tone knobs vs pick ups

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:44 am

how much do you usually use your tone knob? most people i know rely solely or primarily on p/u position. this included myself for a long time. just curious

Post by **Mike** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:51 am

I use it a little on my Jag, rolling off a tad of the top end helps it marry up with my JCM800

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:54 am

are jags more trebley than teles?

Post by **Mike** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:06 am

A little bit I think, but I think it's the fact my amp itself is pretty bright. It's the nature of the beast.

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:09 am

ah, that makes sense. i'm used to peavey and fender. they can get bright of course. but i think the 'default' may be a bit less

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:26 am

Kind of silly to answer given that I'm using a 1 PUP guitar 95% of the time, but I have been playing my 335 quite often lately.

I like to keep my tone knob about halfway down and adjust the amp for a balanced response. Then I can get a good range of bright to dark on the guitar end, even with 1 PUP. The Dano has the tone switch as well, so I've got Bright/Full/Dark selection there. I really tweak it very often.

On the 335 I mostly use the PUPs to go from clean to distortion. The neck PUP is set bright and quiet, and the bridge is set louder and darker. I really only tweak the knobs if I want especially jangly cleans.

Short answer: I love my knobs.

the isaac eaton · Post by **the isaac eaton** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:42 am

Personally I tend to stay on my bridge pickup with the tone up. my guitar has a P90 in the bridge and that's the main pickup i use, occasionally i do change to the neck pickup on my guitar, but i have to run the neck pup with a booster, as the p90 has much higher output than a basic dano lipstick pickup. so I guess all pickup changing for me, I sometimes will also use the neck pickup as a trem, (its quiet so If i change back between the bridge and neck pickup it can make a kinda half kill switch sound) All pickup here, although the majority of the time i only use my bridge pickup.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:07 am

On the whole, I set my tone control all the way up, adjust to taste on the amp's EQ and use the dirt pedal's EQ to make it slot in nicely.

Mityushikha · Post by **Mityushikha** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:13 am

I use the tone control in conjunction with volume control on the guitar, I can't get the same result from the amp and neither pickup sounds at its best with both knobs on full.

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:33 am

Doog wrote:On the whole, I set my tone control all the way up, adjust to taste on the amp's EQ and use the dirt pedal's EQ to make it slot in nicely.

I pretty much do this.

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:43 am

lamp wrote:
Doog wrote:On the whole, I set my tone control all the way up, adjust to taste on the amp's EQ and use the dirt pedal's EQ to make it slot in nicely.
I pretty much do this.

+1

i use the tone control if i want to round out the sound a little or if i want that dark women tone kinda vibe.

Mityushikha · Post by **Mityushikha** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 10:26 am

Does anyone use an eq pedal? I'm looking at getting one instead of relying on the tone knob. I'm sure pre-amplifier eq-ing has a different effect to the eq on the amplifier and there are a few people that swear by using an eq pedal before and after distortion pedals. On the other hand, I almost never see this on professional setups or any others for that matter... it's probably something you do after fitting all your guitars with amber switch tips.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:12 am

Only time I use the tone knob on my Strat is when I want to be a dick and do the Hendrix-tonepot-flick-pickups-wah trick. Occasional rolling back of top end for teh stoner vibes through massive fuzz too but not often. Prefer trebly Albini vibe generally

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:29 pm

I turned my GOTH LES PAUL tone knobs into coil tap knobs so i can get a twangy single coil sound or blend it and get kind of a p-90 sond. way more useful than they were as tone knerbs.

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:14 pm

Mityushikha wrote:Does anyone use an eq pedal? I'm looking at getting one instead of relying on the tone knob. I'm sure pre-amplifier eq-ing has a different effect to the eq on the amplifier and there are a few people that swear by using an eq pedal before and after distortion pedals. On the other hand, I almost never see this on professional setups or any others for that matter... it's probably something you do after fitting all your guitars with amber switch tips.

eq pedals are great. i've only used the boss ones.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:28 pm

Sloan wrote:I turned my GOTH LES PAUL tone knobs into coil tap knobs so i can get a twangy single coil sound or blend it and get kind of a p-90 sond. way more useful than they were as tone knerbs.

genius.... Consider this idea stollen.

The only time I ever use my tone knobs is for sludgey melvins sounds, but usually my pedal and amp do the bulk of teh work anyway. I could easily live without tone knobs on any of my guitars.

Post by **dots** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 5:41 pm

i'm like mike: jag into marshall, so i've been rolling off the treble when using the bridge pickup. also been starting to use my neck pickup more often with that guitar, really diggin it.

tone knobs vs pick ups

Knob/Pickup

tone knobs vs pick ups