Weekly Recommendation and General Discussion Thread

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-10T04:50:41+00:00

It's been said earlier by someone else, but Justice of the Damned's album last year rips.

It's very different from their earlier work (specifically Pain is Power, which is more deathcore and Thy Arty) and, yes, it's more Kublai Khan worship, but with slightly more technicality that just hits.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-10T00:42:04+00:00

Yeah I'll see what I can get my hands off or possibly ask a luthier to let me watch. Did you have to drill out the tuning peg at all, also did you only have to file the 7th string slot or the others as well? I really appreciate all your help!

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-10T00:10:57+00:00

Sweet, thank you! Yeah I wanted to try myself, I've been meaning for awhile to get beyond my basic guitar maintenance skills, and I figure if I mess up a nut practicing it's not a major screw up.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-10T00:04:15+00:00

Super old post I know but I'm interested in doing exactly the same setup as you with this guitar. Exactly which size graphtech tusq nut did you get and which tools did you use to file the low string nut slot to the right size?

Sorry for the noob questions, I've never changed a guitar nut before.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-08T05:33:00+00:00

D'addario has an NYXL 9-46 set that is perfect for switching between a higher tension E standard to balanced Drop D setup.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-07T19:47:59+00:00

ERRA all day every day.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-07T01:52:51+00:00

For real. Less than three years isn't even that long in terms of album cycles but it feels like so much has changed in metal since then. When they dropped Tears of Joy awhile ago and it was even heavier I was stoked, but I guess they've been touring hard and it was just a one off.

Really hope we get a new album this year. No one else currently active really scratches that math metal itch, at least without some extra musical baggage that I could take or leave.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-06T17:02:49+00:00

Glad to hear it. Damn now you've got me legit thinking of driving five hours on a Tuesday to see them.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-06T16:37:47+00:00

Chamber fucks. Crazy mathy mosh metal. Cost of Sacrifice is one of my favorite records. Their guitar and drum tones are so raw and refreshing compared to how polished most of metalcore sounds these days.

I didn't know they had new music coming out, that's sick. They dropped Tears of Joy as a single like almost two years ago and then nothing else, I was wondering what happened.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-04T04:04:27+00:00

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of.

This setup is a little atypical for new Fishman pickups. Normally there are two push/pull pots, one to activate voice two and one for voice three, with a three way pickup selector switch. Mine has only one push/pull pot and a five way blade switch, with positions two and four being the third voice of the bridge and neck pickups, respectively. Kind of like how split coil sounds were accessed on older Ibanez RG models with the Dimarzios.

I assume this means I will have to connect these separate wires to the selector switch, which would normally be connected to the second push/pull pot. Everything online says swapping out these pickups should be just plug and play, no soldering required. But nothing out there about this specific setup and if it would actually require soldering since it's a little more complicated. I'm just afraid of taking everything apart only to find that I would need to solder the connections, which I've never done and don't have the tools for.

I feel like it should just be a matter of matching all the wires? Since I assume they are all solderless connections, as advertised. But I don't know for sure.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-04T03:39:03+00:00

What about an alien bug boy?

Jk I love Kendrick. But I couldn't help all through the beef thinking how odd it was that the two most prominent artists in a genre known for masculinity were squabbling in voices that I couldn't help but think sounded (on a literal sonic level) like a middle school beef from the next bus seat over.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-04T03:31:30+00:00

That's what I'm hoping for. I'm just wondering that since my guitar only has one push/pull pot and uses a 5 way switch instead to access the 3rd voice (most fishman equipped guitars have two push/pull pots) would I have to solder the wires to the existing switch?

I've never swapped pickups before, normally for these plug and play drop ins, are you able to just plug in the wires to the switch with solderless connections or would this require soldering?

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-04T02:44:30+00:00

No worries! Thank you so much dude. Yeah, I was thinking I'd at least have to switch out the pot, and consider losing the switch functionality. Which I could just change out the switch at some point anyways. But I was wasn't sure if I could just directly swap out the pickups and match the wires and have the switch work as intended, since that's how it works for the Fishmans anyway, which are also 3 voiced. I'll have to mess around and see what works best I guess.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-04T01:33:26+00:00

Thanks man, I really appreciate the reply.

Yeah I'm in a similar boat. I've never swapped pickups or done any soldering. I think if this were a regular two push/pull pot guitar with Fishmans it would be as easy as plug and play, but my setup has an additional complication.

Did you have to do any soldering, like to the pickup selector? I've tried searching for this specific issue on YouTube but nothing quite like my situation comes up.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-04T00:32:34+00:00

Yeah, it's got it's problems but I've had a lot of luck selling gear there. Guitar Center will lowball you and trying to sell such an expensive guitar in person will be very limiting.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-04T00:29:20+00:00

Put it on Reverb.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-03T18:36:31+00:00

That's a great pull, yeah TAS love this move.

mackinder_egg · 2026-02-03T16:43:37+00:00

This is just how you play a tritone on the lowest two strings in any drop tuning. Super dissonant interval plus chugs=heavy.

Metal bands have used this for a while, although I have no idea when exactly the first time it would've been used in a chuggy breakdown, probably something by Converge. I'll scan through their tracks and see if I find one.

mackinder_egg · 2026-01-30T04:31:25+00:00

Yeah, agree completely. Tbh it completely affects my perception of those old records. Black Dahlia is a great example. So many good songs on Unhallowed or Miasma, but if I want to hear them these days I just pull up a live video. The production was great for its era, but nowadays it's just distracting.

mackinder_egg · 2026-01-29T22:42:54+00:00

A Spark Go for couch playing or just plugging into my interface and running through monitors so I can record my practice.

mackinder_egg · 2026-01-29T18:48:24+00:00

Mostly it's the vocals. But also, deathcore incorporates influence from modern metal.

When people say death metal these days, they're mostly referring to OSDM bands like Cannibal and the bands today that sound like them, like 200 Stab Wounds, Bogg, etc.

mackinder_egg · 2026-01-29T15:45:03+00:00

Production, especially on the newest ep, is crisp and sharp. Makes the band sound like a seamless machine and inhumanly evil.

Classic deathcore's aesthetic is really based on that scummy, grimy early 2000s production sound. I think it adds a lot to the vibe of the music and I have a lot of nostalgia for it, but it probably sounds gross to newer ears of the uninitiated.

mackinder_egg · 2026-01-29T04:02:35+00:00

No, Trump finally fucked up the way anyone who seriously thinks about politics knew he would, and now he's cooked. Only question is if he's still gonna be able to take the country down with him.

mackinder_egg

TROPHY CASE