Why Guitar Players can NEVER tell you THIS! 

The hardest thing about getting guitar tone right is getting the guitar player to explain what they mean when they say something has "resonance"

I am a professional level tuba player. Why is this relevant? Because playing tuba in my basement with a 6’5” ceiling sounds VERY different than playing it in a cathedral. Most guitars playing at home vastly underestimate the difference in sound wave formation between the tiny rooms they play in at home and the giant showroom at their local guitar center.

“I’d like to buy a vowel!” 😅

as a bassist, its crazy im (unintentionally) on time on this video

Man, Heavy Metal was an awesome read, back in the mid-80s.

6:58 that "oh, fuck yeah" was the most Canadian Glenn has ever sounded. Cheers and fuck you from Edmonton

Tbh, having you, an audio engineer, reviewing guitars is a breath of fresh air. I feel like as an engineer, you’re looking for the best way to get the results you’re looking for while cutting through all the bullshit. Unfortunately, as a guitarist, I know all too well how at one point or another, we’ve obsessed over insignificant details that end up costing us way more time and/or money than we needed to spend. I trust someone like you to be objective about the playability and overall quality of an instrument, over some guy who’s desperately chasing famous tones. Also, cheers from San Diego and eff you, Glen 😎

The major difference between Kodak and AI art generator is that Kodak didn't use hundreds of thousands of material from Artists that never gave their consent to have their artwork essentially plagiarized. It's not about getting on with the technology, it's about basic ethics.

Yes on the fearless Ibanez review

I love these videos. This guy is like Lewis Black Metal. I enjoy the authenticity rather than the common "everything is awesome" take. Appreciate you, Glen!

2:16 When I had just built my home studio I sent some testing demos to a friend who was also a recording enthusiast and he went "wow that sounds great, the cymbals though...you clearly need some nice vintage tube preamps", and I said "no man, what I need is good cymbals".

You've yelled at me and asked enough times so you win, I subscribed. Seriously though, thank you for all the info over the years! If only I knew how to get good sound 10 years ago...

The Nashville Guitar Center is a beautiful, cursed place. Blues dads as far as the eye can see

Heavy Metal magazine still exists. They're at issue 319 now

Hey, Glen, Ibanez hasn't had guitars made at the Cort factory in Korea since 2008 or so. Those productions moved to Indonesia. I used to work for Ibanez in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

IMO, the reason Adobe went to a sub model (other than "greed," which is a valid observation) is that their Master Collection was $2500 (and version upgrades were $900), and half the design world (including me) was going to Usenet to get cracked versions. Changing the entry price to $50 (when they started) per month got them millions of corporate subscribers looking to finally get legal and avoid a BSA audit, and $600/year is (was) far less than the previous model, and it includes Acrobat Pro. Companies and designers like myself that use Adobe products regularly find it far easier to work a monthly sub into the budget than a massive yearly hit.

Thanks for the San Diego shout out Glen! Love your show

gutar is my favourite instrument

Nice shout out to Dune! Imagine what his version of the film would have been like?!

Why do you should yell in anger?! 😂😂😂 Love this channel.

Yeah! ...Stop shooting Glen! Just speed into the mike.😂😂😂

Your recomendations are saving my life!!! love it! I got really into kaiju you recomended 2 weeks ago

WooHoo a NEW CONTEST!!

Glenn! You gotta get your team to start pushing out the shorts content with some of your glorious one liners and straight to the point takes on gear and the like. I promise it will help you reach a wider, and more diverse audience! I know some of us absolutely hate it, but it’s the preferred format for many people these days, especially gen alpha and beyond. It’s really important for us old heads to keep up with the times, even if we don’t really understand it yet. I genuinely wish I had a resource like your channel when I started playing guitar in 2004. Would have saved me time when I had plenty and money when I had absolutely none (except for the Klein cheque we Albertans were graced with). Your video editor would do a great job, he knows how to emphasize your humour and seems genuinely funny himself. Anyways, stop waiting, and start doing shorts!!! A big FUCK you all the way from Alberta! Stay healthy, friends!

