In Praise Of Tone Controls (And Why You Are Probably Using Your Guitar Wrong)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Tone controls are extremely important for electric guitars.
I break my silence on this subject as for far too long people have been disregarding the tone control and even removing it entirely.
In this video I explain why you probably don't like it, why that's wrong and how to make the tone control work for you.
Watch in HD for best picture and sound quality!
Join the discussion at:
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Contact:
colin@csguitars.co.uk
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That caterpillar on the amp stack looks like it's desperately hungry for some massive gain
Evan Prowse that's an inch worm you uneducated fuck
Yeah, and I just noticed the mini bottle of Jack Daniels...
'The hungry caterpillar'
by Eric Carle
EPIC!
That thing is called a dildo.
Cuddlefish...
I've played guitar for just over two years now, and I've always been one of the "everything at 10" guys. After watching this, I decided I would finally do the unthinkable and change my guitar tone and volume. The difference in clarity is night and day, and the guitar sounds so much richer as a whole. So for any skeptics out there, this is definitely advice worth following.
The practical outcome of dialing back...
Sound check: Vol =9, Tone = 6
Gig: Vol = 10, Tone = 10 for the entire time
chris4072511 soundtech here, I hate people who just do that to be louder, because all the other equipment is set to fit yours, I can always turn someone louder no problem. But if you crank up your amp my input will clip and additionally your monitor will get louder causing annoying shrieking... Setting it up one notch is ok, but I had some assholes doubling their volume and basically pulling their sound to shit, flooding the hall and the monitors with coupling shrieks...
You sound like you know what you're doing. That's not always the case with the soundtech. Actually, let's just call those the sound guy
Der Keksinator I make it a point, if I’m the sound tech in charge of monitors, to talk to each musician individually (not in a condescending or argumentative way) about their levels on stage and that once sound check is over, not to touch any volume or increase their signal in any way unless it was part of the sound check (pedals that they use that boost the signal) where I was able to dial that in as part of the settings. I make them realize that if they make those changes that it affects not just them, but EVERYONE, and that to do so would be extremely inconsiderate of their band mates and the crew. If they find they need more volume on stage, they can get my attention and I’ll give it to them so that it will only affect them alone. I find this approach works most of the time and often results in shows where everything runs much more smoothly and everyone leaves happy and not bickering or talking behind everyone’s back.
@@kidwajagstang love that idea
I know ^__^
Dude, I don't know what you are talking about.... All my controls go to... 11...
+LukaANDkrusty thats fucking gross.
+Shane Sousley I take that you didn´t see spinal Tap then.
they still didn't play everything on 11. thats a gross sounding idea
Shane Sousley That's because it's a parody... Satire... Spoof.... Do you want me to draw you a picture?
can you even do that on here? lmao
I don't even care what he's saying, I can just listen to this guy talk forever. Sub'd for the accent, staying for the content.
That's the tone from this guy right there.
RACIST!
@@meesterdinglefritz2064 this a joke?
@@meesterdinglefritz2064 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂
Dude, this is so basic but typically bypassed by so many guitarist including myself. Thanks a million for the tips
Rolling back the tone knob on a neck pickup is an essential factor of getting a good jazz guitar tone. Really anytime you feel that your sound is too bright or icepicky, you can just roll down the tone knob a little bit, and shizam!
The Jazz guys know the score
Ian Bourg me gider is wide open,bu i pla medal,sorrie mi pudder has some ledders screwed up.
CSGuitars what if I have 2 tone knobs what should I do
find out which tone knob affects which pickup/combination, and apply the same principles the guy presented here.
Your essential sound can be achieved with any simplest lowpass filter
"Turn my tone control down? But why would I want less tone?" (true story).
Or you can say turn low, while it is actually passing more low frequency.
At least their heart is in the right place
So quick update: I reset everything in the signal chain and I'm a believer it worked really great. I turned my volume knob a bit down, also the tone knob and than tweaked the EQ on the amp and it solves my previous problem should I get a boost pedal. No need my volume knob can do it. And it didn't cost me any money! Thanks Colin. You have a new subscriber.
Great to hear that you are putting the information to good use.
Very happy to have you on board.
+CSGuitars thanks for the vid
Oh I'm thankful that you are sharing your knowledge about all this stuff. I already watched some of your videos and I appreciate your willingness to share with the world about all the guitar stuff that guitarists want to see anyway an you are so professional too. Real glad I stumbled upon your videos.
So you turn your guitar up for a boost? lol
Yes and while you might think this is funny, in the relief it works out just fine. Give it a try before making fun of it. It might surprise you, of course you need to adjust the amp. I recommend Colin's (this guy) video on how (not) to dial a metal sound
1:28 I don't understand. :D
xDDDD GREAT XDD
:-D
I was gonna make a comment about buffers vs. true bypass until I looked carefully and realized who I was talking to lol
MrJohnny56789 hahahahahahahahaha
Wampler Pedals 1:28,, didnt get that either.
I normally have the tone sitting about 8/9. It takes the edge off and actually cleans up a bit. The volume sits about 8 too.
And I can vouch for Colin. The dude knew how to work his gear.
- the dude who stood back to back with him in the crowd. :p
scoosh14 I miss them days Scoosh. Those were some good shows.
CSGuitars Indeed, we had our time in the spotlight :P Was fun.
scoosh14 he does butnthat doesnt nevessarily work on YOuR gear.
I set some of my guitars similar to that, volume and tone around 8. I find that it depends on the guitar too. Some I'll only turn either the tone or volume down, depending on the timbre of the guitar. I believe this is crucial to recording, because if you constantly change your amp settings once your guitar is mic'd up, then you mess up the tonal properties of the mic placement and levels you (or probably the engineer) painstakingly set. The amount of backlash to this suggestion in the comment section is real cringe.
I guess it makes more sense during a live performance, but I wouldn't do it for any recording session.
Cutting the signal on the source can only give you a dirtier sound, cutting it at the end will also cut the noises produced by the amp and pedals.
Reducing the volume won't, but I can see why you wouldn't want to change the tone on your guitar
I actually agree with this. I think if your default sound is mostly something with your tone knob maxed out for full clarity of the pickups, trying to get that sound by cutting the tone in half and boosting the treble on the amp might make it a tad bit more muddy.
It just seems like the more times you cut something out and then try to EQ it back in, the more your tone gets sucked.
I'm not saying it's as dramatic as that, but for recording, you're aiming for the best sound, not the best control.
For live though, I think Colin has a great point. I guess it just depends on preference as well.
Cristianairte.
