If you’re pondering what guitar is best for metal, you’ve come to the right place. This article aims to demystify this topic, guiding you through a range of options and factors to consider. You’ll emerge from this read knowing exactly what to look for.
What Guitar is Best for Metal? – Understanding the Importance
Choosing the perfect guitar for metal involves more than just picking a model that looks cool or has the right pickups; it’s crucial to start with understanding the basic types of guitars available.
The type of guitar you choose—whether it’s a solid-body, semi-hollow, or hollow body—will drastically affect both the sound it produces and how it interacts with your playing style.
Solid-Body Guitars
Solid-body guitars are the most common choice for metal music. The absence of any resonating chamber within the body allows for greater sustain and makes it easier to control feedback, which is particularly beneficial when playing at high volumes or with heavy distortion.
Solid-body guitars generally offer a bright and direct sound, making them versatile for various metal sub-genres, from thrash to doom metal.
Semi-Hollow Body Guitars
While less commonly used in metal, semi-hollow body guitars offer a unique blend of characteristics. They have a small resonating chamber that provides a warmer, more organic tone. However, this design makes them prone to feedback when played at high volumes with heavy distortion.
Despite this drawback, some metal guitarists prefer semi-hollow bodies for specific sub-genres like progressive metal, where the broader tonal palette can be advantageous.
Hollow Body Guitars
Hollow body guitars are the least common type used in metal due to their high susceptibility to feedback and less sustain. They produce a warm, rounded tone often better suited for jazz or blues.
However, for those who are daring and experimental, hollow bodies can bring a unique color to metal music, particularly in studio settings where feedback can be controlled.
What Guitar is Best for Metal? – Consider the Guitar’s Build
Choosing the ideal guitar for metal music is akin to putting together a puzzle—each piece matters and contributes to the bigger picture. After you’ve established the type of guitar that aligns with your needs, the next critical piece of the puzzle is the guitar’s build.
This covers a spectrum of features such as materials, neck profile, and body shape, all intricately tied to the guitar’s durability, playability, and sonic characteristics.
Materials: The Foundation of Tone and Durability
The type of wood used in the construction of a guitar heavily influences its tonal characteristics and durability. Let’s break down some commonly used materials:
Mahogany: This wood is known for its warm and rich tone. It provides excellent sustain and is often used in both bodies and necks. If you’re into doom or sludge metal, a mahogany guitar might be your best friend.
Alder and Basswood: These are lighter woods that offer a more balanced tonal spectrum. Alder is often found in guitars designed for a broader range of styles, while basswood is common in many modern metal guitars due to its balanced tone and lighter weight.
It’s essential to recognize that the quality of the wood used will also affect the guitar’s durability. A well-constructed, high-quality wood guitar can withstand the rigors of touring and intense playing, providing you with a long-lasting instrument.
Neck Profile: The Subtle Contributor to Playability
The guitar’s neck profile is an aspect that may be overlooked, yet it plays a pivotal role in your overall comfort and speed of playing. Neck profiles can vary considerably, and here’s what you should know:
C-Shape: This is the most common and is generally considered the most comfortable by a wide range of players. It’s well-suited for various styles of play, including the fast, intricate riffing found in many metal genres.
V and U Shapes: These are more specialized and tend to be favored by players looking for a faster playing style, typical in metal genres like speed metal or technical death metal. The shape allows for a more aggressive grip, facilitating faster playing but might be uncomfortable for some players.
Body Shape
When it comes to body shape, you might think it’s all about aesthetics. While the visual appeal cannot be dismissed, the shape has practical implications as well:
Flying V or Explorer Shapes: These iconic shapes are not just for show; they offer easier access to higher frets, making it simpler to rip out solos. However, these shapes can be a bit cumbersome when you’re sitting down, so they’re often more suited for stage performances.
Traditional Shapes: Like the Stratocaster and Les Paul, these are well-balanced and generally comfortable in most playing positions. They may offer slightly limited access to the higher frets but make up for it with their versatility and comfort.
Read more guitar topics here – Guitar Questions: Get the Right Answers to Your Burning Questions
Pickups are Crucial: The Heart of Your Metal Sound
When figuring out what guitar is best for metal, the importance of pickups can’t be overstated. These small devices embedded in the body of the guitar play an immense role in shaping your sound.
