every amp has it's own flavour of sound that usually can't be duplicated exactly by another amp. The guitar being played (and the kind of pick-ups you have) has a lot to do with the sound you get too. But as far as setting up your amp for a sound you want...
1. select the channel you want to setup
2. set all the equalizer knobs to their centre position
3. play with the presence and gain controls until you get the sort of sound you're after. Presence (if your amp has it) is how much "punch" or "impact" you want to the sound. Too much presence will accentuate every touch of the strings and can be quite ear-piercing. Too little presence will make the sound "airy" like you're barely touching the strings. Gain is the "crunch" or "bite" in the sound. More gain means more distortion. Carefull, too much gain can sound like crap if it's not set-up right. Gain and Presence need to be balanced for the sound that you're trying to achieve. Some people trying create a face-melting metal sound automatically crank the gain to maximum - don't make this mistake it usually just sounds like noise.
4. fine tune your sound with the bass, mid, and treble controls. (hint: ample bass and a tasteful amount of treble with the mids turned way down makes a nice effect. Make sure you don't push the bass past the capability of your speakers. If it sounds like muffled thumping... your bass is too high)
5. add any effects into your sound or your FX-loop if you have one.
You are at GuitarMasterClass.net
Don't miss today's
free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with
free content!
