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

[MarkTinklenberg]

I would back down the volume and tone to around 3/4's and set the amp tone to compensate. I'd tweez them alot and use my picking pressure too.

 

[Brent Hutto]

I would back down the volume and tone to around 3/4's and set the amp tone to compensate. I'd tweez them alot and use my picking pressure too.

Speaking of picking pressure, that “spike” with the guitar knobs dined gets really harsh when my right hand gets sloppy and I dig in on that B string.

Which of course is on me but still…

 

[tigertail]

I set up the amp for a natural breakup, then have the volume around 8 and tone 7-8. I then tweak both volume and tone on the reg to achieve boost, bite, dynamics. I find for my taste, diming both knobs on the Tele is rarely ideal.

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

Nope.

But, it’s not a ‘fixed thing’ for me. I move things around all the time.

But generally, the vol and tone are backed off a little when I settle on something.

Pax/
Dean

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi again.

if I go crazy and flip the switch over to Bridge position

Careful now, strange things can happen with space and time when you do that

treble bleed …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.

Ditto.

It’s interesting how just reframing something can really shed light on it and / or bring a totally different perspective. Like this case, with adding vs subtracting.

Pax/
Dean

 

[dougstrum]

I set the amp up with the guitar at 3/4,
roll the guitar up or down as needed.

 

[JustABluesGuy]

Hi again.



Careful now, strange things can happen with space and time when you do that





Ditto.

It’s interesting how just reframing something can really shed light on it and / or bring a totally different perspective. Like this case, with adding vs subtracting.

Pax/
Dean

It’s all in one’s perspective, isn’t it.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

For country twang on the bridge pickup, yes. For jazz… Which is mostly what I play anymore… I do the opposite. I turn the amp of loud and roll back the volume and tone on the guitar until I find a sweet spot.

 

[gentrywhite]

Now throw a four position switch and the spectrum tone options expands even more.

 

[Willy-son]

What's this word "dimed" mean?

 

[Brent Hutto]

What's this word "dimed" mean?

Turned all the way up, i.e. "set it on 10".

Unless yours goes to 11.

 

[That Cal Webway]

No

.

 

[Solaris moon]

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 use it however I think it does depending on what song I'm playing at the time. But otherwise I play fully open. And I don't know what he means by "Never switching away from the neck pickup" but I think he means he never switches TO the neck pickup. I use both together and apart. What adjustments depends on what I feel - not what it may or may not sound like all the way up. It all depends on your own opinion of what you like or feel comfortable with. This applies to everyone. I can't decide for you. Just use your own discretion.

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

I guess it depends on which guitar I am using. On my Tele (fitted with EMG Active T set), I dime the volume and place tone at about 75%, rolling up the tone to 100% for solos. On my P90 Ess-Kwire (Eldred, and also my #1), which is passive, I end up running the volume just below peak, maybe 80-85% and rolling it up for solos. The problem is that sometimes I forget which guitar I am playing...