Tom Morello's Allen Wrench Scratching
From Guitar World (i believe)
In the song "People of the Sun", Tom Morello puts a new spin on an old trick. He plays heavy slide guitar in the tune to create droning single note riffs. However, instead of a usual brass or silver slide, he uses an allen wrench. This creates a dissonant, scratchy tone. Try it with heavy distortion to get the desired tone.
"People of the Sun" Intro/Verse:
w/ Allen Wrench
E|------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------|
A|---2/3\2/3\2\0-------2/3\2/3\2\0----|
E|------------------------------------|
/ - slide up
\ - slide down
Tom Morello's Dead Pickup Switching
from Guitar World (I believe)
Another trick used by Tom Morello, used in several songs, is pickup switching. This isn't switching between two pickups to get a different tone, though. He turns one pickup on full, and another completely off ( you can do this on guitars that have a volume knob for each pickup, such as a les paul ) and plays notes while switching in between. This results in a stuttering effect that sounds like a really fast tremolo unit.
"Bullet in Your Head" Lead Break Intro
----x---x-x--x---x-x--x---x-x--x--x-x--x-x-x-x---x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
all notes sounded from hammer-ons
E|-12---0-0--10--0-0--8---0-0--7--0-0--5-0-3-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-12---0-0--10--0-0--8---0-0--7--0-0--5-0-3-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0------------|
x - pickup flick (turn pickup on long enough to sound the note, then turn it off)
John Petrucci's Warble
from Mark Henderson - danewmh@yahoo.com
Hey, alright! Its the VERY FIRST .wav file on this site. It was sent to me by someone on IRC (You know who you are.). And you all should follow his example! Send as many .wavs as you can!!
Well anyway, enough babbling on, here it is. This one comes from John Petrucci of the band Dream Theater. In one of his songs, during the solo (I cant say I'm a Dream Theater fan so I dont know which one.) He kind of hits the wammy bar hard enough for it to go down, and spring back up, vibrating the note all the way back up. As far as I know, this only works on a Floyd Rose style locking system.
Here it is! petru.wav - 151K WAV file
This guy Dave Ostrer sent me this little FYI too - I enjoyed looking through your site. Just figured you would want to know, what you call a "wiggle guitar" sound actually is call a "worble effect" or "warble" in most effects books and guitar magazines.
Thanks Dave! Come back soon!
Boingy Slide
by Mark Henderson - danewmh@yahoo.com
I was messing around with my acoustic when I came up with this one. If you have a slide (glass with rounded edges works best) you can use this effect. Bow the string with the slide on a fret. Press down so that the fret and the slide are touching, then lightly vibrate the note. The result is a boingy wah-type of sound. It also works with an electric guitar, but the effect isn't as prominent.
Steve Vai's Funky Sitar
From jschrepfer@fimatinjapan.com
The end of Boy from Seattle has a cool effect in it. He makes a Sitar-type sound by bending ta note on the B string many steps up, enough to pull it off the fretboard on on the side of the neck. Then vibrato-bend the string so it repeatedly goes on and off the edge of the neck. The rapid rise and fall of the pitch gives it a sitar-like quality.
This is hard to explain via tab, so one is not included.
Floppy Strings
from Art Cohen - artcohen@pgg.peco.com
A double-locking vibrato is necessary for this. It also works best with extreme distortion settings (I use a Deluxe Big Muff into a RAT). Dive down until the low E string is almost completely slack. Then pick the string. If your rig has enough low end you get sime great rumbles and floppy speaker noises. While doing this you can also fret the string and bend it up, creating a sudden bump in pitch. You can also whammy down just a little more so that the string is pulled against the magnets of the pickups. This causes a crashing noise which is abruptly damped. Jiggling the vibrato arm will cause the string to bang into the pickups repeatedly. If your distortion and bass response is heavy enough, you can grab the floppy string with your fingers and move it back and forth across the pickup, making a scraping sort of noise with each pass.
I play electronic space music on the guitar and have used the above techniques on my albums "Real Time" and "Available Space"
Glissando
from Art Cohen - artcohen@pgg.peco.com
Bow the open unmuted B and high E strings with a slide (brass works for me) near the 12th fret while muting the other strings. There's a certain sweet spot where both halves of the strings start to vibrate and an otherworldly high harmonic comes in. This even works on acoustic guitars!
Use the slide to bow the string or strings near the bridge while fretting. This works best using the neck pickup. On the low strings excellent growls can be created, while haunting out of tune melodies can be played on any strings. The strings can also be bowed lengthwise instead of transversely. A circular motion creates and interesting slow vibrato.
I play electronic space music on the guitar and have used the above techniques on my albums "Real Time" and "Available Space"
Duane Allman's Steel Drum Effect
from - RPMTN@aol.com
Duane Allman would place a large plastic pick under the strings near the bridge, thereby keeping them from vibrating. However, when picked, these strings will produce a steel-drum type of sound. I've done this live for years,and it never fails to have some guitar player coming up to me later to ask how it's done. Try it out.
Other Slide Tricks
From - ?
Another suggestion for interesting slide work - try using a Bic lighter or an M&M Mini's candy container as a slide. You get a real short sounding note with practically no decay, almost like a slide banjo.
