Tool meets Dream Theater... A magnum Opus of sorts

[Narsh]

I really hope you guys enjoy this tune. It was challenging to write, play and record due to the off timing in some areas and the amount of fingerwork on the bass.
I'm not sure if its the best thing I've ever written, but its up there.

This was recorded with my Harley Benton Fusion and a Peavey Bass. Usual gear, axefx and kemper along with parallaxe and Neural Rabea.

[bleys21]

Holy Sheezles Batman! I suppose you're going to tell me the solo a little more than halfway through is alternate picked, right? If so, you're a madman, and faster alternate picking than many, if not most, sweep pickers....

[Narsh]

Lol yeah around the 4:10 mark it’s all alt picked no sweeping at all.
It’s alt picking with economy picking, wish I had a better explanation for it but I do it around :30 in this video:

[toomanycats]

Lol yeah around the 4:10 mark it’s all alt picked no sweeping at all.
It’s alt picking with economy picking, wish I had a better explanation for it but I do it around :30 in this video:

Man, your chops are just terrifying. You do not fatigue, you do not mis-step, you're like a frickin' machine. The degree of efficiency of your brain and motor neurons is like, I don't know, Olympic athlete level.

Some questions that come to mind:

What gauge strings do you use?

What kind of pick do you use? Stiff? Light? Large? Small?

How do you set up the action on your guitars? Is it slammed down low?

How much does the string damper thing help with this type of shred playing? I've noticed that when putting a capo at the first fret and effectively making it the nut, the lowest possible action is achieved, thereby greatly facilitating fast technical playing. Does the string damper help in a similar way?

[Narsh]

[quote=Narsh post_id=44768 time=<a href="tel:1671677670">1671677670</a> user_id=143]
Lol yeah around the 4:10 mark it’s all alt picked no sweeping at all.
It’s alt picking with economy picking, wish I had a better explanation for it but I do it around :30 in this video:

Man, your chops are just terrifying. You do not fatigue, you do not mis-step, you're like a frickin' machine. The degree of efficiency of your brain and motor neurons is like, I don't know, Olympic athlete level.

Some questions that come to mind:

What gauge strings do you use?

What kind of pick do you use? Stiff? Light? Large? Small?

How do you set up the action on your guitars? Is it slammed down low?

How much does the string damper thing help with this type of shred playing? I've noticed that when putting a capo at the first fret and effectively making it the nut, the lowest possible action is achieved, thereby greatly facilitating fast technical playing. Does the string damper help in a similar way?
[/quote]

First off, thanks a bunch, I don’t consider myself to be anywhere close to your kind words but I appreciate that immensely.

To answer you questions:

String gauge depends on the guitar and the tuning. Most of my guitars are tuned down so I tend to use heavy gauges. But my preference is .10’s tuned half step down. I have one or two guitars in .09 tuned standard but it’s a rarity.

For picks I use the John Petrucci Jazz III’s. The black ones.

The action on my guitars is as low as I can go without string buzz and the damper at the top is very lightly placed. Usually it sits above the nut just to cut string noise when I record.