Guitar / Bass Amplifier Info & Education

In the constant quest for perfect tone, musicians often forget the simple things. It’s always fun to upgrade to a better guitar amp, put more pedals into your chain, or buy a new axe, but let’s face it- the cost of all that adds up! If you’re a working musician, the next level of tone isn’t always within easy reach. In the meantime, as you’re adjusting your amp’s EQ settings or pondering what mods you can make to your guitar, try to tweak what’s right there in front of you- your guitar’s onboard tone controls!

Let’s face it- a certain degree of loudness is par for the course at a rock and roll show. But louder is not always better. While nothing compares to standing in front of a cranked half stack and letting it rip, the fact of the matter is that most of the time, a band that is too loud onstage often sounds worse than one that makes a conscientious effort to monitor their stage volume! It sounds counterintuitive, but bringing your stage volume down can improve your live show for a variety of reasons.

In a perfect world, sound engineers at every venue would ask bassists whether they prefer to go DI or have their cab miked up. While many sound engineers do take player preference into account, the fact of the matter is that for small local shows where five bands are on the bill, many engineers understandably stick with one method for all the bands to make the in-between set transitions as smooth and fast as possible.