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Thread: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

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    Forum Member kaicho8888's Avatar
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    Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    If you happen to use somebody else's amp at a gig, how do you adjust the amp. Is it the same method if you were adjusting your own amp to suit the venue?

    Using an amp that I'm not familiar with:
    • I start off with zero everything.
    • I set the treble, mid, and bass to 6.
    • With my guitar volume to 7.5 and the tone to 10, I turn the amp volume enough so I can tweak the amp's treble, mids, and bass depending on the venue. Then I add a little reverb for depth.
    • Next I slowly raise the amp volume until the preamp breaks the clean sound.


    I try to get a clean sound if I pick the strings lightly; and if I pick harder (for solos) the amp compresses. If I need more volume I can raise my guitar volume.

    With consideration to the audience, I try to minimize the adjustment time; play one open string slowly and don't play riffs (warm up with the amp volume off or very low).


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    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    i set every thing on the amp to the middle of it's sweep and tweak from there. too bright? or not bright enough? too loud? or not loud enough? doesn't take very long. i leave the guitar full up.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    I just go with adjusting volume. I don't tend to mess with others' amp setting. usually sounds better than what I would have adjusted it to anyways. And saves a hell of a lot of fretting and overthinking.

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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    Everything on Ten. I use the Club Manager to tell me when to turn it down.

  5. #5
    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    Using somebody else's amp is a nightmare of mine. Mainly because most folks amps have too many knobs and switches. I'd never be able to figure it out.
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    Forum Member thegeezer's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    I agree with Kap'n, unless I have spent time on a model I am familiar with I dread using a strange amp although sometimes it's a pleasant experience.

  7. #7
    Forum Member Custom 5's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    i had a recent gig where i was told not to bring any amps. we had to play through the back line that was provided. now, i'm an old tube amp guy so, when i was confronted with the site of a Line 6 Flextone, my innards started to shudder. not wanting to get an on-site education digital amps, i went for a preset and adjusted the tone. it worked.

  8. #8
    Forum Member Doc W's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    I always play with the amp pushed a little and thus the volume is always the same. The sound man can adjust the room level through the board. I don't change settings very much. I usually play with all tone controls (treble, middle, bass) up fairly high (8-10) although I have been backing off on the trouble lately. People tell me that old guys who have been playing too long can't hear the highs, so I turn that down more than I like.

    In general, I don't mess with it much and I always set up and check the sound way before stage time, if possible. If it is not possible, I just make sure my volume is good with a very short burst. I also don't use any pedals except for a bit of delay and I always set that the same so I don't need to play with it.

    I played with a guy once who used tons of pedals and screwed around endlessly while setting up. Finally, I told him to jot down the settings he liked and start there next gig. He did and the next time we played, he didn't change anything after dialing in what he had at the last gig. I couldn't believe he had not thought of that before. Good player but a little dim.
    "The beauty and profundity of God is more real than any mere calculation."

  9. #9
    Forum Member Custom 5's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc W View Post
    I played with a guy once who used tons of pedals and screwed around endlessly while setting up. Finally, I told him to jot down the settings he liked and start there next gig. He did and the next time we played, he didn't change anything after dialing in what he had at the last gig. I couldn't believe he had not thought of that before. Good player but a little dim.
    not to stray too far from the op but, i made a compartment under my pedal board to stow my cords and stuff. in the past, i'd just toss them in on top of the pedals and close it up. what happened was, the cords jostling around in there would change my effects settings and i'd have to futz with it before every gig. no more.

  10. #10
    Forum Member Doc W's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    custom, a lot of guys just use indelible marker to indicate their settings. If you use dayglo paint, you can even set them in the dark.
    "The beauty and profundity of God is more real than any mere calculation."

  11. #11
    Forum Member thegeezer's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    I find every time we have a job I am tweaking my amp. There are a lot of variables like hearing for that night, room sound, how many people are there in the club and other miscellaneous stuff. I use to expect everything to sound the same job to job but I have learned stuff changes.
    Last edited by thegeezer; 09-04-2009 at 08:47 AM.

  12. #12
    Forum Member Rickenjangle's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    Quote Originally Posted by Kap'n View Post
    Using somebody else's amp is a nightmare of mine. Mainly because most folks amps have too many knobs and switches. I'd never be able to figure it out.
    LOL and this from a guy who BUILDS amps!

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  13. #13
    Forum Member Doc W's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    geezer, I have been playing so long my hearing can no longer pick up subtleties. I am not sure it ever could. Maybe this is a bonus because it saves me from tweaking. If it is loud enough for solos and in the ball park for everything else, I'm ok!
    "The beauty and profundity of God is more real than any mere calculation."

  14. #14
    Forum Member thegeezer's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc W View Post
    geezer, I have been playing so long my hearing can no longer pick up subtleties. I am not sure it ever could. Maybe this is a bonus because it saves me from tweaking. If it is loud enough for solos and in the ball park for everything else, I'm ok!
    You are probably right but it's always close to the same and My ears are close to 60 so I might be imagining sounds.

  15. #15
    Forum Member refin's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    Lately I've been using a Classic 30 and an old Boss BE-5 pedal.I use the C30 clean channel and set the tones up not too twangy but present (using a tele and strat most of the time).I set the pedal up for slight drive,and use the compressor mostly when playing slide.The only thing I usually touch on my amp is the volume.
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    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    Set the guitar to 7, set the amp tones to about 4 and turn up the amp until it just begins to break up. If it's too loud I drop the treble.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  17. #17
    Forum Member Totally bored's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    I usually show up 20 minutes prior so I don't have that luxury to be fiddle-ing with amp knobs. Load in, set up, Get a beer and lets do it !


    I'm lucky if I remember to tune the guitar.


    I'll adjust accordingly after something sounds like crap.

  18. #18
    Forum Member Coque's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    Quote Originally Posted by Custom 5 View Post
    i had a recent gig where i was told not to bring any amps. we had to play through the back line that was provided. now, i'm an old tube amp guy so, when i was confronted with the site of a Line 6 Flextone, my innards started to shudder. not wanting to get an on-site education digital amps, i went for a preset and adjusted the tone. it worked.
    That happend to me four years ago at an outside gig. It was a Line 6 Flextone II head with a 4x12 cab. I set it to clean and my pedalboard came to the rescue.

  19. #19
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Enlighten us on how YOU adjust your Amp at Gigs

    I turn down the pre-amp volume (it's always too high), raise the master and play 'da bluze!

    If something sounds horrible I'll tweak it on the fly.

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