Do not like my guitar tone

[PFDarkside]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

The DSL40C is a Master Volume type circuit.

You mentioned you primarily play in the "bedroom"... at what volume settings?

This is my question too, what are your gain, master and EQ settings? With the volume up and the right EQ, just your JB loaded guitar should be sounding really good. That’s going to be a decently loud volume though.

Where is the delay and reverb? Loop or in front? Either way, get rid of them and the noise gate until you get your tone dialed in. Get the amp sounding good, then you can experiment with just the SD-1 to boost. (Level up, gain almost off)

 

[RandyRhoads]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

I play usually on 2< anything below 2 on full power

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

I play usually on 2< anything below 2 on full power

Maybe try half-power and open up the master volume. That's what the half-power feature is for. It's not going to make it that much quieter, but if your power tubes aren't getting worked, it's not going to sound good. 40 watt tube amps weren't made for playing that quietly. I have a 45 watt Super Reverb, and I don't bother turning it on unless my family is out of the house.

And play more.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

I play usually on 2< anything below 2 on full power

Well, that might be your problem right there.
I know that a DSL40C can get loud. Maybe this sounds stupid, but see if you can dial in a good sound with the master on 5 but the pregain backed off.
Then if you use the SD-1, make sure that the gain is at around noon on the dial.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

One of the bigger name guitar makers, I think Joel Dantzig or Paul Reed Smith, said something about practice curing all tone issues.

Since you're 15 and have pro-quality gear, quit obsessing over the gear. As the others have said, plug straight into the amp and play more. Either of those guitars into a Marshall tube amp is more than capable of getting suitable rock and metal tones. Play it more and figure out how to pull better tone out of it. Two more guitars with EMGs and Blackouts isn't likely to make much difference if you can't get good rock tone out of a humbucker strat and a Marshall.

If you ultimately can't get anything happening, keep focusing on your right hand technique and then the amp.

Good points. But a counterpoint; sometimes, it IS the pickup. I'm in the same situation with a JB guitar actually. I have around ten electrics, and they all sound great with however good/bad my technique is, except for this one. It's annoying enough to bug me. I've gone through multiple string gauges and brands, height settings etc. I have three amps, several pedals, and run into the same issue with this pickup as compared to other pickups I've had in the same guitar.

I'm ready to switch it back to anything else I have on-hand at this point after giving the JB a long trial; the JB sounds good in other guitars, but this guitar sounded perfect when it was equipped with a Jazz or Screamin Demon. Hell, it even sounded good with the stock Fender humbucker, but the JB just sounds like mush with strange harmonics. I get he's a fifteen year old with pro-gauge gear, but I can attest that especially at that age if you don't sound like you want to, you're not inspired. And if he had my JB equipped guitar, little would he know that switching to something else for less than $50 used would solve the problem; it has before.

Getting my soldering iron now that I'm steamed up (Really not dissing the JB, I like it in some guitars)

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

Good points. But a counterpoint; sometimes, it IS the pickup. I'm in the same situation with a JB guitar actually. I have around ten electrics, and they all sound great with however good/bad my technique is, except for this one. It's annoying enough to bug me. I've gone through multiple string gauges and brands, height settings etc. I have three amps, several pedals, and run into the same issue with this pickup as compared to other pickups I've had in the same guitar.

I'm ready to switch it back to anything else I have on-hand at this point after giving the JB a long trial; the JB sounds good in other guitars, but this guitar sounded perfect when it was equipped with a Jazz or Screamin Demon. Hell, it even sounded good with the stock Fender humbucker, but the JB just sounds like mush with strange harmonics. I get he's a fifteen year old with pro-gauge gear, but I can attest that especially at that age if you don't sound like you want to, you're not inspired. And if he had my JB equipped guitar, little would he know that switching to something else for less than $50 used would solve the problem; it has before.

Getting my soldering iron now that I'm steamed up (Really not dissing the JB, I like it in some guitars)

You're right, I've had pickups that couldn't sound like I wanted. Now, anything hotter than a PAF is probably in that category.

