1 (high-ish) Mid-Gain preset and volume knob...

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stm113

Power User
So one of my current gigs is playing in the praise band at my church. It's been a long haul getting my tones dialed in but I'm getting closer all the time. Lately I've been using the Boutique 1 & 2 models. I use Boutique 2 as my main tone (X) with the drive at about 11:00-11:30 and the master at noon. I use the Boutique 1 only when I need to be really clean, maybe in 1 out of 4 songs on a normal Sunday.

Yesterday I did a no-no and rolled without a back-up midi cable, and of course mine didn't work, so through our 1st rehearsal I had to just roll with the Boutique 2 set as described above. What amazed me was that I was able to play every song with just volume knob and 3 way toggle adjustments on my 1960 Tribute LP w/BurstBuckers. During breakfast break I was able to run home and grab a cable and all was right with my world but it's awesome to know that if push came to shove I could do a whole set on 1 amp.

When I play P&W music, for me I see my role as all about setting a mood to help people to connect and I think it speaks volumes (pardon the pun) about the modeling integrity of the AF2 that it's so responsive to a guitars volume. Just another one of the reasons Fractal Audio makes it more fun to play guitar. THANKS CLIFF AND TEAM!!!
 
Never underestimate the power of the humble guitar volume knob. Contrary to what so many think, it's more than just a mute for between songs. Watch Jeff Beck play. That guy does some crazy stuff with a Strat volume knob. The separate volumes on Gibsons can basically give you a clean/dirty switch right on the guitar. The clean parts on Van Halen's Hot For Teacher use the rolled off neck pickup of a Gibson Flying V and the dirty parts are the bridge full up. Straight into his Plexi. No need for channel switching there. The Axe is awesome at capturing that interaction.
 
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I've been finding that with the Keith Urban Twin model. I've got it set up with a just beyond the edge of breakup gain, but the magic ingredient seems to be turning down the volume knob on the guitar to 8-9. It makes it very touch responsive and nearly clean if you pick lightly, but dirties up when you dig in or play double-stops.

I can't get the same effect just by lowering the input gain on the amp block.
 
StickMan said:
I've been finding that with the Keith Urban Twin model. I've got it set up with a just beyond the edge of breakup gain, but the magic ingredient seems to be turning down the volume knob on the guitar to 8-9. It makes it very touch responsive and nearly clean if you pick lightly, but dirties up when you dig in or play double-stops.

I can't get the same effect just by lowering the input gain on the amp block.
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Just curious - which cab do You for the Keith Urban Twin?
 
mr_fender said:
Never underestimate the power of the humble guitar volume knob. Contrary to what so many think, it's more than just a mute for between songs. Watch Jeff Beck play. That guy does some crazy stuff with a Strat volume knob. The separate volumes on Gibsons can basically give you a clean/dirty switch right on the gutiar. The clean parts on Van Halen's Hot For Teacher use the rolled off neck pickup of a Gibson Flying V and the dirty parts are the bridge full up. Straight into his Plexi. No need for channel switching there. The Axe is awesome at capturing that interaction.
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So true - volume knob is key to that nice creamy tone. Look at Bonamassa - hes constantly messing with volume and tone knobs - and I don't know of many people that have better tone.
 
I have been playing my volume knob ever since I started playing electric guitar. IMHO, it is where the magic is. I also mostly play in a P&W setting as well. My favorite amps are the 50w and 100w Plexi amps. They clean up very well when the guitar volume is rolled back, and have a very sweet sustain and compress well when the guitar gain is cranked. And, it has a great crunchy rhythm in between cranked and rolled back. Very responsive amps.
 
StickMan said:
I can't get the same effect just by lowering the input gain on the amp block.
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I would venture to guess that a lot of the difference is the treble roll off that occurs when you roll your volume back. I also personally think that even with a treble bleed mod, so the tone doesn't change, there's something to do with the amount of signal coming in to an amp vs. just turning down the input gain. What I have found recently is that Cliff an'em (if you're from the south you'll know what that means) have done an amazing job with modeling this. Just yet another of a long list of reasons this unit is my favorite piece of music gear I've ever purchased.
 
jlynnb1 said:
if you like the Boutique models you should really spend some time with the dc30 model.
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Thank you I will! My Church is doing our annual Christmas experience Thursday brining together 2 campuses, this year we've gotten some K-Love radio support so we're expecting 1500 or so people there, if I can get a good tone dialed in, it might be what I use. The other 2 guys playing that night are using AC-30's, it'd be interesting to see how my tones compares.
 
stm113 said:
Thank you I will! My Church is doing our annual Christmas experience Thursday bringing together 2 campuses, this year we've gotten some K-Love radio support so we're expecting 1500 or so people there, if I can get a good tone dialed in, it might be what I use. The other 2 guys playing that night are using AC-30's, it'd be interesting to see how my tones compares.
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right IR is so key for this kind of tone (any tone, really).....I've just seen that it makes or breaks with these.
 
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