Microtone Scale Guitar
from soundman@tiac.net
I've got a technique that will turn a regular scale length guitar into a Microtonal scale. First, you need a pick with rough texture on its edge. This can be the pick design such as a stone pick or you can create your own texture with a nail file. Second, select the rhythm pickup. Thrid, using the rough edge of your pick scrape the string behind the pickup but before the bridge. This shorten the scale length. My suggestion is to find the fifth interval of whatever tuning your using (on the high E in standard look for the B) Fourth, use the pick as a bow and fret away as needed. All fretting will be reduced to a scale length shorter than the Western half step/Whole step system thereby creating a more Far Eastern tone. It rocks with distortion and either a phaser (preferably a Mutron BiPhase or the underrated Boss Auto-Wah. Next time I'll attach a wav. file.
My personal e-mail address is soundman@tiac.net. Drop me line
Steve Genovese Boston, MA
PS: Pick up a copy of Mick Goodrick's The Advancing Guitarist. He totally encourages this type of unorthodox playing along with theoretical improvising techniques.
Seagulls
from george4908@aol.com
I do this on Les Pauls with humbuckers. Whether or not it works with other guitars will depend on the setup. Just press one of the unwound strings down hard between the end of the fretboard and the neck pickup. The string initially contacts the back edge of the pickup, then tilts the pickup until the string hits the forward edge. Voila -- you've got a seagull squawking. The E, B and G strings each do it at a different pitch. With a delay/repeat it sounds like (sorry) a flock of seagulls. Also, try with a wah for variation. Note: it will scratch your pickup covers, so if you're a dead mint freak, don't bother.
Bass Sounding Guitar
From - jgoula@scnc.blissfield.k12.mi.us
Ok, I take NO responsibility for any damage This causes. But, all you need is a guitar with a tremolo. Put it the whammy bar, bend the whole thing foward, and while there is space behind the trem, jam a pencil in it. This creates really low low almost bass level sounds. Oh, and you'll almost surely need to retune after this little stunt. And to appreciate it you need a good size amp (30 or more watts).
"squealsound"
from ??
Use a quarter in the place of your pick, and rub the edge of it against the sting rapidly. When used on the high e string near the bridge, this creates a spooky, high pitched "squealing" sound.
Alcohol-Wiping
from edman@bellsouth.net
This is similiar to the "sqealsound" effect. i was cleaning some shit off the fret board of my guitar with a small alcohol wipe( like doctors use). if you rub it on the high E, B , and G strings lightly it produces a high pitched squeal. You don`t even need your amp to hear it.
Computer Sound
from Mike Konshak - (?)
I have a Noise for you that I remember sounding like a cheap computer sound like on an old cartoon - basically a series of beeps. Basically, get a bunch of distortion, mute the strings with your left hand on the neck (about 5th fret, not important) and use a golf ball or some other ball about that size and hardness in your right hand- golf ball works fine. The idea is to use the ball as a slide, but it only touches one string at a time. Therefore, abrupt changes in pitch occur when moving from string to string (sounds good only on unwound strings) producing "beeping" noises. cool effects are also made by sliding up and down a string. A cool advantage to this technique is the super high notes available near the bridge. Thanks for reading all of this.
Bleeping Computers
by Christian Moffitt - (?)
To make your guitar sound like one of those computers from old time science fiction movies, all you need is a pitch shifter and a distortion petal(I use an Ibanez Power Lead for this particular effect). Turn all the knobs all the way up on both pedals and get far enought away from your amp that you aren't being deafened by high pitched shrieking feedback. Now just randomly hit high notes, especially above the twelth fret, hammering on and pulling off randomly with out picking. It'll never sound the same twice, but it sounds damn cool.
Whales Crying
from Isaac Taylor - Isaac.Taylor@nashville.com
Ok, this sounds sort of like whales crying, but very extremely (doesn't really involve the guitar either) all you do is plug the amp into the instrument jack and the instrument into the amp jack on a wah-wah, if the pedal is in the back position, it doesn't do anything, but as you move it forward it makes an eerie (and loud) high pitched screaming noise I've only done this on my 1970 vox wah-wah, so i don't know how it'll work with other newer pedals
Custom Flanger
From ???
This trick involves a guitar, an amp, and a digital delay pedal like a DOD FX-9. Turn the delay all the way up, and manipulate the feedback knob to get a cool custom flanging sound. Simple!
Alien Noises
from Moffittw2@tiger.uofs.edu
I stumbled across this trick screwing around making feedback with my band. First, you need heavy distortion, a phaser set at a very high rate, and a digital delay pedal, or sampler(some kind of pedal that has a repeat on it.) Nexr, turn all your gear all the way up, and stand as close to your amp as possible. By moving your guitar around, over, against your amp, constantly changing it's position. This combination makes your guitar sound like the second coming of those litte green guys from "Mars Attacks!" Enjoy!!
UFO Crash
by sysop (?)
Select the BRIDGE pickup only. Mute all strings at the neck with the palm of your LEFT hand (assumes you play non-hendrix style) and take your right index finger and instead of picking, PUSH a string (high "E" is great) all the way toward the guitar body until it contacts the edge of your pickup. This will almost sound like a clicky beep. Raise and lower the string against the pickup while slowly slackening the string with the whammy bar (using your palm on the bar). This gives a really cool effect, which can be enhances (?) by distortion or any variety of other effects. I will send in a WAV file soon.
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