I usually play with my guitar volume knob all the way up, and control the volume with

[monty]

the amp or the POD. Is this not a good idea? Seems like this may be causing some unwanted distortion, even when playing with distortion.

[ZoSo58LP]

i do the same thing...i only lower my knob when i wanna get rid of gain instead of changing to clean channel.

[VooDu Valve]

same here...........

[mixsit]

I don't understand. Are you saying you would rather reach around to your amp to make changes during songs, or just don't make that many adjustments at all?
Wayne

[c7sus]

You actually play guitar???

Who knew???

I used to do that too. I read somewhere about 100 years ago how crappy stock pots on most guitars are, so I played wide open and used a volume pedal.

Lately though, I've been using the guitar volume pots, and after a good cleaning they respond pretty damned well.

When I was demo-ing a Blues Deville I could crack off some mighty feedback just rolling up the volume knob on the old SG.

Impressed the hell outta me, and I had 3 GC guys honking at me to knock it off!

[Lt. Bob]

I'm a wide open guy ......I rarely turn the git down .......I prefer to control the volume by how hard I pick. So I'll tend to have the git pretty loud so at those moments I need it, all I have to do is bear down.

[mixsit]

Originally Posted by c7sus

You actually play guitar???

Who knew???

Who, me?
I'm always tweaking more or less. (Or was. Not so active anymore.) Probably comes from working mostly in the fairly 'clean' end of the spectrum.
The only drag about some guitar volume knob changes is the loss of highs on some kits. (Gibsons mostly here. They do that.)

[c7sus]

No. Monty!

[monty]

Originally Posted by c7sus

No. Monty!

Oh shit...I forgot...it's supposed to be a secret.

[monty]

Maybe it’s my pick-up. A used Seymour Duncan hot rails. Just doesn’t sound like I want. Or maybe it’s the amp I use to listen to the playbacks. I dunno…just can’t ever seem to get a sound I’m satisfied with.

[boingoman]

I don't like the sound of hot rails. Too, I don't know.....generic, kind of. And gobs of output, which may be overdriving the input of your Pod at full volume.

[c7sus]

You may also be getting interference from your aluminum foil hat.

[monty]

Originally Posted by c7sus

You may also be getting interference from your aluminum foil hat.

This is not possible as I ALWAYS connect it to a ground source.

[monty]

Originally Posted by boingoman

I don't like the sound of hot rails. Too, I don't know.....generic, kind of. And gobs of output, which may be overdriving the input of your Pod at full volume.

Maybe I'll put the stock pick-up back in it. I definitely like the clean sound of the stock pick-up better.

[Cyrokk]

Are we talking recording or playing live?

I leave all the guitar knobs full up when recording. Anything less just bugs me. For playing live, I tend to just work the guitar volume knob to get in and out of the way of the other players.

[foo]

I always use the volume knob wide open (except in one not very often used case). The reason is that you cut the amount of signal the amp (or wah or whatever you have before the input) has to work with - this significantly changes your tone, and the amount of distortion, compression, delay, chorus or whatever else you may be using.

I've found it works best (for me, anyway) to use a volume pedal in the fx loop and don't touch the guitar volumes at all.

The one case where I back off the volume control is when playing a 'jazzy' type sound - back of the vol on the bass pickup to about 6 and use the amp to give me the volume I want. It givews you a nice 'joe Pass' kind of warmth.

[TexRoadkill]

Are you basing your opinion on the pickups from playing through the Pod? The semi-clean tones on the Pod suck if that is what you are trying to get. It also doesn't respond to input gain as well as a real guitar preamp.

[fretmeister]

Originally Posted by foo

I always use the volume knob wide open (except in one not very often used case). The reason is that you cut the amount of signal the amp (or wah or whatever you have before the input) has to work with - this significantly changes your tone, and the amount of distortion, compression, delay, chorus or whatever else you may be using.

I've found it works best (for me, anyway) to use a volume pedal in the fx loop and don't touch the guitar volumes at all.

The one case where I back off the volume control is when playing a 'jazzy' type sound - back of the vol on the bass pickup to about 6 and use the amp to give me the volume I want. It givews you a nice 'joe Pass' kind of warmth.

Yes, backing off the guitar volume does change the gain structure and hence the tone especially the amount of distortion. If you're playing into a tube amp at the sweet spot or a well-designed overdrive pedal it will affect the amount of distortion. Back off for clean, increase for dirt. Any change in an analog gain path will affect the tone. For a clean tone on a humbucker I don't want the volume on 10. In a digital preamp like a POD, the final output stage or programming the volume pedal for output instead of input will have the least affect on tone, in my experience. A volume pedal in the effects loop of a tube amp would affect preamp gain if the loop is before the preamp or power amp gain if it is after the preamp. There's not a simple answer, since there are actually many combinations that will produce different types of tones. Once I'm set up, I use my guitar volume control, since usually when I want more volume I'm looking for a little more overdrive as well. It is very much a matter of preference.

[mshilarious]

For Gibsons you can replace the stock pots with 1M and/or add bypass caps on the volume pots. Check out guitarelectronics.com which is a really great site.

[Imaduck]

The only time I adjust volume on the guitar is if I'm using a guitar with indivual volume controls for each pickup. Then I like to keep the selecter in the middle and put the neck pickup at about 3 or 4 and the bridge at full to get a nice high-end sound for rock with just a little bassy influence (except with my Ric, I usually keep the neck pickup at like 8 with that guitar).

[c7sus]

Why are you using that damned POD anyway when you've got a mountain of vintage amps in your garage???

Plug that thing into the Bassman head you got a couple weeks ago and let 'er rip!!!

[monty]

Originally Posted by c7sus

Why are you using that damned POD anyway when you've got a mountain of vintage amps in your garage???

Plug that thing into the Bassman head you got a couple weeks ago and let 'er rip!!!

I can't actually use any of my gear. If I use anything it may wear it out, then where would I be? Huh? Huh? Huh huh?

[Imaduck]

Bassman heads sound like poo, that's why I sold mine. There are much better vintage tube amps out there, especially for that price tag.

[monty]

Originally Posted by Imaduck

Bassman heads sound like poo, that's why I sold mine. There are much better vintage tube amps out there, especially for that price tag.

$20? And I don't plan on playing guitar through a bass amp.

[Imaduck]

Oh wow hehe, I assumed you bought it off Ebay. I salute you for finding it at that price, now sell it.

I played mine while I had it for both and guitar and bass, neither sounded good in my opinion, but my buyer in France was willing to pay $500 (incl. shipping) for it, so I guess somebody likes their sound.

(No need to hate on playing guitar through bass amps either, some of the vintage bass amps sound hella-nice with guitars)