T ONE TIPS FROM THE ROAD
P ETER STROUD
At Your Fingertips
These days, while at home and off of the
road, I find myself sitting in quite a bit with
bands and friends at clubs. This usually
means plugging into someone else’s amp
that I’m not familiar with, or if I bring my
own, not having a real gauge on where to set
my stage volume. If it’s a channel-switching
channel to sound big and clear with a lot
of clarity. Then I’ll compare that to the lead
overdrive channel (and fight with a buzzy-fizzy-squeally tone that ends up sounding
like complete crap with no presence or clarity whatsoever). As a result, I have adopted
the habit of using the clean channel only—
cranked, of course—and controlling my volume from the guitar.
In general, I’m a big fan of riding my guitar’s
volume control throughout the show. I’ll set
my amp volume and tone around my rhythm
playing, with the guitar’s volume control
turned down to around 3 to 5, maybe 5 to 7,
knowing that when I goose it to 10, I’ll have
plenty of gain and a good jump in volume for
leads. This approach is the exact opposite of
the usual first tendency to dial your amp tone
with your guitar’s volume on 10… so when
you cut the guitar down, you loose all of your
tone and volume.
Back Row, L to R: Moollon Lotus Octah, Electro-Harmonix Double Muff, ProAnalog Power Driver, MXR Distortion +, Shin-ei Jax Fuzz Wah
Middle Row, L to R: Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster, Keeler Designs Push, Keeley Java Boost, Xotic Effects RC Booster, Moollon Overdrive, Wells Amp
5:00 Shadow Front Row, L to R: ProAnalog Mk I, 65 Pedals Colour Boost, custom-built Micro-boost (based on LTB- 1 circuit), Analogman Sun Face NKT
But what’s even more fun is to add a gain
boost pedal, or better yet, a germanium
is more “old school,” but the most versatile
in my book. This is how all the greats used to
do it before master volumes, back when the
amps mainly had a clean sound, and you’d
have to crank it before it would distort.
The germanium-type transistor is what all of
these pedals have in common. Vintage pedals you may have heard of—Colorsound and
Vox Tone Benders, Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face,
course the legendary Electro-Harmonix Big
Muff—all use germanium transistors. And
there are tons of great new “boutique” handmade reissues, new designs of germanium
transistor circuits, Tone Bender knockoffs
like Pro Analog’s Mk I, Mk II and Mk III, and
Throback’s Stonebender, Treble Boosters like
the 65 Colour Boost and Robert Keeley’s Java
Boost, fat fuzz monsters like Analogman’s Sun
Face and Way Huge’s Swollen Pickle.
Hendrix, Page, Townsend, Ritchie Blackmore
and Jeff Beck. Especially live recordings:
Hendrix at Monterey Pop Festival was kicking in a Fuzz Face constantly; Townsend on
Live at Leeds—you hear the Univox Super
Fuzz for total gonzo leads on top of his
cleaner Hiwatt amplifiers; Ritchie Blackmore
on Deep Purple’s live album classic, Made
In Japan—“Highway Star” annihilates (I’m
not sure what he’s using but it sounds like
a Tone Bender circuit); Jimmy Page on
“Heartbreaker” sounds like he’s kicking in
his Tone Bender Mk II for the solo all the
way to the climatic riff before dropping into
Boots” from the album Wired is a prime
example of kicking in a serious gain boost
on top of a Marshall amp, most likely a Vox
Tone Bender or something similar.
The choice of pickups on your guitar helps
also. Single coil pickups seem to react more
noticeably, cleaning up enormously when
you turn down your guitar’s volume control…
you can get that control as well with cleaner,
lower-gain humbuckers.
So, if this is unfamiliar territory to your
normal routine, the big thing to learn is to
“ride” the volume control on your guitar
and prioritize setting your amp’s volume to
your rhythm playing level. When you stop
playing, immediately turn your guitar to
“0.” Ride your volume when you start each
song (with volume around “ 5,” and then
crank it to “ 10” for your solo). If you need
extra, hit the stompbox for a rippin’ good
time. Also, try rolling off the tone knob on
your guitar a couple of notches if it gets
too bright, or tweak the amp.
The big thing you’ll notice with all of the
above is that the tone gets big and fat the
more it’s cranked… and when you roll off
your guitar’s volume, the sound cleans up
and chimes and sparkles, almost the opposite
of what you get with more modern day distortion and overdrive stompboxes—definitely
master volume combo on most amps!
Rawk on.
Peter Stroud
Peter is co-founder of 65amps.
sherylcrow.com
65amps.com