MrJohnny56789, yes but if you watch guitarists like Rory Gallagher, Peter Green, Warren Haynes, Allen Collins, Derek Trucks, etc. you’ll see them constantly moving their volume and their tone knobs during live performances. Rory did this a lot during a song. I guess it would depend on the music you play, but I’m always adjusting the tone and volume while playing alone and with groups. It can help add a lot of dynamics to your playing, and more importantly it keeps your instrument part of the melody when playing with a group.
There are some things you can do to make your tone control more usable.
1) replace your existing tone (and maybe also volume) with a high-quality potentiometer. They only cost around 10 euros/dollars/pounds and there are also cheaper ones that are very high quality.
2) replace the capacitor of the tone pot with a better one. The caps that are in most budget guitars (small sized, look like little chewing gums) are not very good.
And more importantly, use a LOWER VALUE CAPACITOR. Instead of the common .022 or .047 uF caps get a .010 or even .0068 or .0033 uF capacitor. The smaller value, the less it cuts out the treble and the bigger the usable range of the tone control is.
One thing to consider also is to replace the standard treble-cut tone control with a bass-cut control. That doesn't need an active circuit and uses a potentiometer and a capacitor, just like a treble-cut, just different ones.
I don't like using tone or volume knob, because if you want to change the tone immediately while playing, you need to stop picking for a second or two, and it's also hard to be precise. I already have to switch pickups from time to time, but at least, flicking a toggle switch is quick and easy. So I much prefer using my foot, which won't prevent me from playing when I switch tone, and is also much more versatile as you can choose from a wide variety of pedals to get exactly what you want, while volume and tone knobs are rather limited. You might also want to switch the amp channel, which you can't do on your guitar anyway. Anyway, it's not like you need to change your tone every 10 seconds, so you can just come back to your pedalboard when needed and then go somewhere alse after, or if you really plan on doing something special, like playing a solo in the audience, you can plan with your bandmates so they stomp the pedal for you.
100% agree, it took a lot of live shows to figure this out.
Especially for me because I don't use any effect pedals.
To the ability to cut or boost gain with volume, and cut or boost tone on the guitar while playing keeps things simple and easy to dramatically change my sound with just guitar controls
When I was researching these things last year. I found videos of more than one pretty famous guitarists saying its best to leave tone and volume at max to let the pickup put out most lively sound. Then I saw BB King's video where he likes to control from his guiitar and leaves the amp at a certain setting. Seems like neither way is THE RIGHT WAY. Maybe it all just depends on what sound you want.
I think the aim of this video isn’t the best way to do it, as it’s all based on preference, but the best way to truly learn how to do it and what way is right for you.
Add Joe Bonamassa to the list of pros that use the knobs
b a d s o y Fender Powerhouse Strat? That’s what I’ve got that has that same control.
Depends on what genre you are playing. I play in a genre with some of my country's original songs. My rhythmn parts need to be dwelled in the overall band mix, while my solo parts demand a mid spike to stand out. Simply rolling the volume up and down for me isn't enough, because of that.
@@dong4176 Bonamassa is in the list of pros that IS a knob.
Been playing guitar for 14 years and honestly.. never gave this any thought. Genius video.
I'd never really considered this before, it's quite a clever idea. The only thing that I can think of to detract from it is needing to be accurate when returning the control back to 6 (or whatever number) to get your original sound back, otherwise that's a first class idea dude.
You very quickly get used to far to turn the control and once that happens it all becomes embedded in muscle memory.
Mark it on guitar with pen or something. Just in case you haven't done that already :)
Sorry for bad english.
I've been playing on and off for 23 years. I have a feeling this video is going to greatly improve my sound. I always just put everything on 10.
My more experienced band mates in 70's taught me to always turn guitar pots and eq pots on a SS combo amp at 10. -Later I've cut some bass and treble, leaving mids at 8-10. The older I get, the less need for a lot of bass and gain.
Not going to lie, "Time to play guitar..." is exactly how I *used to* play. Thanks for the tips!!
Me too
With a Strat (like I always use), the tone control is vital for a good tone when you have single coils with a lot of treble, as it tames it as well as adding in mids. I like to play neck pickup on 7 into a Marshall style amp (with an overdrive for high gain) to get a good thick mid filled guitar tone.
If you don't have some sort of active pickups on your Strat, you cannot add (or boost) something that is not already there. Tone pot works as a high cut filter, and as the name implies it only cuts the high end frequencies as you dial it down.
Don't give a rat's ass about the tone knob. I'm here for your Scottish accent. It felt weird the first time but now It's like music to my ears.
+Jon Samuel I come here regurarly for the best of both worlds.
+Best Ever Vids What do you mean by "international ears"?
+Jake Moresea (CrimDaz) he is from Australia
+Chris Jones in the beginning of the clip it says from Scottland
+bobowrath sovine yeah I know that comment was on another video I gave no clue how it got commented to this one.
Every once in awhile, I come back to this video to think about how I use my tone and volume knobs. Since I started writing solos and lead lines, this video is very important to me, along with the one where you show how to adjust your amp. You are very wise when it comes to tone and EQ. Thanks a million, this video has helped a lot.
Yeah, I'm fully with you on this, but as always it's falling down to preferences. Even volume knob has some cons. Volume pot is resistor, which is designed to create barrier to sound coming from pickups, which mean that some harmonics can not survive though it.
Tone control is created to tame your guitar harshness or create guitar tone in it's root.
Also any electronics create some kind barrier to sound. Even pickups themselves - they are magnetized and interfere with strings sustain, thus some guitarists remove them and leave one pickup. Same with electronics for volume and tone pots - longer road and resistance for signal, so some guitarists prefer guitars without them.
I like my signal raw without coloration and I need every bite I can get into distortion, so I'm going to build my own guitar and put there actual on/of switch. I'll see how I like it in that way.
You right about the volume, harmonic that cant survive, but in that also new harmonic been creating, other harmonic that again cannot survive if everything where raw. There is barrier with light to, but that does not means its not god for anything.
Totally agree. Maxed out volume and tone don’t leave any where to go. It’s also nice to roll back the tone to play rhythm when trading licks with another guitar. I have the volume cap/resistor mod on my volume, so being able to roll up or down tone is essential. The tone control also radically changes the quality of old school Fuzz pedals. If you have dynamic pedals and a tube amplifier, being able to dial in the volume/tone set allows you to create real dynamics in your playing. Setting up with this technique also leaves tone shaping headroom when the drummer starts hitting harder. You can push the power tubes on the amp harder (with the volume and tone down) and save the biting treble for solos and lead lines.
