Setting the gain level on distorted guitars...

[Audio Enginerd]

First of all, I am also a huge fan of your work! You are definitely on of my favorite producers. You had a large hand in why I'm a musician today. On to my question... We hear a lot of discussion about keeping gain levels on distorted guitars lower than you would expect to get that big sound we are chasing after, but it seems that in some of your work I've heard the individual tracks were pretty gainy. Like in Nevermind or the electric saw posing as a guitar in Siamese Dream (super cool sound!). I've been practicing the less gain method for a while, and it turns out pretty nicely for me generally. We might have to overdub a few parts that stiill need to be a little more heavy... Was this part of the grunge sound, or is keeping the guitars pretty gainy something you practice today? What is your view on this?

[ButchVig]

Originally Posted by Audio Enginerd

First of all, I am also a huge fan of your work! You are definitely on of my favorite producers. You had a large hand in why I'm a musician today. On to my question... We hear a lot of discussion about keeping gain levels on distorted guitars lower than you would expect to get that big sound we are chasing after, but it seems that in some of your work I've heard the individual tracks were pretty gainy. Like in Nevermind or the electric saw posing as a guitar in Siamese Dream (super cool sound!). I've been practicing the less gain method for a while, and it turns out pretty nicely for me generally. We might have to overdub a few parts that stiill need to be a little more heavy... Was this part of the grunge sound, or is keeping the guitars pretty gainy something you practice today? What is your view on this?

There's a point when running the gain high where it gets mushy and you can't hear the rhythm...but it just depends on what the part is like and what you want to hear in the song. If you want more white noise or fuzz, and don't care about the articulation, then crank it up!