You guys are all playing with way too much gain!

[petejt]

Yeah, my tastes are very differente from most guys around here, but I started here being a metal head, I loved (still do) metal and hard rock..... somewhere along the way my musical tastes changed (when I started writing music) but I already had a good atmosphere around here, I liked the folks and why leave?

I've had my share of guys pick on me but I don't mind I still find this place very cool to hang

Cool man. No one should feel they have to conform to be a part of this forum. Personally I prefer the New Wave-style of 80s stuff than the later 1980s hair metal and arena rock, but I enjoy the overall very positive vibe of this forum and like reading up on amps and effects, regardless of musical genre.

 

[rupe]

It's like saying a race car driver should drive a car that handles worse.

It's nothing like that at all...in fact its basically the opposite. Adding a ton of gain is the equivilent of adding "cushy" shock absorbers and isolating the driver from the road.

I dig all levels of gain when used properly to create cool tones (very subjective). There's plenty of both great and shit tones to be had using high or low gain.

 

[northern1]

I thought about going the less gain route seriously and like playing like that about 5-10% of the time so then I just decided to go with what works after 8 or 9 hall passes...

Ahhhhh....Soldano and a Les Paul!! Exactly what Im playing right now too. What do you have the gain at? lol
She really seems to sing but stays clear at around 3 for me. (volume @ 6 of course )

Doesn't seem to matter how I set it up puts a smile on my face every time, and to add I just installed the Golden Lion KT66's in the power section of my SLO and let me tell you well worth the cash.

 

[just42dave]

Here's some gain facts:
Reb Beach: OD100se+ (now uses the PT100) Gain on 10 on the amp, EMG pickups, SPC tone control and a boost pedal.
He has a job. He gets lots of jobs. He plays on more stages than most people here.
He plays well. more weller than most.

Shaddup...lol.

Mark

This!!
I love the sweeping generalizations that come about when gain is mentioned. Here is a little bit of info for all the coliseum players here . A tone either works or it doesn't.
You can use a shit ton of gain and have it sound like ass LIVE or you can actually know WTF you are doing, play with a shit ton of gain and have people come up to you after the gig and ask you WTF you were usingbecause they were loving your tone
The devil is in the details.

All IMHO......... YMMV and more then likely will

I use a mesa stiletto live gain maxed and when not wanted use this thing called a volume knob.. I have been told my tone is the best around so STFU!! I also like Mark Days damn tone.. i wouldnt use it on a jazzy song which is why we have frikin options...TGP is looking for swart 112 owners!!!

 

[just42dave]

Im just playing of course

 

[just42dave]

As stated earlier a compression session isnt the best for all things.. Choices is why I came to RT.

 

[Travis]

Generally speaking, I'm definitely not a high gain guy in the typical sense (do fuzzes count?), but I've spent a large amount of time around amps with ungodly amounts of gain and I can say a few things:

More gain means more compression (usually) and less dynamics. Unless you ride the volume knob and use a clean boost with the gain backed off a little bit on most master voume/gain amps, you're going to have a smaller window of dynamics. Very similar to a 40/50 watt amp dimed; boosts will just mush it up if the front end is too gainy/bassy.

Your hands and your volume knob are your dynamics. If you wanna jump out for a solo, play the solo like you're the only one in the band. Bury the drummer by making wood chips with your right hand, and beat the shit out of your guitar to make it gainier instead of relying on the amp. SRV sounds gainy as shit to me sometimes; because he plays with so much aggression in his right hand. This is also why his clean tones are so amazing; he knows how to play lightly to change dynamics regardless of the amount of gain. Robert Cray is like this too; it's much more clean, but still a huge range of dynamics. John Mayer is the complete opposite, where he uses pedals to change dynamics a lot with a clean amp. I don't think I've ever seen him go Jimmy Page with a Marshall and humbucker. Or with a copy of Nirvana's "Nevermind" for that matter...homeboy just doesn't like uninhibited rock and roll too much it seems.

And dynamics are really what makes music musical I think.

I practice with my guitar unplugged most of the time. I am very critical with my ear when doing this to make sure everything is clean and focused.

I'll buy you a beer if our paths ever cross. I cannot stress unplugged playing enough. Acoustic practice is even better! It's the most pure relationship you can forge with your instrument, but if you wanna just get drunk and play 'Shock Me' in your living room, by all means, use whatever gear makes you happy. Every amp has a purpose. I have a few reserved for events like playing KISS and Van Halen, albeit, those events are kinda rare.

 

[rupe]

Says the guy with a Marsha for his avatar

 

[twenty4_7spy]

I played unplugged for years as a teenager, not wanting to bother the parents. Plus I often played in the dark, after "lights out" in my household. I think it really made a difference - you hear nothing but pick/string/guitar. For a solid-body, I think this approach really makes you work harder and in the end you become a more dynamic player. SRV comes to mind, I bet he would have sounded awesome pounding away on his #1 unplugged

 

[steve_k]

I played unplugged for years as a teenager, not wanting to bother the parents. Plus I often played in the dark, after "lights out" in my household. I think it really made a difference - you hear nothing but pick/string/guitar. For a solid-body, I think this approach really makes you work harder and in the end you become a more dynamic player. SRV comes to mind, I bet he would have sounded awesome pounding away on his #1 unplugged

I played unplugged too quite a bit because my dad was an asshole.

