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Topic: Whats your procedure for dialing in your amp ? |
Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
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Posted 3 Feb 2010 1:04 pm |
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After reading a lot of posts asking for settings for this or that particular amp. I started thinking about my own process of dialing in the tone or sound I'm after in my mind. I have a tendency towards setting everything flat and bringing the hi end up first followed the lows and then the mids. ( And around and around )
I know there are lots of folks more electonically minded than me on the forum. Whats your method or procedure ? How do you go about dialing in an amp thats new to you ?
Hook
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Blaine Moore |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 3 Feb 2010 3:46 pm Re: Whats your procedure for dialing in your amp ?
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| Hook Moore wrote: |
| Whats your method or procedure ? How do you go about dialing in an amp thats new to you ? |
I dial the various controls around in any combination for maybe an hour, so I know what they actually do and their relative ranges, and then I play through it with all tone controls in as flat/neutral positions as possible for a few weeks, until I've gotten used to the sound of the played-in amp.
Only after that period do I really start to dial in tone controls, and rarely ever turn them all up. If I need more treble I usually lower mids and lows a bit first and leave highs close to or slightly above neutral/flat. If I need more bass I usually lower the mids and highs a bit first and leave lows close to or only slightly above neutral/flat. The idea being that any extreme settings relative to neutral/flat brings with it too much phase distortion to be pleasant to my ear, and that an amp that doesn't sound somewhat acceptable when set to near-neutral won't sound all that much better with its tone controls turned way out.
If an amp with all controls set neutral/flat doesn't sound neutral/flat enough to me, I usually measure and listen it in at fairly low levels - with and without its original speaker(s) - using a tone-generator and "normed" measuring(listening set-up. If I notice too much of anything but the natural roll-offs at both ends - mainly in the speaker/cabinet, I try to find the real neutral/flat positions for all tone control knobs before dialing for preferred sound. |
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Lynn Oliver
From:
Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 3 Feb 2010 6:51 pm
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| I'm wondering what you mean by neutral or flat? A lot of guitar amps have passive tone controls, so the only possibility is to cut certain frequencies. |
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Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 4 Feb 2010 7:19 am
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what Lynn said. The tone stacks are very different in amps. some tone knobs only cut bass for example.
this makes the usefullness of an across the board method of setting amps kind of limited. |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 4 Feb 2010 7:26 am
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| Lynn Oliver wrote: |
| I'm wondering what you mean by neutral or flat? A lot of guitar amps have passive tone controls, so the only possibility is to cut certain frequencies. |
Yes, that is quite common.
If there's a built-in bypass to get around the tone control section, I compare, and if necessary adjust, the "flat setting" of tone controls to the bypassed frequency curve, phasing and sound.
If not, I find the most "neutral" setting by using a tone generator, and if such a "neutral" can't be found I simply conclude that the amp is built with a certain voicing and can only be adjusted within a limited range and for specific use.
Since no guitar amp is made with/for anything near a flat or neutral frequency curve and/or sound, it's only a question of finding each amp's own "neutral" - no matter how far off it is, to get a setting to start dialing in the tone we want from. |
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Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
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T. C. Furlong
From:
Lake County, Illinois, USA
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Posted 5 Feb 2010 4:53 pm
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For years, I have made a major portion of my living "tuning" loudspeakers, sound systems, individual speakers for a manufacturing company etc. I have very methodical and scientific methods for doing this. Almost none of them apply to dialing in an instrument amp. What I have found to be most effective is this: I start with the available tone controls on the preamp in the middle of their rotation. I then start with the midrange control and I exaggerate the sound I like least by turning it up. If I turn it up and it doesn't change much or I don't mind the sound of the added mids, I leave it centered. If it gets worse, I turn it down some. If it gets way worse, I turn it way down. After the midrange is where it sounds most pleasing, I adjust the bass so it's not too thin and not too boomy, then treble so it not too sharp and not too dark. That's my "by ear" method. Seems to work for me...
TC |
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Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
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Larry Behm
From:
Mt Angel, Or 97362
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Posted 6 Feb 2010 12:21 pm
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I turn all of the tone controls to 10 and then back down the highs and lows to suit. 
