MoesSS Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 OK, please no flames for my questions. I have been playing less than a month and probably got more guitar than i need or will ever use, but I am enjoying trying to learn. I have a new Epi LP Traditional Pro Can some explain each setting for the guitar, ie. when to use rhythm, treble, and middle setting? Also when should I think about using the coil taps? It will be awhile before i use any of this, but just want to learn everything I can about my guitar. I am practicing with a clean sound on the treble setting. Thanks all. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 As cliche as it sounds, use the settings as you see fit, tonewise...... There's really no set rules at all.....( Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question ? ) Coil taps are fun; I have them on a bunch of guitars...I don't use them, so, I forget they're even there..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilm3 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Really subjective. Experiment and use what sounds good to you. There are no rules. For example, I dislike the sound of bridge pick ups (the so called "treble" setting). I only use the neck, (or "rhythm") pick up on my guitars, and usually with the tone rolled off to between 0 and 4 - most of the time. This is what sounds good to me with my amps, my style, the music I play, and the volumes I play at. Doesn't mean I don't play around with other pick up selections or volume/tone combinations some times... And of course, we can't really give you any advice at all until we see pictures of your guitar. Ah, found the picture. Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrooks0711 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'll agree with what the other guys have said so far, but I'll try to answer in a way that may be more of what you are looking for. These are all SUBJECTIVE and make sure you mess around with the settings to what sounds best to YOU The first rule is that there are NO RULES. Your ears need to make the decision, not your head, mind, or brain (yes that's a school of Rock reference). -Use the neck pickup (aka RHYTHM) when you're playing the background parts of a song (chords, powerchords) etc. -Use the bridge pickup (aka TREBLE) when you're playing more single notes/lead parts of a song -Use the the middle setting when either one of those settings are too far in one direction (when you have TOO much rhythm or bass) Generally speaking, there are two types of pickups out there; single-coils & humbuckers. Single-coils came first (think Fender Stratocaster) and humbuckers came later (aka Gibson Les Paul 1957 and later). Single-coils generally have a brighter sound but are a little noisier while humbuckers are less noisy with a deeper/darker sound. Humbuckers are in essence two single coils wrapped together which "bucks the hum". Neither one is right or wrong and both have their place. Your guitar has two pickups (humbucker pickups), but they have been "coil-tapped" which is a fancy term meaning that when you pull the knob, it changes that pickup into a single-coil pickup. So, you're set up great to explore a lot of different tonal possibilities as you get better at playing. As far as the knobs, you have two knobs for each pickup; one volume and one tone. Everybody understands a volume knob, but tone knobs are a little different. When I started the best way someone described it to me was to think about the tone as a water valve. Fully closed, you're not getting any saturation from your pickups, but with it fully open you're getting all the sweet tone your pickups have to offer. Try the tone knobs fully closed, then fully open to see the difference. I hope that helps explain some stuff. Don't worry about being new here, this forum is the friendliest one I've ever seen. Nobody's gonna yell at you for being new, that would be dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwich Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 OK, please no flames for my questions. I have been playing less than a month and probably got more guitar than i need or will ever use, but I am enjoying trying to learn. I have a new Epi LP Traditional Pro Can some explain each setting for the guitar, ie. when to use rhythm, treble, and middle setting? Also when should I think about using the coil taps? It will be awhile before i use any of this, but just want to learn everything I can about my guitar. I am practicing with a clean sound on the treble setting. Thanks all. Andy Welcome Andy. Just wanted to agree with what the others have said and say that you chose wisely on your guitar selection. I have two Trad Pros and play them more than the rest. Great neck and pickups in those. I also don't play much using the single coil settings, and play the neck more than the bridge. Both of mine came setup a little high, so if you haven't done so and when funds allow, get a proper setup. It will make it easier to play especially in the upper frets. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Hello Moe. welcome to the forum. we were all beginners at one time, I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a stupid question So, I have a les paul guitar with coil splitters too. I use all of the pickup selections at different times depending on what mood I'm in, what music I'm playing, or what the amp settings are on. As for the layout of the knobs. the Rhythm position uses the pickup that is right behind the neck and the treble position uses the the pickup which is farther back at the bridge of the guitar. each pickup has it's own separate volume and tone control. in this link, if you scroll down to page 4 you will see a diagram of a les paul with parts labelled. les paul instructions link what sort of music do you like to play, and what amplifier are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennyman Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 There's absolutely no reason you can't use your "rhythm" (neck) pickup for lead work, or your "lead" (bridge) pickup for rhythm work. What you CAN do, is dial in one pickup at full volume to be gritty and crunchy, and roll off the volume on the other pickup to clean it up some, then just use your toggle to switch between the two as needed. With the coil splitting on the Trad Pro, you can get an wider range of tones. Like everyone else here has said, experiment and find out what YOU like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KVL Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 The other guys pretty much nailed it... With that said, play, enjoy and welcome aboard. I'm kinda new here and can say that I've asked some newb questions too, and everyone has been really cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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