balancing levels between different guitars.

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:15 am

hey all, not been on much recently, got a little free time so thought i'd ask this.

i switch between my tele and my les paul at gigs and have the problem of mis matched levels. all if fine and dandy when i have the les paul going, but the level drops a lot when i switch to my tele. i'm fed up of then going over to turn it up and having to turn it back down when i realise it's too loud when i go back to the les paul.

i'm thinking of either getting hotter pickups for the tele (which i'd rather not do) or a seymour duncan pickup booster pedal. i have a saltbooster, but it's not clean enough for what i need.

any other ideas? cheaper options?

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:19 am

What I do when I swap between my DIY strat which has vintage style low output pickups and my JJ with Dimarzios I just set the amp up for the strat then when I play the JJ, I just turn the volume down on the guitar. That way I have continuous control over the output of the JJ, plus all my pedals sound better going through the slightly overdriven AC30.

You could always use an EQ pedal to cut or boost one of your guitars, also means you can tame annoying treble from fender style guitars that would be boosted for the les paul.

Thats just my opinion though

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:09 am

Progrockabuse wrote:i have a saltbooster, but it's not clean enough for what i need.

any other ideas? cheaper options?

MXR Microamp. Can be had pretty cheaply on ebay. Awesome cleans.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:41 am

Electro Harmonix Signal Pad. As far as I know, it's completely passive, just giving you an extra predetermined volume control that you can switch in, and it's also supercheapz at only Â£30 brand new from most places.

Post by **Doog** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 11:59 am

I'd just try lowering the pickups in the LP a little, and raising the pickups in the Tele a little- hopefully it wouldn't make too much of a difference to make your gain pedals react differently.

Failing that, you could also make a little passive volume attenuator for the last position on your pedalboard to just cut the volume for the LP slightly. Stick a footswitch in that motherfucker and you've got a classy and simple solution.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 3:08 pm

A passive attenuator is the same as turning the volume knob on your LP down a notch.

aen · Post by **aen** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 3:14 pm

Lol @ passive attenuator. It's a volume knob.
I would probably go for a cleaner clean boost for tele time, especiLly if your pushing dirt pedals or amps. Also I think on the saltbooster if you lower the value of the resistor on the collector leg of the tranny you will get less crunchy/gainy. I assume this because if you increase the resistance there from stock you get moar dirt.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 4:29 pm

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Haze · Post by **Haze** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 4:45 pm

A pedal that sounds better when its off... hmmm...

samuelcotterall · Post by **samuelcotterall** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 6:18 pm

mrperson wrote:You could always use an EQ pedal to cut or boost one of your guitars, also means you can tame annoying treble from fender style guitars that would be boosted for the les paul.

+1

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:14 pm

Problem is all EQ pedals sound horrible. Sometimes that's useful, but I assume you'd want the quieter guitar to sound good for at least some of the time.

Post by **Doog** » Thu Jun 03, 2010 9:51 pm

timhulio wrote:A passive attenuator is the same as turning the volume knob on your LP down a notch.

True, but with a footswitch attached it is now a PRESET VOLUME LEVEL!

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 7:14 am

Just turn the volume knob when you chance guitars innit.

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:00 am

that would be simple, but the les paul goes very dark and muddy when you turn it down. i need to rewire it with higher value pots and better caps.

correction, i'll get someone to do it for me. solder and me are enemies.

Post by **Mike** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:03 am

No, turn the amp up or down. I don't see why this needs a gadget - is it really that much of an issue?

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:12 am

i just don't like pissing around with my amp mid gig. the controls on the tweed are fickle enough as it is.

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:57 am

Progrockabuse wrote:i just don't like pissing around with my amp mid gig. the controls on the tweed are fickle enough as it is.

If turning a volume knob is too much hassel for you try louder pups

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:10 am

timhulio wrote:
Progrockabuse wrote:i have a saltbooster, but it's not clean enough for what i need.

any other ideas? cheaper options?
MXR Microamp. Can be had pretty cheaply on ebay. Awesome cleans.

I'd go this route as well.

As Mike had mentioned previously (I think), a truly transparent clean boost is not as easy to build as one might believe, but I think the MXR Microamp is one of the flatter/cleaner boosts out there, much more so than a SHO or LPB1. If you volume knob won't suffice and you want a booster to do the job, then get the MXR. The SD SFX-1 ain't bad either, especially if you keep it on setting "0".

Surprisingly enough out of the entire Moollon line (if I may toot the company horn for a sec), the Signal Boost has received some of the best raves for being a truly transparent boost.

Of course, no offense to the Dwarfcraft Devices Plane Ticket, which does an excellent QUIET BOOST.

(See 2:14)

[youtube][/youtube]

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:07 pm

my amp is set up for a nice crunchy classic rock sound when the paul is plugged in. switching to the tele, the crunchy becomes a light o/d. i want that same kinda level of crunch, but from my single coils.

just been playing around with my saltbooster/looper and find that if i back my tele's volume off to 9/8 and up the volume on the saltbooster, i can get the cleaner boost i'm looking for. gonna see how this fares at practise.

Post by **Doog** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:24 pm

Just out of interest, why do you use the two guitars if you're wanting them to sound that similar?

balancing levels between different guitars.

balancing levels between different guitars.

Re: balancing levels between different guitars.

Re: balancing levels between different guitars.