Do You Set Your Amp To Sound Best With Tele's Volume/Tone "Dimed"?

[Brent Hutto]

Same here. I never felt a treble bleed would be useful for me. I like my guitar to get brighter as I turn it up.

Those who like them often will say they don’t like how they “loose” tone (or treble) when they turn their guitar down. I see it as “gaining” treble and cut when I turn my guitar up.

I also like my volume control to be usable in both directions, rather than have it ONLY cut volume.

The “cut” thing you’re talking about, is that mostly the sound in the upper registers? Like when you’re playing a lick, that’s on the top three strings above the eighth or ninth fret is when that turning up the volume knob really intensifies the sound.

 

[JustABluesGuy]

The “cut” thing you’re talking about, is that mostly the sound in the upper registers? Like when you’re playing a lick, that’s on the top three strings above the eighth or ninth fret is when that turning up the volume knob really intensifies the sound.

My point was that I don’t ever think of it as a cut. I think of it as a boost. I’m not sure about the exact frequencies boosted, but it is brighter, crunchier, and cuts through better when rolled up, and then sits in the mix when rolled back. So upper mids and treble?

This seems to work more easily with a tube amp. Some solid state amps don’t seem to do the edge of breakup thing as effectively.

 

[cousinpaul]

I've got different approaches for different songs. For example, I might want extra volume to bring softly picked passages up into the mix. My whole rig is geared toward the widest possible dynamics. I kid around that I set up loud, dirty, and bright but it's not far from the truth.

 

[schmee]

Never got using guitar volume to change tone. Surely adjusting the volume to change the tone just ends up with the right tone much too loud or much too quiet? Is the method to get the tone right via the volume and then adjust the amp volume?

A volume control effects the tone control on guitars. They are interactive to some extent, just like what value pot you use for the volume control effects the tone pot.
A dimed volume will make the tone a hint brighter. Just a tad though. So it can be a bit like an added feature if you like it.

 

[Phil UK tele]

I never play with the volume knob turned all the way up to ten - I find it useful when playing a full set to have something in reserve in case a song needs it. (Though I have started using an EQ pedal to get a clean boost for solos, something I wish I’d discovered years ago).

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

Its a moving target. Tone that is. Do you set your dials for the front pickup, or back? Do you set it for the volume wide open, or not? Does it all change when you step on a pedal, or no?

All these things are very subjective and I don't think there is any 1 approach to any of it. What is objective fact...is that everything effects everything else. Anything that changes in the signal chain re-calibrates the whole signal and changes the end-results.

So for me the key is small steps in minor gain-stacking to achieve the result I am looking for without having to go from A straight to Z. That way as the musical piece requires me to be louder, more present, more breakup, or anything else I have stages that keep progressively changing but keeping my original tone intact as much as possible.

 

[Gaylord Amsterdam]

One thing I thought of that may be given folks some trouble is cap values, I've found that I get the best results with smaller cap values, larger sweet spot and that makes it easier to dial in. YMMV though just a thought.

 

[4pickupguy]

Yes, my guitars don’t have tone controls. I turn my Fuzz Face or Rat with my post drive compressor/boost on and set the volume to lead level. Everything else from there is subtractive. Tends to creep up/down a bit until we settle in.

 

[Wrighty]

A volume control effects the tone control on guitars. They are interactive to some extent, just like what value pot you use for the volume control effects the tone pot.
A dimed volume will make the tone a hint brighter. Just a tad though. So it can be a bit like an added feature if you like it.

Cool, I’ll experiment next rehearsal, thanks! I’m not sure that all this works best at the sort of volumes I seldom reach.

 

[Brent Hutto]

Can a Telecaster sound bright and dark at the same time?

I've been enjoying my new way of playing, not keeping the guitar's Volume and Tone all the way up all the time. And I've kind of settled into a darker sort of tone rather than boosting the Treble back up with my amp EQ. Not the stereotypical Tele twang for sure.

Today I put a capo on the 5th fret while learning an A-minor fiddle tune. A lot of times capo'ing up like that will give a bright, ringing tone and I was getting some of that. But in a strange way the sound stayed really dark at the same time it was bright and ringing.

Words don't really work to describe tone but that's the best I can come up with.

 

[bblumentritt]

At the moment I've got some pretty satisfying knob settings (Gain/Volume/Bass/Mid/Treble/Presence) on my Katana's "clean channel". Haven't really tweaked it much for at least a couple months now. I keep the Master Volume where it's not too loud in my music room, especially important when my tinnitus flares up.

But those settings work nicely with both knobs on my Telecaster turned all the way up. I pretty much never use the guitar's Volume and Tone because they quickly get too quiet or too dark, given the way my amp is set.

I saw an interview with Julian Lage that touched on how he uses his Telecaster. For starters, he said he "never" switches away from the neck pickup. Not sure he literally meant never or just that he uses the neck 99% of the time. I'm pretty much the same way. My whole reason for buying a Tele was based on liking how the neck pickup sounds.

But he also mentioned that most of the time his standard Tone knob setting is rolled back very slightly, just a little less than fully open. And he works the Volume knob to influence his tone and dynamics. He specifically mentioned there spending a lot of time with it "between 8 and 9". So I get the impression he doens't often turn either knob all the way up when he's playing.

Do you think it's worth me trying to find a slightly tweaked amp setting that sounds good with my knobs set to, let's say, Volume on 8 and Tone on 9? That would make the whole thing a little loud if I ever (briefly) bumped them both all the way up but I could have a little fine-tuning control by working that Volume knob up or down a little.

How do most Tele players set up their amps? Knobs dimed and just leave a little extra brightness and loudness that you can back away from as needed? Or knobs down a little so you can get either louder/brighter or quieter/darker by going both ways?