Larry Behm |
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Tor Arve Baroy
From:
Norway
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Posted 6 Feb 2010 3:25 pm
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On amps I dont know, I usually start by setting all EQ controls on half, then I adjust from there. Volume and gain knobs I usually start the search on a lower setting......
I`m not that picky, I usually get happy with most quality tube amps, there almost always a sound I can use.... |
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Simon Stephenson
From:
Hampshire, England
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Posted 9 Feb 2010 6:45 am
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I start off with the lote controls set low. I then pluck the high strings on a high fret and turn the treble until I hit a sweet spot. There is normally a point at which the sound suddenly livens up and this is where I leave it. I then pick some mid range strings and repeat with middle and then do the same with bass. I use this as my basic canvass. After that, I tweak them to hear what happens and how the tone changes. I then play something and listen and maybe take a bit of top off if it's top heavy or reduce the bottom end if the lower strings are too loud compared to the high strings.
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http://www.myspace.com/thefamilyonline |
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Bill Moran
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 9 Feb 2010 9:02 am
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Hook, I'm like you. I start flat then add low and high to taste. If a Peavey find the honk feq. and remove all possible. Steel King and Evans already have the honk removed. Or never had it.
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Bill |
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Dustin Rigsby
From:
Parts Unknown, Ohio
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Posted 9 Feb 2010 11:41 pm
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ummm...I have no scientific methods...I just start twisting knobs until it suits my mood for that particular day. I know that sounds pretty smart alec...I see so many guys on the forum ask the "what your settings for such and such"...and I have to wonder if they have tuned thier ears .  |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 10 Feb 2010 8:57 pm
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| I'm currently dialing in a VHT SIG:X to get a clean sound. My point of reference is a Silverface Twin 135 that's been voiced for steel guitar. So I'm trying to see how close I can come to matching the Twin with an amp that has 3 channels, 5 gain stages and totally different kinds of tubes. What's interesting, to me, is the VHT seems to have more "clarity" on the bottom. |
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Derrell Stephens
From:
Shreveport, La. USA
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Posted 12 Feb 2010 12:34 pm
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Chas would know ... he's the guru
I always set the low & mid freq's 1st, then get the 3rd sting on E9th like I want it ... usually works well after that. I just don't do a lot of knob turning.
D |
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Gary Preston
From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Posted 12 Feb 2010 6:15 pm
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 Maybe i don't really understand this question but an amp only has a few controls on it . I see it somewhat like Mr. Rigsby . Is it really that technical to adjust the amp to your liking ? I understand that we all hear sound different and that is why we all buy different steel guitars and amps . So i would just say it this way just start turning the controls until you hear the '' sweet spot '' and try to find that sound in different venues that you may be playing at . I may be off base but it works for me !  |
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Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
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Posted 13 Feb 2010 3:59 am
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| Gary Preston wrote: |
| Maybe i don't really understand this question but an amp only has a few controls on it . I see it somewhat like Mr. Rigsby . Is it really that technical to adjust the amp to your liking ? |
Sorry Gary if you don't understand the question. No, its not that technical for me to adjust my amps but I also have no problem tuning, setting pickup height, knowing when to change strings, knowing when to play or not to play and many other things that are asked about here. But there are people who do and I do very often read forum posts where someone asks for " settings for a Nashville 112" " what are your settings for Webb amps " etc..
Just thought it might be helpful to folks if there were some helpful hints posted..Thanks all for your comments so far.
Hook
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Blaine Moore |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2010 10:15 am
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| Quote: |
| but an amp only has a few controls on it . |
Derrell, thanks for the props, Om Mani Padme Screeeeeeech. Full disclosure, I have the first tweed Evans FET 500 that Derrell made in 1991 and it has a lot of mileage on it. Other players have been surprised that it's not a tube amp. |
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Gary Preston
From:
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2010 5:58 pm
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 Thanks Hook for the explanation . No harm meant . |
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Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2010 7:54 pm
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| To me the most important frequencies are those in the mid-range. What I attempt to do, if I have the option, is to exagerate the mids by maxing out the output of the mids- finding the worst offending frequency by sorting them out, then cutting that frequency to suit my ears. The rest is usually increasing the lows and highs to suit my taste after starting them at the neutral or center position. Obviously mine is only one opinion in a sea of many. |
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Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
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Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
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