How To Play Clean When Using Distortion - Andy James Guitar Tips Session 6

[brandonmarks13279]

is he in a band? cause he should be

[aridahl]

@brandonmarks13279 sacred mother tongue is the name of his band, i think

[preachingmessage]

I never even paid attention to it before. Wow.

[Guitfiddlist]

I found that the way I play , and how my gear is setup , the harder you strike the string that threshold of vibration will go through without hearing any excess string noise as long as the unwanted string vibration isn't about the threshold of the note you are playing. If that doesn't make sense..... then please disregard.

[000metalhead000]

Lol, I love how he uses a hair band, but has no hair on his head.

[andrew625]

@000metalhead000 still hair metal, upside-down hair metal

[MrWalalaa]

he says you know because now he told us we know

[rrgert4]

so what does the headband do ?

[machinegunmike95]

@rrgert4 it mutes exess noises. its really helpful but i consider it cheating lol. even though i do it alot lmao. makes me feel like a shitty player. but do it, it works really good

[aoisatan]

@machinegunmike95 if andy james does it then its alright cause he is an awesome player

[machinegunmike95]

@aoisatan glad to hear somebody else say that!! i just use a bandana haha. now i dont feel so cheap about it

[rrgert4]

@machinegunmike95 easier palm mutes ? :D so it works as a noise gate :D ? what about pinch harmonics and stuff, does it make them easier or harder ?

[machinegunmike95]

@rrgert4 palm mutes are about the same. but open notes dont work lol. and yeah, its pretty much a ghetto noise gate lol. i just tie a bandana around it lol. pinch harmonics arent easier or harder, but natural harmonics dont work. good luck homie lol

[rrgert4]

@machinegunmike95 natural open harmonics dont work ?

fuck thatr :D

[machinegunmike95]

@rrgert4 lol i the squeals sound gnarly though. they cut through more so i thing its a good sacrifice. i never use natural ones less im on my acoustic lol

[rrgert4]

@machinegunmike95 oh the sqeals improve ? nice ! would think it would be the opposite if the meaning is to "cut down" excess noise... do you know if theres any other than a headband to use :D maybe my sister has some

[machinegunmike95]

@rrgert4 haha i use bandanas. you can use rags, socks, they all work lol. basically anything like that. old cut up t-shirts. the squeals dont really "improve" theres just less noise and they cut through better.

[rrgert4]

@machinegunmike95 :D ok

[jcfiallos]

Oh common!!!! stop that you know!!!...........

[jcfiallos]

@YH55 that's the point of the lesson (you know).......;)))

[hchoe741]

How can I play dirty on a clean sound?

[jcfiallos]

you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know-you know

[YH55]

@jcfiallos thank you for pointing that out. now i hear him every time...

[NicksVids25]

lol or eddie van halen. guy says it every sentence

[SAINTsoldi]

wat pedal do u use

[wowtilldeah]

What guitar is that ?

[mackths123]

he said you know 27 freakin times YOU KNOW BRO

[RowanMetal93]

@mackths123 He's not as bad as Gus G, can't go 2 seconds without saying it

[ErebosNetherDarkness]

@RowanMetal93 Gus G. has an excuse you know, he's not a native English speaker so he uses it to give himself a pause to translate his thoughts. You know.

[mackths123]

U piss me off

[DeathProductions123]

don't complain about the "you know" thing..... he's use to say you know... i am use to hear that all the time.. so shut up!!!

[hairybtr]

@Void222X What I've seen some people do is take a piece of paper and kinda run that through the strings its going to be just a specific string, also what you can do is use your palm on your picking hand and your index finger on your fretting if you're glin to be doing open notes as well also while doing multiple string with open note taps

[Bcuzieatiron]

If you mute a Floyd rose like that it's gonna bend the bridge back and you will get our of tune. The Floyd Rose I have on my Ibanez is SOOOO sensitive. If you barely touch it your strings don't stay in tune at all.

