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General Tone Tips

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  • #16
    Re: General Tone Tips

    Less Is More When It Comes To Effects (especially Distortion/overdrive)

    Always Play With Feeeling And Dont Be Afraid To Let Loose

    When Messing With Your Eq Start From 0 Up And Play At Regular
    Intervals (the Same Chord Or Lick) Until It Sounds About Where
    You Want It....start With The Bass Then Treble And Then Finally
    Mids...then You Can Mess With All The Other Lovely Knobs On Your
    Amp.


    Chris
    "Get a BIBLE: open it, read it, and believe it" - Me

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    • #17
      Re: General Tone Tips

      *A gigging small club guitarist ought to experiment with a beam blocker from Weber Speakers. It does what Stevie Ray did with a piece of duck tape on the grill cloth where the speaker beams out most of it's highs. This will allow the people in the front row to not get killed with your laser beam high end (very directional). The beam blocker will diffuse that high end so that someone sitting at stage left will get similar high end to the ear as a person sitting directly in front of the stage.

      *Always carry a spare tube or two, as well as a fuse for your amp.

      *Use a surge protector strip when playing in unfamiliar surroundings.

      *Different speakers can completely change the sound of your amps. I just finished a new amp and have tried it with three different speakers. Each lends its own color and texture to the amp. Finding the right speaker can be a challenge that some of us can't afford. Learn from others that are using your amp what speaker they've settled on. Tubes, speakers and transformers make the most difference in an amp's tone. 2 of those 3 are available to you for an easy swap. If you are trying new tubes, concentrate on the first preamp tube for the most radical tone change.

      *Power tube distortion sounds better to *my* ears than preamp tube distortion. Crank up the master if you have one and keep the preamp at a manageable level.

      *The standby switch on your amp is there for a reason. Let your tubes warm up for 20-30 seconds before you start playing. THis will increase the life of your tubes. What to do for those 30 seconds? Try tuning up. It will do you a world of good.

      *Good quality cables very rarely go out on you when you need them the most. You don't have to spend stupid money on them, but good quality is important.

      * Too many pedals suck the life (tone) out of your amp IMO.


      www.CelticAmplifiers.com

      "You can't save everybody, everybody don't wanna be saved."

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      • #18
        Re: General Tone Tips

        Crank It All The Way To Eleven
        Lister: I am your god!
        Cat: ( points at food ) If you're god, turn this into a woman!


        Originally posted by Empty Pockets
        i don't want to shoot at a guy holding my Les Paul, but I'd gladly shoot through a Fernandes that I paid $250 for.

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        • #19
          Re: General Tone Tips

          Kinda obvious, but practice with your onstage rig as much as possible (amp, effects etc,) because that is your voice and you need to know what it sounds like and is capable of, and how to make it sound the way you want it to. Mainly, just get used to using the stuff. You can't make a strat sound like a PRS, or a Les Paul, or vice versa, so let the gear sound like it does. If you want a Les Paul sound, sell the Strat. And when you practice, try to close your eyes as much as possible- you'd be surprised how much better you hear with your eyes closed.
          Kill the body and the head will die

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          • #20
            Re: General Tone Tips

            Originally posted by Scott_F
            *A gigging small club guitarist ought to experiment with a beam blocker from Weber Speakers. It does what Stevie Ray did with a piece of duck tape on the grill cloth where the speaker beams out most of it's highs. This will allow the people in the front row to not get killed with your laser beam high end (very directional). The beam blocker will diffuse that high end so that someone sitting at stage left will get similar high end to the ear as a person sitting directly in front of the stage.
            Where can I get those and hpw do theylook like?

            * Too many pedals suck the life (tone) out of your amp IMO
            At least if they don't have a true-bypass switch (a switch that takes the effect completely out of the line by bypassing it physically)

            7ender 7anboy.