Way back after I got my Line 6 150w head I used it with a fairly new Marshal 4x12 cab and it did not sound good at all. I used to do a lot of business with a local chain the manager said when I asked what cab should I buy and he said bring my head to the store and try several. I really could not believe it made that much difference from cab to cab. They had an unknown brand 4x12 cab that was just amazing and dirt cheap because no one ever knew who made it, it had no branding on it at all. I bought it of course and in my research I found it was a custom made cabinet from some guy in upper state NY. When I took off the back because I removed the beat up tolex to replace it. He had built all these baffles inside and I am not sure what they were made of they were not wood but IMO they aside from the Celelstion labeled V30s from the 80s I think it made a difference. I tried to find more info but just could not find the guys name or any info if it was a one off or not. If it wasn't for some one on a guitar group knowing who used to own I would never even know a single thing about. I have to say like you when people ask me what cabinet they should buy or if they should change speakers I tell them the same thing you need to see how your head sounds with different options before you blow money on any cab or speaker.

AI art is exploitation of unpaid work stolen from real artists, fed into a search-engine without consent or compensation. I thought with you wanting for us to "save money" didnt involve fleecing actual artists.

I have been using Elemental Bass and it has been spectacular. It's very versatile. I'm a songwriter that writes in different genres and this covers everything. Great work and thank you thank you

That first comment on that "Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?" energy.

Hey Gleeeeeen! I just wanted to let you know I followed your advise and got me a 6505+ combo for £275. In this case the previous owner already swapped the speaker out for a Celestion Neo V-Type which is good enough. In any case, killer deal and I couldn't be happier. Best recommendation ever!

Holy hell, you produced Woods! I love them. Nobody I've talked to about music has any idea who they even are. I hate that we lost David so early though. Would love to have heard what he'd put out in modern day.

Totally with you on Mobius Inkal, my mind was blown when I first read it

Been a huge fan of you and your channel since 2016 Watched every single video ever since. I get it, this is a "Metal" channel however as a guitarist and songwriter, I try to play as many genres as possible. I trust your reviews and love the way you teach audio production, so I'd like to see some non-metal stuff happening on this channel since you're one of the very few people on RU-vid I trust. Yes, I know most of us here are "metalheads" but we deserve a treat no? Greetings from Belgium sorry for the long comment instead of FU GLENnnn I'd say THANK YOU GLENnn, YOU ROCK

The first few videos of yours I watched, I didn't really get into your channel partly because I'm not a metal guy, and partly because you have a bombastic delivery that I thought was just shtick. After deciding to watch some more, however I learned a few things. First, once I got the feel for your sense of humor, what I saw as bombastic made a lot more sense, you are using your frustration with idiocy to get a point across. Then, I realized that even though you focus on metal, you have got a really solid knowledge base, and even us non-metal guys have stuff to learn from your channel. I've decided to add you to my subscriptions, thanks for sharing your content. I also like the fact that you're a fellow Canadian.

Re: 20W vs 100W amps. If you're talking about valve amps, the main difference you'll come across is when you're gigging - the power section will likely start to break up at gig volume, as you start to run out of headroom. That's going to affect the low end first (since lower frequencies require more power for the same volume), so your chugging is going to suffer for clarity and general oomph. This will be even more noticeable with less efficient speakers. It'll also cause more sag in the preamp section, as the power supplies in valve amps tend not to react particularly quickly, so the tone will get a bit fuzzy there too (although I don't think this is so much an issue in Class A amps, but they tend not to be high gain anyway).

so happy you mentioned heavy metal movie and magazine! my favs !!!!

I have PRISM 0.9.0 and run it without the subscription, I primarily use it as an IR loader for my collection of samples (thanks Glenn, that Zilla Fatboy freebie is a killer go-to!) and it is phenomenal for that alone. I can't wait for the final version to finally come through.