[PSZenPS]

@Bcuzieatiron yeah, floyd rose is usually a problem when palm mutting

[Void222X]

question andy. What if you were to record a song that uses open strings or cover one. How would you mute or use the hairband in that situation?

[dontdissheavymetal]

that ltd looks like a schecter hellraiser clone...

[JacknifedTendencies]

Lmao 2:48 Actually I'll just show off again...

[minazmorgul]

Pure English Accent :D

[jackeldar]

@minazmorgul i have that :)

[sngncwby]

What a crappy guitar!!!

[jimthetonezone]

lol probly the best shredding machine u can get 4 the price

[petecockcroft]

Great advice Andy.

Your warmth , passion and excitement for the instrument shines through in most things you do. This is inspiring and really puts these techniques in the grasp of anyone who shares your passion and is prepared to do a little work to achieve their goal - which is to become more proficient.

I can only add that the guitars volume control, and overall gain, are very important as regards "noise" - and proper manipulation of these will help the sound of your fingers to shine through.

[IbanezGuytfmz]

1:42 wtf?! they have a dog in the studio? :))

[daeqLe]

I HATE YOU ANDY.. YOU COLD ME FROM THE GUITAR

[MrSparksE]

this guy is insane!

[anarchystyc]

Even a guy with his looks, the british accent makes him look kindly.. :D

[surfthecentre]

2:40 lets see what happens ...

[MechanicRaptorJesus]

HE DOESN'T KNOW IF HE MOVES HIS HAND WHILE SWEEP PICKING..thaty happens when you play so awesome that you blow your own mind away..

[5TheKingOfPop5]

Wow, i find it a bit strange that andy james uses A HAIR BAND!

[berherbi]

what incredible kind of shit this kind of guitar playing is: not music, it is simple noise....

[rheinxromer]

@berherbi noise??? :o

[berherbi]

@rheinxromer  I am really sorry, I don t want to offend you. But this kind of a million notes per second, what has this to do with music. What about melody, rhythm, gaps, atmosphere, what is the difference to industrial noise. I am sure you are a good musician, but this kind of shredding is infantile nonsense for 16 year olds. sorry for being rude. I know you are a super nice guy, this is not personal thx Ber

[berherbi]

@rheinxromer Music is supposed to be melody, rythm, gaps, moods, phrasing, dynamics... what I hear here is similar to the noise of a drilling machine....so tell me: is this music ?

[patfix]

@berherbi you know that what people find good 'music' is kind of subjective right? So if people like Protest The Hero (which has a zillion notes, but still enormous dynamics), then let 'm... If they like Nickelback because it has such nice (but generic) melodies, then let 'm... Just saying: discussing about what is music to you compared to what another person likes in music is kind of useless and you'll never ever get on the same page, trust me!

[TheHelldart]

@berherbi your just not open to this kind of genre, but that doesnt give ou the right to bash out peoples music preferences, me im open to everything jazz, blues, bossa nova, samba, mainstream, alternative, classical, instrumental and METAL!!!!

[rheinxromer]

@berherbi It's an arpeggio. 

[BER2ERKER]

this is a pretty bad video on the topic, sorry

[MrStrat01]

Like many of videos on youtube, the guy is here to show us is technic et bla bla bla.And finally, how to play clean when using distorsion ??? Bouffon va !!

[777jrg]

@MrStrat01 he gave you shitloads of tips in "how to" :o

[Cramnaps]

Do noise gates help mute faint open string sounds, similar to the hair band?

[SquidwardsAK47]

@Cramnaps Yes, BUT when applied too heavily to get rid of noise, it makes tapping and pinch harmonics nearly impossible.

[redhotkido]

This vid was Really helpful =)

[redhotkido]

Can you guys do a vid on how to tap cleanly in high distortion??

[matumbina99]

ANDY PLEASE , I DONT KNOW !!! FUCK ! I CAME HERE TO FUCKING LEARN !