They act as a sort of microphone for your guitar, picking up the vibrations from the strings and converting them into an electrical signal that eventually comes out of your amplifier.
Types of Pickups for Metal
In general, you’ll want pickups that offer high output and sustain to get the aggressive, distorted tones that metal is known for.
Humbucker pickups are often the go-to choice for metal guitarists because they produce a thicker, fuller sound and naturally cancel out noise. These are ideal characteristics when you’re playing with a lot of distortion or at high volumes.
Active pickups, often seen in metal-oriented guitars, have a built-in preamp that boosts the signal, providing even higher output and a more compressed tone. This can be especially useful for modern metal styles that require sharp articulation and a tight low-end response.
Finding the Right Balance
While high-output pickups are crucial for heavy rhythms and screeching leads, they should also offer clarity and definition. The best pickups for metal will give you a tonal balance, allowing your guitar to cut through the mix whether you’re chugging on the low E string or soloing high up on the fretboard.
Understanding the Role of Scale Length: Why Size Matters
Another significant but often overlooked aspect when deciding what guitars are best for metal is the scale length, which is essentially the distance from the bridge of the guitar to the nut. Scale length directly affects both the tonal quality and the playability of the guitar.
Tonal Implications
A longer scale length—common in models like the Fender Stratocaster or certain Ibanez guitars—offers increased sustain and a brighter tonal quality.
This is often ideal for metal genres where piercing leads and heavy, sustained rhythms are the norm. The extended scale length allows for greater string tension, which contributes to these desired tonal characteristics.
Playability and Comfort
However, it’s essential to note that a longer scale length might require a bit more finger stretching, particularly when playing complex chords or intricate scales.
For some players, especially those with smaller hands or those new to guitar, a shorter scale length might offer more comfort and easier playability, at the expense of some sustain and brightness.
What Guitar is Best for Metal? – Popular Choices
When you’re on the hunt to discover what guitar is best for metal, you’ll quickly find that certain brands and models frequently make the top of the list.
Brands such as Ibanez, Gibson, and ESP have developed specific models that have become the go-to choices for metal musicians worldwide. Let’s delve into why these particular guitars are highly recommended for metal music.
Ibanez RG Series
The Ibanez RG Series has been a staple in the metal community for decades. Known for its thin, fast neck and aggressive pickups, it caters to the demands of intricate riffs and speedy solos.
The guitar’s construction, usually featuring a basswood body and a maple neck, offers a balanced tone with excellent sustain, ideal for palm-muted rhythms and screeching harmonics alike. The RG Series often features high-output pickups like the DiMarzio or the Ibanez Quantum, which are highly effective for aggressive, distorted tones.
Additionally, these guitars often come equipped with a Floyd Rose or an equivalent locking tremolo system that provides great tuning stability even during intense whammy bar use.
Gibson Flying V
The Gibson Flying V stands out not only for its iconic “V” shape but also for its tonal capabilities that make it ideal for metal genres. The guitar usually comes with a mahogany body and set-neck construction, providing a warmer tone with excellent resonance and sustain.
Unlike the Ibanez RG Series, the Flying V typically features humbucker pickups that lean towards a thicker, more organic sound, often preferred for heavy riffing. The guitar’s long scale length is also conducive to brighter, more sustaining notes, which complements the aggressive tonalities of metal music.
Furthermore, the unique shape of the Flying V allows for unimpeded access to higher frets, making it extremely versatile for both rhythm and lead playing.
ESP LTD Series
The ESP LTD Series is a more budget-friendly option but doesn’t compromise on the features essential for a metal guitarist. Often featuring bodies made of mahogany or basswood, these guitars offer a balanced and robust sound profile.
They frequently come with active EMG pickups or their passive counterparts, known for their high output and the ability to maintain tonal clarity even under extreme distortion. The neck is usually designed for fast playing, featuring a thin “U” shape profile and jumbo frets for easy bending and vibrato.
Similar to the Ibanez models, many ESP LTD guitars also offer Floyd Rose tremolo systems for those who love to incorporate dive-bombs and other whammy bar techniques into their playing.
Conclusion: What Guitar is Best for Metal?
Choosing what guitar is best for metal doesn’t have to be an overwhelming experience. The key lies in understanding your specific needs and how various guitar components, such as type, build, pickups, and scale length, can impact your metal music.
By considering these factors, you’ll be well on your way to finding a guitar that is not only best for metal but also perfect for you.