Cool info about Fifth Element and cool you put Charlie in the video

You helped me out soo much years back when I started using reaper. Thanks :}

I wholeheartedly (hopefully managed to spell that correctly, ESL here) would like to see a fearless gear review of a JEM, thanks to this channel I've learnt what to look for to get a great tone, but still, the itch to know how a JEM sounds like is still there and I think that your take on that would be entertaining and very useful

Great video, Glenn. In reference to the Ibanez guitars, I would love to see a fearless gear review of one of the Ibanez Gio models. I have the 7 string version and have been really impressed by it.

Diggin on the longer videos!!!👍🏼

Hey Glenn thanks for answering my question. I’ll check out that mojo tone!

You should do a video on a bunch of cheap amps. I have an orange terror stamp and I’d love to see you compare it to some other cheap amp heads! Also I’d highly recommend checking out Krigsgrav!

Just a tip for checking equipment at store if you can’t compare it to your own before purchase - take one song over the phone , listen to it few times via good headphones and after- listen to your current equipment - do the same at the store, same song, same headphones and same levels, it’s not the best but it will give you the same reference. When I lived in Israel 15 years ago I found out that music stores give you the option to take Studio monitors home from the demo room for the weekend if you are in the search for new pair and want to know/compare how they will sound, today in Europe with the 1 month return option (ahhh, also 2 years warranty by law) it’s just easier.

I have a Prestige 1570GN since 2003, and I have never put my finger on something better since. Keep on rocking! Waiting to see an Ibanez!!

I would love to know your compression settings for your audio mic. I love how it squashes your screams nicely while still sounding natural during normal speech volume.

"Why do you should instead of speaking into thé microphone" Such an intellectual statement! Surely I'm not cringing at the nonexistent grammar here...

Heeeyyyy Gleeennn. If you were to have a guitar built from scratch, would you have a pickup preference?

The face palm on that opening comment made me genuinely lol

As far as Ibanez goes Glenn, recently I bought a (used) BTB805ms and can say it's awesome! Especially considering what I paid, I got immense value from it and am extremely happy with my purchase, it has a great build quality, sounds super clean and is gorgeous to boot. I am getting it properly set up right now as I am sure the shipping and differences in the air caused the neck to warp a bit.

Love seeing the Ormsby more often. It's amazing. I can't wait to get an SX. I have a Hype GTR, Hype GTI, Goliath, Headless Metal V, and Demanufacture signature. All 7 string, the Hype GTI being an Evertune one.

Omg! I enjoy some of your commentary so much! Being about the same age as you, I can absolutely concur with some of your most basic rants and lmao! Especially about bass players😂

Glad your “comsole” is back in action.

I think a good test would be to see if its beneficial to use 4 or 2 different speakers in a single 4x12. Or if sticking with one kind of speaker is best.

I'll never understand people taking the time to bitch and moan unconstructively in the comments of videos they dislike. If you have a different view, share it respectfully or simply move on. We all have our blindspots and biases, but acting superior over what could have been a one-off component malfunction is just mindless noise. Especially when Glenn has a history of effectively communicating with manufacturers and actually getting positive results, which yield better instruments and equipment for everyone else who buys those products. Seriously, you don't get enough credit for that. Thank you Glenn.

Can you do a video on the gear used on the first two Woods of Ypres releases and revisit those mixes?

I landed on spin again! So keep practicing and get out there !

I’d love to see a video on the Ibanez RG421. They have a lot of nice looking tops and the price is very budget friendly. I haven’t played many Ibanez guitars but the necks they use are usually very nice in the hand and great for speed.

Yes! Please do an Ibanez review. I am not a guitarist but I want to learn some basic heavy metal chugging to add to my synth music. I have a cheapo first act guitar and want something cheap but good to replace it. I have been eyeing a purple and black Ibanez and would love a fearless gear review so I can make an informed purchase.

It Really blows me away! When this guy says most. 90 percent of the commenters think, that means all! Stop reading into it so much. You might find Glenn agree's with you to an extent. Even he buys high end pickups. Though I wish he would answer my question on Lace pickups. I really just want to know, if I'm just making up what I'm hearing something myself.

I have a Peavey Triple X running through a quad of 1996 V30's and it is fricken awesome.

Could you do a demo and review of the Celestion A-Type speakers? I've been thinking about buying 4 of those to put in my old Fender Vertical 412 cabinet and I think it would be awesome to hear them in action here.

