A couple tone questions....

[Pmaurer]

I'm a complete anal tonal freak...I think I've got a tone nailed down and then the more I hear it the more I want to try and tweak it even more...it must be some kind of sickness...anyways. Since I've never played up on a stage before I've wondered a few things:

-When you're playing without a mic-to-amp setup, do you need to really pump the volume on the rec in order for everyone to hear it? Doesn't this in turn make your tone all trebly?

-Do settings on the amp change once you have a mic-to-amp setup in order to reflect the tone you started with?

-I've found an awesome tone that I absolutely love (reflecting my favorite band, Chevelle's tone) but I think it is at too low a volume that you'd never hear it over drums and a bass during a show...is there any way to be able to pump up the volume of these exact settings without changing any qualities of the tone? (it's been my experience that when you increase the volume on an amp the tone has more treble added to it.)

I'm getting a BBE Sonic Maximizer for the holidays....I'm interested to see how this will change my current tone as well!

 

[pgrudge]

Hey! I think i have the same tweak-disease. I kindof like it though, so i guess it's more of an addiction... :shock:

There's definately a change in the overall sound when raising the volume, but because the ears and brain works the way they do it's really hard to tell what really happens. I work as a recording tech in a studio and i can tell you that the room you're in has a big impact on your sound. If you're going on the road with your settings, here's what to do:

Mic your cab up at home and tweak by listening to that microphone in headphones in another room. Use a soundcard or a mixer or something so that you get a volume control, and be careful with your ears! This way you'll not only find your sound, but also the correct placement for the mic. Use a SM57 if you have one, cause that's usually what any venue can provide...When you find the sweet spot on the sweetest speaker in you cab mark it up with a little piece of tape... Try the mic straight on, but a little off center! Now tweak your settings at the amp volume that you need and be thorough. When you're done you'll know that you'll sound great mic'ed through a PA. If you're a real nerd like me you'll make a mix in the headphones with something similar to what the rest of the band sounds like, and your tone, now blend in or stick out, whatever you want! Write your settings down..

If you don't have the stuff to do this. Buy 1 hour of studio time and have a pro mic it up and mix it with a recording of something else while you tweak.

For me the results is a slightly bassier sound than would normally want. Not too bassy so that it sounds weird...just a little bit. When i get to a new venue all i have to do is make sure the micplacement is what i tweaked my settings after and i'm good to go!

Good luck, and happy tweaking!