How much gain are you guys using for rhythm parts?

[Lampshade1973]

When you guys are jamming and gigging how gainy are you rhythm guitars? Ive been boosting for solos lately and keeping the rhythm gain lower but I find if I keep the gain down I cant just kick into a lick or whatever, just getting some feedback from the experts here...

 

[SFW]

At practice, I dial it in to where it is comfortable and then dial it back a hair to add punch. Live, I dial it into what is comfortable and leave it alone. I have found that I am using less gain In general lately. I find that the extra work has made me a better player.

 

[Dave L]

I don´t really have two different distorted tones live anymore, I go in and out of rhythm work and leads all the time and toggling between A and B sort of gets in the way and feels a bit clunky. I do have a volume pedal to control the amount of preamp distortion, though, and an expression pedal that scales both the total output level and the delay mix. Heel is lower volume and no delay, toe is full volume and full delay. It sort of helps me avoid those situations where neither A nor B feels right or sits good in the mix.

But yeah, the rhythm hits much harder if you have a bigger dynamic range available and need to play harder.

 

[screamindemon]

At practice, I dial it in to where it is comfortable and then dial it back a hair to add punch. Live, I dial it into what is comfortable and leave it alone. I have found that I am using less gain In general lately. I find that the extra work has made me a better player.

This ^

 

[cardinal]

Too much is not enough.

 

[rottingcorpse]

Too much is not enough.

You know,I am pretty sure I play with "too much" gain. Don't care. Sounds great to me. I don't max out the gain on most of the super high gain amps like the X2,Engl,Diezels,KSR,DARs,Langner800,etc....but the ULs rhythm channel is close to maxed. So is the 2203KK. But I don't boost my amps.

 

[8len8]

I run my DSL40 with the gain at noon. That means there's no headroom left to get a volume increase when using a solo boost pedal at the input, so I use an Unleash (I use the second channel as a solo volume boost).

 

[cardinal]

Too much is not enough.

You know,I am pretty sure I play with "too much" gain. Don't care. Sounds great to me. I don't max out the gain on most of the super high gain amps like the X2,Engl,Diezels,KSR,DARs,Langner800,etc....but the ULs rhythm channel is close to maxed. So is the 2203KK. But I don't boost my amps.

Yeah man, just play whatever sounds good to you. Lots of gain can get mess when stuff starts stacking up, and some times it's cool to change it up and play with less. Some days I just go straight into a JCM 800 with a SSS Strat. But sometimes it great to let it rip. Don't get self-conscious about where you point the knobs.

 

[garey77]

At practice, I dial it in to where it is comfortable and then dial it back a hair to add punch. Live, I dial it into what is comfortable and leave it alone. I have found that I am using less gain In general lately. I find that the extra work has made me a better player.

This

 

[RJF]

How much gain are you guys using for rhythm parts?

All of it.

 

[Racerxrated]

How much gain are you guys using for rhythm parts?

All of it.

Haha! Yeah, the only time I dial it back is to record, which hasn't been in years. But I dial as much as I can while still hearing good clarity with rhythm parts. Stays pretty heavy imo. The only change I might make live is turning up the mids.

 

[MrFlexx]

I was a high gain user for years but found that I got even better technique when I rolled down on the gain. So now I dial in as much gain as I need to play with comfort and then roll of just a bit for punch and clarity. When it's time to boost the tone a bit for solos I kick in the Xotic RC Booster or a Boss SD-1 (both on low gain settings)

 

[sleewell2]

we play hard rock and I use very little gain. its crazy how you set your amp when you are a noob vs after playing in bands for a bit and listening back to your live recordings. im still a noob and suck but now I just use less gain hahaha.

 

[tripstan]

Usually I use more gain for rhythm then solos. I like my Solo tone to be fat and sing, I like the mids cranked Treble and Bass at noon and the gain backed off. But with the rhythm gain higher I back off my guitar volume to 7-8 to get it more chunk/punch and adjust the EQ, usually scoop the mids a little bit.

 

[FourT6and2]

I use ALL THE GAIN!

 

[Zachman]

Depends on the selected amp, and the part's requirements. in other words, it varies.

Gain around 2 o'clock, turn down guitar volume for some things, and/or switch amps for others.

 

[mdc1mdc11]

we play hard rock and I use very little gain. its crazy how you set your amp when you are a noob vs after playing in bands for a bit and listening back to your live recordings. im still a noob and suck but now I just use less gain hahaha.

yes, when you listen to the recording you quickly realize..why the hell did I set that knob 7 or greater. Funny thing is that serious players when you listen careful have a much cleaner tone than you think.

 

[Rdodson]

I play a Bogner XTC, '97 (before the '04 gain increase) and if I'm running T on the resonance (preferred) then my gain on both channels is between 10 & 11 o'clock. If I'm running M on the resonance (depending on the needs of the situation, room, if I'm running my 1x12 instead of my 2x12) then I'll bump it up to 12 noon (increasing the low end decreases the gain in this circuit). But still, way less than most clips I hear.

 

[Badronald]

Very little actually.
I'm not a metal player. I ride my volume pot a lot to go through various gain stages in our songs. It's only recently that I'm using it all the way up because I have multiple channel amps these days.

 

[Mesa\Kramer]

Modded Marshall type gain for Rhythm
A touch more for leads