Not saying you are wrong, but there is an argument to be made for the fact that pickups sound better without a tone control. Tone pots are linear tapered potentiometers with a capacitor to maintain signal strength, and unless your pickups have a full range, the tone control is only going to be as effective as the inherrient resistance of the potentiometer. Pots are not that accurate that having a 500k pot will guarantee 500k of resistance. most are below that within a tolerance of 5-10% and can colour your sound.
I still say the best tone I have ever achieved is by wiring the pickup directly to the output jack and using the tuner as a kill switch. As for pedals, i dont use them. all my tone comes directly from the guitar head and simply clicking on the solo boost, I can cut through the mix, but then my sound is very uncomplicated and I dont use effects that much. I guess your point is valid for guitarists that have multiple effects in their chain tho,
Jeff Barber I have a cheap ass epi les paul jr with a gibson 498t wired straight to the jack. Out of dozens of les pauls that I've owned and played it's my favorite tone. Granted it kinda plays like shit and feels like a toy, but damn does it sound good
So.. Ever since I started watching your videos, I have become a much better guitarist. I finally know how to control my tone, get a metal sound, and how to set pedals because of you. You are truly an amazing guitarist and a great teacher as well. Great videos man.
you my good sir are spot on i've normally keep my tone at 70-75% and my vol at 5-7 and i play alt rock and it does wonders finally someone gets it!
Love this kind of content. Stuff you don't see elsewhere. We already have the equipment, it's about using it to the best of its ability.
More importantly, LOWER YOUR FUCKING PICKUPS. This is such a common thing metal guitarists do: they cut the mids, raise the gain, and raise the pickups way too high to get "more output" (AKA a shitty muddy tone).
Videos like this are why I love TH-cam. I've never heard anyone talk about this, and I have/had a lot of friends who also play guitar and ALWAYS said you have to keep your tone at max level. But they would never say why.
I remember a video Joe Bonamassa made where he gets like five or six sounds out of a Les Paul gold top with just the knobs and the pickup switch. This was posted in a thread on Reddit and most of the people who responded insisted that they absolutely have to have three channel amps--or even the Axe FX--and many, many pedals in front of them and how they absolutely need all these components and can't be bothered to just tweak a knob here and there.
Whew! Run-on sentence!
Bottom line, I think more players should start with a basic setup and learn to make use of everything they have before expanding like n00bs.
Michael Clavelli joe could get infinity sounds out of his les paul xD
Michael Clavelli Agreed..... Literally the only pedals i use is a delay and a tube screamr
+David Raine gotta have a wah in there somewhere too! ;) haha. I keep a very minimalist board myself. Tuner, Wah, OD and then the fx loop has a delay. I have no problem covering a 40 song set.
+David Raine
In my previous band, I got shit from the bass player because all I use for effects is my overdrive pedal (which is always on), my noise gate, and my Cry-Baby.
And it came mostly from practicality, I don't NEED anything else.
+Michael Clavelli Was he coil tapping though?
Thank you thank you thank you. This makes perfect sense. I’m tired of stomping on pedals and trying to find a sound when I know that my amp can do it all by itself. I will try this technique out tomorrow with my tubes cranked when the sun is up and neighbors aren’t sleeping. I play mostly rock and country.
dude. this was by far the most important thought I heard about guitars! right after -practice and nonono!!! that's not the way you should hold a guitar! :D
I hear and understand what your saying, but I don’t agree personally, and here’s why. I’ve tried setting up a sound according to your recommendations, when you turn up the tone knob to boost for solos, the sound becomes too bright/shrill. I even set up the sound to compensate for this effect when it’s all the way up, but then I’m playing through a rhythm sound that I despise, which is my main sound being a metal guitarist. I think you’re a very intelligent fella, and I like almost all of your videos, we agree on most things, hell, I even like this video, but I just can’t agree with you on this one, I much prefer my method. I’m actually going to replace my tone control with a resistor of the same value and see how I like that. Anyway, love your channel, keep making great videos!
I was spending the last month trying to really get into blues/jazz playing. I got some basic ideas for progressions of my own but i didn't really like the tone that comes out of my guitar.
I watched until 2:10 , turned my volume and tone to 5 , switched to overdrive and set the gain at 6 and the tone was amazing for me. I have played the same progression for half an hour right now.
Thank you mate , this really helped me out.
And if you need a kick ass solo you have so much room to move
I recently saw an interesting OFFICIAL rig rundown on TH-cam featuring Angus Young's gear.
Angus' distinctive tone has been speculated on for years, and the video gave a LOT of insight in what he REALLY does.
A lot of people assume that Angus dimes his settings out, but he doesn't -- at all. (He doesn't really use ANY pedals, and his amp settings are pretty surprising.)
He sets the volume control on his SG to 7 or 8 for the same reason as Colin discusses here -- to give him somewhere to go.
Yeah, it looks like he does keep the tone at 10, but he's been playing every AC/DC song with the same settings for 40 years, so he clearly knows what he's doing.
Really good video, Colin.
that might be true for messing around with your sound,
but in a band situation, you have found a few tones you want to use, and you want to access them fast and precise.
and that's where fumbling around with the pots is inferior to hitting a switch or two.
If you fumble with pots then perhaps you need more practice.
+CSGuitars
A+ answer mate,
it still takes more time than hitting a midboost or other miniswitch on your guitar.
but my favourite guitar also only has a bridge pickup, that sure means i need more practice too, right?
+Skalarwellen Technik He said you need more practice using the pots if you are fumbling with them. I don't know where you got the idea that the number of pickups on your guitar had anything to do with it >_<
It takes even more time to walk over to your pedalboard and turn a pedal on or off, unless you're one of those boring guitarists who stands on the same spot looking down at your pedalboard the whole time.
Also - you'd be surprised at how little precision you actually need when switching between different tones in a band situation. As long as the tone you're using is still appropriate for the situation, it really doesn't matter if it isn't quite exactly how you intended it to be. I currently plug my guitar straight into the amp, no pedals, I still occasionally mess up the volume and tone settings a little and end up with a bit more or a bit less gain or bite than I wanted for that particular part of the song... no big deal, the singer who always points out that sort of thing if she notices it has never mentioned it. On some occasions I will even intentionally make the tone a bit different than normal depending on the atmosphere and energy level of the audience. You don't get that flexibility by just flicking switches on and off.
*****
i'll make it really simple for you: 1 Pickup = likes his guitars simple.
if i think my guitar produces too much treble, i'd switch my pickup, not mutilate the signal already when just coming from my guitar.
well, i do have a booster/buffer in there, but that's a different story.
Skalarwellen Technik
yeah, but that has nothing to do with colin's original comment to you about fumbling with volume and tone pots...
If I think my guitar is producing too much treble I just turn the tone down until it's not producing too much treble anymore. couldn't be any simpler.
