How many tones do you actually use?

[Eric***]

Curious on some forthright answers here...

How many tones do you actually use? I know there are a billion settings your pedalboard/modeling amp/multi-effects box can give you, but I want to know what actually makes the cut when you're performing (for an audience or yourself, whichever is more applicable). The 'go-to guitar' for tones, if you will.

I personally use a medium-drive overdrive setting or mild-to-mid RAT-ish tone for the vast majority of the stuff I play, and clean (~60%) or with basic chorus (~40%) for softer songs. I'll use some slapback delay (170-350 ms) when I remember to for some leads, and I have some mild spring reverb on pretty much all of the time. Tone knobs on the LP are almost always dimed, and I spend most of my time on the middle pup position. My 'amp' (Tech 21 GT2) is set on a dead clean California (Mesa) tone and stays there 100% of the time. That's about it.

When I'm messing around at home (sometimes with Pod Farm), I find a high-gain Stones-y tone to be fun, if only because it covers up mistakes...

[t_ross33]

Cool thread, Eric. I play around with tone quite a bit - not because I'm a snob, but because I'm still learning and like to muck around with all the options before me. Here's what I generally gig with:

Didgitech GNX3000: Currently have the first preset programmed for a 65 Deluxe on CH1 and a 59 Bassman on CH2. Stompbox is set for a Tube Screamer. Modulation effect is set for some Chorus and I like to kick in a bit of Delay on most things. A moderate amount of spring reverb is on everything. I use this for most Country and Classic Rock (Tom Petty, John Mellencamp etc.)

Second preset is an older Marshall on CH1 and a JCM900 on CH2. CH3 is a mash-up or "warp" of the two amps blended together. Stompbox is usually a Tube Screamer, sometimes a RAT, Modulation is some Flange. Use these settings for some harder Classic Rock, 80's Rock etc.

Third preset is the factory "Stray Cats" setting which goes really nice with my Gretsch for some, you guessed it, Stray Cats, Razorbacks, Elvis and other rockabilly type tunes.

I am constantly switching which guitars I take to a gig... I like to take 2, usually my Tele, sometimes my Strat and either my Washburn HB-30 or more often my Gretsch 5120. I now have a Hagstrom Ultra Swede that might just become my go-to guitar because I can get so many great tones out of it with coil split option etc.

Sounds like a big setup, but it isn't really... a pedal board, amp, 2 electrics and an acoustic. Fits in backseat of the car and away I go

[Eric***]

Didgitech GNX3000: Currently have the first preset programmed for a 65 Deluxe on CH1 and a 59 Bassman on CH2. Stompbox is set for a Tube Screamer. Modulation effect is set for some Chorus and I like to kick in a bit of Delay on most things. A moderate amount of spring reverb is on everything. I use this for most Country and Classic Rock (Tom Petty, John Mellencamp etc.)

Second preset is an older Marshall on CH1 and a JCM900 on CH2. CH3 is a mash-up or "warp" of the two amps blended together. Stompbox is usually a Tube Screamer, sometimes a RAT, Modulation is some Flange. Use these settings for some harder Classic Rock, 80's Rock etc.

Third preset is the factory "Stray Cats" setting which goes really nice with my Gretsch for some, you guessed it, Stray Cats, Razorbacks, Elvis and other rockabilly type tunes.

Cool. I'm not familiar with the GNX3000 -- how do the channels work on that? Are they basically presets for amp models? Do you find yourself defaulting to one more often than not?

[sunvalleylaw]

I would say probably 10 all told between the two guitars, not counting pickup changes.
Strat: clean, Monkey OD, Rodent OD, DS-1 into Chorus, Little Big Muff, MXR Carbon Copy clean.

Viking: Clean, Monkey OD, Rodent Distortion, add chorus or delay.

I mess around sometimes and combine the above, but those are the ones I use most often. I also tend to use effects more with my strat than my Vik, unless I am rocking the distortion on the Vik.

EDIT: I should add that a little verb is almost always on through my amph.

