Are you a plug and play person, or do you like fiddling?

Robert**** · June 30th, 2009, 08:24 PM

I like to just plug and play - set it and forget it. That means I spend time tweaking the tone to how I like it, and I trust me ears only when I do this, not my eyes. I leave eq flat and tweak it from there. With some pedals, I turn the tone knob down a bit, or I might find that two gain pedals sound best in a particular order, etc. So, I do tweak and fiddle, but once I find what works well, I set it and forget it. For me, fiddling fast is good, because then I don't get stuck in little details that won't matter anyway.

Some people like to constantly tweak their rig, spend hours on dialing knobs. Not me. I like changing pedals around and guitars and so on, but once I plug the whole rig in, I want to PLAY, not mess around. Once I got my trusted gear set up, I only fiddle when something's wrong, otherwise, let's rock'n roll!

What kind of guitar slinger are you?

pes_laul · June 30th, 2009, 08:42 PM

I'm somewhere in between. I tend to always spend a lot of band practice dialing in the right tone but once I'm good we get things rolling.

**MichaelE** · June 30th, 2009, 08:58 PM

I don't gig any longer, but when I did I was playing the piano and synth. Playing guitar now and for the last 30 years I play along with a lot of music on the CD player and everyone's tone or sound is different.

I might fiddle with it a little to get the general idea, but I won't sit for hours trying to capture a particular player's tone when I have no idea what sort of equipment, let alone what guitar he's (or she) is playing.

I've really only worked on two like that, and it took awhile and is still not spot-on, but it's very close. I had to write down the settings of both the guitar(s) and amps to make sure I could reproduce it.

Most times I don't fool with it.

**sunvalleylaw** · June 30th, 2009, 09:20 PM

I guess I am plug and play, although it takes me a while to get there. I fiddle until I find a tone I like, and then I tend to leave it. That is true for most of the pedals on my board. In fact, I am sure I am leaving many tones on the table by not experimenting more. So I answered plug and play, because that is what I do, though I will continue to try and experiment more.

Spudman*** · June 30th, 2009, 11:34 PM

I'm certainly not anal about this at all but I do like to spend just a little time making sure the tone is acceptable. By that I really mean more that the sound is 'working" that it's really 'happening.' I like the guitar and amp to be in communication with each other and are working back and forth. I don't know if this makes any sense but I don't know how else to describe it.

After years playing I can usually tweak a tone or volume knob on the amp or pedal and get what I'm happy with pretty quickly. I would much rather play than tone hunt.

**Algonquin** · June 30th, 2009, 11:45 PM

I think I'm a 'set it, and forget it' (Ron Pepeil) kind of player. I like my pedals, but I don't tweak them that often, and I don't fiddle with the amp eq very much. I just like to play, and I think that how you attack the strings makes the biggest difference in tone... but I could be way off!

**Jimi75** · July 1st, 2009, 02:55 AM

I've voted plug and play. Don't spend too much time tweaking. I set one sound and that's it.

**Rocket** · July 1st, 2009, 04:08 AM

Put me down for just "play", (should be an option)... I can even live with someone else doing the "plugging".

My (and only "my") observations:
I've had many ex-bandmates that were obsessed with micro-tweaking every minute nuance to conjure some phantom, (and unobtainable,) summum bonum nirvana of "tone".
Almost always played Strat-shaped headstocks and alway relegated to "ex" status in short time.
Although they consider themselves technicians they never seem to become satisfied with what they are doing "technically".
Artists love 'em, technicians hate 'em... go figure!

I could add volumes but would only serve the divisive demons.

Tig*** · July 1st, 2009, 08:53 AM

When I grow up, I'll be a plug-n-play guy, but for now, I'm more of a tweak geek, noodling and experimenting with everything to create the tones I'm looking for.

Owning a EVJ, I couldn't leave it as is. (who can/should?) Had to have a tone pot, and an attenuator panel in the back. I guess I'll always be a tweaker at some level, even though my goal is to set and forget.

EDIT:
A year of owning a Tweaker 15 means I should be fiddling with the amp quite a bit, but that's not usually the case. When I run the POD HD-500, I set the amp as neutral as it gets and forget it.
When I play just the amp, I'll set it to one of about 3 or 4 favorite settings and forget it until a song or style needs a different tone or approach.

