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Need help with knobs

barman

New member
Joined
Oct 19, 2018
Messages
61
If you like to play electric blues or classic rock music, here's what I like to do:
I set my bridge pickup volume knob on 5 or 6, then dial a nice dirty but still articulate overdriven tone on my amp. This will be my main sound for rhythm parts.
When I need to go lead for a solo, I will raise the volume knob of the bridge pickup to 8 or 10 to get more distortion, volume and cut through the mix
On the Neck pickup side, I usually set the volume knob down to 2, so that when I select this pickup via the pickup selector switch, I get a clean tone. That way the amp is not fed enough signal to distort.

This is my way of getting 3 distinct sounds out of a single channel amp, without the need for any pedal.
My Tone knobs are generally set at 8 or 9, which I think makes the pickups sound more "rich".

There are a milion different ways of using the volume / tone knobs, but everything has to be thought of as a way to control your amplifier, especially a single channel one, vintage style.
Typically, with multi-channel switching amps, people don't use the guitar knobs at all.
So, start off with your amp settings! If you set your "main" rhythm sound on the amp with the guitar volume full up, there is nowhere to go but lower gain by turning the knob down (not good for solos).

Another thing is that the wiring of your guitar knobs is very important. Do a google search on 50s vs modern wiring. Your Epiphone will most likely be wired in the modern way, which means that turning the pickups volume knob down will make you lose treble frequencies. This makes the use of those controls less than ideal.
 
Last edited:

chasenblues

New member
Joined
Jul 3, 2006
Messages
1,228
I'm pretty new to electric guitars.
I keep trying all of the different combinations of volume knobs, tone knobs and pick up selectors.

But I'm not getting anything noticeable out of my guitar.


Nothing like in this video. What should I do?


More practice.
 

Don

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
5,732
The amp matters a lot. For me, using the knobs works best with a single channel, non-master volume amp that's cranked to a "sweet spot" where it's dirty with the guitar's volume controls cranked and it doesn't lose a lot of volume when you turn the guitar down.

Then there's the wiring of the guitar. It needs to be wired so that you don't lose a tone of highs when the guitar is turned down. '50s wiring helps there. Also, pots with good taper. Like Barman said, set it up with the guitar turned down and it'll be bright for leads and you can dial the tone back.

Even then, it takes experience with this type of setup to work it well.
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
WHAT????????? Plug it in and work on your chops and amp settings and twist the knobs and learn what they do. You learn this stuff by doin' and practice. I don't know how long you've been playin' but the rule is you gotta have the chops first. You get the tone from your ability as a player and almost everyone of us sounded awful at first. As you gain ability you also gain the ear chops that enable you to hear the effects, and somewhat predict the outcome of knob tweekage.

You could get a digital modeler and press a button to get specific tones, BUT, the truth is without the CHOPS you will not get the results you want. I have a friend that is a monster finger style Jazz player and he cannot get a good Hendrix tone, even if I dial it up and show him and hand him the guitar. What happens next makes Jimi roll over….. CHOPS, CHOPS, CHOPS… playing and gear chops. You have to learn this stuff by doing.

People use to run for cover when I first started, back when Dinosaurs ruled the earth, and it was painful, yet the best advise I ever got was from my pal Seymour Duncan, who had such great tone, he told me to practice with an Esquire or Jr or Melodymaker any single pickup two knob guitar and a simple tube amp, in my case a Champ. I had lots of stuff and was playing out regular at the time, but I wanted the ability to summon those great tones I kept hearing but was unable to get just right. I did this and it worked for me. I learned how my guitar really functioned, learned the importance of a pro set up, learned how to use an amp. I'd recommend the same.

GUITAR 101
 
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