[kevinikolass]

you know

[ellis505]

he has a hair band but he has no hair oh the irony

[Martyfriedman001]

@ellis505 LAME..



[rickizta668]

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.. you know(28x)

[sorariku2002]

I have a POD Xt Live so when I finish playing I just pull the pedal down and it kills off sound. That way I don't get any buzz or feedback in my recordings.

[ShredTheSlush]

well shit you're good i feel that i would have gotten more out of it if i could understand what he was saying.

[TheBluezInc]

Andy James: ....... You Know

Me: I don't know...

[reshad1]

really great lesson.. but (you know) when you hear that 'beat' or repetitive 'noise' that (you know) forever ruins a song that (you know) you formerly loved...you know..? ... sorry i've had a bad day hence my being arse-ish ..you know?

[HandMane]

@reshad1 Before checking out the comments i was expecting one of this kind

[nolimits90]

@reshad1 u knw ur a moron (u knw)............

[dclan86]

I mean you have a right to your opinion but I would say 90% of metal players will use EMG pickups. For christ sake Metallica, Megadeath, and countless others use them. Ceramic is descent, and your right actives do limit the actual sound the guitars body would influence, but they absolutely own when used for metal IMO. No ceramics will give you that big thick, bass vibrating chunky palm muting sound like the EMGs will. There is a reason the majority of professionals that play metal use them.

[eduardo0796]

please dont say ''you know'' because i dont, thats why im watching the video

[DamnOrchid]

he looks like Good Guy Greg xD

[bonzey1171]

I'm guessing you were having a hard time understanding his accent, Mr. Free Drugs, so there you go.

[bonzey1171]

The hair band is to slightly mute the strings so open strings don't ring unintentionally. I've never done it, but it seems a lot of these shred guys do. It's also good for pony tails and shooting at people's eyeballs.

[apalmalarrain]

@bonzey1171 I wouldn't like to do it because it's like trading skill for something easier.

If you've ever played free2play MMO's you might know how it feels to develop a lot of skill, yet get easily beaten by people who spend money on the game and get added benefits without spending much time in getting better at it... It's truly a cheap way to win, for those of us who don't want to spend money on it.

I'd like to see if that hairband indeed helps in any case but I'm not going to stick with it :P

[k1000ocpx]

you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...you know...

[MrFreeDrugs]

what's the hair band for? please answer me.anyone?

[iConverseMyLife]

@MrFreeDrugs thats what he was talking about for half of this video mate...

[kbontrager1]

Thats guitar Im saving for! Nice taste andy!

[sludge696]

yeah i know that i can't play like you, andy.. XD

[MetaLeague]

When I clicked on this video, i thought he would have some awesome technique to get a clean tone while on distortion. Then after I clicked on it I was like "Oh, wait..." lol

[darkcashyz]

@MetaLeague

me too LOL

[dan95brantner]

what model is his ltd.?

[LtdMusic]

You know, you know, you know....youknow....yeah i know... X)

[MetalFanFX]

what kind of pick does andy use?

[PoetryEmotion94]

@MetalFanFX Dunlop Jazztone 208, Jazz 3's.

[PoetryEmotion94]

cool i didnt know he uses an EMG 85 in the bridge. i do too.

[lofasztaseggedbe]

@PoetryEmotion94 everyone uses 81-85 combination

[PoetryEmotion94]

@lofasztaseggedbe but most people use the 81 in the bridge. I use the 85 in the bridge and 81 neck. my favorite combo.

[mpl93]

@lofasztaseggedbe Not everyone! I use the 81/60 combination :P

[Heretic123456]

@lofasztaseggedbe but not a 85 in the bridge

[BlackZar84]

@PoetryEmotion94 don't really get the point in using emgs, hey make sound every guitar exactly the same!!! I had it once, on a lespaul, great sound, not so...id' say "personal" thou.