[deeaa*]

Good question. I have used a huge array of MIDI controllable gear and also normal amp systems. Here's what I always end up using - no FX except drives and wah; just three sounds:

1- a rather clean setting, possibly w/a slight verb if available. Has to break up when spanked hard, though...that's important. Can't use 'crystal clear'.
2- a driven rhythm sound that allows 6-string chording with clarity, clears up to almost clean when played extra lightly.
3- a driven/distorted lead sound that cuts through/feedbacks some already.

Optionally 4-- an 'FX' sound that can be something weird for those quieter spots or special parts in songs, could be chorus, octaver, whatever. Seldom use. I use the wah pedal to create weird sounds if that's not easily available. If the controller/system allows for five easily, I would probably have a separate 'metal' rhythm drive channel as well...that I had with the GT-6 and ME-50 for instance and Line6 stuff....also with the MArshall JMP-1 & FX rack system I had a 4-button MIDI controller only. I used a Boss MIDI controller (FC50?) for a few years but it was too much buttons, too much hassle with the midi cord and power cord etc....the 4-knob one was just one cord and had more than enough buttons for me.

Most MIDI programmable footswitches, or also others, usually come with four selectors, and usually I use three of them extensively. I might sometimes come up with some weird sounds and use once or twice...but basically that's it in the long run.

Currently I have a pan pedal that allows me to sweep from clean to drive without switches and a switch for lead sound plus the wah. That's a nice number of buttons to press:2.

I used to have the lead drive rigged so it was inside the pan pedal so I could engage that with pressing the 'pedal to the metal' at the end of the movement, and that meant having no buttons, just a 'gas pedal' for three sounds, plus wah. I'd love to have that again some day, if I find a distortion/lead drive pedal I like and can fit inside the pan pedal. Maybe an SD-1 could work, been craving one lately.

I guess my ideal would be just a long-throw notchless pedal I could use to seamlessly just change between an infinite number of drive amount from clean to extreme metal distortion, plus maybe a lead button that'd boost the signal louder still with any of those drive settings.

[Eric***]

Curious on some forthright answers here...

How many tones do you actually use? I know there are a billion settings your pedalboard/modeling amp/multi-effects box can give you, but I want to know what actually makes the cut when you're performing (for an audience or yourself, whichever is more applicable). The 'go-to guitar' for tones, if you will.

I suppose I should answer my own question: pretty much 3 tones.

1) mid-level overdrive
2) clean
3) chorus (clean)

All have some level of reverb, and sometimes delay for parts, but not much.

If needed, I'll use a 4th tone (RAT) for some songs that just can't get by with OD. That sometimes cuts through a bit better with more treble.

[MichaelE]

Uuh, all of them!

Seriously though I have very few that I use for cover songs and only another few for original work.

Mostly a medium to heavy over driven sound from the tube amp, no pedal required. Tone is mostly high end and some upper mid, though you will notice the low end as well. The low end is very tight without compression. One song I use a light chorus for and a few others some medium soft reverb with the reverb volume low.

I also use a very tight slapback delay on everything except when on channel two performing one cover band's songs. The gain comes up with slight reverb for that album.

If I'm just farting around there's no telling what may come out of the amp.

[deeaa*]

Yeah so that's pretty much what I use, except I go for more drive in general I guess, so instead of clean/clean/drive I have clean/drive/more drive!

But yeah, I find with three tones and using the guitar volume and picking tricks and wah you can pretty much cover 99% of rock sounds.

[Eric***]

Yeah so that's pretty much what I use, except I go for more drive in general I guess, so instead of clean/clean/drive I have clean/drive/more drive!

Nice.

But yeah, I find with three tones and using the guitar volume and picking tricks and wah you can pretty much cover 99% of rock sounds.

This has always been my suspicion, and while I think you (and I) probably use less effects than some people, I always felt like, for all of the talk of how pedal such and such has a great ring modulator, most people rely on the basics when it comes right down to it.

