Who actually uses their tone control?

Power_Freak · September 2023

I always use the volume and tone knobs on a guitar - rarely ever touch a pickup selector switch though. I'd sooner go for a 1 pickup jr or esquire than I would a guitar without a tone knob

hessodreamy · September 2023

I'm still trying to figure it out! What leads you to reach for the guitar tone/volume rather than the amp tone/volume to get your basic tone (assuming such amp controls exist and you don't need to control these things on the fly)? Does turning down tone on the guitar give a different result than turning down treble on the amp? I think so but I'm not sure.

distressed · September 2023

It's bit weird/impossible to mess with amp controls so many times during the song when gigging/rehearsing.

Roland · September 2023

hessodreamy said:

Does turning down tone on the guitar give a different result than turning down treble on the amp?

Yes, it can because they can roll off with different frequency gradients. Also, you can change the guitar controls whilst playing, in the gaps between phrases. Whereas amp control changes require you to turn around and stop playing, or at least hold down a note while you make the change. … unless you’re Guthrie Govan whose party trick was to continue playing with one hand whilst downing a pint with the other.

BigPaulie · September 2023

I'm always fiddling with the tone control...

...to make sure it's on 10.

EvansDrD · September 2023

Like many jazz players, I always roll the tone off (depending on the guitar, I’ll have it between 3 and 7…maybe even lower on a Tele)

Alexlotl · September 2023

Tele player, and all the time.

“Always leave your tone on 10” is the worst advice I ever got as a young guitarist, as it left me with a rig so trebly that I rarely actually plugged in, as I lacked the confidence / understanding of EQ to dial my horrible SS amp into the radical positions that would have been required to compensate.

Bigsby · September 2023

On my single pickup guitars, yes, on the rest, not so much... When I'm playing a Reverend I'm much more likely to be using the bass control, so much so that I often wish other guitars - especially ones with hum buckers - had a bass control. It's especially useful in letting a rhythm part cut through when low in a mix.

Basher · September 2023

EvansDrD said:

Like many jazz players, I always roll the tone off (depending on the guitar, I’ll have it between 3 and 7…maybe even lower on a Tele)

Same question as @hessodreamy but why do jazzers seem to prefer cutting the highs on the guitar, as opposed to the amp? Most people I've seen play jazz tend to set their tone and use the same basic sound all night.

I'm also fascinated why the "no treble" thing became the standard jazz guitar tone. When I listen to early recordings by people like Joe Pass or Jim Hall, their sound was noticeably brighter than their later tone. I must confess that I prefer the earlier sounds and find myself drawn to players with slightly brighter sounds like Grant Green.

ICBM · September 2023

Basher said:

Same question as @hessodreamy but why do jazzers seem to prefer cutting the highs on the guitar, as opposed to the amp? Most people I've seen play jazz tend to set their tone and use the same basic sound all night.

Turning down the tone on the guitar gives a softer, woodier sound than turning down the treble on the amp - or even an amp tone control if it has just one - because the tone control on the guitar interacts with the pickup and changes the damping on it, whereas the ones on the amp don’t - there’s (almost, there are a very few primitive amps where it’s not the case) always a gain stage between the two so the pickup is buffered from the tone control. It’s as much of a ‘feel’ thing to the player than just a tone change.

PLOP · September 2023

Nah. I took the pot off and replaced it with a kill switch that does get a decent amount of use.

Grumpyrocker · September 2023

I use the tone control a lot. Yup. Don't have anything more to say about that really.

roberty · September 2023

Keefy said:

roberty said:

I'm mostly everything on 10 tbh. I've modded two guitars for my band and they don't have tone controls. They have HPFs on the bridge pup which I find more useful for high gain. I have used the tone controls in one or two bands but not when I'm singing

I’d say a HPF is a kind of tone control, just not the same as the usual treble (LPF) control.

That is true but I don't really use it lol. It's a handy get-out if the gain stages get too saturated for some reason

StormshadowGuitars · September 2023

Nope, Don't have any guitars with a tone control in them.
Why on earth would I want want my amp to sound like its in the cupboard under the stairs!

Josh_Cosku · September 2023

I mostly fiddle the bridge pickup when I am setting things up at the beginning of the rehearsal or gig. Generally I only touch it afterwards if I go to a sound with more gain for additional clarity.

Neck pickups are mostly always fully on, I even bypassed the tone from neck pickup in my tele, tone only controls the bridge and middle position.

Greatape · September 2023

Constantly. Both controls.

slacker · September 2023

Yes but depending on the guitar

The strat had a tone control for the bridge pickup which is essential IMHO

LP has 50s wiring and I adjust both

Ric nope set knobs at max except for 5th one which is set to mid way and not moved except to where it sounds best in the room and left.

Es125 set mid way and left

Gretsch has a three way switch mostly use bright and not so bright settings.

