matching guitar levels in rig

[FALKEN]

hey all,

I have a question about how best to match up various guitars in a live rig. What I mean is, if I set up my gain, volume, pedals, etc for say a humbucking guitar and then switch to a strat, my volume on stage drops, the balance between clean/distorted shifts, tone of the amp changes (simply due to volume hitting it).

I want to even the output of every guitar that I will be using live. I can't be re-adjusting pedals and crap on stage. I have thought of three solutions:

-only use one guitar or one type of guitar live ever.
-changing volume pot values and other passive values in each guitar in order to reach similar output levels
-using a clean boost pedal in between guitar and rig with settings marked on it for each guitar. (boost the strat)

what do you all think? Was thinking #2 for a long time but now thinking a clean boost/cut pedal might just be the easiest/most effective.

 

[mrface2112]

maybe a volume pedal first in line? and a compressor at the very end as a limiter?

or maybe rolling back the volume knob on the "hotter" guitar?

or maybe having separate effects chains for the two guitars? or maybe just different dirt boxes for the buckers and strat?

everyone goes through this who uses different types of guitars on stage. it'll take some experimentation to get it right. my approach is a combination of all of the above.


cheers,
wade

 

[ocnor]

Another option is to use a rack FX unit in your FX loop. You could turn off the FX and set up separate patches with different levels for each guitar. That would be much more precise than fumbling around in the dark with a boost pedal. It also wouldn't mess up your front of amp gain stages like a boost pedal would.

 

[starbuck26]

When you're playing shows, don't they have your guitar miced? A slight drop in volume won't matter much. The sound guy will just bump it a bit.

 

[suprstar]

-only use one guitar or one type of guitar live ever.
-changing volume pot values and other passive values in each guitar in order to reach similar output levels
-using a clean boost pedal in between guitar and rig with settings marked on it for each guitar. (boost the strat)

One guitar - Maybe if your set consists of all songs in one key. That's impossible for me, I need 3 or 4 guitars at any given show. If you can get away with one, that IS the easiest solution.

Moving pots on guitars - I wouldn't, that affects the signal tone coming out of your guitar.

Boost pedal betw guitar & rig - It'd work. You can get a passive volume pedal where you can set the min and max volumes, so that all the way down (loud) is full blast, and all the way up (quiet) is 60% or whatever. If you got one of those, you could set the min level appropriately and be good to go without squinting at a dial in the dark between songs, during a guitar change, when you're already rushed.

Alternatively, if you're going thru a POD or a Boss GT-whatever or something similar, you could set up 2 groups of patches that are identical except the master volume, one set for each guitar.

When you're playing shows, don't they have your guitar miced? A slight drop in volume won't matter much. The sound guy will just bump it a bit.

IME the sound guy likes to get you dialed in at the beginning, then after a song or 2, he goes to the bar, out for a smoke, bathroom, etc.. I wouldn't count on a sound guy.

 

[Tadpui]

How about a clean boost as your first pedal in your chain? Then you only have 1 knob to worry about when switching from the hotter guitar to the quieter guitar. Something like that Seymour Duncan preamp thingie, the MXR boost, BBE Boosta Grande, and I think that EHX makes a clean boost.

You can set the boost neutral for your hotter guitar, and turn it up a bit for your single-coil guitar.

 

[FALKEN]

thanks for the suggestions, I'll check out those pedals.

Not really an efx loop kinda guy. Just a few stomp boxes. Problem with the sound guy adjusting the volume is that going to a lower output guitar, when you kick on the stomp distortion, it is now louder relative to the clean sound (or is it the clean sound that is quieter). so the balance gets all messed up in different sections. either you wont hear the clean or the distortion will be too loud, without going and messing with the pedals.

What if I were to put a lower value output pot on the strat? I heard that going from 500k to 250k will give you more output, or something like that? That was my first inclination.

 

[ocnor]

Not really an efx loop kinda guy. Just a few stomp boxes. Problem with the sound guy adjusting the volume is that going to a lower output guitar, when you kick on the stomp distortion, it is now louder relative to the clean sound (or is it the clean sound that is quieter). so the balance gets all messed up in different sections. either you wont hear the clean or the distortion will be too loud, without going and messing with the pedals.

It's to bad that you are not an efx loop kinda guy because my suggestion solves all of those issues.

What if I were to put a lower value output pot on the strat? I heard that going from 500k to 250k will give you more output, or something like that? That was my first inclination.

No you would want to change from a 500K to a 1Meg pot.

 

[FALKEN]

Not too bad, as buying a new amp would be the most expensive route, most good amps that I am into don't have efx loops anyway, plus it does not adddress the problems I mentioned that the guitar volume changes the clean/dirty mix on the stomp box when you hit it and also effects how the sound hits the preamp section of the amp.

Have u tried switching to a 1 meg pot? how much of a difference in volume does it make?

 

[ocnor]

Not too bad, as buying a new amp would be the most expensive route, most good amps that I am into don't have efx loops anyway, plus it does not adddress the problems I mentioned that the guitar volume changes the clean/dirty mix on the stomp box when you hit it and also effects how the sound hits the preamp section of the amp.

If you run a compressor pedal right after the OD/Dist pedal it will even out the volume differences between clean and dirty.

Have u tried switching to a 1 meg pot? how much of a difference in volume does it make?

A 1 Meg pot will make your guitar sound a bit louder and brighter which you may or may not like. Give it a try and if you don't like it just put the old pot back in.