Don't feel bad. Years ago I tried out an Epiphone Valve Junior 5w head at the local big box music store and the guy plugged it into one of those big Orange V30 loaded 4x12s and I was like OMG this little thing sounds amazing! Even if it's overdone those oversized V30 loaded cabs do sound amazing in the room.

Do you have a video for noobs just getting into home recording with a DAW and maybe a focusrite? And are your programs beginner friendly? What's the best way to start learning. Just getting a DAW and interface feels initially overwhelming. I have only used a portable 4 track recorder 😆. I know it's dinosaur but we all start somewhere. Thanks for the vids 😊

"Long and delayed..." Priceless! Had to pause the video for the ensuing belly laugh. Took 6 months to get a gig bag for a multi effects unit. Amazon would have been 48 hrs. Still my go to place though. Lol.

I would like to see a review of an affordable Ibanez guitar...especially a 7 string :) Great show Glenn! Keep up the great work.

I think you do a stand up job!!we play different music however I respect what you do.Can we see your awesome console in action!!

Long time viewer, probably first time commenting. I'm a thrash guitar player looking to become a bass player. Are there some entry bass gear I can look at? I'm looking for a Death Magnetic or Rust in peace tone. What kind of bass pickup should I look for?

What’s nice about your Sony camera is not hearing the drive motor every time it’s focusing.

a big fan of this fuckin channel. very entertaining and informative.

Gonna do a Corey Feldman cover song for your contest 😂

So I clicked on the link and I saw that the summer sale was still on, so I bought it. But then I remembered that you said it was supposed to go off at the end of the day Monday. I hope I didn’t do anything wrong. 😮

Hi Glenn I can't seem to find how to pick the 4 instalments option on your bundle.. I can just find pay in full Thank you your videos are amazing

glen, i doubt you will see this.i think you are awesome, i watch and love everything and learnt a lot. how would i go about sending you a track and asking you to critique the recording quality, its my friend and other guitarist who handles our recording and i reckon he does a fantastic job but he is very critical of his ability

You yell in anger my favorite part of channel

Hey Glenn .....what (if any) opinion do you have on a Vox AD100VT-XL. How MUCH difference (again, if ANY) do YOU feel swapping/upgrading the stock Blue backed Vox speakers would do for this amp. Or maybe, because plugging in an external cab cancels the stock speakers, just look for a killer 2x or 4x cab with better speakers. Trying to figure out whether I should even bother upgrading or expanding present equipment, or trade in for different. I do dig the onboard effects this amp has..so ... Thoughts and advice appreciated! 👍

A fearless gear review of the Aeroband PocketDrum 2 Plus would be sick. I'm wondering if I can use these to come up with drum beats, I hate mousing in drum notes. Ive seen many reviews, but I know you would be honest. Thanks Glenn.

For the snare room-reverb question, you could also send the snare to an aux channel with a room IR on it or something like IK’s Fame or Sunset Sounds, then run that through a reverb What AI art program did you use? I’ve used multiple and have had some mixed results across the board. NightCafe and Wonder seem to be the best that I’ve found

Glenn. Do speaker grills vibrations effect the mic signal? Grill or no grill. What's better. Can you review guitar cords?

YES!! Please do a blind review of an Ibanez!!

I have a question that's bound to cause some VERY different reactions: I have NO money, and want to record some guitar playing at home for myself. The equipment I have is VERY cheap, and I either got it used or as a present. The options to get the sound in the computer are: - Directly from the guitar via USB (iAXE 393 has a built-in USB module) - From the amp via USB (Spider V 60 ) - Using Line 6 audio interface. And if so, do I take the guitar output, the amp output or a mic? (SM58) Would you recommend using a DI? And if so, where in the line? I have to add; sound proofing is not possible in my home, so using a mic would take more time, doing retake after retake to exclude as much as outside noise as possible. Yes, some cheap / hated equipment. But it's what I have. Other connection combination ideas with this equipment would be welcome too! I'd be using either reaper or cubase lite (came with the amp) and a squire parts-caster instead of the iAXE if I don't use the USB from the iAXE.