[PoetryEmotion94]

@BlackZar84 it doesn't make every guitar sound EXACTLY the same. 

[BlackZar84]

@PoetryEmotion94 I didn't mean it literally mate, just saying that since it's an active circuit it doesn't leave that much of a space to the wood's peculiarities. Doesn't it?

[PoetryEmotion94]

@BlackZar84 actually it makes a little difference. lets say a guitar has an alder body with an 85 in the bridge, and a guitar with a mahogany body with an 85 in the bridge. the mahogany one will have more bottom end than the other and it will sound a little more bassy. my guitar is a Washburn xm pro2 w/ EMG 85B / 81N but has a slimmer body than most guitars. so the 81 to me sounds abit too thin.

[dclan86]

@BlackZar84 Emgs cant be beat when it comes to metal tone, that is why he uses them. Rock n Roll/Metal sound, those pickups are probably the best you can get. Now When it comes to a clean tone, they lack a little, but with a EMG 60 you can still get pretty good clean sounds. Nothing like a Les Paul or even more a Fender

[BlackZar84]

@dclan86 Honestly mate, i think you're totally wrong.

I've been spending the last three years working with a luthier, and i've been trying several guitars.

Emgs are obviously great pick ups, both on distortion and clean, but if you wanna get a nice djent sound to play metal than ceramic pick ups are the ones which fit the most.

[lpgamer2]

@PoetryEmotion94 what are they like?

[PoetryEmotion94]

@lpgamer2 EMG 85 bridge has more bottom end and fuller, warmer tone. and pinch harmonics are louder. its more mid-ranged and it sustains longer, and abit louder in volume. but thats my opinion. try it out.

[uendicott]

you know, if you wanna play clean just don't use distortion because distortion is always dirty lol

[BlackZar84]

@uendicott talkin about playing in a clear way mate :D

[EADPE]

the answer is FKN ALOT OF PRACTICE nothing more...

[Aristowi]

Does he play on a band?

[klblackstar]

@Aristowi yes, it's called 'Sacred Mother Tongue'.

[GunsNSnakepits]

@Aristowi Does he play ON a band? Probably not.

Does he play IN a band? Probably.

[corremaderoketearreo]

@GunsNSnakepits Wow! You have an amazing level of English!!!

[TheJBKapnMorg]

@GunsNSnakepits Sacred Mother Tongue, SO GOOD.

[zaidnarudar]

if he plays in a band :

sacred mother tongue

[myplaylist618]

@GunsNSnakepits Thanks troll we understood what he meant.

[soulreaverdoug]

@GunsNSnakepits watch out, we are dealing with a grammar nazi over here.

[mrdirtydead]

@Linkhackerneo it is an esp ltd m-401fm, truly awesome.guitar!

[anurag3000]

he is british!!! awesome..!!!

[linkhackerneo]

what LTD he uses?



[CookTheCadaverous]

I almost turned this off when he got his left and right mixed up.

[shenkeey]

@CookTheCadaverous He didn't get it mixed up? You're looking at it cameraleft & right, but he is looking the otherway than us, and therefore his right is our left

[thelordofdarkcheese]

Quite the ambiguous title isn't it.

[CoreThrasherGLB]

Saying "Kind of work on palm muting" does not help me play cleaner.

[mikkozq]

@CoreThrasherGLB Lol if you can't play cleanly practice slower or something...I think the question is pretty wierd, he might have misunderstood it.

[ncripzx]

@CoreThrasherGLB Ah you want to be fed like a baby don't you! Joke, I think you need to realise that its self practice that gets you to his level... not just a load of people telling you how to do things. Your own personal guitar journey gets you to the top level

[CoreThrasherGLB]

@ncripzx I understand all of that, my point was that, that wasn't a helpful tip lol.