 

[kasperjensen]

You know, I like The Dixie Chicks, John Mayer, MMMMMBop, Miles Davis, Brad Paisley, Deep Purple, Van Halen, Rihanna, Beyonce, Eminem, Alicia Keys, Andy Timmons, Marshall Tucker Band, Queen, Robbie Williams, Leona Lewis, Dolly Parton, Children Of Bodom, Nickelback, Rob Thomas, Tori Amos, Rascal Flatts, Bon Blow Me, Slash, Yngwie, Europe, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Jerry Douglas, Hed P, Skunk Anansie, Muse, Rolling Stones, Tower Of Power... And a whole bunch of other different artists.

I also like bone crushing high gain. Ridiculously loud. No one enjoys it but you. You can feel your teeth rattle.

I also enjoy a coarse singing sound like Robben Ford, or a sweet nest of lazy nourishment... Eric Johnson.

I also like Keith Richards. Playing and tone. He has something that no one on this board has. Or anyone I have ever met.

And Kurt Cobain.

And Gypsy Jazz. And Dubstep.

But who gives a wasted breath what I like, or what you like? It's not only personal, but it's also entirely subjective. Especially out of context.

 

[lolzgreg]

I love lots of gain depending on what I'm playing. I'm also not afraid of low gain. It depends on the material.

I generally raise my gain knob until I get a special kind of juice on the palm mutes that's just right.

 

[datriani]

You know, I like The Dixie Chicks, John Mayer, MMMMMBop, Miles Davis, Brad Paisley, Deep Purple, Van Halen, Rihanna, Beyonce, Eminem, Alicia Keys, Andy Timmons, Marshall Tucker Band, Queen, Robbie Williams, Leona Lewis, Dolly Parton, Children Of Bodom, Nickelback, Rob Thomas, Tori Amos, Rascal Flatts, Bon Blow Me, Slash, Yngwie, Europe, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Jerry Douglas, Hed P, Skunk Anansie, Muse, Rolling Stones, Tower Of Power... And a whole bunch of other different artists.

I also like bone crushing high gain. Ridiculously loud. No one enjoys it but you. You can feel your teeth rattle.

I also enjoy a coarse singing sound like Robben Ford, or a sweet nest of lazy nourishment... Eric Johnson.

I also like Keith Richards. Playing and tone. He has something that no one on this board has. Or anyone I have ever met.

And Kurt Cobain.

And Gypsy Jazz. And Dubstep.

But who gives a wasted breath what I like, or what you like? It's not only personal, but it's also entirely subjective. Especially out of context.

I'm like you, I like all types of music and try to play as many different styles to keep my personal style fresh and unique. To do so, I like having various levels of gain for each song or passage. I'm in a Top 40 cover band and we play wide range of music. When I joined these guys, I did some research because it had been some time since I've played consistently with a gigging band. I noticed that a lot of the local cover band guitarist would have 2 sounds; clean and uber distortion which I thought was distracting but that's probably coming from an overly critical guitarist in the audience..... At any rate, I play with what I consider to be the appropriate amount of gain for each song (via Egnater M4, T/D, Vox, COD, SL2).

Having said that, there are a few players out there that have a unique style, picking, vibrato, phrasing that can pull off any sounds/style with a lot of gain, like Mark (love your playing bro). We've all heard the story of how either Ted Nugent or Joe Perry (can't remember which one, been a while since I've heard the story) was on tour with EVH and he wanted to plug through his rig, thinking that was where he got his mojo but he sounded like crap. I guess the moral of the story is, it's all in your fingers and if you got it, you can make anything sound good.

 

[Flavatrocious]

This thread would be like going into a pub and saying, "you guys like too much beer"!

 

[Hail Satin]

Gain: Kinda like money, can't get enough of either...

 

[HerbieBoogie]

too much materialism

 

[Ventura]

The sustain without the gain concept...

No gain....no sustain !!!

Volume gives you sustain too

The right guitar and vibrato usually does it for me.

Wood and technique give natural sustain; compression gives amplified sustain.

Mo

 

[steve_k]

The sustain without the gain concept...

No gain....no sustain !!!

Volume gives you sustain too

The right guitar and vibrato usually does it for me.

Wood and technique give natural sustain; compression gives amplified sustain.

Mo

My wife says I have good wood....

 

[Ventura]

The sustain without the gain concept...

No gain....no sustain !!!

Volume gives you sustain too

The right guitar and vibrato usually does it for me.

Wood and technique give natural sustain; compression gives amplified sustain.

Mo

My wife says I have good wood....

Ditto.

Just depends if we`re dealing with stock head, or head stock really innit...

Mo

 

[Badronald]

Uh huh. Either you can play or you can't.