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GMC Forum _ CHILL OUT _ Boost Pedals For Soloing - Or Volume Pot?
Posted by: SirJamsalot Nov 7 2011, 06:31 PM
I've struggled with getting my solo to cut through the rhythm in the past, and am quickly learning about controlling overall volumes using just my axe. I'd like to know your experience and get some of your insights on the topic, which I think is an important one. How do you go about cutting through the Rhythm with your solos on stage? In a live setting, you have to do a lot of compensation on stage - either raising volume, or kicking in an overdrive / boost pedal.
What has been your experience? Do you use pedals to boost your volume / tone for a solo? Do you reach down and start turning knobs 
? Share your preferences and experience with each approach if you will. I'd love to your insights!
Thanks!
Chris
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Nov 7 2011, 08:31 PM
I use a booster for the solos to get a bit more volume and sustain. This works for me considering that we always work with the same sound engineer live. As he knows the songs perfectly he uses to do a real time mix.
Posted by: SirJamsalot Nov 7 2011, 08:43 PM
What kind of boost do you use? Like a Suhr Koko Boost or something?
Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Nov 7 2011, 10:55 PM
Very interesting question man: I use both techniques, depending on the circumstances - if I want flowing smooth transition - then I use the volume knob,but if I want aggressive and stressed then simply turn on the boost pedal ( GT10) 
Posted by: jstcrsn Nov 8 2011, 12:36 AM
for me ,I would use an EQ for a boost - you can adjust the mid's to bring out the lead more
Posted by: Todd Simpson Nov 8 2011, 01:07 AM
I use an old Digitech GNX3 for live situations and have a patch for rythm and one for lead. They are very close in terms of tone and such, but the lead patch is louder with a smidge more fx, and eq. Then another patch for clean. I tried doing it all through an amp for a while but like the pedal doing the processing and the amp just doing the amping in the end. Getting "bedroom tone" (or the best tone you can tweak) out of ones amp on stage is usually limited by the microphone (usually an SM57) and the house PA. So a big chunk of it came down to separation and sort of pre eqing the signal. I'd trim out really low stuff as at high volume, it can overwhelm a speaker cone and wreck precious detail in a solo. You can't kill all the low, it gets too thin. I just trimmed back some woof on a patch that worked LOUD.
Posted by: Mudbone Nov 8 2011, 03:13 AM
Like jsrcrsn said, an eq pedal would work great. Pick up a Boss 7-band eq for $40-50 and throw it in the effects loop. Then boost the db and the mids, and that should do the job 
Tom Morello uses the same pedal to do the same thing, except he doesn't boost the mids.
Posted by: JamesT Nov 8 2011, 04:15 AM
I've experimented with various techniques for this. When I used to have a reall tube amp, I liked to put an EQ pedal in front of the amp after the other effects. I would adjust the eq basically flat and the output up a few dB. During solos or whenever I wanted extra gain and volume, I would stomp on the EQ pedal. This worked well, especially for rock where you are part time rhythm guitarst and then have to get some boost for the solos.
After I went into the "dark ages" and sold my Mesa Boogie (regretably) and went exclusively to digital modeling, I ended up using different presets often set with the same tone only one being louder than the other. You can get a lot of control using one preset for rhythm mode and the other for leads (in the same song).
Only recently, now that modeling is getting very decent (if still not as good as the real thing), I've started experimenting with just turning the knobs on my axe. For one particular model on the HD500, it works pretty good giving you control over how much saturation is produced. Reducing the volume knob on the guitar also (strangely) brightens the tone while also cleaning it up and lowering the volume. Not sure how applicable this technique is for metal or other genres requireing world conquering amounts of gain, but it works for basic rock really well.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 8 2011, 05:47 PM
I use the Suhr Shiba Drive as a booster - more sustain for my solos! It's an awesome pedal!
After I went into the "dark ages" and sold my Mesa Boogie (regretably) and went exclusively to digital modeling, I ended up using different presets often set with the same tone only one being louder than the other. You can get a lot of control using one preset for rhythm mode and the other for leads (in the same song).
Only recently, now that modeling is getting very decent (if still not as good as the real thing), I've started experimenting with just turning the knobs on my axe. For one particular model on the HD500, it works pretty good giving you control over how much saturation is produced. Reducing the volume knob on the guitar also (strangely) brightens the tone while also cleaning it up and lowering the volume. Not sure how applicable this technique is for metal or other genres requireing world conquering amounts of gain, but it works for basic rock really well.
Buy that Mesa back
+1
Posted by: SirJamsalot Nov 8 2011, 10:39 PM
After I went into the "dark ages" and sold my Mesa Boogie (regretably) and went exclusively to digital modeling, I ended up using different presets often set with the same tone only one being louder than the other. You can get a lot of control using one preset for rhythm mode and the other for leads (in the same song).
Only recently, now that modeling is getting very decent (if still not as good as the real thing), I've started experimenting with just turning the knobs on my axe. For one particular model on the HD500, it works pretty good giving you control over how much saturation is produced. Reducing the volume knob on the guitar also (strangely) brightens the tone while also cleaning it up and lowering the volume. Not sure how applicable this technique is for metal or other genres requireing world conquering amounts of gain, but it works for basic rock really well.
Thanks - great info. I'm actually going in the opposite direction as you. I've started off on the digital end - but I've been playing a Mesa (House rig) at an open mic I play every Tuesday night, and absolutely love it hands down over any other sound I've heard to date. Absolute crisp solid tones for clean and jacked up gain - So I'm thinking in terms of pedals, and just plain old volume control to keep things snug - just need a little boost here and there to make sure the solo stands out a bit more in front.
My next purchase will be a Mesa head & cab, though I have not yet decided which one
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