Les Paul settings

[starsky]

I played a Les Paul through a Mark III for 8 years, then I traded the Mark for a Lonestar. I can't seem to get the Les Paul "heard" when playing in my band. My Deluxe Strat was sort of the same at first, but I've found some settings which work. The Les Paul has been much tougher.

I'm thinking that I could maybe crank up the treble, mids, or presence all the way up, but the manual states that pushing anything above 3/4 of the way up starts to push that setting, what, like into distortion of some kind? That's not the right term, but basically cracking anything up all the way sounded like it was likely a sonic mistake according to the manual, in terms of the amp's design.

Anyone have some Les Paul advice?

 

[plan-x]

Generally I run my treble and presence up around 1:00-2:30. Anything beyond that does attenuate into clipping. I would turn up the treble and presence to taste and see how it sounds. That said, I'm runnig the Bass and mids at 10:00 and below. Sometimes off. The "Mid mod" can separate the tone stack so that the tone knobs only do there own frequency. So that you can totally turn off the Bass or mids. Mud in the lower end can kill ones mix.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Don't be afraid to zero the bass with humbuggies.
The Lonestar has a ton of bottom.

 

[djw]

All good suggestions above, and what works for you depends on what you're really after... lot of ways to get there. When I use my Gibsons I generally push my Presence up at least a couple of clicks above my Fenders, and my settings depend on where I am and how loud I'm playing. Onstage, usually I'll end up with my Presence at about 2:00. Treble is usually at 1:00 or lower, Mids and Bass are in the 11:00 range or lower (I run my mids about :30 higher).

The thing I try to keep in mind from the manual is: increasing Presence cuts compression, so you'll get a little more POP with that than with Treble, which adds significant gain and can make things even mushier. The manual is also correct when it says that the EQ knobs will have more and better effect if the gain is not cranked. There's way more gain on tap than one realizes at first, it's just not voiced in the same sort of sizzly hard rock zone that most high gain amps are.

Otherwise, it never hurts with beefy humbucker guitars to back off on your Gain & Drive and turn your VOLUME UP. You might be surprised at how much sustain you still get even with the preamp knobs at noon or less, especially at band levels.

 

[starsky]

Wow ... I am totally off from your settings, bass at 8 o'clock, mid 3 o'clock, treble 2 o'clock, presence 3 o'clock, and that's for the Strat. I'm also running through a single 12" cab, 3/4 closed back, with the 90 watt speaker.
I'll try pulling some of those back, and increasing the volume. I'd never thought about presence making things flubby.

 

[djw]

Wow ... I am totally off from your settings, bass at 8 o'clock, mid 3 o'clock, treble 2 o'clock, presence 3 o'clock, and that's for the Strat. I'm also running through a single 12" cab, 3/4 closed back, with the 90 watt speaker.
I'll try pulling some of those back, and increasing the volume. I'd never thought about presence making things flubby.

Forgot to mention, my amp has the "mid mod" on Ch2, which removes some of the flub in the lows. And again, this all depends on what you're after, my settings just work for me. Might be way different for you. Where are your gain & drive settings?

 

[plan-x]

Yeah, where's your gain at? I've never been able to run my mids that high,,,Whoa! As a matter of fact, we played on an outdoor stage at the fair this weekend and I ended up pretty much turning off my bass and mids altogether, let me look....hmmm, yup, mids off, bass 9:00, treble and presence at 2:00, gain 10:00. I'm pushing the gain down and ch/master up to get the cleanest head room possible. That's on a HSS Parker guitar. My LP's pups are so hot......(how hot are they?) that I dropped them down as far as they could go into the guitar. Now there is no distortion coming out on clean settings, just clean and full. I have dirty socks pups on that axe. Nasty hot pups.

 

[starsky]

Wow ... mid at 11, clears up the clarity by so much. Man ... much appreciation. Have only tried it in the band with the strat, though.

 

[Ultramog]

I've done fairly well working from the Pass the Sauce factory setting for Channel 2 -- mids are completely off. I'm going for overdrive that's sweet and sustainy but not lacking in bite for my McCarty with57/08s, which I think you could say is in the same ballpark as a LP with traditional Gibbo buckers.

That's Drive 9:00, Gain 2:00, Treble 2:00, Mid Off, Presence 10:00, Master 10:00. Smoothest with Tube Rectifier Tweed 50 watts. Add bite and low-end tightness with diodes, full AC and 100 watts. Add sustain with more drive.

 

[tle4]

I point the bass and treble at each other and the mids straight up with humbuckers. Teble 3:00 Mids 12:00 Bass 9:00 Presence between 11:00-1:00 Gain and Drive about 1:00. I also like to run it in 10 watt mode in the drive channel if I can.