Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

[misterwhizzy]

Maybe so, but really it just cut down on the noise and oversaturation. Either I'm getting old, or I'm getting to know tone better. Either way, I bumped down the gain a point and a half on the preamp, and I'm a lot happier with the sound. Bump the depth knob to compensate for the loss of thickness, and the noise goes away, the clarity comes in, and the aggression stays.

I'm starting to think the old guys around here know what they're talking about.

 

[CTN]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

in a recording situation, less gain = more clarity, and if you're double, triple or quadruple tracking, then that clarity remains while the multiple tracking adds thickness and balls. I find it's harder to capture the feel of depth knob usage when a speaker is close mic'd. It's something the player hears and feels, but doesn't translate well to a mic.

it a live situation, less gain = less balls, but obviously, too much gain = fizzy, farty mess. the micing/depth thing applies here too.

 

[Drunken Bowling]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

What amp are you using?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I've always thought of it the other way, actually. When playing with low gain, there is not a lot of forgiveness in the tone/attack. There's very little for pussies to hide behind with low gain; if you are a pussy, you sound like a pussy, right away. But high gain can make a pussy sound like a god upon casual examination.

 

[gnomefiddler]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I've always thought of it the other way, actually. When playing with low gain, there is not a lot of forgiveness in the tone/attack. There's very little for pussies to hide behind with low gain; if you are a pussy, you sound like a pussy, right away. But high gain can make a pussy sound like a god upon casual examination.

I agree but gain definitely has its time, place and purpose.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I agree but gain definitely has its time, place and purpose.

I didn't say otherwise, though.

 

[JCM900MkIII]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

Since when is the amount of gain a decisive factor in heaviness?

Just asking....

 

[P.A.Foholic]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

Gain doesn't equal heaviness and gain doesn't equal balls. But less gain and accurate playing equals amazing sounds.

IMHO, YMMV etc...

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I've always thought of it the other way, actually. When playing with low gain, there is not a lot of forgiveness in the tone/attack. There's very little for pussies to hide behind with low gain; if you are a pussy, you sound like a pussy, right away. But high gain can make a pussy sound like a god upon casual examination.

No level of gain is inherently more or less forgiving. They are both just as forgiving and unforgiving as each other. Get a player that's used to play with only clean/very low gain tones, they will sound terrible with high gain tones, and vice versa.
Clean/very low gain tones will be more forgiving on poor muting, but much less so in inconsistencies in picking attack/dynamic control (need to pick as hard every time to get the same volume)
High gain is the opposite. Much more forgiving on dynamic control/pick attack consistency (don't need to pick as hard to get the same volume), but it will make sure you hear every tiny inconsistency in muting technique.

Bear in mind the idea of 'high gain' for me, or any reasonable player with some amount of experience is still a good chunk less than the average 15 year old kid in his bedroom with a 15 watt practice amp. That's what I call 'retarded gain' :laugh2:

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

Since when is the amount of gain a decisive factor in heaviness?

Never mentioned heaviness. I'm not real sure where you got this association. My point was simply that I could get the thickness and sustain from somewhere else than preamp gain or ear-shattering volume. At the same time, I got more clarity, less noise (which was a big deal), and slightly better pick dynamics. And I would hope that maybe someone reading the thread would take a second to examine their tone and perhaps get something a little better.

 

[dominus]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

Either I'm getting old, or I'm getting to know tone better.

You're getting old.

:firedevil

 

[HamerPlyr]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

It's always been an interesting phenomenon to me that a lot of times, I remember someone's great tone as having more gain than it does when I go back and listen to it again.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I've always thought of it the other way, actually. When playing with low gain, there is not a lot of forgiveness in the tone/attack. There's very little for pussies to hide behind with low gain; if you are a pussy, you sound like a pussy, right away. But high gain can make a pussy sound like a god upon casual examination.

this!

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I pull metal tones out of a Marshall Class 5, a Box of Rock and Gibsons with either P-90s or Antiquity Humbuckers... high-gain is for people who play METAL, not THE GUITAR. Dig?

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

Usually I turn up my gain just enough till I get alil bit of feed back but musical and controllable. So my gain levels differ from Singles to Buckers and my pups are usually medium gain pups. A C8, lil Screamin Demon, and PG

 

[gnomefiddler]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I didn't say otherwise, though.

No kidding, I never said you did. I was just adding to a statement that I agreed with.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I've found most of my good settings with the gain and master set within 1 of each other. That way the preamp and power amp are sharing the work. Too much gain makes my tone fall back into the mix no matter how loud it is. It's loud the way I set it up, but the clarity is always there.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

Heaviness comes from EQ, not gain.

 

[richard parker]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

When I've heard live recordings of bands I've played with I've often found that the sound that I think of as my 'medium gain' sound is the sound I should have been using for most of my solos. Your ears can deceive you especially at gig levels.

 

[B2D]

Re: Turning down the gain is for pussies, right?

I have one of the new Dual Recs and I rarely play it with the gain past 1 o'clock. Any more gain than that isn't really practical for what I do. I go for slightly less gain and replace it with volume and a FatBoost pedal. That way I still get a ton of sustain and enhanced harmonic content but it's still nice and clear.