Once he mentioned that he's running the master volume at 2, I think the real reason for the lousy tone has become apparent. To expand on my last post, a modeling amp will get you closer to the tone that you're looking for than a tube amp that's all preamp gain.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

since it's around 2 on the master volume I have a good idea the kind of sounds you're getting and the DSL is just not designed to get the marshall sound at that level, the power tubes kick in around 3.5 and then it sounds like a marshall.
Before 3 on the master it sounds like there are so many tones that are just like.. 80% of the way to something you hear in your head, but everything is cold and harsh and the twqo channels don't balance with the shared EQ settings. But when the amp is loud its killer!

You have a great stage volume amp so just realize bedroom tone, eh, sometimes it is what it is!

FWIW the Marshall JVM 100W really sounded great to me down to the lowest volumes, with a combination of fluid gain and immediate attack that i liked a lot. Could be worth trading up for, it is a much smoother, silkier but still raw preamp that you can dial in clean to high gain on, without having to rely on the power tubes like the DSL does.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

I will repeat what several others already said: plug your guitar straight into the amp without any pedals. Play around with all the knobs until you find more pleasing tones. Then add in one pedal at a time and tweak until you are happy.
I will also agree with those saying run the amp at half power so you can use more master volume.
You have much better gear than 99% of us did at 15, you just have to figure out how to get the most out of it.
I suspect the pickups more than anything else. Perhaps try a Dimarzio Super Distortion in one of them if your new guitars sound better to you through your amp.
Don't just throw money at it - spend some quality time turning knobs. I have had essentially the same basic sound with several very different amps over the years, just by dialing each of them in to sound as much as possible like I wanted to sound. I once played an amp that sounded horrible until I turned the mids up to 10. Suddenly it sounded great. There are no "wrong" settings if it sounds good!

 

[justFred]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

Your gear will get you everything you want so stick with it. Amp at full volume, everything else dead center, use your guitar volume and tone controls to play around with tone. Work on that for five years.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

The amp will be slightly sponigier in half power mode, may not be the best for his rhythm sound?
I dunno I never liked half power modes except for blues when some "give" to the attack is in order. The drop in volume is not that significant in half power mode anyways.

Also FWIW my bedroom tone these days is pedals into a clean amp and I'm sure that if you wanted to treat the DSL clean channel as base for high gain pedals I'm sure you can find something! You can get some very decent results with a good pedal and the amp on 2 but it takes some searching to find your flavor. I liked the Mi Audio Crunchbox cuz it sounded to me a lot like a pedal version of the dsl when it gets cooking, still a little thin maybe but certainly decent!

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

In my opinion, if you don't care about volume and play at casual radio levels, you can't really beat an interface and a small PA/monitor with software like GarageBand. Pretty realistic, beats the hell out of a lot of dedicated modeling amps and more customizable.

 

[RandyRhoads]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

So then what would you guys all reccomend as a basis to do then? I have tried my guitar in half mode and the rhythm sound that I had completely vanish! I will try to compensate for that somehow with the knobs or something. I also plugged the guitar into the amp with nothing else and absolutely hated the sound. I decided to take my reverb and delay pedal out of the effects loop and now those pedals sound terrible. I am trying to run everything in from guitar to amp no loop. Of course everything is absolutely horrendous and I hate my sound! If it comes down to it I might just sell the damn thing, since I don't want to pour tons and tons of money into something that I have to upgrade just to get it to sound better, I rather use that money to get an amp that sounds good with and without pedals! I am getting real fed up at this point with my amp, I have spent 2 hours adjusting the knobs and trying to get to my tone and it is absolutely disgusting. The tone sounds weak and I just do not like it. I might revert back to how originally had it setup to see if that tone is better than what I have now.

