Guitarists: How should I get a volume boost?

Cafe Society
1

The thread pretty much spells it out. I have been playing a long time, and gigged in a lot of bands. But it has been a few years, now it looks like I may be starting a mid-life crisis band with a couple of friends to play local bars and parties, playing dance-able guitar rock.

I need a clean sound (for Cars, Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello tunes) and a distorted sound (some Aerosmith, Billy Idol), obviously. And for each, I also need to be able to boost the volume when I have a lead to play. I am debating how I want to accomplish this, since I did it different ways in the past, depending on my rig.

My current rig is:

Amp: Mesa Boogie Studio Caliber, 25watt - great clean and dirty channels, plenty loud for small bars/clubs.

Guitar: Fender Strat with Bill Lawrence Replacement pickups - love 'em.

Effects: none, actually (I feel like if you can’t get it out of your hands…). I do have an old Pro-co Rat Distortion box, which sounds great, but I haven’t been using.

When I boost the volume, I typically do NOT want to change the tone or distortion level. Options for volume boost I am considering:

  1. Use the volume pot on my guitar - keep it at 5 - 6 for rhythm parts and roll it up to 10 for leads. Issues: compromises the tone of the guitar, less convenient than a stomp box.

  2. Use the Rat - just dial down the distortion setting as much as possible and use it mostly for a volume boost.

  3. Get a different boost effect - if so, which one? Most of the ones I know of are just distortion pedals, like my Rat.

  4. Other - any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

2

Your amp should go to 11.

3

Ahhhh… Wordman, I’d be honoured to help.

In the abscence of being able to get your hands on a VOX AC30, then we’ll work with what you’ve got.

Firstly, as you know, lead guitar, (and for that matter famous riff playing too) is all about presence. Often, something as simple as a bell curve boost with an eq pedal around 3.5Khz will do the trick - certainly Brian May is a fan of this method.

Next, do NOT discount the PRO-CO RAT just yet. If you’re familiar with the Foo Fighters sound, be aware that it’s Dave Grohl’s fave pedal (or used to be before he moved to Mesa Road King amps). Dave used to use Mesa Dual Rectifiers and Vox AC30’s in tandem - and he would switch with his junction boxes and stomp pedals to get the tones he wanted but apparently it all got a bit too hard for his roadies so he’s moved to the MESA Road Kings in the last 12 month’s for his live gigging - but he still prefers the VOX in the studio I’m told.

Realistically - if volume is your issue - just get your hands on a VOX AC30 or a Fender 65 Blackface Twin Reverb reissue. Those two amps are way, WAY loud enough to fill any 150 person gig.

I’d be setting up your amp so that it plays slightly gnarly on a purely “clean” setting. Then, I’d use a compressor with a signal boost for lead work. It;s your choice if you wish to throw in a distortion pedal at this point but I personally remain unconvinced on that matter. A compressor is the real key. If you raise your floor level with the compressor you’ll get great sustain - and that’s what lead guitar is all about I reckon.

But man, that Rat pedal is wicked. You’ll nail the Foo Fighters cum Nirvan cum Pearl Jam epic killer chorus sound just right when you settle on your favourite “sweet spot”.

Just remember - a 2 x 12" amp is plenty loud enough. The goal is to be aware of what your amp is doing in “clean mode” before any pedals kick in. I’d recommend a chorus, a compressor, the Rat, and maybe an eq pedal. Other than that, I’d be really surprised if your Mesa won’t meet the deal.

Of course, if you were recording it’d be a totally different deal. You’d potter around with your amp settings and try and avoid pedals as much as possible - but a live gig is always a compromise.

All I know is that both of my Vox’s - a '67 and a '71 respectively - can hurt my hearing if I’m not careful on a 7 out of 10 setting. And the friggin '65 Blackface twin I own is even worse.

I also own a Marshall JCM900 but oddly enough, it’s actually too predictable for my liking - it sounds like EVERYONE else if you know what I mean. Very good for lead work though.

I’m happy to give you some mp3’s to listen to get some pointers if you’d like.

But again, as I said - avoid using your pedals as volume boosters - you wanna get your amp in the sweet spot first and then let the pedals adjust your tone depending on your needs within a song. In particular, a compressor mated with a good eq pedal is almost unbeatable for lead work.

