Amp set up for dummies

[dave]

Has anyone come across a straightforward guide to getting the best out of an amp, that doesn't require a degree in electronics? Straightforward explanations of stuff like what the gain stage does that the drive stage doesn't, why the gain needs to be set lower than the drive, whether it matters if I put effects pedals between the guitar and amp, or in the effects loop, etc?
(Yeah okay, I'm stupid!)

[strat56]

Dave Hunter has an excellent book with this type of info in it. Unfortunately I'm not where the book is and I don't remember the name of it. Maybe someone else knows the name of it?

[tom]

since amps vary so much, i don't think there are any absolute rules. in general,

think of the gain or preamp volume as the controller of distortion the amp makes, and the master volume as the loudness control. there is always some amount of each involved. a good starting place is setting the gain high enough so that if you hit the guitar real hard you start to get some breakup but clean when you play lightly, then adjust the master to the desired volume. if you want the amp to be really clean then you'll back the gain down a bit from that point. there will usually be interaction between these two controls so you just have to listen and experiment.
in general, if your amp is not too distorted, most pedals can go in front of it and do fine. if you are relying on the amp for all the distortion, you will probably want to put any time based effects in the loop. with gain pedals, don't be afraid to start with the gain set low, many pedals are capable of way more gain than you need. always try to compare things at equal volume because it has a big effect on the tone you hear.
don't be afraid to try things different ways, that's part of the fun.

[Ray K.]

Dave, you're not stupid, just perhaps not as experienced. Your questions are valid.

I have nothing against learning from a book, but the excellent advice Tom gave should take you a long way on your journey of learning more about amps.

I'd like to encourage you to give some of his ideas a try and then report back. You might have more specific questions then, that we could address.

I agree...have fun! :)

Ray K.

[entraind]

Forgive the length of this post, some of you may have seen it elsewhere, but it's a pretty cool primer from Steve Kimock on how he likes to set up amps.

It essentially says the same thing Tom was saying about setting up an amp so that you can get clean sounds by picking lightly and a little more growl when you dig in.

Not coincidentally, I have found TAG's to be guitars that are (to me) the most touch sensitive instrument to help you go from clean to mean with your pick (or finger) attack....

This is reposted from Kimocks discussion forum...

Steve Kimock on Dialing in an Amp

OK, how to dial up a Dumble? I do it the same way I dial up ANY amp, which begins by listenting to just the amp, not the guitar through the amp.

1. Plug in your guitar, turn the guitar volume off.

2. Turn the amp control off, everything all the way down.

3. Get right down next to the speaker.

4. Open up your post effect master 50-75%. Listen to the amp blow through the speaker, anything?

5. Open up the front master a little bit, listen to the blow.

6. Open up the gain to 1

7. Open up the tone controls to 2 or 3

8. OK, now you should hear something. Hissshhhhpopshhh etc.

9. Rotate the input volume. Listen, you'll hear when the control starts to respond. At different places around the rotation of the pot, you'll hear the amp come on.

Most volume controls exhibit similar behavior, but the exact place they start to become active varies with the individual pot, taper, value, and circuit.

The first sweet spot is where the amp goes from nothing at all happening, to a little blow that normally starts at a pretty high frequency and then begins to pick up a little volume and low end. Take note of that orientation of the pot and remind yourself that that setting is a threshold setting, on one side one behavior, on the other side a different behavior. With whatever voltage you get from the output of your guitar, backing off on your right hand touch or digging in should give you a little change in the way the amp responds. See where this is going? We're looking for settings that exhibit this threshold or touch-sensitive behavior. That first mark on your input volume is going to be almost ridiculously low, but don't discount it yet. If something is happening there, and the amp is telling you that it is, you can exploit it in combination with the other controls.

So anyway, you get a mark around 1 or 2, or between 8 and 9 o'clock chicken head time if that's your knob. Keep going. You should hear another change in the blow coming through the speaker at around 10 o'clock chicken head. This is a real sweet spot on the Dumble, and in a very narrow range around this spot are the only good overdrive tones when you stack the gain. Much past that is just fuzz box.

Keep going!

Up around 1 or 2 o'clock will be another location on the pot where if you sweep back and forth a little you will hear the characteristic oooh-waaa of one behavior of the amp above the spot and another below. This is the territory I do the majority of me clean playing in. I can back off with my right hand and be using a wonderful clean sound or dig in and get the amp to sing, not high gain mind you, but two different sounds.

Keep going!

Past 3 o'clock on my amp the sound doesn't change much but does pick up in volume. Some amps or maybe preamp tubes will actually go into oscillation at this point, and the volume will go down, so pay attention when you get to the higher gain stuff, to check to make sure the control is doing what you think it should.

Now pick anyone of these "threshold" locations and go through the same process with the tone controls. Listen carefully for the blow to change as you work each control through its rotation by itself and in combination with the other controls. You might be surprised what you learn.

This approach will let you know when the amp is "doing something". Regardless of tube type or guitar, etc... the amp can't hide from this kind of scrutiny, and it can't lie to you either, so do it, and center your efforts in those areas where a little voltage swing from your guitar will move the amp around a little.

OK, that having been said, remember that the controls don't always do what they say they do. Volume adds bass when you turn it up, adds trebble when you turn it down, with the bright switch on. Trebble adds gain, mids don't work without bass, deep switches lose gain. Check your bass control! For a lot of stuff, you can just turn it off. Wack your low E and advance the bass control to its first threshold and leave it. That should be plenty. For what it's worth, Garcia used NO bass, bass zero on his Fender amps. Pointing to the mid-range control, he told me "That's your bass control". He was right...

[Pietro]

One more important thing.

DON'T do all your tweaking by yourself.

DO tweak controls (you might need less bass) with the band.

[guitarzan]

A couple of good places to check out:

On my site, I attempt to answer some of these questions that baffle inexperienced gear sluts (because I, myself, was one not too long ago). And I try to make the illustrations unique as well.
www.TheToneChef.com

Here are some of the articles...
What is an effects loop? (http://www.thetonechef.com/what-is-an-effects-loop/)
What does a compressor do? (http://www.thetonechef.com/squash-squish-squeeze-the-compressor/)
Should I buy a combo or a head/cab setup? (http://www.thetonechef.com/which-amp-should-you-buy-combo-or-headcab/)
How to use the "4 Cable Method" (http://www.thetonechef.com/how-to-hook-up-your-m13-using-the-4-cable-method/)


Also, Robert Keeley has a pretty cool article on the order of effects (http://www.robertkeeley.com/faq.php#Effect%20Order) (stompbox style)

You can also check out the new blog on the Egnater Amps (http://egnateramps.com/wordpress/) site. Scroll down to any of the "Tech Notes" articles. Some of the stuff can get pretty technical, but Bruce has such a great hold on the electronics world and how it relates to guitarists.

[dave]

Thanks guys - that's really helpful and much appreciated.
I was a bit unsure initially about posting such a basic question, as I half expected to get a load of 'twiddle the knobs and use your ears, dumbo' type replies (which obviously I have tried, but felt it was proving to be a very slow process).

Again, many thanks!!