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            • #21
              Re: General Tone Tips

              Turn the Gain down, turn the volume up
              Never put you mids below "2"...at least!
              "Don't tickle it...Hit the bugger!!!" Malcolm Young
              Play like you mean it...it will sound better
              Don't be afraid of playing loud.
              TOUQUE ROCK...EH???? I AM CANADIAN

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              • #22
                Re: General Tone Tips

                Listen to someone else play your guitar through your rig, (if you wanna risk it), its amazing how different it sounds to when you play it yourself. You might just alter some settings. Obviously the whole Tone In THe Fingers arguement comes into play. Just get them to play basic stuff not intricate things that your personal playing characteristcs would change the sound.
                '00 Ibanez RG470 TB-6 / APS-2 / SH-6n (Fully Chromed hardware inc Orig Floyd)
                '81 Gibson Les Paul Custom JB / PGn
                '05 Custom Hardtail Strat Sh-5b / SH-2n

                Laney GH100TI & the matching 4x12
                Engl Thunder 50 Combo
                TC Electronic G Major
                Korg DTR2000 Tuner

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                • #23
                  Re: General Tone Tips

                  Find a sound that is sound that you are happy with and that is you AND works in what ever your band situation is. And on that note you dont need to spend a lot of money to have a great sound! (Eddie Van Halen's homemade strat for example) Don't limit your self to one type of guitars, manufacturing brands, amps, fx pedals, ect. There are so many great things out there and its silly to say you can only get a good sound out of a tube amp. True bypass really does help your sound. If your pedals dont have true bypass there are always was around that. From making that way or tb-boxes. What ever it takes to get you your sound do it, but dont get hung up on brands or types. And if you really want a specific type of gear save untill you can afford it because finding a cheaper substitue most likey with be only a temporary fix.

                  good luck,
                  edm

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                  • #24
                    Re: General Tone Tips

                    buy seymour duncan pickups

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: General Tone Tips

                      Originally posted by Marinblues
                      If you have a tube amp, let it warm up.

                      Great point. I play thru A Super Reverb(1968), and Deluxe(1967) depending..... I find that as the night goes on I can start to roll the volume down. Once the Amp begins to warm up it begins to sing.

                      When recording I would recommend using heavier strings as well. They give a slightly thicker punchier sound. Of course they have to be comfortable for you to play.

                      Keep your signal as pure as possible. The less you have in the signal chain the better.
                      "So you will never have to listen to Surf music again" James Marshall Hendrix
                      "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will know peace."-Jimi Hendrix

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                      • #26
                        Re: General Tone Tips

                        Practice as much as you can WITHOUT A AMP !! This helps you develop
                        a feel for the natural resonance of the Instrument .This in turn will help
                        you develop the tone in your hands.(This is what you wanna hear when
                        you ampilify yourself) Even for pinched harmonices and fast runs it's
                        good to practice w/o a amp. When you finally do plug in and add some
                        gain you'll be amazed how the notes jump out/off the fret board.
                        Last edited by kmcguitars; 07-22-2005, 05:59 AM.
                        http://www.soundclick.com/whirlwindbluesrevue

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                        • #27
                          Re: General Tone Tips

                          More volume= less Trebble needed I think.

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                          • #28
                            Re: General Tone Tips

                            Originally posted by nepalnt21
                            buy seymour duncan pickups
                            ...and melt your Dimarzio's. But seriously, record yourself and analyze on playback. Be critical.

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                            • #29
                              Re: General Tone Tips

                              ^^^ Thats a good one.
                              TOUQUE ROCK...EH???? I AM CANADIAN

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: General Tone Tips

                                -> THIS IS FACT.
                                Originally posted by Rotten Guitar String
                                -NEVER SCOOP YOUR MIDS!!!(Unless you wann bury your tone )
                                SCOOPED MIDDLES=FAGGÓT´S TONE
                                hahahahahaahahahahhahahahahaha


                                -For an amp to have twice the volume, it needs 10x the wattage (eg. a 50w amp will be twice as loud as a 5w)

                                -Single-coils buzz (unless they're noiseless ones) and have a thinner sound

                                -Humbuckers buck the hum (no buzz) and have a big fat tone
                                Ibanez RG7420-Evo 7-Liquifire 7
                                Ibanez RG7420-Blaze Custom 7-Air Norton 7
                                Ibanez RG550-Nailbomb-Nailbomb
                                Jackson DXMG-Juggernaut - Juggernaut
                                Ibanez RGT6EX-81-60A
                                Ibanez RGT42DX-BlackHawk - BlackHawk
                                Fender Am Std-Holy Diver-Emerald

                                Charvel Fusion DLX-81-SA
                                Ibanez SR505 MIK Bass.

                                Fender EVH 5510 III 50w Head + Custom 2X12 Cabinet W/ WGS Liberator Speakers.

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