Thats the most professional advice I have ever heard. Everyone skip the guitar knobs part.
soundmen don't like extreme changes in volume during the show, so this trick might last for few moments untill the soundman is on it.
even though i don't agree with Colin the volume changes shouldn't matter in a distorted tone. turning up the volume before a distortion creates more gain not more amplitude at the speakers.
the sound system limiter will be on it before the sound guy :P
But if the sound guy knows that’s how you get your lead tone, then during sound check he just has to make sure that at max volume you aren’t clipping the mic input, then set the front of house fader based on your rhythm sound. If you’ve found the sweet spot in the volume and tone controls on the guitar and have the amp and pedals set right, where you are perfectly in the mix for your solos at max and sitting back where you need to be for dirty rhythm work and clean tones when rolled off; then his job becomes easier.
Couldn't agree more. I was in the "set everything to 10" club for far too long. The rare moments that I ever got sounds I was truly happy with were just random chance. Now I always set my amps up with guitar vol/tone controls at 5, tweak EQ knobs on the amp until I it sounds as close as possible to the natural acoustic tone of the guitar, and set the gain on the edge of breakup. Now I can quickly nail the appropriate tone, as clean or dirty as I want it, or as warm or as trebly as I want it for any situation just with the knobs on the guitar. It's been so liberating!
Thanks for the helpful advice man! I didn't realize how useful and important the tone knob was until now! Has really helped my playing!
This was honestly one of the most useful videos I've watched ever
sooo it's faster to set the tone and vol knob back to 7/8 lvl after the solo than to kick a booster?
+michal26691 yes
That is true, unless you are someone who stays near their pedalboard and be boring.
+Music Overload or running arond the stage and coming to the booster only when needed
michal26691 That would look weird. Running around the stage sure, but going back to the booster when needed? Hmm... I don't think it's gonna work that way. Running and moving so much on stage can make you do extra planning. I'd rather use my volume and tone controls and forget about going to my pedalboard just to press one single button. Because you stay where you are and you can continue interacting with the crowd. Pressing the boost pedal after being in the other side of the stage would be far more exhausting to do, especially after a really crazy fast solo. You don't wanna go "huff huff" just because of pressing a button, running around the stage and then pressing the same button again.
+Music Overload personally I'd be afraid that after the solo I accidentally overroll my knobs and mute the guitar, but that's just me
My life has forever changed. I watched this video last week. Finally had time with my brand new setup to just figure out the sound I was searching for. Started playing with my knobs and remembered all of this video's teaching and started taking control of my sound more than ever before. It is truly beautiful. Fucking brilliant. Thank you. It's funny, when you're "self-taught", but not really: I have multiple teachers, my TH-cam teachers! We live in amazing times.
Your accent is badass
Mason King Thanks :)
CSGuitars I read this with your accent hahahaha
Mason King Don't forget to subscrabe
DRockTheIllest where are u from in scotland? there are so many differant accents in the UK, im trying to figure out regions
steampunkknight Sounds like Edinburgh to me
I used to go full out on volume and tone until I built my first parts guitar (single coil telecaster). I was experimenting with different pot and capacitor values for the tone control, and noticed that the bridge pickup with the tone rolled back slightly gave me an extremely nice rock tone.
Your words and advice are very good but despite what you're saying, I have no use for a tone knob. Volume yes but tone no. I'll explain why because I didn't ignore you, honest. I'm strictly a rhythm guitarist and most of the time I'm slamming out riffs on my bridge pickup with the knobs cranked, stay with me here! I've been playing for about 6 years now and despite my best efforts, leads have never come naturally to me, nor have I ever truly enjoyed trying to play leads, so the whole tone knob as a lead boost thing is irrelevant to me. I play mostly thrash and punk inspired stuff (with a mid boosted sound, btw, I hate scooped mids). I only use 2 amp channels and don't use any overdrive/boost/eq type pedals. For versitility I switch to my neck pickup, roll back the volume, use both pickups out of phase or switch to my clean channel. My darker crunch sound is using my neck pickup with the volume rolled back. I'm also improving my finger picking technique to help me out there too. Also, I'm using passive pickups, so even with everything cranked I can just pick lighter or harder for different tones. So while I am with you on using knobs for achieving different tones, I've no use for a tone knob. I have tried, believe me, but it's not for me. You raised some very good points however that no doubt will help others and did get me thinking about how I play and use my gear, so I appreciate this video none the less :)
I don't have Tone-Knobs on any of my Guitars (desoldered them, and added switches to split my pickups), but I use my Volume knobs frequently in conjunction with my pickup switch and Split switches. Which gives me more than enough control over my sound imo. But I totally get your point.
I actually learned this by accident one day, had knocked my tone knob to midway on my bridge pickup when taking it out of the case and I was getting a much better tone during jam and had a better cohesion with the other guitarist. Looked down, went "Ahhhhh..." and then kept it around there forever now. I usually keep my neck pickup a bit higher on the tone because it's a really mellow jazz pickup, but even then I top it out at 8. Didn't really know why (not super technical) but thanks for the insight as to why.
I definitely see your point there and I might as well try to use my tone control a bit more. The reason why I did not embrace the possibilities of having a tone(and volume) control in the past ist that I found it very difficult to return to the same basic sound after the solo or whatever. It was easier to use the discrete channels of an amp and/or effects to generate different sounds without changing anything on my guitar. Maybe using a tone and volume control with a dedicated middle position that can be felt could solve this problem. Nice video, cheers
I think wiring for the guitar is an essential part when you are a knob turner. I wire everything 50s style so I can adjust my gain from the guitar and not pedal. So much more versatile than an on off gain type.
Nice! but what do you mean by "50s style"?
Good video. On a very similar point I was once given some great advice - if you're ever asked to play solos using a relatively clean sound and it all feels a bit dry and unforgiving, turn both the vol and tone down a bit (never turning them full up) and boost the amp as necessary.
I agree with you, but still i dont like the feel of a pot turned down. Dont like the attack it gives. So... Pedal boost or channel change for me!
Good thing there's a ton of real estate in between all the way off an all the way on......smh. Not using them tells me how your sound was back then. Still feel this way?
@@michaelinglis8516 why would I want to compromise my tone for everything just to not use a boost for 20 seconds?