I was searching for a particular tone so I bought three different sets of pickups: Seymour Duncan Invaders, EMG SA/SA/81's and a set of MKH Fishmans. Still couldn't get there. Then, lo and behold, I swapped the speaker in my Peavey cab after watching a few of Glenn's videos from the blue marvel to a DV-77 and the tone came out IMMEDIATELY. Imagine that. Thanks for saving me money in the long run, Glenn. 😂

GLENNN!!! Speaking of cabs, speakers, IRs for bass vs guitar and so on. YT notifications are broken (at least for me), so IDK if you see these or not, so reposting a question if you could review Celestion BN21-300S: Celestion themselves recommends to use these for BOTH guitar and bass, their support (signed as Dr Decibel) told me to be just aware that using it in an semi-open cab will lose some bottom end though it's totally safe even if I play bass through a setup like that (sounds good since guitar is my main instrument). Some big names in boutique cabs market use them (Zilla, Barefaced, Quilter), some people use them instead of FRFR for modeller+poweramp setups. I have a midi programmable H&K Switchblade 100W 2x12 combo and am considering to load it with those for recording "moving air" with a mic and blending that with tracks recorded with appropriate IRs using Captor X or similar, both bass and guitar. I am curious how these would work for metal tones on guitar and bass form someone who knows what they're doing, and how much using them in different types of cabs (2x12 vs 4x12, open vs closed, etc). and/or using EQ at the end of the signal chain in effects loop would change the tone when using these (they're closer to flat response than most guitar speakers so I imagine it will affect them more).

Hi Glenn, Could you do a video showing us how we could make our own IRs? That would be amazing. I have a few cabs I am fortunate to be able to record at a loud level but in the world of Helix, Kempers etc I'd like to use my own cabs live in the form of an IR. Also, would be great to see you do more IR reviews in general. Thanks from Scotland

I have a question about starting a hybrid studio set up. what gear would you recommend to a person that has solely worked in the box but wants to branch out into analog gear thats not going to absolutely kill their bank account? I figured I'd start with upgrading my studio desk to a desk with rack mounts and invest in a 500 series. what are your thoughts on that as a starting point?

I use high-end recording gear (Rupert Neve Designs, API, Manley, and others) for recordings that will only be heard by me and a few friends. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Sonically, my recordings improved immensely. Plus it’s fun to use high-end gear.

I always loved Mobius’ work. Heavy Metal was one of THE best magazines of all time. I was also a big fan of Marvel’s Epic Illustrated. Wish those days would return.

Thanks Dude!

HEYYYYY Glen!!!!!!!!! What do you think of the very affordable Electro Harmonix celestion clone speakers? Any good? How about a shootout?

One thing to point out about the 20W vs 100W or any low watt vs high watt amp. If what you are looking for in your sound is the sound of the power tubes saturating, then you might want to go for a lower wattage. Most probably you will not be able to run the 100W head in the volume range, where the power section saturates, whereas for the 20W you can push it into saturation, while keeping the volume in the "not gonna damage your hearing in a short amount of time" range. Apart from this, usually I've found that when running at lower volume levels, there is a very slight difference in sound between different wattage versions of the same amps, but it's quite negligable.

Hey glenn! Could you revisit the idea of mixing/mastering on headphones? A lot of ppl (myself included) absolutely cannot use speakers due to our living situation (parents, neighbors, roommates, inability to properly treat the room, outside noise, etc). Specifically, I'm curious if you tried the neuman ndh 30s that came out relatively recently? On the higher end there's also the Audeze mm500 that was made in conjunction with a mixing engineer. Would really appreciate ur thoughts on these as it seems to me you have a no-BS approach to this stuff, and it would be super awsome if there was actually a pair of headphones out there that you would recommend for mixing and mastering. Most of the time, the advice is just "mixing on headphones suck" but I wonder with how far headphones have come, how close are they to bridging the gap? For example, if getting the mm500 ($1700) could viably replace a setup with 2 monitors and acoustic treatment (plus no disturbing roommates or parents) with the added mobility of being able to take this setup anywhere, I think many people would find great value in that and might even be willing to spend that insane amount on a pair of headphones. Thanks for the great content as always! Ur videos are super helpful to beginners like me. Maybe shooting guitar videos on iPhone guide next? Thanks!

