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Post by John on Aug 14, 2014 12:04:32 GMT -7
If you 'ray guys remember, a few weeks ago I had a gig where I took my Remedy and Stangray heads and switched back and forth through the night. The 'ray was considerably brighter, the Remedy had more lush upper mids.
I usually don't play much electric guitar at home, but I played around with the 'ray today. It's brightness can be hard to tame. I already keep the cut at about 9:00.
But from what I remember of the dual head gig mentioned above, and playing around today....I've come up with usable approach. The long lost guitarists tool: The guitar's TONE knob.
I think lots of us set it and forget it..usually wide open. I've been guilty of that for years. (why would you want that muffled sound?)
But for the 'ray, it makes sense. Regular rhythm playing requires backing off on the tone control of the guitar. Different songs require different tone settings. But it's clear, leaving the tone control wide open makes rhythm playing just too bright/brittle. Now for a solo...sure, open it up. (but not all of them)
I'm looking forward to testing it out on Saturday.
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Post by Baconator on Aug 14, 2014 12:26:05 GMT -7
Tone controls are amazingly useful with certain amps. Although I usually run mine wide open with the Route 66 I've found that I'll roll it back on my tele when using the bridge pickup through my Ghia. I grew up playing pedals and, later on, multi channel amps and it's only been since I started playing Z amps that I've learned to appreciate how immensely useful the controls on my guitars are.
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Post by ME on Aug 14, 2014 12:34:06 GMT -7
"The long lost guitarists tool: The guitar's TONE knob."
Ha, ha... Ahh, me thinks we are on to something. I note that not all tone controls work the same. My Ibanez Strat copy works like I'd expect most do/should, however my Gibson R8 LP Std tone control acts differently depending where the volume control is set. It gets a little brighter around 8-9, then starts to take away the top end. When it gets about 2 there is a little bit of a cocked wah sound before the onset of removal of almost all of the top end. Not bad stuff, just different from what my other guitars have done. 50's wiring perhaps?
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Post by Ridgeback on Aug 14, 2014 12:57:57 GMT -7
...and when you start actually using the guitar's volume and tone controls then that leads into the whole sick world of pot cap values\tapers\types and treble bleed circuits etc. which aren't really relevant if everything is wide open all the time.
I didn't find the Ray to be a particularly bright amp but I suspect that it had more to do with the speakers I was using (and not having a Remedy to compare it to).
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Post by simpleton on Aug 14, 2014 14:18:24 GMT -7
Yes sir ol' John you ARE on to something there. It's really become part of how I even set my amps for the last .... check that, since I bought my first Z. Often I'll set it a little brighter than I want so that when I turn the amp up and my guitar volume down for rhythm stuff it still has some chime. Then, like you said, for solo's I can play with just the tone sometimes to just cut thru, or I can leave the tone and turn up the volume to get were I want. Between the two you can get a lot of sounds. With my Les Paul because I've got 4 knobs boy howdy can I get some options going. My dad plays strats and I just found out he turns one of the tone knobs into a volume so he can have a rhythm volume and a lead volume set where needed. He probably doesn't use the tone knob much, at least I don't notice him do it much, but he's playing a blues jr. not a STANG RAY !!!!!!!!!!!
keep on rockin' in the free world broseph
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Post by rcrecelius on Aug 14, 2014 20:50:22 GMT -7
"The long lost guitarists tool: The guitar's TONE knob." Ha, ha... Ahh, me thinks we are on to something. I note that not all tone controls work the same. My Ibanez Strat copy works like I'd expect most do/should, however my Gibson R8 LP Std tone control acts differently depending where the volume control is set. It gets a little brighter around 8-9, then starts to take away the top end. When it gets about 2 there is a little bit of a cocked wah sound before the onset of removal of almost all of the top end. Not bad stuff, just different from what my other guitars have done. 50's wiring perhaps? This kinda sounds like 50's wiring(except the brighter at 8-9 part?)...I love it on my teles...it eliminates the need for a treble bleed circuit! Some don't like the way it changes relative to the volume setting but it hasn't been an issue for me as my guitar volume is usually WO to 3/4, not much less than that. On my real teles(2 pickups that is) I like to set the amp bright enough so the neck and middle sounds right, then I can always back off the tone knob for bridge pickup as needed. Mind you I don't own a Ray but this works for other bright amps I've has before.
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Post by ME on Aug 15, 2014 3:41:08 GMT -7
Didn't do the bright/ear thing as much before I replaced the burstbuckers with SD Antiquities. A better description might be that the harshness I found, especially in the BB's, when wide open volume, is reduced. Much nicer to play. If I want harsh I'll step on a pedal!
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Post by j4gitr (John) on Aug 15, 2014 5:27:46 GMT -7
Tone controls are amazingly useful with certain amps. Although I usually run mine wide open with the Route 66 I've found that I'll roll it back on my tele when using the bridge pickup through my Ghia. I grew up playing pedals and, later on, multi channel amps and it's only been since I started playing Z amps that I've learned to appreciate how immensely useful the controls on my guitars are. All of the above, and I have been even dialing the tone back on the Rt66, which has often been called dark.
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Post by ME on Aug 15, 2014 17:10:56 GMT -7
Tone controls are amazingly useful with certain amps. Although I usually run mine wide open with the Route 66 I've found that I'll roll it back on my tele when using the bridge pickup through my Ghia. I grew up playing pedals and, later on, multi channel amps and it's only been since I started playing Z amps that I've learned to appreciate how immensely useful the controls on my guitars are. All of the above, and I have been even dialing the tone back on the Rt66, which has often been called dark. Mmm... Route 66
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Post by telejas on Aug 21, 2014 8:23:39 GMT -7
Vince Gill uses his guitars tone control quite a bit. You're in good company! He talks about it at 22:35.
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Post by Baconator on Aug 21, 2014 8:39:22 GMT -7
Vince Gill uses his guitars tone control quite a bit. You're in good company! He talks about it at 22:35. Thanks. Given how much of a slow learner I am I'm kinda surprised I actually figured this out within a year of owning a tele. That's a fast learning curve in my world . Perhaps within the next year or two I might actually get good at adjusting tone and volume on the fly, but these days I have a hard enough time being able to change pickups quickly during a song. Sad to think I've been playing for over 30 years and there are still so many basic things I'm not very good at, but at least I'm stubborn enough to keep trying to get better.
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