Tool Distortion

[pkutcher]

I was wondering if anyone knew how to mimic Adam Jones distortion from tool using a medal zone pedal. I am not sure what to set my his..lows..and mids at? Further..what is gate and compression do and are they important?

[z88]

Adam Jones used Les Paul guitars that were apparently discontinued my friend, because according to sources (whose reliability may be questioned), Gibson used metallic paint that affected the tone. Adam apparently favored mids above lows and HIs, so keep the bass low, treble medium and mids high.

He did not use a compression pedal (afaik) but he did use an E-bow sustainer. So you could use some compression if you wish. Compression basically evens out the tones of the his and lows. I can't explain it very well because I'm not even that sure... all I know is that compressors add their own flavor to the tone, and can dramatically aid in sustain (which really makes a difference in bends).

As for gate... it's a noise gate. It filters out unwanted noise caused by your pickups, good for single coils, especially when there's gain involved.

(all my knowledge about noise gate and compression here comes from my fooling around with effects on a guitar equipped with two P-90s, so don't take what I say too seriously, I'm sure more savant people will be able to fill you in on the more technical aspects of the effects)

[metalprep6969]

A compressor boosts the volume on low volume signals and cuts the volume on high volume signals, so it evens it out a little bit.

A noise gate cuts some frequencies from the signal (like feedback). A noise suppressor will cut the signal if the overall volume is too low (like if u aren't playing, it'll cut off all the lil scratching and such.

\m/