Vildjharta’s Crushing Low-Tuned Guitars: Buster Odeholm’s Pod Farm Approach

Alright, let’s talk Vildjharta. Those earth-shattering, ultra-low tuned guitar tones are legendary, right? They’ve got a unique character that’s both brutally heavy and surprisingly clear. Ever wondered how Buster Odeholm dials in that sound, especially for Calle Thomer’s distinctive playing? We dove into a session with Buster himself to see how he wrangles those low frequencies into submission, and a lot of it comes down to smart DI processing, clever amp sim usage (hello, Pod Farm!), and surgical EQ.

If you’re chasing that kind of modern metal guitar power, the insights from Buster’s Vildjharta mix session are pure gold. Forget overly complex signal chains; this is about understanding the fundamentals and making targeted moves.

The Foundation: Starting with a Clean and Powerful DI

Before you even think about amp sims or fancy plugins, the source tone is king. Buster emphasizes that a lot of the Vildjharta sound comes straight from Calle’s hands and his setup.

The Player and the Gear: It Starts at the Source

Buster revealed that the DIs he worked with were surprisingly straightforward: Calle playing his guitar into a Whammy pedal, then straight into a Focusrite interface. No crazy boutique preamps or hidden mojo boxes. The raw DI already sounded good.

A key takeaway here for anyone playing in super low tunings is guitar setup. Calle’s action is higher than many modern players prefer. Why? Because with lower action, especially when chugging hard, you get string buzz and a lack of sustain. That higher action allows the notes to ring out clearly and powerfully, even with aggressive playing, without unwanted noise. This is crucial for getting that Vildjharta-esque sustain and percussive attack.

Guitar & Pickups: The Right Tools for the Job

For these particular tracks, Calle likely used one of his A IR Guitars signature baritones. These aren’t your average axes, featuring a 27-fret design and a longer scale length (possibly 27 or 28 inches), perfect for maintaining string tension and clarity at those subterranean tunings. Paired with Lundgren M6 pickups, known for their articulation and output in low-tuned scenarios, you’ve got a DI signal that’s ready for some serious sonic sculpting.

Sculpting the Beast: Buster Odeholm’s Pod Farm Chain

This is where things get really interesting. Buster leans heavily on Pod Farm to shape the core of Vildjharta’s guitar tone. He uses a consistent chain across the left, right, and center guitar tracks.

Pre-Amp Boost: More Lows, More Mids

First up in Pod Farm, Buster uses a “Still Boost” pedal model. Now, if you’re thinking of a typical Tube Screamer (like a TS808 or Fortin Grind) that cuts low-end to tighten things up, think again. Buster’s approach here is different. He actually wants that low-end information present, and even boosts it.

His settings for this boost are:

• High Mids: Boosted (for that “springy noise”)
• Mid Frequency: 51% (Buster notes the peculiarity of percentage-based frequency selection)
• Treble: 60%
• Bass: 60%

This pedal adds saturation and shapes the tone before hitting the main “amp,” but crucially preserves and enhances the low frequencies – a signature part of the Vildjharta sound.

The Core Amp Tone: Finding the Aggression

Following the boost, Buster dials in the main amp sound within Pod Farm. The settings here are geared towards a tight, aggressive, and mid-focused tone:

• Gain: 50%
• Bass: 15% (noticeably lower here, as the pre-boost is handling a lot of the low-end character)
• Mid: 85% (a significant mid-push for cut and clarity)
• Treble: 60%
• Presence: 70%

These settings provide the bite and grind, with the earlier boost ensuring the fullness isn’t lost.

The “Vilada Cab” IR and Aggressive EQ Shaping

The cabinet impulse response (IR) is arguably one of the most critical components of any amp sim tone. For Vildjharta, Buster uses a very specific IR with a cool backstory.

Finding the Right Cab IR: The “Vilada Cab”

The band, Vildhjarta (often stylized as “Vilada” in some contexts by fans/the band), has historically used a Pod XT Live running into a Palmer DI pedal that housed an IR. Calle managed to find the actual file for this specific IR, which Buster dubs the “Vilada cab.” This is what gives the guitars that familiar Vildjharta speaker character.

Post-Cab EQ: Making it Cut

The raw “Vilada cab” IR, however, is quite dark, lacking a lot of high-end information. This is where Buster’s EQ strategies come into play. He applies a significant amount of EQ after the cab IR.

He mentions that this isn’t about perfectly “tone matching” something else, but rather about selectively enhancing what makes the tone better. A major move here is boosting the high end considerably to compensate for the dark IR, ensuring the guitars slice through the mix. Without this EQ, the tone would be far too muffled.

Mix Bus Magic and Final Touches

Beyond the core amp and cab sound, Buster employs several more processing steps to make the guitars sit perfectly in the dense Vildjharta mix.

Mid/Side EQ for Mono Compatibility and Clarity

One particularly neat trick Buster uses is mid/side EQ. He often boosts the mids specifically in the mid channel (not the side channel). This helps the core guitar notes and riffs translate better on systems with less stereo separation, like Bluetooth speakers or when the mix is summed to mono. It’s a great way to maintain clarity and punch across various playback systems. This EQ pass also tames a “weird resonance in the high end,” which, if left unchecked, could sound harsh.

Dynamic Control: Multiband & Sidechaining

To keep the guitars tight and impactful, Buster uses multiband processing (though he notes he generally leaves the low end alone with this). He also employs sidechain compression on the guitars, ducking them slightly with the kick and snare. Listening to the “delta” (the difference signal showing what the compressor is removing), it’s clear the kick and snare are making space for themselves, allowing the guitars to hit hard without cluttering the transients of the drums.

Widening and Dimension

Buster also mentions using a “Base TM widening” process. While he jests about widening and narrowing at the same time, it’s about targeting different frequency ranges. This likely involves widening the lower frequencies for a sense of space and power, while potentially keeping other ranges more focused.

Buster’s Philosophy: Mix With Intent

Throughout the breakdown, a clear philosophy emerges from Buster’s approach.

Solo vs. Mix Context

How do you build these tones? Buster’s method is to first dial in the sound in solo to get it feeling good, then listen to it in the context of the full mix and make adjustments as needed. What sounds massive in solo might need tweaking to fit with bass, drums, and vocals.

Only Fix What’s Broken

When asked about not rolling off high-end on the DIs, Buster’s answer was simple: he didn’t need to. If there wasn’t any problematic “scratchy stuff,” there was no reason to automatically apply a filter. This is a crucial lesson: “You only do what you need to do. You don’t do something automatically just because you’ve done it before. Everything has to be called for.”

Want to See This in Action?

Reading about these settings and techniques is one thing, but seeing a pro like Buster Odeholm actually apply them, tweak them in real-time, and explain his reasoning? That’s next level.

The Vildjharta guitar tone is a masterclass in balancing raw power with surgical precision. By understanding how Calle’s playing and setup contribute, how Pod Farm can be pushed beyond its presets, and how targeted EQ and dynamics can shape the final sound, you can start applying these concepts to your own ultra-low tuned productions.

If you’re serious about taking your heavy mixes to a professional level, seeing exactly how these tones are crafted within a full session is invaluable. At Nail The Mix, you get to watch producers like Buster Odeholm mix incredible tracks from scratch. For an even deeper dive into these Vildjharta tones and the full mix of Silent Planet’s “Terminal,” check out the Buster Odeholm NTM session. Imagine getting the multitracks to practice on yourself! It’s all part of unlocking your sound and mixing modern metal beyond presets.

Dive into the full Vildjharta / Silent Planet session with Buster and see how all these pieces come together to create a truly monstrous metal mix.