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I have a Gibson L-4 CES and a Tone King Metropolitan (blackface channel). I've been messing around with my settings. I've always run my controls on the guitar flat out and used the amps high input, but discovered today that I really liked the volume (neck pickup) backed off to about 8, and the same for the tone control. I also preferred using the low input on the amp, setting treble at 12 o'clock, bass at 10 o'clock. It wasn't necessarily that this setup was producing a darker tone, it actually seemed slightly thinner and more responsive to picking dynamics. Is what I'm hearing more to do with how the amp is responding to less input, compressing less, or does a volume pot backed off contribute something? Would low-wind humbuckers with the volume pot flat out have a similar effect?
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07-05-2014 06:26 AM
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The sweet spot on my stock Eastman AR403ce (with a stock Henriksen JazzAmp 112) seems to be with the 10 on the volume control pointing straight up and the 8 on the tone control pointing straight up. I just leave it there all the time.
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Yes, my volume control on my archtop lives between 7-8 when I want a more "acoustic" sound and open when I want a more "electric" sound. I find my amp's preamp reacts a bit differently to a lower output signal from the guitar.
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I just bought an Epi Joe Pass and found, like my PRS SE Semi, I get a more acoustic tone when the volume is down, clean around 7, and some distortion when cranked to 10.
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With humbuckers I invariably back off...4 to 6...and use the lo input. With single coils I back off but use hi.
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I always back off the volume control.
I prefer the sound of a loud amp with my guitar being at 50% volume and 80% tone.
I like acoustic sound.
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Feh, volume and tone full up all the time. My band mate is a roll the controls down kinda guy and his volume on stage is often a problem, i.e. he'll sound check with the volume down, then roll it up on a solo and then not take it back down to the same spot after the solo. It can lead to bad volume creep.
For myself, I don't like how pickups react with the volume rolled down, so if the guitar is too bright I might take a smidge off the top with the tone control, but ideally I make all the necessary adjustments at the amp and leave the guitar wide open. I control volume with my hands, like you do with an acoustic instrument The ONLY time I ride the volume knob is with a Strat/Fuzzface combo.
OTOH, when using my Excelsior amp, using the tone control on the guitar is vital cause the amp really doesn't have a tone control as such
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Glad I'm not alone here! I set my Deluxe Reverb volume at 5, frequently use the 2nd input, which has some attenuation (3dB?), and just turn up the guitar volume until it sounds right. I like the little bit of treble attenuation I get when I do this, which works great for me because I mostly don't have a guitar tone knob. Especially for Fender amps, I think this approach give a tone closer to true flat EQ too.
Originally Posted by Greentone
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Yes, I always turn down the volume on the guitar, and tone also, and almost always play neck p/u only, on my ES175. My Fender Deluxe volume is generally set at about 3 or so, with everything else at 5 or 6, except Reverb, which I barely use. This is when I play at home, and I use a Weber 100W attenuator, without which I would probably not use the amp at all, given the Fenders propensity to be very loud. The attenuator is new to me, and I really like it, since I can now use the amp.
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Always but I use a pedal or the amp (if it has gain / master) to do that - way more fidelity. Tone is off on the archtops.
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I try to keep both the volume and tone all the way up on all guitars, I like the sensitivity clarity of pickups when wide open. Will adjust if necessary, but will adjust amp first, before the guitar.
Last edited by docbop; 07-05-2014 at 08:27 PM.
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I use both pickups on my ES-175, but it is mostly the neck pickup that comes through. I add a little bit of bridge pickup for some upper end fidelity - a slight bit of twang. Depending on the room, I am constantly adjusting the volume and tone controls.
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On my Godin 5th avenue with a Vintage Vibe CC pickup I back the volume to about 7 --- this warms up the tone a tad and keeps the hum at a not too audible level.
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Volume and tone always at ten, with some minor adjustments in tone (between 7 and 10).
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Yea, I find a little smoother, rounder tone if my guitar's volume knob is not cranked. Instead raise the amps volume a little bit more and use your guitar's volume knob to adjust to the right spots for each situation in any tune...go not only soft to loud but different tonal variety.
I also am preferring dialing the amps treble knob down instead of my guitar's tone knob. I roll it down a tad, say 7-8 out of 10, but not as much as I used too.
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this,
but mostly, this: Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7
and low inputs, due to headroom issues. the need to lower the volume to keep it clean is very rare, but i could if i had to. Originally Posted by D.G.
to expand on the first quote, with my electric, set in pup archtops, i tend to keep everything wide open, using the tone to attenuate the highs and the volume to attenuate the attack, as needed. with my acoustic, floating archtops, i tend to set and forget the volume around 8 or so, to yield a rounder, more "acoustic" sound, and make all changes after that with the tone knob. i have two "presets" (i point the knob at one pick guard screw or the other) and some degrees in between those two poles.
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The knob is meant to be turned...otherwise why have a knob.
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Wow. I'm very surprised how many people do this on their archtops. I know alot of people do this on their solidbodies, so I really shouldn't be surprised, but I usually run my volumes on 10 regardless... I turn DOWN for "clean", with the amp set for mildy dirty (on my solidbodies).... I never thought to mess with that on my archtops for some reason... will have to play around with it today....
In a related question... does anyone run a "treble bleed" on their archtop's volume pots, to retain clarity while rolling the volume down? Or is the high-end loss something you WANT from rolling the volume down? To soften the tone?Last edited by ruger9; 07-12-2014 at 08:47 AM.
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I want the loss myself
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i've considered it and went as far as buying the components for a treble bleed, but they haven't been installed yet. i don't want the high end loss when i roll off the volume. that's why i have tone knobs. or switches, in the case of my gretsch, for which i intended to install the treble bleed on the master volume, and use the other two volumes as defacto tone knobs, in conjunction with the tone switch. haven't considered one for the gibsonesque, four knob set up. Originally Posted by ruger9
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I installed a Mojotone harness with treble bleed caps in a Les Paul clone equipped with Biltoft alnico II HBs and can get a clear and warm jazz sound, with bite.
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To get the sound I wanted, the first thing I did was get rid of humbucking pickups. I don't own a guitar with humbuckers and I get the clarity that I want whether the volume control is full on or something less.
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I find that I use the guitar volume all the time with the big band. Allows me to really blend in underneath with the rythmn section.
My tone control is always down below 50%. With my Dynasonics it gives a nice 50's, lower mids without the highs kind of tone.
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Originally Posted by TheGrandWazoo
Now that's interesting... I have often thought about doing something similar to my Gretsch... it's a Hot Rod, so it doesn't have a tone control, and I don't really want to install one either, but... I was thinking of replacing the vol pot with a push-pull, and experimenting with tone cap values so when I pull it it gives me that high end roll-off type tone... not Wes Montgomery, more Charlie Christian.
The biggest reason I haven't gone thru with it yet is, it is a PITA working inside a Gretsch, and repeatedly pulling out the vol pot would be a major pain. What I would probably do is, figure out with cap to start with (based on the Grestch "tone switch" cap values), then not try a different value until I changed strings again... I hate working on my Gretsch.
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Watching guitar players, I've noticed a habit: many players will reach for a knob between lines out of habit even though no change in volume or tone is perceptible. It occurred to me that here was an opportunity for a joke... Rock players reach for the volume knob even though it won't turn up any higher; jazzers reach for the tone knob to try and turn it down even farther. It was a Jim Hall video in which he seemed to be trying to turn the tone knob past "off." Sort of the opposite of Nigel Tufnal's "but it goes up to eleven..."
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