I have EZDrummer 2 and when recording. I listen to how the guitars sound. Then pick out the drum kit that compliments the guitar and bass sound. Is that about what you’re doing with your mixes when adjusting your drum sounds

Glenn, When you are talking about ADOBE never changing their software, which specific program(s) are you referring to? I primarily photograph and edit still pictures and use Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Bridge (part of the cheapest photography plan that's $10 US a month) and get regular updates every few months.

I have an original Triple xxx and the speakers in the cab are supposedly proprietary voiced for the amp.

I just completed an upgrade of an Epiphone Les Paul SL (now called Melody Maker). I did all the usual stuff - locking tuners, graphite nut, fret job, rolling the fretboard, upgrading the bridge to a Savvy bridge, routing the pickup cavities to install Gretsch P90s, and making a very cool carbon fibre pickguard. I bought the guitar as a project guitar to develop some guitar modding skills. The result was fantastic. It sounded as good as any guitar I’ve heard. Until … I applied a matt black finish with matt clear (Rust-oleum). It looks very cool, but …the sound changed *dramatically*, and not in a good way. It sounds metallic, whereas prior to the paint job it sounded sweet. It’s hard to overstate how much the sound changed. I would not have believed the paint job could have such a dramatic effect on the tone. It was my favourite guitar (I also have a Washburn Nuno and a Fernandes Ravelle, so obviously it sounded very good). Now I’m going to cut it back to the wood to save it … The paint had *way more* effect on the tone than the pickups or speakers ! I did not expect that. I still find it hard to believe, but that’s the way it is. WTF ?

Glenn, what speaker/cab combination? If you were on a desert island with an amp and a guitar and outlets.

About Smeemusic's question: Yes, the non mic'ed speakers will affect the sound of the one speaker with a microphone. Jim Lill documented this in his video "Tested: Where Does The Tone Come From In A Speaker Cab?". It's around halfway through, if I'm not mistaken, when he starts swapping the speakers on a cheap marshall 4x12.

Surely with a good control surface and some well setup templates in the DAW, you can get the same level of efficiency as you do with a console!

My wife showed me a clip of a recent Rammstein concert, and they had some insane pyrotechnics and lights to go with the show. And it instantly got me thinking back to yesterday's video when Glenn said "people listen with their eyes". Seems like people want more of a visual show with all that fancy shit as compared to just going to a concert for the music alone. Idk, maybe just me but I don't care for it. 🤷‍♂️

Re : the question about different power rated guitar amps. I actually did this a few years back, comparing a 50 watt amp and a 100 watt amp into the same (black star quad box) speaker box, the amps were supposedly the same except for the output stage. With identical settings on everything, the differences were almost nonexistent at lower output gains, however at the loud end of the scale, the differences were apparent. Basically, the 50 watt head gave its all and started distorting audibly as the master volume went over 9, the 100 watt head also did the same, however, an extra ‘tone’ of distortion was also heard on the more extreme bits as speaker overload became a factor. In the room, this was not really all that noticeable, because they were both so F#cking loud, seriously, the difference was only heard at a level where most home guitarists in the USA would have cops with guns drawn kicking down the door. Do I have recordings from that test ?, sadly no, the experiment was done for personal interest a long time ago (I think it was Pro-Fools 5 or 6 at the time) however, I will stand by my recollections of the results, the differences between the amps were about the same as the differences between any 2 supposedly identical amps, that is, within tolerance, until you got to the extreme end of the speakers handling capabilities, where speaker distortion became a (minor) factor. The difference in audible volume was not really noticeable (I think from memory the 100 W version was a little louder up to about 2 or 3 on the master but that May also have been manufacturing tolerances, as we also found that the response of many ‘identical’ amps often varied around the ends (1 to 3 and 7 to 10) of various settings, due to log pot manufacturing tolerances)