Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

[Robbiedbee]

Hi all. I love the sound of single coil cleans, especially Strat bridges, but I have seen some clips on Harmony Central of a dude playing Jazz rhythm on a 2 humbucker Les Paul (Goldtop, urgh). I plugged in my Epiphone and I couldn't get anywhere near it. It seemed somehow, impure. Not very clear.

I tried both pickups together, then bridge and neck, and I can't get clean enough. I tried taking the bass right off on the amp, mids at 12 o clock, then lots of treble, but nothing.

Is there something I need to do with the guitar's controls? I never really played with the tone control much.

I really like the feel of the LP neck, and it would be much better for chord work, but it's my 2 Strats that give me the most beautiful clean sounds.

Someone throw some ideas at me. I'd really like to emulate some of the clean LP tones I hear out there.

Thanks in advance

Robin

 

[flank]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

i'd keep the bass low on the amp, mids about halfway or a little less, and treble about halfway as well. Next, you should lower the volume on your pickups to around 7, and turn the tone control down to about 7 as well (or you could keep this at 10 and adjust the treble control on your amp to your approved warmness). Use the neck pickup alone, or the middle position may be more to your liking. Either way, the key to getting this cleaned up is the volume control on your pickups. You need to find the spot where the sound clears up, but not so low that the sound gets a bit thin. I'm guessing this is somewhere around 7 on your guitars volume knobs.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

+1 flank...
How I do it- bass at around 3, mids at 5 and treble on 7 or 8 (it does depend on your amp). Keep the tone knob of the front pickup more then halfway down around 3 or 4 maybe even less (woman tone- oh yeah!) and your volume knob at less then 8 when soloing.

While metal players get the bass from the amp and the treble from the bridge pup of the guitar, clean players do exactly the opposite way- bass from the neck pup of the guitar into an amp with a nice amount of treble. That's the trick... With a les paul you can get nice cleans from the neck pup and then fire it up with the bridge pup... without changing amps or going through overdrive pedals...

By the way.. IMO... these guitar and amp setting also sound good distorted... try it...

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

What amp are ya' using?

What pickups are in the Epi...LP, I take it??

For cleans, I'd go with the neck pickup...

TREBLE: 1 o'clock
MIDS: 8 o'clock
BASS: 1 o'clock
REVERB: 9 o'clock

VOLUME: 12 o'clock and adjust the volume to taste with the guitar.

For jazz, maybe flatten out the treble a bit...say, 10-11 o'clock...and adjust the tone knob on the guitar down low.

:dunno: :beerchug:

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

What amp are ya' using?

What pickups are in the Epi...LP, I take it??

For cleans, I'd go with the neck pickup...

TREBLE: 1 o'clock
MIDS: 8 o'clock
BASS: 1 o'clock
REVERB: 9 o'clock

VOLUME: 12 o'clock and adjust the volume to taste with the guitar.

For jazz, maybe flatten out the treble a bit...say, 10-11 o'clock...and adjust the tone knob on the guitar down low.

:dunno: :beerchug:

Stock pickups on the LP. I should have been specific really, it's an LP Custom. I wanted the Wine Red one, but after playing a really great black one, I had to have that, so I know it's a good piece of wood and stuff. I wanted to change the pickups in it (either 59n/59b or 59n/AP2b) but I accidently bought another Strat instead.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

According to your sig. your using a Marshall....... not the cleanest amp for Jazz. It may just be a matter of getting the right amp! You should be able to do decent cleans with a LP.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

According to your sig. your using a Marshall....... not the cleanest amp for Jazz. It may just be a matter of getting the right amp! You should be able to do decent cleans with a LP.

I have a Marshall MG at the moment, I had a JCM Head which I ran through a borrowed cab, and I had to sell the head when the dude wanted the cab back. I got this on the cheap, and I intend to get something a little bigger when I move out. Make no mistake about it, the MGs suck.

When I was looking for an LP to buy, and I played this very LP through a Vox if I remember rightly. I was such an amp novice in those days that I couldn't tell you what the model was.

Would a light chorus make the tone sound a little janglier?