I recently was looking for ways to not lose treble when rolling off the guitar volume for a clean tone. After looking at 50s wiring and treble bleed circuits and bass cut circuits, I instead started just setting my signal like this: Set my amp/pedals to the most gain I would want with my guitar volume at 10. Then turn my guitar volume down until my signal is as clean as I would want it clean, with the guitar tone control all the way up. Then I turn the treble controls on my amp and pedals so that my clean signal is bright, with no treble loss. Then all I do is, when I turn up my guitar volume for drive, I also roll my tone back to tame the excess treble I have dialled in for my bright clean tone. So basically, whenever my guitar volume is set at 10, my tone is around 5-6. And when my guitar is rolled down to 6-7, my tone is up full. Works like a charm and no need for mods. Anyone who picks up my guitar and tries their standard vol and tone all the way up is going to have their ears bleed from the treble and think I have no idea about setting up a good tone, haha.
I don't need tone controls. I removed both the tone pot and the volume pot on my guitars. An X2N or Invader wired straight to the output jack hits the preamp like a jackhammer.
Check your amp settings your volume and gain along with eqs might be maxed out or just not in the right settings. To fix the problem I would suggest you turn down gain and keep volume a decent amount and roll the bass treble and mids(if you have the knob) to 6 and then tweak it from there to make it sound better.
fireflame608 What problem? I want the preamp to gasp for mercy :)
+PugnaciousBadger Holy crap lol I replied to the wrong comment. The one I wanted to reply on is right above yours xD
A good compromise is to wire a switch to bypass the volume and tone pots. That way your rhythm sound can be left alone and your lead sound gets the boost instantly.
Know this is on the "older" side, but it literally just popped up on my feed. It's really nice to know I'm NOT the only who utilizes the s*** outta my Tone control on my Guitar(s) (only 1 of 7-strings has 1 pup 1 Volume). Video is spot on buddy, Subbed cause of it🤘
These techniques wouldn't work for my personal guitar sound but he's got a logical point.
Another intelligent, very useful video more players need to see and take to heart. While I've used my share of very simple, single volume no tone knob shred sticks, they are limited. If a guitar has a tone knob you should use it. Think of it like another effect, only you don't stomp on it, you roll it with your fingers to dial inn what you need. This was a more common approach to dialing in tone in the 60s and 70s but started to die off in the 80s with the advent of single bucker shred sticks like the many Kramers, Charvels and custom super strats I and many players were using, especially in the Sunset Strip shreddy metal scene I was part of. I'd still use my volume still to clean up or go from medium to high gain without having to be glued to my pedal board. Useful when you have to show some good stage moves or just don't want to stand still like tree for two hours. A big part of Santana's tone is the tone knob. Same with Clapton, Page, Beck and many others of the classic rock era. Using the tone knob opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Rock on.
I started watching this video thinking you were wrong. I left thinking you are right :-)
those were probably the best 5 min for my guitar career :D amazing how this changed my sound
lol all this is bullshit you need to turn up all knobs on guitar and amp all the
way except for the mids on the amp turn them completely off - every 12 year old
line 6 spider user wannabe core guy **grabs popcorn**
#Relatable
HECKproductions how's the popcorn?
HECKproductions tf is a line 6 spider
Eric Johnson its a amp
"I PLAY WITH MAXED GAIN AND BASS AND NO MIDS AT ALL!!! IT SOUNDS KILLER!!! LIKE SLAYER!!! ALSO MY LINE 6 SOUNDS AMAZING!!!! TUBE AMPS ARE POINTLESS!!!!!!" :P :D also why to change strings? :D they sound great after 3 years :P :D
only a minute in and ive already learned a few things KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
I think a lot of people get a cheap guitar when they are young where the pots are such poor quality and do so little, people just whack everything up on the guitar and adjust on the amp, where twiddling the knobs seems to do more. When I got better guitars it took me a while to discover the volume and tone knobs were actually useful.
hammondsphoto
What about quality guitars without a tone knob?
Completely agree... and so does Joe Bonamassa. I bought a Charvel So Cal, the old japanese ones, which only had a volume and three way switch. I made a whole new pickguard with volume, tone, and two three-ways (One for pick up switching and one for splitting the neck humbucker).
They call it a tone knob because your tone gets worse the more you turn it down. ;)
The entire concept of actually using it is flawed in my opinion. So many guitars have them, but they don't have any markers to tell you how much you're actually turning them down. So you have no idea how much you're actually using.
And accidentally moving the tone knob out of position when you do find a setting you like is far too easy to do. Sure you can knock stomp boxes or your amp out of adjustment too. But knocking controls out of adjustment on those things is harder to do by accident than with a tone knob.
Tone knobs are made so that they are used. If people don't use their tone knobs, then why the hell do they even invent such a knob?
Strat players have their own instinct of the sound being too bright. If it is too bright, they roll their tone down.
If you are complaining about 'having no markers' and stuff like that, then is it really hard? I mean REALLY, REALLY hard to freaking DIY your things?
You can custom your own markers by using a Sharpie or a some correction fluid. If not, then try some permanent markers. Turn your knobs to zero, and mark them both where the zero part is, or mark it on where it is visible when you're playing. Then BOOM! Instant markers. You can even add the markings on different positions on the volume and tone knobs if you need a specific sound, and roll it until the two points matched.
Music Overload Tone knobs were devised around the time when genres like jazz were very popular, and it made it easy to filter out a ton of high end to attain a lot of warmth. It was particularly desirable because typically amps back then were very bright and pickups were low in output. Because just about every guitar made in the 1950's and 60's had them and with those guitars becoming so famous, all guitars thereafter had inherited them out of convention.
In light of the more recent hotter pickups with less high end response, and more modern amps that reproduce low end a lot better than older amps, there's generally less of a need for a tone control. Genres like metal do have a lot of low end in them, but the kind of low end those amps reproduce doesn't create the illusion of more bass by filtering off high end, like a tone control does. It's created by the amp being able to reproduce those frequencies without attenuating treble. So they just don't sound the same.
If a guitar manufacturer had put time and money into designing and manufacturing a guitar in such a way to feature a tone control, then why wouldn't they give it markers? Why should I have to put markers there myself? Why didn't the manufacturer do that from the outset? A manufacturer incorporating a control knob into a guitar when it doesn't give a visual reference for how much they're using it is just stupid.
Its evidence to suggest my point that tone knobs are not necessarily put there to be used. They're put there because it's mere convention for a guitar to have them.
Daniel Lomax I can see from your excruciatingly long comment that you are not much of a DIY fan. If so, then you can develop a feel for it. Simply experiment. Then you'll know how much of the tone you want to roll off. Try to play to a backing track. One that suits multiple genres. When it is time to change to another genre, roll down a bit of the tone and volume. Sooner or later, you will just be turning your Tube Screamer on and off just for the addition of gain to your tone.
