Kind of Long Guitar Question. Lead Tone?
This week’s question is a good one. Let’s have a look:
Question: It will take a while to explain but here it is: It has to do with guitar/amps and tone.
I’m in a band and have been a guitarist for at least five years now. My band covers "Free Bird". We just played a gig last night at which I started to realize there was a serious problem. When it was time for the guitar solo when the song kicks in at the end, my lead tone (which is distortion on my amplifier) wasn’t loud enough. It was too low in the mix even when it was all the way up. I was plugged through my amp only which a 40w peavey Envoy 110. My clean tone is perfectly loud enough but I wasn’t going to use that. Any guitarist would know the guitar needs to be driven more to be able to play fast solo licks. I think that mainly the problem is that I need a larger amp to produce larger sound so my lead tone will take over the mix much more aggressively. There is one rhythm guitarist in my band who plays the chords pretty soft during my solo. I still think it’s no excuse at all.
Can anyone tell me of any amplifiers, or if amps aren’t the problem, equipment that I should look into to be getting a much better lead tone during my live performances.
I’m in a band and have been a guitarist for at least five years now. My band covers "Free Bird". We just played a gig last night at which I started to realize there was a serious problem. When it was time for the guitar solo when the song kicks in at the end, my lead tone (which is distortion on my amplifier) wasn’t loud enough. It was too low in the mix even when it was all the way up. I was plugged through my amp only which a 40w peavey Envoy 110. My clean tone is perfectly loud enough but I wasn’t going to use that. Any guitarist would know the guitar needs to be driven more to be able to play fast solo licks. I think that mainly the problem is that I need a larger amp to produce larger sound so my lead tone will take over the mix much more aggressively. There is one rhythm guitarist in my band who plays the chords pretty soft during my solo. I still think it’s no excuse at all.
Can anyone tell me of any amplifiers, or if amps aren’t the problem, equipment that I should look into to be getting a much better lead tone during my live performances.
Answer: Does your band use a mixer? That might be where to control and fix the problem. Do you have an amp with overdrive? How about a distortion pedal to boost the volume?
