daveinspain Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I tend to set and let it be. I may do some volume adjustments before each song as needed but I see many players who are constantly adjusting their volume and tone setting while playing… Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Hmm, no im much like you.. I tend to leave it where it is in general... But it can be useful to do to add some dimension to your sound... Gary Moore is a great example of someone who utilises the volume and tone knob all the time. Like in this vid hes playing some nice mellow chords and then turning it up inbetween to play some lead licks and then turning it down again... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMGyhBQ4MPI So it can be useful if you are doing that.. or say playing a lead solo and instead of using a boost pedal or something like that, just leave the guitar volume at like 6-7 and then turn it all the way up for that extra kick in that face when you need it :) Hendrix did that all the time too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fromnabulax Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 On the Strat I put everything on ten and let 'er rip. On the Tele it goes around 7 and stays. On the Gibbys And Epis I tend to blend and adjust as I go, sometimes even mid tune. The Fenders don't have as much variation for me to want to futz with them, but the Gibson and Epiphone style guitars tend to offer me much more flexibility, and so I take advantage of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 It is an interesting question and took my mind back to the time in the 1960s when I would haunt all sorts of local venues watching guitarists play in their respective bands. And there were some pretty good people about. I noticed that many of them (although not all) were inveterate "fiddlers" of the tone and volume controls. Their hands were constantly moving down to make adjustments. And I never noticed any difference whatsoever in the volume and tone considered from the audience perspective. I can remember several times thinking why on earth are they doing that - I can't hear any change. Maybe they heard things differently. But back then no one had stage monitors - it all came through the invariable Fender or Marshall sitting next to them. As for me? I'm like you Dave - I don't bother changing the controls. I change things via the foot controls and pedals or floorboards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I wouldn't say you are missing something if your style works for you. I tend to use the vol & tone knobs quite a lot but that's primarily because I don't use any foot-switch / pedals so any modification to my end-tone must come from the front-end. It also depends to a large extent on the individual tracks I am playing. Some stuff needs no real change but something slow, bluesy and soulful can 'come alive' with a bit of tweaking. It's been posted a million times before but watch how often Mr. Moore adjusts his vol / tone / p'up selector here - especially throughout the solo. He hardly lets the tone stay where it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmOTefm0_Jw Pip. EDIT : I see Rabs beat me to the Gary Moore show! I'm glad we chose different tracks!.........lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Habit. I haven't had a tone pot that did anything for decades, but still reach to make sure all the way up. Volume doesn't move much at all for me, but I still constantly make sure it is all the way up. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I just recently saw Warren Haynes on TV doing a concert...I was astonished how often during a song that he adjusts his tone.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Pip. EDIT : I see Rabs beat me to the Gary Moore show! I'm glad we chose different tracks!.........lol! haha, I probably would have posted that one if I could have remembered what it was called when I was looking :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 It depends on genre of music, ambient volume, solo or band context etc Personal approach is to use guitars 'wide open' And set up my Boss ME70 as appropriate, with maybe an outboard linear boost and EQ in addition Works with electro acoustic and solid guitars, mandolin and violin(for heaven's sake)... :blink: V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkesman Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Sorry if this is a daft question, but I noticed in the second clip that his neck pup is the 'wrong' way round. Presumably it wasn't that way to start with, so I wonder what he felt he gained by turning it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertAndersson Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I always used to keep both controls at max, but this changed when I got a LP with 57 classics! Now I can get every sound from nice clean to classic metal distortion just by turning the knobs. Nowadays I'm getting more and more like mr Moore... //Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertAndersson Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Sorry if this is a daft question, but I noticed in the second clip that his neck pup is the 'wrong' way round. Presumably it wasn't that way to start with, so I wonder what he felt he gained by turning it? Wow, you mean that you never heard the story behind the Peter Green / Gary Moore LP, maybe the most famous Gibson ever? Check this out: //Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I am in the constant tinkerer club, of tone and volume adjustments, as well as picking attack, for different tones, and dynamics. I love that! And, while "set it, and forget it," is much easier...easier doesn't always translate to "better!" IMHO, as always. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 Sorry if this is a daft question, but I noticed in the second clip that his neck pup is the 'wrong' way round. Presumably it wasn't that way to start with, so I wonder what he felt he gained by turning it? Wow, you mean that you never heard the story behind the Peter Green / Gary Moore LP, maybe the most famous Gibson ever? Check this out: //Robert Yeah, it is ever such a tiny bit of a daft question in the nicest possible way :D . It's an interesting story. There's a lot of misunderstanding about it. I would highly recommend reading up on it. Intriguing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 I just recently saw Warren Haynes on TV doing a concert...I was astonished how often during a song that he adjusts his tone.... Saw Bonamassa in conert (and close up) a few years ago. Amazing at how often he's rolling volume/tone/on and off, p/u selctions, etc. I have a tendency to be a "set it and forget it" kind of guy, but after watching this video a while back, well, maybe not so much anymore: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 ...Now I can get every sound from nice clean to classic metal distortion just by turning the knobs. Nowadays I'm getting more and more like Mr. Moore... Yes; finding out just how much influence the guitar's Vol / Tone circuitry can have was a real "Eureka!" moment for me. Of course, having '50s wiring in the old Lesters accentuates this phenomenon to a large degree. ...the Peter Green / Gary Moore LP... I'm certainly not going to take anything away from the Mastery shown to full effect by Gary Moore but it's fascinating to really listen to early-ish (but post-Bluesbreakers) Peter Green FM recordings where you can hear (the end result of) him tweaking the Vol / Tone settings during a cut. One fantastic example is the studio PGFM version of "Worried Dream". Anyone who bothered to watch the 'Jumping at Shadows' clip would hear exactly the same type of tone-tweaking in Peter Green's performance. He does all the vol / tone / selector changes a dozen times or more in a 3 min tune. The changes from 'in-phase' to 'out-of-phase' are crystal-clear and we get to share a small inkling into how PG was constructing the sound for the track. Fascinating stuff. My guess (and it IS just a guess) is that GM learned a LOT from PG.. ...I would highly recommend reading up on it. Intriguing... That clip is one of the most wonderful gems out there. I've seen it possibly a dozen times and it always confirms everything I believe - guitar-wise. What I didn't know until last year was quite how 'in the know' Phil Harris actually is. Leaving aside the PG/GM LP for a bit it turns out that he also owned one or two of Paul Kossoff's 'bursts as well. He's quite The Man. Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkesman Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 That Phil Harris vid is really interesting - Thanks! I'm a bit confused though: first he says that the pup was wired backwards, and then that the magnets were reversed. Would those two things not have cancelled each other out, so why did Selmer then put the pup in the wrong way round. Seems a very complex way of achieving pups that still ended up out of phase (in a good way, though). Note that electronics was never one of my strong points! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 That Phil Harris vid is really interesting - Thanks! I'm a bit confused though: first he says that the pup was wired backwards, and then that the magnets were reversed. Would those two things not have cancelled each other out, so why did Selmer then put the pup in the wrong way round. Seems a very complex way of achieving pups that still ended up out of phase (in a good way, though). Note that electronics was never one of my strong points! This is the thing. Turning it round makes absolutely no difference. It clearly is out of phase so not every part of the story can be right and whether it was out of polar phase or reverse wound or reverse wired, or all three resulting in oop overall but with reversed polarity and wind is not entirely cLear. Moore, if I remember right, had it put in phase and then went back. It has also been said that turning it round may gave been a misguided attempt to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyK Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 What I didn't know until last year was quite how 'in the know' Phil Harris actually is.Leaving aside the PG/GM LP for a bit it turns out that he also owned one or two of Paul Kossoff's 'bursts as well. He's quite The Man. Pip. Aha... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 It amazes me how many players only play with all volume and tone controls on their guitar, especiall a LP, at 10. Why have a knob, you might as well just have an on/off switch. I have always set tone controls at less than maximum, and volumes at about 7 at the begining of a song, then when you go to a lead or just want some dynamic you can go up or down on the volume or tones, switch the pickup selector etc. I change pickup use, volume, and tone within a given song a great deal of the time. The control and vaying tones that are easy to achieve with the two volume, two tone, and pickup selector are a primary reason why I have used Gibsons with that set up for so many years. If you are not adjusting your guitar, try it. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve, and how many effects pedals you can eliminate from your rig. You might even find out you can eliminate a second guitar!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 My main guitar is a stone stock '77 Telecaster and you better believe I use the volume and tone...ALL the time. It's not just a matter of being louder or softer or taking some highs away. The Telecaster in it's unmolested original form is seemingly much more chameleonic than the average guitar. It goes way beyond a simple change in brightness or volume, it turns into a completely different animal. And I don't mean Roy Buchanan stage tricks, I mean personalities I can use every time I pick it up. Every tone that's in my head is in that guitar and it's just a roll of a knurled knob away. I know I may look like a one trick pony with a California slab but this was realized after decades of talking myself into the notion that the next guitar was going to be THE one, when it's been with me since June of 1978. And I'm glad Tele knobs have no numbers. I don't want to fall into the trap that I need the tone on 6 to do this song or that song. I prefer it to be like making homemade spaghetti sauce. No recipe, just a dash of this and a smidgen of something else until it's right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I usually mess with my volume much more than tone knobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sg50 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I move mine frequently. I didn't used to, but I wish I had. Volume = distortion. Tone = is to either fatten up the sound or cut through the mix. Pickups: kinda the same as tone... but also more of a moan / scream switch. Tone down on the neck pick up... oh so moany. I can understand that there are plenty of reasons to never move your knobs. You might just have one tone, maybe you're the lead player who does one thing, or you're the big chord guy. Side note: you almost certainly use a flat pick if you fall into these categories. Maybe you just really like one thing. I admire purpose-built rigs where you don't need a ton of options... just the guitar and the right amp. It's simple, clean, and tasty. But then there's the pedal guy who never moves knobs in favor of letting pedals do the work. I get that... you can just stomp a box and go from sparkle to dirt and the volume doesn't change. I respect it, but if you're in this category, take it as a personal growth challenge to unplug the tube screamer and use just one channel on the amp. See what you can do with it, and I promise it'll change the way you think about distortion pedals. This almost always requires turning your amp up loud, which isn't always realistic, but it's worth doing. Your amp is probably the most important component in your signal chain, see what it can do! I'd also recommend that every player put away their picks for six months or so but that's another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I can understand that there are plenty of reasons to never move your knobs. You might just have one tone, maybe you're the lead player who does one thing, or you're the big chord guy. Yup that's me, big chord guy who sometime tries to play solos (badly) :) All I need is my toggle switch everything else can stay where it is :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Until this year I left everything at max on guitar & used my signal processor patches to select rhythm or lead tones. but... since changing the rig (& getting more guitars) I still haven't got all this figured out yet, so I have to tinker with the controls. What I will say is this. I hate having more than one tone & volume control on a guitar. When I did the debut gig with the Jazz band in Sept I used the Casino Coupe. I kept trying to turn the damn volume down, but it was for the wrong pup! Another good reason to use LP Double Cuts. They embrace the KISS philosophy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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