I love doing this. Have you even tried this when you have a TS and an Crunch Amp, turn off the TS and roll down the volume and tone? You'll get a sweet soothing jazz tone out of a shredder's guitar. And you are barely doing anything to your rig too. You only turned off the TS and there you go.
The mid break-up sound that an amp makes can never be replicated with some sort of boost pedal. You will have to roll down your knobs a tad bit to get the breaking up sound.
Music Overload "I can see from your excruciatingly long comment that you are not much of a DIY fan."
Then you'd never guess what I was doing just yesterday lol. I was modding my 6505 to run a hotter bias and replacing a dozen or so components in the preamp to more closely resemble that of a Mesa Duel Rec. The preamps are shockingly similar in design to one another from a wiring schematic. I've also done extensive modifications to my Jackson MIJ DK2M. I've put in a Schaller Floyd Rose with a brass big block, I've fitted a Tremel-no, I've refinished the neck in tru oil and I've even fitted a cute little allen wrench holder behind the headstock. Then I made the pickups splittable via a push-pull. There's other mods that I've done to my other guitars too, but I won't care to mention them here; I think you get a good enough idea that you're completely wrong in your assumption as is.
I still hate tone controls for the reasons that I've already mentioned. What it does to my rig isn't conducive to what I am aiming for tonally and being able to adjust the amount of treble from the guitar is a redundant feature for me. If I want less treble, I go to my amp and/or my pedalboard.
And yes I do own a TS9. I never knew I could turn it off and switch to the crunch channel. Thanks for the tip
But sure, you can try to change the subject and moan about the length of my comments; though it speaks a lot for your lack of an attention span.
Daniel Lomax Meh, sure I do lack attention span. I seem to always space out during my teacher's lectures looking at the number-filled whiteboard.
You may have modded an entire rig, but complaining over a mark that can be made by literally anyone is not an excuse to say that tone controls are dead useless. Metal even needs to cut off the treble. Because if it is the time to play rhythm, treble is not the important thing. At least not entirely. What you'll need is to reduce the amount of gain. Less gain = tighter and crunchier rhythm. More gain = muddier and sloppier sounding rhythm. Sure, turning off the TS9 is one thing, but guess what? Volume and tone controls can do that too. Set your knobs to like what CSGuitars mentioned, then you can set your amp up to get the amount of gain, treble, mids, bass and presence you need to play your rhythm part. Then, when it comes down to the solo, then all you need to do is to max out the volume and tone knobs. BAM! Instant treble and volume boost to cut through your mix even though you are on one end of the stage while your pedalboard is in the other end. Much more convenient than placing a boost pedal in every place you will possibly be on the stage.
I never said turning off the TS9 and switching over to crunch on the amp. I said to run your guitar into your TS9 and straight into your amp's crunch channel. Set both gain to 50 and you should be able to clean up your distortion with your volume knob at minimum. Of course while the TS9 is off. The once you really need to get some more gain, snap out of your split coils and roll up your volume. There you have it. More gain. Then you can turn on your TS for some chugging riffs if you need to.
I personally keep my TS on at all times with the crunch channel going at all times. If I ever needed clean, then all I need to do is to turn off the TS and roll down my volume and roll up my tone a tad bit while switching to single coil mode (Pos. 3). That gives me the single coil twang. To go back to distortion simply flip to the bridge humbucker and roll up the volume to max or maybe at about 90% while rolling my tone down a tad bit. This gives me more low end while slightly lessening the highs to get a more chunky rhythm sound. I can even get my Ibanez INF3, S3 and 4 humbuckers (which are crappy p/ups) to actually sound good.
In short, don't just stand there and do nothing to your guitar's controls. Use it and get used to it. You might even know how much tone you need to roll off after a few gigs.
P.S. A full potentiometer's rotation is about as long as your pinky. You can simply use your little finger to see how much you have rolled off your tone from max.
I actually use that trick a lot, but my gear of choice is a strat, that doesn't have a tone control for the bridge pickup!
My question is: is it a good idea to modify my strat and put a tone knob for the bridge pickup? Anybody done this? Is it worth it? Am I better off with a Jaguar? What is the meaning of life? Are we alone in the universe?
An answer to just the first one is all I need :)
I did it on my MIM Strat. Bought a used one which was HSS. I replaced the Humbucker with a DiMarzio DP110 to get a more traditional strat sound since I have a couple of Humbucker loaded guitars. On said Strat I rewired the tone pots so that now one controls neck and middle and the other one only the bridge. Pretty happy with it. Meaning of life: do what you love to. Alone? Definitely not! ;)
@@mschroeckenfuchs thanks for the feedback! Looks like you got a nice guitar there! Do you use that bridge tone knob after all? Couse I thought about it and the whole point of a bridge sigle coil is to bring up the treble. Maybe I shouldnt just leave it as it is... Anyway, cheers my stormtrooper fellow! Tell TR8TR I said hi!
the two tone knobs on my guitar broke years ago and I've never bothered to get them fixed. Might actually change that soon
Great info mate. Especially for some not too handy with a soldering iron or not willing to spend some cash at a guitar tech’s bench.
BUT... (as always...)
A typical passive Tone control is a Low Pass Filter, which by its design is intended to CUT only, you cannot ‘boost’ with an LPF. As soon as you cut the high end, it’s lost forever, and your amp (or whatever preamp your pickup signal hits) is only able to deal with the leftovers. If it’s ok for your base tone, that’s fine. I usually tend to preserve as much pickup’s high end as possible, making it possible to cut later in the signal chain if needed. I find much more use of a High Pass Filter (aka Dry switch/Bass contour etc) instead of a generic Tone knob. To boost highs and level when needed a Full control cavity bypass switch is of much help, and easier to use, then dialing knobs live.
Nice video though the irony of a stackful of pedals in the background might be lost on most people.
you'll note they are nowhere near my board. it's just nice to have a collection.
They're some serious words of wisdom.... I have been playing for so long wondering why my tone controls are so rubbish.... now I have something new to try. Nice
This is exactly what Angus Young does, he always adjusts his guitar volume during lead solos.
I saw a video in which Angus Young of ACDC said he always sets his volume to the point just where it wants to go, then turns it up mid performance to really satisfy the audience because back in the 70's when he learned to play he had no boost pedals or anything. Really neat that you made a whole video about this overlooked subject, earned a sub from me :D
ALOT of guitarists always have their tone controls up at 10 without knowing what they can actually do with it. God bless tone.
Pablo Rages Well you don't need one if you don't know what to do with it.
