General Tone Tips

[El Dunco]

Re: General Tone Tips

If you cant afford a tube amp go with a Peavey Bandit 112 with transtube technology one of the best sounding SS "tone wise" amps there is IMO!!

Depends what kind of music you're playing. Can't beat an old school Randall for a heavy, riff-happy tone in the SS domain! That's what I pull out when I want something other than super fat and huge (Mesa) or bright and searing (Marshall).

[rickardgreg]

Re: General Tone Tips

Try wiring humbuckers in parallel. My Air Norton in the neck now has a nice distorted rhythm tone.

[rickardgreg]

Re: General Tone Tips

Also, check out the clean tone of Fender's Mustang 3 - real nice and solid state.

[rickardgreg]

Re: General Tone Tips

Have to agree that bedroom presets are useless live. I've only played at church but the first time I did, I found myself quickly navigating submenus in search of the reverb setting.

[tman]

Re: General Tone Tips

If you cant afford a tube amp go with a Peavey Bandit 112 with transtube technology one of the best sounding SS "tone wise" amps there is IMO!!

[guitar74]

Re: General Tone Tips

I like the comment about lowering the gain. Back in my early metal days I used to jack the gain to 12, then I heard someone with absolutely brillaint tone, great dynamic, thick, distortion that actually accentuated his picking dynamics. took a look at his rig and found that his gain was much lower than mine, but still his rhythms were crunchy, leads had great sustain. Started lowering the gain, and found that even with the tone controls set the same, the gain set at about seven at stage volume was much more dynamic, responsive, but much more brutal.

Also, remember that midrange is where guitar lives. Taking out all of your mids only serves to take away all of your frequency, and thus that wonderful crunch is actually being sacrificed. I start with everything at twelve, and make small adjustments from there on the tone knobs. Although, it seems that I still just end up sounding like me.

[El Dunco]

Re: General Tone Tips

^You can always get a Keeley/Diesel mod and use it as a dirty boost to an already gained amp.

[Marbledecker]

Re: General Tone Tips

Boss Metal-Zone makes a fantastic ash tray, or blunt-force weapon. Just don't plug your guitar into it.

[guitar74]

Re: General Tone Tips

At stage levels you don't necessarily have to go full out with the gain, speaker break up tends to lend to the crunch. I have used tube heads, solid state heads, combos ranging from 1-12 to 4-10s and can tell you that my sound did change, it didn't change all that drastically. While I prefer tube amps in the studio, I usually end up going solid state live (I know you guys can start giving me crap now. I hear it all the time at gigs-kind of amazing that the same guy who will compliment your tone will almost retract that statement when they find out you are playing through a solid state). That choice is mainly because of convenience, and having lost a tube a tube a few times at a gig. So much of your tone comes from your hands that I think if you sound good you'll probably sound good regardless.


With pickups, I have dialed back on output, I currently use a Pearly gates Plus for everything from country to hard rock/metal/instrumental rock and find that it works for me. The big reason for going to a low/med output bucker is that it, to my ears, seems more articulate. That and the fact that with all the gain being built in to amps these days, you really don't need to hit the input that hard.

And just like most everyone has said, guitar lives in the mid frequencies so don't take it out. You are just losing volume. Too much low end kills articulation and sounds woofy (not a word but the best way I can describe too much bass), and too much high end just makes you sound thin. I would have to agree with EVERYONE who stated that what sounds good at bedroom levels probably won't on stage. I found that out when I auditioned for my first band, turned up, and had to re-eq to not sound like a train wrecking into a semi full of running chainsaws. Also boosting frequencies that aren't there tends to sound a lot worse than removing bad frequencies that are.

So anyhow that's the small amount that I've learned over thirty years of playing.

[joshinali]

Re: General Tone Tips

Thanks for the usefull tips

[Myaccount876]

Re: General Tone Tips

Being able to play lead over multiple keys and time signatures along with changes thereof is extremely useful. Especially when playing with others.

[simimatt]

Re: General Tone Tips

thanks for sharing the tone tips! are there any video tutorials on your tone tips?

[zain]

Re: General Tone Tips

this topic is really very helpful. everyone can get something if read the threads... SO best of luck!

[dotsdad]

Re: General Tone Tips

"Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone."

-Originally Posted by IanBallard

[dkal24]

Re: General Tone Tips

It may have been said before but anyway, learn how to solder especially if you own multiple guitars. It is easy to do. There is many how to videos on YouTube and the tools you will need are inexpensive. It will save you
plenty on tech fees and is also pretty rewarding to fix your guitars yourself. You will also have much better tone with a properly wired guitar and you will be able to do upgrades yourself.