Getting my solo where it needs to be

Before I do anything hasty, I wanted to make sure I'm in the right ballpark

So right now, I'm basically using a crunch channel, a high-gain channel, and a compressor to get through a show...

When a solo comes up, I never seem to have enough "stuff" (fullness and volume) to get where I need to be.

I think what I need is a boost pedal... am I right???

I wanted to make absolutely sure 'cause I was going to recommend the same thing to my fiddle player, who needs more volume on her solos

I greatly appreciate ANY help on this

Hi Cameron,

(Clean) boost is the way to go. Otherwise you could use a volume pedal but that is more work and harder to be consistent when you have to go to lower volumes again. Another trick I have used at times is actually using the level setting of my compression pedal for this purpose. Everytime for a solo, I would kick in the compressor to limit dynamics but have an increase in volume that way too. But in case you use a boost pedal (or a level setting on any other pedal for that matter), be aware you'll be driving your pre-amp harder too. So depending on how clean your settings are, you will be in distortion mode sooner. If you have a fairly dirty setting already, it more than likely will not make a lot of difference in tone, just volume. For your fiddle player the amount of distortion is even more important but it is worth the experiment.

Hope this helps,

- Jos

Jos is right on the money. . I think a clean boost pedal would be exactly what you need. I use one for solos and it does the trick. There are a lot of them out there, but the best I've come across is the Durham Sex Drive. YMMV.


The compressor trick is a neat one too, so if you don't run that all the time you might want to consider that.

Jos, Jamie - thank u guys

I've thought about a volume pedal as well! But knowing me, my brain might explode if I try to manually set my volume throughout a show

This might sound odd, but I have to jack my compressor level almost all the way up just to match my normal level... and I only have my "compress" set to 9:00...

To make matters even worse, I get feedback LIKE CRAZY when I'm not playing (while the compressor is on) (Is it because I only have my amp volume set to 1 and 1/2? Or maybe just playing in my living room?)

By the way, I'll go ahead 'n spill it - I'm using a Carl Martin Quattro.

I'll definitely check into clean boosts - I've come across the Durham Sex Drive on proguitarshop.com! I hope my fiddler doesn't kill me if I recommend that exact pedal for her as well hahahahahhaa!!!

Again, I appreciate u guys

By the way, I'll go ahead 'n spill it - I'm using a Carl Martin Quattro.

Hi Cameron,

I'm also the proud owner of a Carl Martin Quattro and absolutely love this unit. Fortunately, I do not have a similar problem as you do! I just ran downstairs to check my settings here at home and I have the level set at 9 o'clock and the compression at 3 o'clock (almost full compression). And to get feedback at such low levels is weird. Do you have your Overdrive engaged all the time to compensate for your low amp volume settings? I only get the squealing while not playing with certain single-coil guitars when standing close to my Express 5:25 and with Overdrive 2 is engaged. But in that case I really got it cranked up. So maybe the problem is not so much in the Compressor but instead you have to dial down Overdrive 2 a tad.

Hope this helps and let me know,

- Jos

P.S. Of course you could also volunteer for a Lunch Reporter stint and get yourself a Boosta Grande as a thank you gift

Jos!!!

Ahhh sweet!!!!! I'm glad I finally have someone to talk to about this board!!! I love this thing too! - I was seriously sick of dealing with the menus and presets of all that digital stuff - so I thought "yeah... turn a knob left and right... that's me" haha! But yes, this compressor is giving me a fit!!!

Dang! If I set my compress to 3:00, I get a... well not muddy... uhhm VERY "faint" volume level I'd say? And your level at only 9:00!?!? Wow! I have mine normally (on stage) at 12:00 - 2:00...

Also since we've been practicing in the living room, I've had to go full blast on the compressor level!!! Maybe I should get in the garage 'n crank my amp volume up a bit 'n see how the compressor responds? - I have a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue, and a ASAT Classic S, if that helps anything?

As for the squealing sound, yes at practice, I'm right next to my amp. And 99% of the time while playing a solo, I have my drive 1, drive 2, and compressor on - with my drive 2 at 11:00 - 12:00

Do you have trouble with sustain by any chance?... Take this one song we cover "Til Summer Comes Around" - I can't quite seem to get my notes to last as long as I need during the solo... I've started using echo to try to get my sustain up as much as I can, but is that the solution?

I apologize for all of the questions, and greatly appreciate your help!!!!!

lol lunch reporter stint? - boosta grande doesn't look half bad, by the way! The Durham Sex Drive is definitely out of my price range

Also since we've been practicing in the living room, I've had to go full blast on the compressor level!!! Maybe I should get in the garage 'n crank my amp volume up a bit 'n see how the compressor responds? - I have a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue, and a ASAT Classic S, if that helps anything?

I think that is the most important experiment. Get your amp in its happy place. And I can assure you that is not in the low volume region. There is really something to the adage that with any amp start with all controls at 12 o'clock and dial in your tone from there. I at least hope you can get your amp up that much. Next you will notice that you have to reset all levels on you Quattro. The tone from the clean channel on my 5:25 Express is already fabulous as it is. I play a lot of times with no effects on at all or at most my Carl Martin TremO'vibe patched into the effect loop of my amp and placed on top of the head (and yes, I have to control that one by hand). I always do A/B testing to set the levels right. Setting the Overdrive level and have the desired amount of Drive set for Overdrive 2 is the hardest and usually kicking in that Overdrive comes with an increase in volume. But at least I have the other channel on my 5:25 to get a similar tone if need-be.