I've experimented with disconnecting the tone and volume controls, and also using switching to bypass tone and/or volume. Some guitars sound better with some additional load from the tone and volume pots, and some sound worse. Higher impedance pickups sound a bit clearer without the added load. Strat pickups can get really shrill without pot loading, although you can get a pretty good Steve Miller rhythm tone ;) Keeping your volume and tone all the way up will improve the signal to noise ratio; it also works better for me as someone who plays exclusively fingerstyle, as it gives more clarity to the individual notes when your trying to bring the melody out of the chords. There's something amazing most of us have; it's called fingers and a brain, and you simply pluck more quietly to lower your volume, and use a different area of your fingers or thumb to change the tone, or pluck the strings in a different place. Just because it has pickups is no reason to forget about what people playing primitive stringed instrument figured out thousands of years ago.
then why did Scott Grove say to keep the volume and tome knobs all the way up, all the time? He says to turn them down kills the tone, and sounds terrible.
Because Scott Grove is ill informed on pretty much everything.
CSGuitars Fact.
Michael Craig realistically, like colin said, its best to have it down, then be able to turn it up and get higher volumes. Even if you are doing a hendrix style song, play quietly, and when ur in a situation that u need feedback, turn up the volume and tone to get more volume/ higher feedback frequencies
Michael Craig Check what you like, i like 10-10 i find it fitting for what i use the guitar for. And in my case, turning the tone knob down makes my guitar sound like 10m under water. When it comes to music there are no RIGHT ways of playing it, play as you like, if it works for you it works- simple as that.
CSGuitars And what if i told you there is no right way of using a guitar?
Oh, cool, I'm not a complete idiot. I almost always set my tone knob to about 6 max (when I start up, it can be adjusted higher or lower later), and I was wondering, as a beginner to more advanced stuff, if I was doing it right. My new guitar is the first playable one I've had with a tone knob, even though I've been playing for about nine months, and this channel has really helped me along with stuff.
"Turn your controls down, so you can sound better when you turn them up!"
Wait, wat/
Brilliant. As someone from south of the border now resident in Scotland, I loved your attempt at an English accent. It is probably better than my woeful attempt at an authentic Scottish accent. As for guitar controls, I have always used my tone control - rolling off some treble gives me a lovely woody tone for jazz. However, I must confess to not using the volume controls much, since I seem to lose treble when they are rolled off (one guitar particularly), and it also seems to make the guitar noisier (despite humbuckers).
wouldn't be helpful if you demonstrate your words practically in the video??
No
That is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever typed.
Great point. While I've been using my volume knob all the time to play with my amp's gain and gates' attack, I'm a little embarrassed that I've never thought of using the tone control in the same way, so thanks for the insight!
BUT
There's a big practical problem with metal: the amps aren't *designed* with a guitar with its tone on 5 in mind. Amp designers have to make decisions about what the knobs do at their various positions, including the range of control that they allow. While I haven't given your suggestion a try yet (and I fully intend to give it a shot), I'm pessimistic about what the best outcome could be, given that most amps are designed to sound pretty agreeable at noon, and accommodate only a limited amount of change at 1/10.
At the same time a lot of great players don't even have a tone knob on their axes. This kind of thing is mainly just preference.
Some things don't require a lot of versatility and are meant to be straightforward. Nothing wrong with that.
But the possibility of venturing to different sounds is taken away when you don't have the tone control. Best to buy a guitar with a tone control, because if you don't like it, just leave it at 10...so at least you always have that possibility.
What's best is whatever you say it is. Music is subjective. If someone doesn't care for a tone knob, it's not needed is what I'm saying. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. To say that someone is "using their guitar wrong" because they don't have tone knobs is frankly pretty asinine.
Crusty GymSock Music is subjective, but when I bought my first electric I didn't care about tone and when I realised from my friends guitar what a tone control can do, I was kicking myself for days. So it's cool to just have that possibility otherwise you might change your mind in the future.
I mean both my guitars have tone knobs and I do use them. Just not everyone wants or needs them and that's fine is essentially what I'm saying lol
Some excellent points Colin. I was brought up from the school of guitar, amp, and wah pedal.....that's all you got, everything else just complicated things. I get asked virtually every week how I get my tone, especially that barely breaking up tone, what pedals I use etc... When I tell them I'm just rolling the volume off they look like I've just shagged their maw!!!! What, no tube screamer???? How can that be????
Cool, that's exactly what I do!
Bugger. I removed the tone control from my Ibanez, filled the hole and painted and laquered over it :/
Ach ya tube!
***** Too many knobs doesn't look very nice.
Bean Dog Studios dude you didn't remove it...you buried it! Joking :) You could always redrill but...even though I agree with the above video some people just don't use it.
ThoolooExpress It about the playability and sound not the look.
Also, Les Pauls aren't the ugliest guitars in the world and they have four knobs. I only have one knob and I'm hideous.
At one point my guitar had two tone caps on my tone control. If the push/pull knob is in, the standard .22uf cap is set as a low pass filter. When I pull the knob, a .66uf cap is set as a high pass filter, giving me a much darker tone without being "muddy". When combined with phase switching the bridge pickup its like having seven guitars depending on the combination of pickups, phasing, and filter configuration. It also helps to have 40 years of experience and knowledge of electronics so you know what everything will do before you experiment.
Please, show it in the video, how you would play a song/ two with tone control and volume knob being functioned to its 'proper' use. Please.
I might have my guitar wrong set up. Pots isn't always working that well unfortunately :(
I figured this out in recent years by trial and error. I rarely play with the tone and volume at 10 unless its time for a lead. You are 100% correct in this presentation.
You don't need a neck pickup a volume knob or a tone knob
You don't need arms or legs to live a successful life, but it does help.
+CSGuitars I use my neck pickup for leads and solos,the tone and volume can give me a more accoustic sound or a more crunchy less intense sound
YOU dont need them. i love neck pickups for shredding
Well some of us need to volume knob to control distortion
because some of us are poor and can't afford pedals
I tend to use the guitar volume as a gain knob to clean up or dirty my signal as required. I can also change my pick attack to augment this practice. The tone knob on the guitar has a different effect than simply adjusting the EQ stack on the amp. I agree that this system isn't for everyone, but if you require versatility then getting to know how all of your adjustments (including your hands and ears) work is paramount.
I understand where your coming from... But my acoustic guitars have none of these nobs you speak of haha ! Have a nice day XD
MusicStuffSome i feel ya mate. I have the same problem with my drums. Can anyone tell me where I find these knobs on my kit?
wholesome
On my 1964 Jap ES-345 copy I set the volumes at 7.5 (prob *should* set to 8 though) and both tones to 5. I dial in the sweet spot on the amp from there. I can roll the vols up for extra boost or back for cleans. The tones are fun to tweak in the middle position (I wired the varitone sw. out and left the neck pickup magnet as-is, which gives it an out-of-phase sound. (Varitone models have one of the pickup magnets reversed and I didn't want to take apart a 53yr-old humbucker...) I play a LOT of blues slide though and the middle on the switch is what I use most, although sometimes I flip to the neck. It's nice being able to use the two tone knobs to change where my sound is notched at. Especially handy when jamming with more than two other guitarists. +1 on the props to the almighty tone knob!
