‘Playing in a two-guitar band requires compromise,’ says Slipknot’s Jim Root

Slipknot guitarist Jim Root recently spoke about the challenges of sharing guitar duties with fellow guitarist Mick Thomson.

A complex balance in a two-guitar group

In an interview with The Captain of Andertons Music, Jim Root explained that playing in a two-guitar band involves compromises. According to him, each guitarist must adjust his sound to complement that of the other and avoid “frequency masking”.

“Mick chooses the sound he wants, and I look for what can complement it,” Root explains. He continues: “It’s one of the interesting aspects, but also a disadvantage of a band with two guitarists. You should avoid having two guitars that sound exactly the same. It’s better if they sound a little different.”

Root also emphasized that in a band as large as Slipknot, with nine musicians, it is crucial that each instrument finds its place in the sonic spectrum: “Guitars must stay within a specific frequency range. You sacrifice a little bit of what you would normally want to sound like, but it’s necessary to make everything fit well in the mix.”

Also read: “Bullet For My Valentine almost broke up several times,” says Michael “Padge” Paget

The beginnings and challenges of youth

Looking back on Slipknot’s early tours, Root remembers that each member wanted to impose their sonic power, which complicated the overall balance. “Everyone was playing seven-string guitars, and subwoofers were the big thing,” he remembers. This blurred the lines between guitar and bass frequencies, creating a sonic struggle in the overall mix.