Singing lead tone (burn)

[jsabo]

How do you guys set up your burn channel for singing lead stuff?

The way I've got mine set now is great for crunchy heavy rhythm, but seems to be kind of lacking in the lead side of things. How should i set it differently?

 

[Don]

For lead playing on the Burn mode I like to use a guitar with humbuckers and turn the guitar's volume and tone down slightly (to about 8). That gives me a warm, fat, smooth tone. It's not something that I use very often but I appreciate being able to.

 

[ddmeburger]

How do you guys set up your burn channel for singing lead stuff?
.....

Out of curiousity, got a tonal reference point you're trying to emulate? And do you generally use single coils or humbuckers?

 

[jsabo]

i use humbuckers. getting a single coil equipped guitar. not sure how to describe exactly that sound im after, i just wanna try a bunch out til i find one that sounds right

 

[Newysurfer]

How do you guys set up your burn channel for singing lead stuff?

The way I've got mine set now is great for crunchy heavy rhythm, but seems to be kind of lacking in the lead side of things. How should i set it differently?

Gain above 12 noon anywhere
treble @ 11
Mid @ 12
Bass @ 10.30
Master above 11
Contour - on or off

The further you have the master up the better it gets :mrgreen:

 

[ifailedshapes]

It's been a while since I've used the Burn channel on my amp, so I don't remember the settings I used. Anyway, a while back I was playing piano for a church I play at sometimes (not my home church), and there was one song that really needed electric guitar much more than piano. I used my Strat into the Burn channel with an old Roland tape echo in the loop. The warmth of the echo really helped the sound.

What's my point? A nice warm delay will go a long way towards having an awesome lead tone.

 

[Bob Womack]

It might not interest you, but I'll try anyway: I use my crunch channel for singing lead. I like the way that its gain is lower and it allows more of a bloom of high frequencies at the head of the note. Settings: Gain above 12 o'clock, Treble around 4 o'clock, mids 10 o'clock, Bass anywhere from 7-12 o'clock, reberb 9 o'clock to taste, master per need, contour if needed to cut through.

Bob

 

[THE TUBENATOR]

jsabo, What genre and style of music are you playing? Give us more information and we can do a much better job presenting our ideas regarding amp settings to obtain the tone you are after.

 

[ifailedshapes]

jsabo, What genre and style of music are you playing? Give us more information and we can do a much better job presenting our ideas regarding amp settings to obtain the tone you are after.

Also, what type of guitar are you playing? What type of wood is is made of, and what pickups do you use?

 

[FXR]

One of the things I see in almost all of these posts after the tone stack is "use master to taste".

I find that to be pretty useless. If I gave you my tone settings for blues at night while talking to another in the room with others sleeping a room away, if you turned up the volume, you'd get mud and think I was nuts.

Then if I showed you my jam out setting for outdoors live, same thing. Then if I showed you jam out in the bedroom moderate volume, same thing.

Then if I said I use a strat with the volume on 1.5 to 3, most wouldn't be able to get down that low on the volume and say I was nuts again.

The placement of the amp in a room and the room itself, in my experience, make this an exercise in changing tone setting very difficult. I recently asked about a place to put tone settings so others could try them too, but since come to realize, it's hardly useful to most actually.

 

[jsabo]

i play a les paul standard... so mahogany i guess
i have a seymour duncan jb in the bridge and a SD 59 in the neck.

good rock lead tone with plenty of sustain... its rock soloing with a lot of blues influence. the blues channel wont get me to where i wanna go though

 

[ifailedshapes]

Ok, I was just curious whether your guitar sounded darker or brighter. I won't recommend particular settings, because we all hear things differently, but I will tell you how I would go about the process:

1) Set everything at noon. Mesa's sweet spots tend to be around this area. Turn Contour off.
2) Set Gain to taste. Don't go overboard here. Both Treble and Contour will add a lot of perceived "gain" later.
3) Set Treble to taste. This is the MOST powerful tone control! As Treble goes above noon, it overpowers the other controls and adds tons of gain. With that in mind, be conservative.
4) Scoop the mids a little bit, but not too much. Mids help the tone cut through a band mix.
5) Set Bass to taste. For what you want, keep the Bass pretty low. This is why so many people on hear say to trust your ears, not your eyes. It looks weird to see something set so low, but if the Bass is turned up too high, you will notice "flubbiness" to the sound.
6) Make sure all of the above controls are where you want them. This is the foundation of your sound.
7) Finally, Contour. This is basically the same sound as the graphic EQ on a Mark series amp set to the "Classic V" shape. This is a pretty powerful little knob, so be delicate with it. Extreme Contour settings can make the tone harsh and thin.

Lastly, remember the exact same settings will sound different in different rooms, with different guitars, and at different volumes. Also, tubes need to warm up. If you turn your amp on and start playing immediately, you'll be tempted to start tweaking knobs. As the tubes warm up, the tone will come back. Just be patient, and you'll eventually find what you're looking for. Also, don't be afraid to use a good boost pedal if you find that the amp isn't enough. Too many people think that if the amp alone isn't exactly what you want, then it's "not the right amp." However, most of your favorite artists use some type of stomp box to push their amp that little bit harder.

Hope this helps.