4

Boo Boo Foo - lots of good info, but I think I am confused about one aspect of your recommendations - let me try to playback what I am reading - please correct me where I haven’t followed you…

  • Your basic point is: find the right settings for your amp/guitar rig - makes sense; I agree.

  • Also you state that a 2x12 will do the job. I agree here, too - my concern is not about playing loud enough overall - my Mesa/Boogie can definitely do that. My issue is playing at one volume for rhythm and at a higher volume for lead work.

  • you seem to offer four or so ways I can get a volume boost for leads - this is where I may be confused:

– Option 1 - play through TWO amps, each with a different volume setting (or perhaps kicking in the other amp for more volume during a lead)

– Option 2 - use the Pro Co Rat for volume boosts during leads

– Option 3 - use a compressor - something I have toyed with in the past but never tried.

– Option 4 - use an EQ to change the tone of the guitar so it stands out for leads, without adjusting the volume.

Do I understand you? If so, then I think the compressor may be the one I want to check out. I like the thought of having a signal boost (assuming the box has that feature) and compression for leads. Is there any make you recommend - MXR Dyna Comp is obvious, but I have heard Maxon makes a great pedal…

Thanks!

5

you Can use the EQ to give you a volume boost. Most pedal EQs if not all have a level slider. One stomp box, one level raised (with the benefit of any equalisation you find to ur liking).

I’m a big fan of compression as well, but all mine are rack mounts (which is fine, they’re Always on), so I can’t suggest a box. When in doubt, keep it simple of course, I’d start with an EQ for the boost you need for your lead lines to stand out.

6

Well, the thing about a compressor is that it does two things - it evens out peaks so that everything seems “even” - and then you can also raise the overall floor level so that even your quietest longest sustains still have presence.

But a compressor doesn’t work well for chunky heavy chorus monster chords - I’d recommend the Rat pedal for that.

The eq pedal comes in if you wish to have more “shrill” during your lead work - al la Brian May or Dave Gilmour on a lead solo. So you’d be wanting to kick your eq and compressor in for lead work and then kick your RAT pedal in for your monster chords, and mostly leave your amp in it’s natural gnarly state for riffs and typical rythm work.

A strat has an awful lot of presence naturally so an eq pedal probably isn’t necessary. A chorus pedal wouldn’t go astray for arty work on softer songs.

The RAT pedal is best used for power chords and such stuff during a chorus I reckon. It’s a big full sound.

But the compressor is the most famous “misunderstood” pedal of all in my opinion. Go and play with one in a guitar shop. Take your amp in tinker around with it. Play your fave lead breaks on it. You’ll find that a certain compression ratio mixed with your floor level boost will almost certainly get you long sustained screaming leads without needing anything else I’d wager.

But with a Gibson, I’d throw an eq pedal in too to get that classic raspy Gibson lead break sound - but seeing as you’re using a Strat the eq pedal probably won’t be necessary I reckon.

7

This all sounds good - so I should just check out a compressor and consider using one of those to boost volume for clean leads and use the Rat to boost volume for fuzz leads.

Sounds good - I will check out compressors…

Thanks everybody.

8

As a non-amp-knowledgable person, this was the first thing I thought of too. :smiley:

9

WordMan
I notice you play a MesaBoogie™. I have a Mesa Boogie Nomad and one nice feature is that it has a “Solo” button on the floor switch. The “Solo” volume is set on the amp and so you have 2 volume levels - regular and solo.
The great thing about this circuit is that no matter how much you might screw up the settings, the solo volume will never be lower than regular volume. I think this is a good suggestion since it only affects volume and not tone. Anyway, if your Mesa Boogie amp has this feature, your problem has already been solved.

10

wolf-meister thanks for the idea, but I checked my Mesa Boogie and it doesn’t have that Solo feature.

I am off to check out compressors - again, if anyone has make/model recommendations, I would appreciate hearing them…

11

Yes, a volume pedal would be much better than the volume pot.

However, it’s not necessarily straight volume that is the be-all-and-end-all. An eq pedal with a big mid spike will “cut through” the other instruments quite well, providing only a perceived dB increase since it acts in the frequency band in which your ears are more sensitive.

However, this might slightly sour the beautiful Mesa Boogie cream. Just try it and see, I guess.