the guitar. I play thrash type stuff often, and lately I've just been fighting with my guitar to get the attack to produce any aggression. At first I just tried to play cleaner and pick harder, but it gave me no results. Also, the pickup seems to lack any midrange. I seriously have to run the mids on my amp at 10, while on my other guitar with an A8 '59/custom hybrid I have mids to spare.
I'm considering having a new maple/maple neck built for the Washburn just to add some attack and midrange. (I like the looks of maple too...)

[Guston7]

Having a whole new neck made seems like a radical (& expensive) remedy. You have definitely isolated the deficiency to the WM? Your other guitar thru same amp has all the attack you want? If so, have you tried swapping your C/59 to the WM to see if switching to something similar would take care of it? There's a lot of ground between that & the Alt8. Maybe the Alt8 just doesn't work for you?

[metalmachine]

Dude you should give the distortion a shot

[youngthrasher9]

I solved the issue. Turned the freaking treble up on the amp. :facepalm:

[youngthrasher9]

Dude you should give the distortion a shot

I really plan on doing so. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[CTN]

I solved the issue. Turned the freaking treble up on the amp. :facepalm:

well you already facepalmed so I now have to do this

[CTN]

Also, attack is not the same as having mids or treble, although attack tends to lie in the mid-treble frequency range imo.

If you still have problems with attack, try changing your pick. Try out one of the Dunlop Ultex picks. They are fantastic - sharp, precise attack, and makes the strings sound brighter, fuller, and more alive.

[grumptruck]

yup... mids are ur friend.

And ultex

[ItsaBass]

Monkey with your amp controls (hint: try taking out bass). If you still can't get it, try adjusting your pickup. If you still can't get it, try changing picks and/or strings. Then pots. If you still can't get it, then consider a magnet swap. If you still can't get it, try a different pickup. However, I think at least 80 percent, and maybe more, of tone complaints can be solved by amp setup and pickup setup.

[speed2dirt]

Honestly, I'd say attack is less gear and more technique. Work on how your pick strikes the string. Thrash typically has a percussive picking technique that comes across aggressive. The type of pick can make a difference, but how the pick hits the string is more important.

[LatsMcGee]

I would try a distortion or a JB8 before I moved onto a new neck in the guitar.....

[tonello]

I wouldn't even touch a new neck. My best advice would be to get something besides the Alt. 8 in that bridge. The Alt 8 in my opinion is a terrible pickup. I know people who've used them and said that they don't sound anything decent. If you're talking thrash, I'd really try an Invader (Hetfield's tone up through MOP). It definitely has some decent clean sounds, and it's got more attack than a political ad.

[Jason_Clement]

I grew up on bands like Iced Earth, and that staccato/rapid-fire tremelo picking/palm mute thing is just a part of my playing style. I hear you on the mids thing. I love mids for fat open chords and solos and stuff, but when it comes to riffing they really kill the "attack", at least on my amp. A lot of it IS technique though. Rolling back the bass and adding a little more treble helps, heavier string gauges sometimes helps too. I've found though that lower action helps "attack" a lot, you get a snappier sound from lower action imo. That's something I go for, personally. I would definitely try messing with the amp settings.

ALSO, roll back the gain a little. I usually never put my gain past the half way mark. It over saturates the sound and totally kills that percussive sound. Lower your pick ups too, that helped me a lot. Not overly low, but not as high as some people set them.

Uhm, yeah. That's all the advice I can give from personal experience haha.

[dr. ad]

ok so you've already fixed the problem and are getting some good advice re purpose-specific EQ;
i would add lowering the pickup, as this will lower bass without you needing to literally attenuate the **** out of your signal, as well as opening up some space for your midrange.
this should emphasise the attack. the alt 8 is no slouch, it doesn't need to be 1mm off the strings, as i'm sure you well know

shorter poles are the next stop. i wouldn't look at a mag swap in an alt8, but i haven't owned one either (yet).

[dr. ad]

FWIW, i have a blackstar dist-X and find it very bottom-heavy

[Jason_Clement]

Yeah, definitely lowering the pickups help a lot for me getting that attack-y sound. The higher the pickups are to the strings the harder it is for me to find a good tone but the same goes with being too far away. So I guess somewhere right below half way ;D

[gman128]

Honestly, I'd say attack is less gear and more technique. Work on how your pick strikes the string. Thrash typically has a percussive picking technique that comes across aggressive. The type of pick can make a difference, but how the pick hits the string is more important.

I'd agree generally but in this case it is the gear. I had my Strat loaded with an alt 8 and running through the same amp and settings an Ibanez RG570 loaded with a DD.

The ibanez had loads of nice aggressive in your face punch and instant attack.

The strat with the alt.8 had a subdued, latent attack that had no balls - i had to pick really hard to get that nice chunk out of my PMs.

I hate the Alt.8 for metal, it worked fine for hard rock, but in terms of having a quick response - it did not work.

The DD is the passive pickup for thrash imo.

That said I do also love the two ibanez RGs i have loaded with blackouts - insane attack and immediacy!