General Tone Tips

[joshinali]

Thanks for the usefull tips

[guitar74]

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.

[Marbledecker]

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

[Beer$]

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

[guitar74]

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.

[tman]

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!!

[rickardgreg]

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.

[rickardgreg]

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

[rickardgreg]

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

[Beer$]

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).

[mjsmanahan35]

Treble, Mid and Bass set at 12 o'clock, Recorded using ISP Decimator II, Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini and Blackstar HT-Metal Pedal
https://youtu.be/zknoUlRa6b0
www.facebook.com/maschalismos

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[mjsmanahan35]

Treble, Mid and Bass set at 12 o'clock, Recorded using ISP Decimator II, Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini and Blackstar HT-Metal Pedal https://youtu.be/GkBTP_hU6FE
www.facebook.com/maschalismos

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Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[astrozombie]

Worry more about the sound of your hands- it dictates everything else!


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[lehymib]

its gonna sound the same as your old one, well almost, so buy a nice amp first, then pickups or a new guitar

[emilzd]

I should have practised more.

[Chistopher]

Don't be afraid to have a knob hard to one end of its rotation. Unseasoned players who go overboard give coming controls a bad rep, but sometimes you need as much (or sometimes more) of what that control has to offer.

[Slartibartfast]

Good advice.

[Gtrjunior]

Don't be afraid to have a knob hard to one end of its rotation. Unseasoned players who go overboard give coming controls a bad rep, but sometimes you need as much (or sometimes more) of what that control has to offer.

Yeah, I agree. I used to play in a band with a guy that always set his tone controls by “sight”. You know, Bass should be about here, mids about here....he would always say “man, I wish I could get a little more bass out of this amp” and I’d look at his controls and the bass would be on “5”.
You have to set the knobs with your ears and not your eyes.

[Cynical]

-- Most people over-fetishize power-amp distortion. It's not the end-all be-all people think it is, and very few gigging artists have ever turned their 5150s, 2203s, or Rectos high enough to clip the power tubes. If the tone you're chasing wasn't done on an unmodded Plexi or a little Fender combo, don't worry about getting an attenuator or a super-low wattage amp; speaker involvement is the only volume thing that matters.

-- Your pickups are probably too high. Lower them.

-- The real purpose of the treble knob on an FMV tonestack is to adjust the mid-scoop. Treble knob higher = mid scoop lower = more upper-mid emphasis; treble knob lower = mid scoop higher = more lower-mid emphasis. Try using the treble knob primarily to sculpt your midrange, either raising it to find and notch out the "cardboard box" or lowering it to get rid of the "quack", and then using the presence knob primarily to control your high end.

[LLL]

When playing through a plexi Marshall circuit, you'll probably find that turning the bass down to 1 or 2 works very well... and even with the bass completely off.