Volume levels to enter the mix
All these volume settings! What the heck are we supposed to do! Well, I’ll tell you what I do then you decide. I know, too many volumes to choose from. Goodness what are we to do?
We’ll need to find the happy medium between them all. Too much volume from the guitar and the pickups scream with over saturation. If your guitar pickups are really hot, be prepared for some serious distortion or overdrive when you engage a pedal. That’s not always a bad thing depending on what you’re going for.
As far as I recall, Eric Clapton (on his Gibson es-335 with Cream) turned the volume on the bridge pickup all the way up. The volume on the neck pickup was turned down a bit while utilizing both pickups. These were done on humbucking pickups. On my es-335 I do the same. Turning the bridge pickup to 10 (all the way up) and the neck to about 6 1/2 – 7-ish utilizing both pickups.
The pickup switch is in the middle. Tone is always up all the way. (We have all kinds of settings on the amp and pedals to worry about tone.) Turning the neck pickup down a bit with the bridge pickup at 10 opens up the high end and at the same time I am using the ENTIRE guitar. Of course with single coil pickups it will be a bit different because of the pickup switch.
Pedal Volume
I’ll try and keep things in the order of volumes to make this easier to read. Pedal volumes get a bit tricky now. Each pedal, even a multi effects unit, (Boss me 80 for example) will have to be adjusted to maintain the same levels as they are activated. A lot of work I know, but the end result is an even touch of volume across the board, we hope. Turn the amp volume up to a decent playing level. Now lets take a clean tone without any pedals on.
Question: What happens when you step on the switch for your distortion pedal? Does it suddenly get SUPER loud or too quiet? Well, depending on what it does tells you to either raise or lower the volume (of your distortion pedal) at that point to match the volume of your clean tone. Do that for the rest of your pedals so they all match. Now, if you need more volume for a guitar solo, say you want to jump out of the mix for a moment volume wise. You’ll need a volume boost pedal. Such as the one below.
Now, you have your guitar volumes set (considering you’re using a humbucker style guitar) and the pedals or multi effects unit volumes set. The amplifier is at a reasonable setting for playing but the band is louder than you are! Oh no, what should we do! This is what you do. Most amps have a “Gain” and then a “Master” volume knob. The Gain knob is called all kinds of things, just remember it is actually only a general volume knob. The Master volume knob however is the one that will turn up everything, all at once, nice and evenly.
Amp volume. Master volume. The key phrases here. If your amplifier has all fancy schmancy stuff on it get rid of it. Keep the amplifier straight forward and simple. Bass, treble, mids, gain, (general volume setting) and master volume. All the other stuff is for color. Now that being said, there is a lot to say about being plugging straight into an amp without any pedals.
One day while playing with your band in front a crowd the pedalboard may crap out. Might not, but lets just say it does. There really isn’t any time to sit there and figure this all out. Everyone is waiting! Cut out the board and plug straight into the amp. Prior to this you will need to spend some time alone with your amplifier and find the sound that suits you. Hopefully it is a Marshall or a Vox or a Messa Boogie etc. either way, always keep a foot switch that came with the amp or purchase one separately and make sure it works with that amp. You can plug it in and switch between clean tones and distortion. Remember, THE SHOW MUST GO ON!
Tone and effects and such.
So what we haven’t discussed is tone and setting up volume initial settings. Here is the thing. If you have Bass, Treble, and Mids on your amp (and most quality amps do) that will set your tone. It will however color your sound.
Try setting your Gain volume to about 1/4 of the way up then gradually turn up the Master volume knob. The Master volume knob will most likely be a bit higher then the gain but that’s ok. Bring the gain knob up slightly as well to join the band. Pedal volumes are generally set at about 12:00 o’clock. Keep in mind some pedals have a higher output with volume so you’ll have to get to know your system.
Yes, you got into this to be a guitar player, but now you also need to be a sound engineer. Make it big, then you won’t have to do this stuff anymore. But in the meantime, this is who we are.