 

[Closed Eye]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

Middle position with volume on bridge pickup volume turned down to around 7-8/tone 8-9 and neck pickup rolled off a tad (9) with tone at full blast...with puckboy's amp settings, maybe a touch of chorus or reverb for good measure.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

A les paul into a cheap marshall solid state isnt the best clean sound. Try something more voxey with the les paul and turn down the mids a little and u will get a lot better clean sounds.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

A les paul into a cheap marshall solid state isnt the best clean sound. .

Yeah, I realise that much, but I can get a great clean single coil sound with it, which is what really puzzles me. I was wondering if it was something I was doing wrong with EQ.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

What are your settings for single coils.....and what position are you using?

If you're getting a great single coil tone, it probably is a matter of tweaking.

Are the pickups stock in the Epi?

My experience with Epis is the neck pickups aren't bad, but typically, the bridge isn't so great.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

My experience with Epis is the neck pickups aren't bad, but typically, the bridge isn't so great.

Then your experience is the same as mine. Both distorted and clean, the neck sounds better than the bridge. The pickups are stock btw. I was gonna buy some SDs for it, but I found a great HSS Strat I liked, and I haven't really had money since.

For clean, I can use the bridge, the bridge & middle, and the neck pickup, and get great tone. If I'm using the neck, I have bass at about 3, the mids at 5 and the treble at 9. That gives a nice smooth tone, and becuase of the high treble, it's not very muddy at all. If I am using the bridge pickup, I'll roll the guitars volume down a bit, and take the amp's treble down.

 

[Closed Eye]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

A les paul into a cheap marshall solid state isnt the best clean sound. Try something more voxey with the les paul and turn down the mids a little and u will get a lot better clean sounds.

The cleans on the MG series are actually pretty spectacular if I do say so myself. Say what you want about the distortion but you can get some sweet sounds on the clean channel.

The thing is James, Robbie's asking how to get a good clean tone with the equipment he already has. I don't think telling him to pick up a new amp will do the trick.

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

I'm running solid state Marshall too (valvestate 100) and there's certainly potential for nice clean tones out of it. My settings seem to change, and considering there's an extra tone control button on my amp, i have plenty to work with. Generally I'll use the neck pickup ('59) for cleans, with the guitar's volume and tone maxed, and the amp's bass at 6, treble at 7, and an eq in the loop with some slightly scooped mids.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

For clean, I can use the bridge, the bridge & middle, and the neck pickup, and get great tone. If I'm using the neck, I have bass at about 3, the mids at 5 and the treble at 9. That gives a nice smooth tone, and becuase of the high treble, it's not very muddy at all. If I am using the bridge pickup, I'll roll the guitars volume down a bit, and take the amp's treble down.

And with these settings, what are you getting with the LP ? Too muddy/too bright???

I'd try bumping the bass up a bit & knocking the mids down....maybe swap spots (bass @ 5 mids @ 3)....see how that does. :bigthumb:

Any chance of grabbing an EQ pedal maybe to help even things out?

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

And with these settings, what are you getting with the LP ? Too muddy/too bright???

I'd try bumping the bass up a bit & knocking the mids down....maybe swap spots (bass @ 5 mids @ 3)....see how that does. :bigthumb:

On the bridge pickup, its bright, yet muddy. Hard to explain, its nasal, yet unclear. Doesn't have that ringing sound that Jazz guitarists tend to have with the same guitar. Because the neck pickup of the Strat is really smooth, I thought it would be the same for the LP, but it's just a muddy mess. The sound could be physically manifested as a puddle.

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

On the bridge pickup, its bright, yet muddy. Hard to explain, its nasal, yet unclear. Doesn't have that ringing sound that Jazz guitarists tend to have with the same guitar. Because the neck pickup of the Strat is really smooth, I thought it would be the same for the LP, but it's just a muddy mess. The sound could be physically manifested as a puddle.

My Epi was exactly the same. Get yourself some pickups man. They'll blow your mind.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Amp settings for a decent LP clean tone.

Mine (1972 Fender Twin Reverb, Hot Rodded ESP LP-wannabe) was like mids=5 bass=4 (or 3.5?) treble = 4-5.