DWPS vs UWPS, advantages and disadvantages of each approach?

[imc2111]

I was wondering, what are the disadvantages and advantages of a DWPS or UWPS only approach? Is there one that is “better” or simply more practical for some reason?

[kgk]

DWPS lets you sweep low to high. UWPS lets you sweep high to low.

[Sascha85]

I find it easier to palm mute when using DWPS.

[JonJon]

Technical advantages of primary-upward 2WPS?

if you are comfortable with one thing, id never in a million year try to switch to something else “just because”. ive seen this in other threads where people think they “should” do this or that. AFAIK there is no “should” in any of this stuff Id say there IS one nice advantage to slightly uwps. If you are going to do a fast 3nps lick and you go D-U-D, with uwps you are already set to go to another string with no extra work involved. no rotating, no this or that. So even if you stick to a stra…

[NTC]

My forearm rotational technique is biased to upward slanting and my wrist technique is biased to downward slanting, but I can do two way slanting with both techniques.

I did not plan this, but I’d say go with whichever direction feels easiest to begin with and then have the fun and games of adding the other direction.

[qwertygitarr]

A lot of metal riffs are constructed to work well with DWPS (upward escape). I really had a hard time playing a lot of riffs in my earlier years having a UWPS (downward escape) setup.

Muting unwanted strings is far easier with UWPS though as my thumb is muting the strings as well as the palm.

[lars]

You can get upward and downward escaped motions in many different ways. Your physical setup is what’s most interesting to discuss, IMO.

Others have mentioned how muting is affected by different setups, but another thing is your ability to hybrid pick. With a setup like Marty Friedman, which is very supinated, you’re not going to be able to do that at all.

[imc2111]

I hadn’t thought about hybrid picking. Does either UWPS or DWPS facilitate hybrid picking more in any way?

[adamprzezdziecki]

Having to play 2nps starting on an upstroke is the biggest disadvantage of UWPS imo. Also, I’m not sure if it applies to other UWPS guys, but I have to place my hand on the body when playing certain stuff involving low E string and it’s not really the most comfortable and reliable position.
When it comes to advantages, descending sweeps are super easy and if you do 3nps licks using uwps based 2wps, some stuff involves less rotating than 2wps. Down-up-down is escaped already and you can change string without any additional movement.

[JonJon]

yeah the low E is pretty awkward for uwps. to me the high e is slightly awkward for dwps for the same reason

it almost makes sense to favor dwps for the E and A, neutral for the D and G, and uwps for the B and E