I get what you're saying, but nah dude. Very genre specific strategy you're talking here.
There's I one exception to the rule. 50s wiring. As you roll the volume down it lets more signal pass so in effect rolls the tone up, as you roll the volume up, it grounds more high end so in effect lowers the tone control. What this does is allows the amp EQ to do its job and not end up with piercing highs or being a muddy mess regardless of the desired breakup your going for. Being able to sit in that sweet spot where attack dynamics and a wee tweak of the volume either way gives so much more flexibility.
that headstock is sweet on that guitar it looks like a dragon tooth
dragons dont exist
sohow the fuck does a dragons tooth look like??
+HECKproductions yea no shit dragons dont exist but if you type dragon into google do you know how many pictures will pop up i was obviously saying thats what i would imagine one to look like
daniel johnston
the tooth of a dragon would probably look like the tooth of a dinosaur tho and not like that so yeah nice try
+HECKproductions oh shit u got me dude guess i was wrong lol
daniel johnston
obvious pretending to realize being wrong even though still believing bullshit is obvious
I'd like you to make a segment on amp selection, if you haven't already. Certain guitar, pickup, amp, style combinations tend not to work. And while I have my own reasons for the gear I have, I find your reasoning clear and accurate. If you'll agree with me, this is a potential can of worms to attempt in a short segment, but I think it's worth it to skip the hype and set down some practical tips.
both knobs by design are subtractive, you arent gonna get anything great by subtracting from your guitar and trying to add from your amp
Yeah, it's much better to add from solid-state or digital stuff...
Much gain do you really need to play? I play in a band. I go metal. it's seriously
too damn retarded loud and destorded most of the time. As a lead guitar player I know when I need to punch through or not. As much of a bad ass lead guitar player as I am..95% of the time Im doing rhythm work and it aint all fucken power chords. Most of the time I'll also have bitch slapp my drummer
to lay off the double kicker..We're just not a crack head band...damn it.
We do chille peppers too.lmao...All you have to do is roll the knob back and
get funkie....
Jayden Wybenga by subtracting from a freq you are practically increasing the other frequencies, all that matter is their relatives intensities
That comment gave me ass cancer in my mouth.
when you turn those knobs down just a little, you are mainly subtracting stuff that doesn't really need to be there in the first place.
Greetings awww the way fae Edinburgh! I learned this the hard way recently when I decided to 'Esquire' a Squier Tele, with the Wilkinson Broadcaster pickup running through a solitary volume straight to jack with no tone control. BRIGHTEST GUITAR I EVER HEARD. Switched the controls out to a proper 3-way esquire setup and the tone knob sits around 7 most of the time now.
to say that someone that maxs out their pots is using their controls incorrectly is just a bold statement and making that statement you wanted people to disagree with you becuase you know thats how most modern players set their guitar. if you wanted to be completely correct you could have said that they arent using them to their fullest potential. most modern players realize that you cant fuck with the tone and volume pots and play the guitar at the same time. try messing with the knobs from a clean build up of chords into a heavy rhythm section and tell me that it makes sense to stop playing in the middle of a build up. you cant tell the audience,"hold on, i gotta stop playing so i can mess with my tone control." so they rely on midi, stompboxes, and footswitches to do that for them. half the people play live with just 1 or 2 sounds in reality. you wouldnt tell ola englund he is using his guitar wrong. you wouldnt have told dimebag he was using his guitar wrong most of the time, though he was known to mess with them in some parts of songs. you wouldnt tell misha monsoor he is using his guitar wrong. it made sense for someone like srv and makes sense for clapton and stuff of that nature. but tell me that everyone should play like that and the mold doesnt fit. that dog dont hunt
Thank You very much for valuable info ! For many years , like 15 years at least I was totally insensitive about guitar controls, just recently I discovered the sound value of guitar volume, playing is so much more pleasureable cause there are so many levels of sounds Im geting now, comparing all same sound from before. Now I will slowly add guitar tone also, which gives even more options and fun !! Now guitar truly become also boost and eq effect, but much better sounding than ANY pedal, cause this sound is 100% organic. You really have to progress to appreciate this options, only advance guitar players seems to be able to make full use of it.
Yeah I came to fix my spelling. Considering that you can't be always right? I don't like the picks you use but you think they are awesome. Point one: the guitarist of Red Hot and the guitarist of U2 have dozens of pedals the signal goes trough and they are doing just fine. Point two: I have seen many custom guitars lately without tone knob. Obviously people who play thrash metal and similar stuff have figured the tone knob just muddy the sound. If you play thrash you may decide you don't need neck pickup also.Some people really don't need knobs at all.
Firstly, I am always right
Secondly, people shouldn't take me so seriously all the time
CSGuitars Cool, we all have preferences and we will never have one way of doing things. We all can express opinion and others could tell us why they disagree. This should be perfectly normal and people should not take offence. Have a good day :)
alvarg I don't know. I have Boss . But if you look for noise gate all I can tell you I like Decimator. Probably the best people to ask for compressor are bass players.
DJ Electro Trance Gressor i was asking CSGuitars but thank you for your input
alvarg I am sorry. You had your question in my tread and I didn't know who are you asking. But sure I like to give my opinion if I like a product. There was't too many people giving me good advises when I started buying guitars and related stuff. few thousand dollars down the road you kind of figure it's your taste and experience that matter the most. If they let you try products where you live would be the best option.
As a long time Jazz (Fender that is, not the musical genre) bass player, the rule of thumb is almost always to set all pots wide open. I just started playing electric six string, (Tele and 335 so far) and it only took me about 30 minutes to figure out that rolling the tone pot/pots back a bit, offered me much more options. I wholeheartedly agree with you mate.
As another Jazz bass player i have to disagree, one of the key points of a Jazz over other basses is the ability to blend the pickup volumes as you wish, and the tone knob is the key to... well, great tone. I find that for funk I like my bridge pickup turned up all the way and a little bit of neck pickup rolled in to warm it up a bit and tone knob to about 7. For warmer tones more neck pickup, less bridge, and tone knob at 2-3 at the most, real nice warm buttery tones.
Of course, this gets more complicated when you pick up a Fender american deluxe Jazz.... more knobs, a switch, active/passive circuitry..... Lots more to play with.