I like to dime the amp, and use the Tele's volume and tone controls. Leo, and Roy Buchanan, did it that way.

 

[JustABluesGuy]

I like to dime the amp, and use the Tele's volume and tone controls. Leo, and Roy Buchanan, did it that way.

My preference as well. Play the amp.

 

[fretknot]

High gain amp: Amp volume at 3 o'clock, or 7-8. Tone EQ set flat.

Blackface amps: Amp dimed. Bass & Treble at 5-6.

Silverface: Amp nearly dimed. Bass 5 Treble 3-4.

Tweed amps: 50-60% on the volume, unless I want dirt in spades. Tone (if exists) at 7.

Tele volume at 80%, or to edge of breakup for everything but solos. Tele volume dimed for leads.

 

[Theiglupickin]

I didn't read all the responses but I set up my DRTM amp for the breakup level I want for solo's etc and then dialed back the volume on my Tele it which cleaned it up considerably for rhythm etc! Once set, I used the attenuator to dial in the max volume overall! Did a short gig without taking my pedal board that has my overdrive, boost etc and this worked out very well! The DRTM does a nice job of working like a real tube amp in that putting the volume around 5-6 (depending on the level of breakup desired) does give a rather natural overdriven sound without getting too fuzzy! Adjusting the overall volume using the attenuator is a HUGE advantage so I can get the sounds I want without piercing my ear drums in the process. A nice way to get what you want when not hauling extra pedal gear around. For what its worth!

 

[tlsmack]

Different guitars different settings for me. I know people complain about loss of treble when volume is turned down, but I never met a tele that could not benefit from a little warmth. My area T's sound just fine around 6 or 7. Then the volume knob is like a clean boost at my finger tips.

 

[JustABluesGuy]

The “cut” thing you’re talking about, is that mostly the sound in the upper registers? Like when you’re playing a lick, that’s on the top three strings above the eighth or ninth fret is when that turning up the volume knob really intensifies the sound.

Sorry I missed your post.

With my rig it acts almost like a treble boost. Without a treble bleed circuit, it gets brighter as you increase the volume. You also get more crunch, and depending on how much headroom your amp has left, you also get a bit of volume boost along with the treble and crunch boost.

Every rig is different, but should work in a fairly similar manner.

 

[Tone Quest]

Guitar volume on 8, tone on 7 gives me the sound I like.

 

[The Eggman]

I tend to think about this from an opposite perspective to most people - I see the inevitable treble spike that you get from running the vol/tone all the way up as an 'impurity' caused by the inherent limitations of the archaic passive circuitry, rather than an intended and desirable characteristic of the sound.

In other words, when you back off these controls to soften/flatten the treble spike in the output you're feeding a much more balanced tone through the amp's circuitry and I've always found I enjoyed the results better dialing the amp in fro there. you can then utilize the extra treble potential from turning these controls up as a kind of "presence boost" on top of what's already dialed in on the amp if you need it.

I found that running vol/tone on 10 all the time always meant I ended up trying to compensate for that harsh treble spike in my approach to EQing, which usually meant the tone was being dulled too much too late in the signal path for it to be effective. By simply reducing the spike in treble before it hits the amp you can actually open up the treble/presence controls on the amp quite a bit more allowing for an overall brighter and more articulate tone without the ear fatiguing ice-pick tone.

Also, even if I could get the amp right with the guitar vol/tone maxed out it essentially meant I was locked into a limited selection of preset tones from the toggle switch. It's all a bit more fluid than that, dialing things in the way I do it now. Especially on a les paul type guitar with separate vol/tone controls per pickups - but even a telecaster. Previously, I thought telecasters were too bright and brash and incapable of doing any real good mellower tones - now I understand just how versatile they really are!

 

[SteveGangi]

I run mine almost "maxed" but not dimed. I want a little wiggle room, to get louder or softer, depending on what's going on.

 

[Brent Hutto]

I tend to think about this from an opposite perspective to most people - I see the inevitable treble spike that you get from running the vol/tone all the way up as an 'impurity' caused by the inherent limitations of the archaic passive circuitry, rather than an intended and desirable characteristic of the sound.

In other words, when you back off these controls to soften/flatten the treble spike in the output you're feeding a much more balanced tone through the amp's circuitry and I've always found I enjoyed the results better dialing the amp in fro there. you can then utilize the extra treble potential from turning these controls up as a kind of "presence boost" on top of what's already dialed in on the amp if you need it.

I found that running vol/tone on 10 all the time always meant I ended up trying to compensate for that harsh treble spike in my approach to EQing, which usually meant the tone was being dulled too much too late in the signal path for it to be effective. By simply reducing the spike in treble before it hits the amp you can actually open up the treble/presence controls on the amp quite a bit more allowing for an overall brighter and more articulate tone without the ear fatiguing ice-pick tone.

Also, even if I could get the amp right with the guitar vol/tone maxed out it essentially meant I was locked into a limited selection of preset tones from the toggle switch. It's all a bit more fluid than that, dialing things in the way I do it now. Especially on a les paul type guitar with separate vol/tone controls per pickups - but even a telecaster. Previously, I thought telecasters were too bright and brash and incapable of doing any real good mellower tones - now I understand just how versatile they really are!

That is a great explanation of what I‘ve been finding after living with this approach for a few weeks now. It’s like taming that “spike” always makes my entire amp EQ setup squirrelly.

I only run my default Volume and Tone around 9 now. Not rolled off so much as “not quite dimed”. It’s let me come up with two amp presets I really like. One smooth one with flat EQ and low gain, the other a little more forward EQ and a bit of crunch.

Both of the presets get strident when I max the Volume but like you say I can do that for an added effect any time I like.