So guys what should I do at this point? I really cannot get a speaker until 3-4 months from now and I feel that it won't help any. Also if I decide to get another amp, do you guys have any reccomendations for a valve amp that is versatile that is also good for metal (Hard and nice distortion with pretty good cleans preferably)? I am open to combo and Head+Cab options but for Cabs and stuff I only want a 2x12 and a head no more than 50 watts. I also don't want to spend thousands of dollars on this, maybe $800-1250? I know I am kind of asking a lot, I am jsut stressed out about this now and feel that nothing that I am doing at home is helping and I feel regretful about my amp since it doesn't sound good. *sigh*

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

Sounds like you need something sized better or more to your taste; I'd say sell the Marshall. Take your Jackson to the store, figure out if you like it with the Blackstar, and buy the Blackstar if you like it. If you can't sound good with your USA Jackson, you're really doing it wrong. That guitar is within a $50 pickup change of you liking it if you still don't like the tone through the Blackstar, in all probability. I'd then figure out what the pickup in the guitar you like is, and switch to that.

...But really, per my above post, an interface and PC is fine with the right speaker, for practice. Do you play with a band or alone?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

First thing to do is shut down, take a step back and sleep on it. You don't do yourself any favors trying to make a decision while all worked up.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[RandyRhoads]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

I play alone, but I would like to be in a band. I have wanted to get interface when I am in college and cannot bring my amp with me. I have been looking at some other amps like the EVH 5150 Eiii and some blackstars as well. If I don't like the tones with the Jackson then is it me and being so stupid that I can't dial in a tone or is it the pickups? I am getting a new guitar soon and it does not have JB's. If it is the pickup then how do I go about finding what is right for me? I just feel stupid that I can't even find my tone. :disappoin

 

[RandyRhoads]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

I know I know, I just feel stupid and feel that I must be a retard or something since I cannot even dial in my tone, and me finding out how much I actually despise my amp worries me about how I am going to sell it and save money for a new amp, and the new one I want something that I really want and love the sound of.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

Dude, relax! Take a step back and stop picking on yourself. You are not stupid, you are just frustrated and a bunch of strangers are throwing a lot of advice at you.
The amp might just not be for you and the sound you want. That is okay.
The advice to consider running a distortion pedal into the amp set clean is not a terrible idea. I went through quite a few dist boxes lately and i bet you could find one that suits your ears. The nice thing is you can play very quietly and still sound decent. I have a clone of the Suhr Riot pedal that I use strictly when I want to practice at a very low volume.

Or...just get a different amp. Try them out until you find one you like. It's like anything else: different people like different things. Go by what your ears like, not what anyone on the internet says.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

Shouldn't be too hard to sell that amp, they're popular!

Finding what you want is hard, it may take a while. there was a lot I learned the hard way, changing amps and losing money, but it can be fun if you look at like a journey to be experienced! Cuz it is! despite people's best advice, your ears are the best judge, and sometimes you just have to play a TON of gear before you figure out your bag!

The 5150 iii is pretty great at low volumes, way better than the DSL at same volume, to me anyways.
I liked the Peavey JSX at low volumes too, if you ever see a used one.
Getting an amp with lots of watts will give you a tight punchy bottom end but at that point since you're not driving the power tubes hard you have to realllly like the preamp gain of the amp cuz that's what you get!

Also keep in mind the cabinet, a decent sized 4x12 or a 2x12 sounds a lot different than a combo 1x12, when you have more speakers each speaker is driven less hard cuz the power is split between them. This lets the speakers use their power to keep the bottom end tight. The DSL sounds very BOXY as a 40 watt combo compared to the 100W head on a 4x12

I wouldn't change pickups until you sort the amp out, if you change too many things at once it'll be harder to figure out what you need from there.

 

[Lovegun]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

Hey guys this is my first time posting on the Official SD forum so here's my situation:

, Reverb pedal for rhythm, -Justin

If anyone didn't mention this before, but I think reverb pedal for rhythm doesn't work well for the bands you mentioned. I mean it doesn't work for distorted sounds. I wouldn't use it for distorted leads either. I would set the delay pedal for the leads to almost slapback delay and only a 1 or 2 repeats.

How do you use the DS-1? As a boost or?

I don't see anything wrong with your current gear that you could not get the tone you want.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Do not like my guitar tone

15 year old with a USA Jackson Soloist? When I was 15 I played a plywood acoustic.

Seriously, give it up man. Maybe it's not for you. How about drums? You know, if EVH and Alex hadn't swapped places, they probably would've been god knows what...

Same thing with Joe Satraini. He used to play drums but that was the end of the road, so he took up guitar.