[ncripzx]

@CoreThrasherGLB Yeah I guess the video title suggests he would tell us HOW to palm mute but he has just told us to practice it without any explanation! Silly video should of been more clear

[sixstringfretter]

Ahh...to have that sort of talent and make money from something you love anyways...is that the classic definition of heaven on earth?

[sunnyjim98]

@sixstringfretter no. boobs + low-gravity field + jogging... now THAT is heaven on earth.

[sixstringfretter]

I bow in the presence of a Master...

[sunnyjim98]

@sixstringfretter indeed xD

[pskibobby]

I actually find it easier to palm mute on a fixed bridge guitar

[pel111]

a better demo and not so much talking would be helpfull:)

[SomeoneStoleMyPants]

@pel111 boobs

[sunnyjim98]

@SomeoneStoleMyPants i agree.

[a00310675]

May someone post the caption of the vedio for me??thaks a lot!

[lilmetalman3]

why does he have a hairband on his guitar? i dont get it

[wickedsensations16]

@lilmetalman3 it keeps open strings from ringing

[lilmetalman3]

@wickedsensations16 but what if you want to play a chord with open strings?

[PhilosopherOnWeed]

@lilmetalman3 Andy James does not play chords...he shreds.

[G27dude]

@lilmetalman3 The hair band helps even on the strings, on the headstock. He's talking just when he solos, he puts it after the nut. Chords consist of many notes so you don't have to do so much muting. Solos are the hardest thing to play 100% clean.

[lilwillcool]

@lilmetalman3

then ur screwd o...i guess remove the band

[nasher931]

Heres an idea... TURN DISTORTION OFF

[zezimadude13]

Where can I find an MH-1000 with that headstock? The new ones have that pointy one, and I'm not a big fan of it.

[imbaguitar]

@zezimadude13 MH-1000's never had that headstock i don't think. Just search ltd or esp h-1001 on ebay. Old ones (usually with passive duncans) have this headstock i think, and the new ones with emgs have the pointier one

[minorthreat141]

@zezimadude13 I think it's a prototype ESP gave him

[mikey3335]

WHAT GUITAR IS THT



[juvensky1]

nice explanation.

[MTHvideos]

the fact that he's using the hair band before the nut doesnt affect the noise of the strings, let me explain

while you plai other strings, the low or the top strings kinda vibrate, specially the 6th string, and makes the sound dirty, so u gotta mute thatstring and the others that u arent playing gto get that clean sound

[zZW1NN1NGZz]

why are they all bald? D:

[Digideus]

@zZW1NN1NGZz old age?

[necron33]

@zZW1NN1NGZz - your right! xD

[pbstratocaster]

@zZW1NN1NGZz Genetic failure. And its not only the baldness that proves that.

[Bj0RNare]

what guitar is this?

[itsthearistocrat]

Learn To Play Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit Solo is a suggestion for this video. Oh the irony.

[tabotabojayar]

he use to wear that hair band in his hair until one day he gets bald...so he started using it on strings....

[someguyoketcetc]

What I find ironic, is I bet that 99.9% of the anti hair band brigade couldn't play the licks he does with a hairband or none.

[snazygitrst]

this guy is my hero

[CSB008]

licklibrary currently has 666 videos...

[siegfriedkantus]

@CSB008 Now is 667 jejeje "the number of the beast"

[Blueknightt85]

@wattdabny yeah I figured that after I said it

[Blueknightt85]

2:40-2:54 = *Australian accent* "hmmm let's see how much I can show off a bit" LOL EPIC

[wattdabny]

@Blueknightt85 this guy is english

[funnyguy1321]

Man, I need to get my metal chops up to par, playing jazz/fusion to much.

[PetarAtanasov87]

@funnyguy1321 post some jazz improvisation on stella by starlight or some other standart...if you played lots of jazz you must be good.

[syd0w]

For sure his hairband has much more to do on the guitar...

[69motleycrue21]

i like you guitar!

[perky596]

Ah the irony of Andy James having a hair band on his guitar.