Th4fonz · September 2023

On my r9 I’m always fiddling with the controls depending on what I’m after. Strat more a slight roll off and forget it.

EvansDrD · September 2023

Basher said:

EvansDrD said:

Like many jazz players, I always roll the tone off (depending on the guitar, I’ll have it between 3 and 7…maybe even lower on a Tele)

Same question as @hessodreamy but why do jazzers seem to prefer cutting the highs on the guitar, as opposed to the amp? Most people I've seen play jazz tend to set their tone and use the same basic sound all night.

I'm also fascinated why the "no treble" thing became the standard jazz guitar tone. When I listen to early recordings by people like Joe Pass or Jim Hall, their sound was noticeably brighter than their later tone. I must confess that I prefer the earlier sounds and find myself drawn to players with slightly brighter sounds like Grant Green.

Very good question - and I think that @ICBM has answered perfectly. I don't have much to add beyond saying that I think the 'standard' jazz tone is actually more about being mid-heavy than cutting treble. Now think about the standard Fender amps...a 'mid-scoop' by design, seldom a mid-control, and a widespread view that 'Bass-5; Treble - 5 = 'flat' (when actually, the way to get flat or to boost mids is to turn both right down). So there is that.

Also worth remembering that bebop players were likely looking to emulate the kinds of lines being played on brass instruments and so flatwound strings, thunky tone etc. better for this. I suppose, also, the laminate guitars (e.g 175) that gigging musicians will have used (cheaper, less prone to feedback) are inherently darker, so too are the polytone amps that were ubiquitous back in the day

Now Jim Hall is your classic 'dark' tone but I think lots of jazzers prefer brighter tones. As you say - Grant Green but also Kenny Burrell, George Benson and others. Much brighter and usually a tube/valve amp with a bit of hair. Arguably the definitive 'modern' archtop tone is a solid carved guitar strung with round wounds. I personally prefer this as it happens but I do still like to dial back the tone and volume a little

ICBM · September 2023

EvansDrD said:

Now think about the standard Fender amps...a 'mid-scoop' by design, seldom a mid-control, and a widespread view that 'Bass-5; Treble - 5 = 'flat' (when actually, the way to get flat or to boost mids is to turn both right down).

Not quite - the mid scoop of the standard Fender tone stack (including the ones that apparently have no mid control, which are actually internally set to about 6 with a fixed resistor) is *only for the tone stack*. It was done like that on purpose to make an open-back guitar combo - which has almost no deep bass or treble - sound roughly flat... it's compensating for the speakers and cabinet. Something like a Fender Twin does sound *approximately* flat with the controls all centred, at least up to about 6kHz or so where the speakers just run out of HF response. They do work quite well for acoustic guitars, in fact - especially with a bit of EQ or an 'enhancer' type effect in front to further boost the top-end.

But certainly, to get a mid-boosted sound you have to turn the bass and treble down as well as the mids up, or it remains largely scooped - the mid pot is less than a tenth of the value of the bass and treble ones (10K vs 250K) so it has much less effect. Mesa/Boogie expanded on this by using a much larger-value mid pot, the same value as the treble and bass pots, which dominates the sound once it's turned up beyond halfway.

prowla · September 2023

I see those controls on my guitars, but I’ve never quite got round to figuring out what they are for.

EvansDrD · September 2023

ICBM said:

EvansDrD said:

Now think about the standard Fender amps...a 'mid-scoop' by design, seldom a mid-control, and a widespread view that 'Bass-5; Treble - 5 = 'flat' (when actually, the way to get flat or to boost mids is to turn both right down).

Not quite - the mid scoop of the standard Fender tone stack (including the ones that apparently have no mid control, which are actually internally set to about 6 with a fixed resistor) is *only for the tone stack*. It was done like that on purpose to make an open-back guitar combo - which has almost no deep bass or treble - sound roughly flat... it's compensating for the speakers and cabinet. Something like a Fender Twin does sound *approximately* flat with the controls all centred, at least up to about 6kHz or so where the speakers just run out of HF response. They do work quite well for acoustic guitars, in fact - especially with a bit of EQ or an 'enhancer' type effect in front to further boost the top-end.

But certainly, to get a mid-boosted sound you have to turn the bass and treble down as well as the mids up, or it remains largely scooped - the mid pot is less than a tenth of the value of the bass and treble ones (10K vs 250K) so it has much less effect. Mesa/Boogie expanded on this by using a much larger-value mid pot, the same value as the treble and bass pots, which dominates the sound once it's turned up beyond halfway.

Thank you! That’s really informative and interesting.

I know sweet FA re: technicalities…only that I get a Princeton to sound ‘right’ by turning down the bass and treble

Really appreciate the clever and careful explanation

sev112 · September 2023

Esquire, you bet

Fortheloveofguitar · September 2023

Never use one at all. I don’t even put one in my builds now.

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Who actually uses their tone control?

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