Do you have trouble with sustain by any chance?... Take this one song we cover "Til Summer Comes Around" - I can't quite seem to get my notes to last as long as I need during the solo... I've started using echo to try to get my sustain up as much as I can, but is that the solution?

Didn't know the song and just listened to the AOL Session version. Mr. Urban seems to be using a generous amount of reverb and some echo so you should be good there But this is my theory, and call me crazy if I am, OK? Since you have your amp volume set so low, more than likely you pick heavily to still be able to hear yourself. The downside of that is that decay of a heavily picked note is even more exponential than usual and decays fast. It seems the note disappears into oblivion quickly. I had the same problem. While living in an apartment, I never really could crank up the amp, but that caused me to really dig in when picking. And I picked all my guitars that way. First improvement was using THD Hot Plates where you do crank up the amp so you have great tone but at lower volumes. My picking became better and more even but since the overall volume is still fairly low, notes still seem to disappear fast when playing along with a track. Only when moving to a free standing house, I could crank up the volume and that made a lot of difference. Especially my acoustics are very grateful since I treat them so much better With picking softer and not digging in as much, the decay of notes becomes more even. And when picking hard, Compression only seems to suck volume, but with picking softer adding Compression finally started to make sense to me prolonging notes even more. I even are to the point now that my volume knob on the guitar is not at 10 by default so I can play with dynamics

In summary:

• Crank up amp so it is in its happy region. You will potentially blast your ears but to mitigate that I offer ...
• ... the purchase of a power soak like the THD Hot Plate or equivalent.
• Pick a bit softer. This will take practice and discipline but it'll be worth it.
• Set levels on the Quattro such that there are no perceptual differences in volume between playing with or without effects engaged.

Would love to hear whether that solves it for you. I can tell you that I'm still learning too with respect to volume, dynamics, picking, and tone. And hopefully some of the other gging members will chine in too.

Hope this helps,

- Jos

...I'm basically using a crunch channel, a high-gain channel, and a compressor to get through a show...

If you are using that much gain and a compressor to boot, I'm not surprised your having trouble getting your lead through the mix. The crunch and the high gain channels are going to add compression. More compression will not your problem. You need more definition in your tone. Try dialing back on the distortion or maybe eliminate one of the gain stages entirely. I don't think a clean boost is going to help if you are going to just try and boost your distortion so it is even louder.

I think you've got all the gear you need and just need to adjust it so your guitar fits into the mix.

RickT

I have a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue

I used to have that same amp, the volume pot is linear instead of audio taper (or is it the other way around?) so the volume even between 1 and 2 is a huge jump. If I remember correctly I think it was a marketing thing i.e. if the amp is that loud at 2 and it goes up to 12 then it covers what I need, but in reality I think the max volume is reached by 5 or 6. Not sure if that helps determine the problem but thought it might.

Good Luck!

-Dave

Jos,

You seriously sound like you have your 'ducks in a row' -

The bad thing is, that my amp could probably blow a hole through a wall at 4 or 5 ... I've never had to turn it past 3 or 3 'n 1/2 for a show consisting of about 300 to 1,000 people. (micing it with an sm57, of course) ... bad choice of amp, yes...?

I'll reset all my Quattro knobs 'n give the whole thing a new start like you suggest - I do seem to get a bit trebley at times

The reason I think I needed a boost pedal is because I've been using either my drive 2 and/or compressor for soloing, when I really just regularly need them throughout a song - maybe if I don't try to get the extra volume out of my compressor for a solo, then I won't have feedback problems?

HOLY COW! No, your not crazy. You made me think about it, and yes, I pick much harder at practice... Yes! I've noticed that about compression... and you'll haveta excuse my lack of knowledge about it - I bought my Quattro about a year ago, and only started using the compressor towards the later half... but yes, I noticed that I could strum the fire outta my strings, or pluck a note really softly, 'n it's all relatively the same volume while compressed! - So I'll make a conscious effort on the lighter picking.

Ahh see I own a Tele now so, I keep my volume knob all the way up now (for being afraid of tone loss, right?)... should I do that by the way? - I've always used a Les Paul with my vol. knobs around 5 or 6 'til a solo/etc hit. So this whole Tele setup (even though is awesomely simple) is still new to me

Have you ever had the THD Hot Plates to cause any damage/effect your amp?

Our first gig of the season if this Saturday - I'll give all of this a shot 'n get back with ya - I can't thank you enough for sharing your knowledge.

Last edited by IrritatedViking on Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

Rick T,

I'm using everything that's on my Carl Martin Quattro, and I only ever have my drive knobs at about 11:00 or 12:00.

I'm forced use my crunch (drive 1) and gain (drive 2) to create fullness during a solo/etc
because I'm the only guitarist in my band but, fortunately, I do have a volume level control for my drives


Dave,

Yes 1 and 2 are completely different ball parks in volume! Like I said in my comment above,
I've never had to turn it past 3 and 1/2 for a show! It's craziness lol!

Thank u guys!

I think you might need to back the gain, adds mids and subtract a little bass. A boost on top of that won't hurt but generally if you boost the amp out front, you want EVEN MORE mids. Mids are going to be your fullness.