**M29** · July 1st, 2009, 09:00 AM

I like to just set down and play. Up until now I mostly concentrated on what I was playing or trying to play. Now that I have a bit more experience I find I am exploring my amph and guitar controls more. Maybe because I am not paying as much attention to what I am learning. I do like to just grab the guitar and play though.

M

**Monkus** · July 1st, 2009, 09:16 AM

For me, tone inspires playing. For certain songs I would tweak for weeks and then set and forget. If writing, then sound is a major thing for me. I find something that inspires or makes a riff or chord progression show itself, that's when the magic starts. I don't know if I can have one without the other.

**ibanezjunkie** · July 1st, 2009, 03:39 PM

the settings on my GE-7 seem to change 5 or 6 times everytime i plug the pedalboard in.

**just strum** · July 1st, 2009, 04:42 PM

Probably more a plug and play unless it's a new toy.

**sumitomo** · July 1st, 2009, 04:56 PM

When I think of plug and play my Supro is in my mind and I dig that little amph cause that's what it is plug and play.Guitar,amph no tone knob just vol all the way up the rest comes from the guitar,K.I.S.S. Sumi

**TS808** · July 1st, 2009, 07:32 PM

It depends...there are some nights I'll tweak the EQ on my amp and it sounds like heaven, then a few days later, that setting just doesn't sound right for some reason! I'll even switch amps on occasion for different tones.

**R_of_G** · July 1st, 2009, 08:18 PM

i've admitted it before and i will do so again right now...

my name is R_of_G, and i'm a tone junkie.

i could, and do, spend hours dialing in fun and interesting tones. i do make notes of these setting so times when i just want to play i can find the right tone quickly and get down to business, but i have plenty of nights where it's all about the search for tone.

**jpfeifer** · April 9th, 2011, 01:50 PM

For me it depends on what I'm doing. There are certain pieces of my guitar rig that I just plug and play, and not mess with it, but other things I tend to tweak as I change styles, etc.

I tend to set-it-and-forget-it with my amp. But I am more of a tweaker with my guitar volume/tone controls and my effects. I like to turn various pedals on/off and use different settings on my guitar to capture different sounds. I hardly ever touch the controls on my effects other than tap-tempo and on/off, but I do like to have the right effects egaged for certain songs as I play. I'm probably not as anal about this as some players, but I do like to change up my sound as I play different styles. I don't like to use one sound for a whole gig.

--Jim

**sunvalleylaw** · April 9th, 2011, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by Robert

I like to just plug and play - set it and forget it. That means I spend time tweaking the tone to how I like it, and I trust me ears only when I do this, not my eyes. I leave eq flat and tweak it from there. With some pedals, I turn the tone knob down a bit, or I might find that two gain pedals sound best in a particular order, etc. So, I do tweak and fiddle, but once I find what works well, I set it and forget it. For me, fiddling fast is good, because then I don't get stuck in little details that won't matter anyway.

Some people like to constantly tweak their rig, spend hours on dialing knobs. Not me. I like changing pedals around and guitars and so on, but once I plug the whole rig in, I want to PLAY, not mess around. Once I got my trusted gear set up, I only fiddle when something's wrong, otherwise, let's rock'n roll!

What kind of guitar slinger are you?

I am pretty much with you. I may adjust some here and there from my favorite settings, but generally find what I like and stick there. EDIT: oh, I already answered this. Well good to see my answer is still pretty much the same. ;-)

**NWBasser** · April 12th, 2011, 10:18 AM

For guitar, since I'm pretty much only a bedroom player, it's set and forget. I rarely mess with the EQ.

Bass is another matter though. It's not so much dialing in some magnificent tone, as it is finding a workable sound for the room and the band mix.

Boundary effects in different rooms plays hell with bass frequencies and I'll use the EQ to try to get rid of boominess or dead spots to whatever extent that I can.

From that point, then I try to get my tone to slot in well with the guitars and drums so that everyone is heard clearly.

I may also make subtle adjustments with the active EQ or pickup pan of the bass for different tunes.

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