Regarding the Anti-Diming Movement

Something I have noticed lately....

I hear a lot of great guitarists...one that recently captured my ear is Jason Hook of 5FDP. However, after checking out his rig, he basically carries a complete rack mount studio along with him...lot's of Line 6 rack mount stuff. Don't get me wrong, I dig his lead tone, but that's tough to replicate for a single guitarist without a van and a road crew.

Back in August, I visited Don Felder during a show in SoCal. He was still using a pair of Twin Reverbs, an OCD, two DD-3's and a CE-5.....that's about it!!!!
 
I have two "dirt" pedals that are really more reasonably clean boost pedals. I have a Boss BD-2 and a Way Huge Green Rhino. I use them mostly with the clean channel to overdrive the power tubes. I don't use a lot of the amp's gain. Depending on the amp I may prefer the drive channel. My Mesa TA-30 is one I use all the voices with no pedals. My Fender Hot Rod Deluxe has an OK drive channel but it's way better on the clean channel with a pedal. My Peavey Classic 50 has a horrible drive channel and one of the most amazing clean channels I've ever heard. I almost always use a bit of drive from a pedal with it.
 
RVA said:
I recently posted a video (in the recommend video section) about using your tone knob, etc., which inspired a discussion about keeping your controls at less than 10 to allow for additional flexibility, etc. and setting your amp controls to get your favorite playing tone at the reduced volume/tone levels. Let me say, that this seems exceedingly logical, I am on board and have begun to use this in my daily playing...BUT

Don't some guitars have a tone that is very different with the volume rolled off that cannot be duplicated by manipulating the amp's controls. I think that mini hums is a great example, but there are many such pickups with this unique characteristic. What do you do then?

ALSO, the pot you use will be much more relevant here. Since it is not dimed, it will be affecting your tone all the time, which makes tolerances, values, treble loss and degradation of the pot with age much bigger issues.

Thoughts?
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Personally, I set up my amp with the guitar volume somewhere around the mid point (5-6) to get edge of/slightly broken up crunch tones. Rolling back gives me usable cleans and rolling forward more saturation. I usually do the initial amp dialing with the tone(s) around 7-8 so if I lose a bit of glass going clean I can bring it forward with the tone and vice-versa, take the edge off when I push into more distorted tones.

My favorite trick with a Gibson is to put the pickup selector in the middle, both pickups on, bridge volume and both tones on 10, then control everything with the neck volume. You lose almost nothing of the high end rolling back the volume, and going higher is dialing in more of the neck pickup which smooths things out as you get more grind going. I find this the easiest gigging solution just to keep things simple, and I notice that most of the time I am between 3 and 5 on the neck volume without losing anything tone-wise.
 
gball said:
Personally, I set up my amp with the guitar volume somewhere around the mid point (5-6) to get edge of/slightly broken up crunch tones. Rolling back gives me usable cleans and rolling forward more saturation. I usually do the initial amp dialing with the tone(s) around 7-8 so if I lose a bit of glass going clean I can bring it forward with the tone and vice-versa, take the edge off when I push into more distorted tones.

My favorite trick with a Gibson is to put the pickup selector in the middle, both pickups on, bridge volume and both tones on 10, then control everything with the neck volume. You lose almost nothing of the high end rolling back the volume, and going higher is dialing in more of the neck pickup which smooths things out as you get more grind going. I find this the easiest gigging solution just to keep things simple, and I notice that most of the time I am between 3 and 5 on the neck volume without losing anything tone-wise.
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You "get" it....
 
RVA said:
Thoughts?
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I think anything that if someone tells you "you shouldn't do that" that is exactly what you should try.

Ultimately, whatever works for the individual or for the situation is fine, no matter how you got there.

There is no right way, no wrong way. The more tricks you have in your bag, the better

Edit: OK, playing AC/DC on the neck pickup is wrong. Complaining that distorted chords are muddy on the neck pickup...duh...you are using the wrong pickup for distorted chords. :p

Dave Sloven said:
Dimebag wouldn't have been able to get those harmonics with his guitar volume down low
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I can get pinch harmonics on an acoustic. And I suck. :hmmm:
 
Does anyone here own a pickup that sounds very different with the volume turned down?
 
mdubya said:
OK, playing AC/DC on the neck pickup is wrong. Complaining that distorted chords are muddy on the neck pickup...duh...you are using the wrong pickup for distorted chords. :p

I can get pinch harmonics on an acoustic. And I suck. :hmmm:
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Not Dimebag level pinch harmonics though, i bet ...

On the AC/DC on the neck pickup thing, my best mate's son got his first electric guitar the other day and I thought 'eww, that AC/DC song he is trying to play sounds dreadful though that amp' but then I noticed he was on the neck pickup. I had to run off but next time I will explain to him how the pickups work and why playing chords on the low strings through the neck pickup sounds rank ...

That said I was experimenting with playing some chords on the neck pickup last night for a new song, but it only works for very slow and deliberate doomy stuff and even then only certain chords (root fifth power chords sound bad, but I was doing root fourth octave chords).
 
Some of my more refined and experienced customers would have requests for tone pot's caps altered for volume cut on guitar controls and a cap on the volume pot as well. Their desire was to maintain treble clarity when rolling back on the volume. Often I'd install a pull pot for the volume to kick in the volume cap, or kill it as they chose.
My method of finding the right caps was simple. I'd attach jumper wires to the camp's terminals in the guitar and run em outside. Then various caps could be tested by the customer with his personal rig as well. Then he could decide which gave him the tone he sought. When satisfied, all were installed and their very individual tones they sought were preserved and my customers were well pleased.
 
Walks Backward said:
Some of my more refined and experienced customers would have requests for tone pot's caps altered for volume cut on guitar controls and a cap on the volume pot as well. Their desire was to maintain treble clarity when rolling back on the volume. Often I'd install a pull pot for the volume to kick in the volume cap, or kill it as they chose.
My method of finding the right caps was simple. I'd attach jumper wires to the camp's terminals in the guitar and run em outside. Then various caps could be tested by the customer with his personal rig as well. Then he could decide which gave him the tone he sought. When satisfied, all were installed and their very individual tones they sought were preserved and my customers were well pleased.
Click to expand...
So, assuming plenty of headroom on the amp, do you think that the change in tone occasioned by rolling back the volume is caused exclusively by the volume pot capacitance and the tone pot's cap which may be wired in connection with the volume output lug (as far as I know, this means most wiring that is not 50s style wiring)?
 
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;>)/
 
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