I suppose the point of this thread was just to find out if I'm weird in that I don't use tons and tons of effects or tones. When I'm honest about which tones matter, I find that it's not really that many.

[ZMAN]

I guess by tones I use the same basic set up on my pedals, but I change amps back and forth.
I have an array of pedals mostly Fulltone. I have a Radial Tonebone that has an actual 12ax7 tube in it for some really cool distortion. DD20 for any kind of delay I want in the effects loop. My Fulldrive II, OCD, and Fat boost are all used individually or in tandem. I also have a mini deja vibe for trem and chorus. I have all of them set and do not touch the controls. All of my amps have spring reverb set on 5 or 6. My amps are mostly on clean and mid volume. I rarely play "naked" without pedals.
One of the factors is that I only play at home. To get my amps to the break up point I would be way too loud, so I "simulate" it with pedals. But 5 or 6 on a 40 Watt Marshall is plenty loud. I have a Cry Baby but rarely use it. I have just about every pickup combo covered with my guitars so I jump back and forth between my 2 Marshalls, 65 Deluxe reverb and my Blues Junior Special edition amps.

[t_ross33]

Cool. I'm not familiar with the GNX3000 -- how do the channels work on that? Are they basically presets for amp models? Do you find yourself defaulting to one more often than not?

GNX3000 by Digitech is discontinued now, but is a great board - well built for gigging. Sounds decent direct to Front of House and pretty versatile.

Each "patch" has 2 selectable amp channels... you can program each channel for a specific amp and cabinet combination as well as edit EQ parameters. You also have the option of blending the 2 channels together to create a "warp" channel that has characteristics of both.

For a traditional amp set up you can program CH1 to be a "clean" and CH2 to be a "lead" or "drive". OR you can choose totally separate amps for each.

You can start with presets, but there are 64 user defined patches ( as well 128 factory presets). In addition to the above I have a couple of patches set up for specific songs we cover.

[sumitomo]

This is a cool thread,myself I only use a few effects to shape tone,I like my Rabid Rodent,but on my M-13 I really only use the colordrive,some digi delay and the trem on some songs,oh and some reverb on one amp the dosen't have it.Some might ask why did you buy a pedal with so many effects if you don't use them?Well I saved a ton of money just buying the one pedal and when I get bored I play with different sounds.Sumi

[ZMAN]

I was just thinking about the various pedals that are being mentioned in this thread. Some of them I don't know, and I think it would be great if you used the makers name and the pedal model. It would be great to be able to google the pedal and check out the functions etc. There are probably some really cool pedals that we all haven't heard about. Just a thought!

[marnold***]

Basically two, on opposite ends of the spectrum: very clean or very distorted. Since I've put the Ragin' Cajun in my AD30VT, I've made a Blackface patch and haven't changed it since. Sounds great. I've had a lot more trouble with the distortion end. I'll like some settings for a while and then have to change it all again. One of my main problems is that this speaker made the distortion models darker, so I have to crank the treble and that makes them sound cold. That or the distortion will sound too fuzzy.

[Eric***]

I was just thinking about the various pedals that are being mentioned in this thread. Some of them I don't know, and I think it would be great if you used the makers name and the pedal model.

Good idea. I updated my sig a la Tig to link to the gear listed there.

[Robert****]

Currently, I use about 120 tones or so. Because I have the Line 6 M9!

[Eric***]

Currently, I use about 120 tones or so. Because I have the Line 6 M9!

That would make for a pretty eclectic song...

[Robert****]

That would make for a pretty eclectic song...

Yeah, it goes on for hours and hours...

[hubberjub***]

My clean tone has just a bit of grit. I use a Lovepedal Eternity for an overdrive. I keep the gain control between 10 and 11 o'clock and vary the drive using my volume control. I very occasionally use an Analogman DS-1. I could go without it but sometimes I need to pretend I'm C.C. DeVille. I use a ton of other effects (see the pedalboard forum) but I don't view those as being a part of your tone. They strike me as more of a flavoring.