Distortion Tone That Cleans Up With Volume Knob

ksmithdc

ksmithdc

Inspired
I was fiddling around with some Led Zeppelin tunes today...and was attempting to dynamically go from dirty to clean by backing off on the volume knob on the guitar. And I noticed it was more of an all-on and all-off kind of thing vs. dynamic shades of gain. This was occurring with nearly all my sounds (using Cameron, CAE+, BE, HBE, etc..) all the usual suspects with the great high gain models.

Anyone care to comment about how to dial it in for better volume control response for distortion (which is generally also directly tied in with touch sensitivity).



Kevin
 
personally I like to do this sort of thing via controllers...
try attaching a controller to either the input trim, the amp's gain control or something else that have 'level' [like a GEQ]..

there are several advantages of doing it this way:
- a guitar's tone will get muddy as the volume knob is reduced. leaving the guitar at max volume and handling the 'cleaning up' within the fx unit will avoid this [unless of course you actually like the 'darkening']..
- if you wish to alter other parameters / fx when the tone morphs from dirty to clean and back you can now do so..
- you can control the amount of dirt on the tone with your foot and thereby keep your hands on the playing surfaces..

EDIT: my whole playing style is built around this type of control. when my Axe finally arrives and is fully config'd I'll do a huge write up on what I did, how I did it and why I did it.. with audio clips too..
some folks in here may not like my tones, but they may find my approach to processing quite interesting...
 
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It probably has quite a bit to do with your guitar and pups as well. I have yet to tweak a single preset - I'm really really lazy :) - so with all stock presets I've actually been marveling at how the tones not only clean up - but don't lose as much volume as I sometimes perceive with a tube amp. I've for the most part just been playing through a Suhr strat with and Aldrich pup in the bridge. I get a lot out of pup combos as well.
 
What Cliff said (above). This also works great with Plexi Treble with MV cranked and Drive set in the middle ranges.
 
You could try using the high gain amps you listed, but reducing the gain level and increasing the master level to bring the overall distortion level back up to it's original point. This should make the amp model more touch and volume pot sensitive. I haven't tried it, but it's worth a try.
 
What Cliff said is spot on. I use the Wrecker all day going from clean to mean. But you may also be experiencing the effect of a gate set too high. A strong gate will let your louder playing go through but will kill your soft playing and dynamics. So I suspect that the gates in these presets or in your patches are set so high that they just mute your playing soft.
Check it out :)
 
Don't finish sand with a rasp.
It is all about selecting the correct tools.
Dr. Z is a nice example of dynamic control availability.
 
I think people forget how close to real life these "models" act. I was just going through this today with the regular Plexi. And realized you need to not dime the gain on the preamp and use more power amp than preamp :). Just like in real life. Go figure.
 
I've had good luck with the Brown amps and particularly the Brown Sound preset (Ultra and Axe 2) with rollback cleanup. Love the idea of using a controller to brighten up the sound as you roll back the volume -- I have used that technique to roll highs back as pitch increases with great success.
 
Key element; treble bleed mod. The plexi treble cleans up great and so does the Friedman BE (even though it is pre amp gain)
 
The 'Buttery' amp model (Budda Twinmaster) also cleans up wonderfully. Great power amp drive as well! Some of Page's recordings were done with a fuzz pedal up front. Done right some fuzz pedals clean up really well and the AxeFXII fuzz pedal models are no exception. Something else to consider is that Page often used small combo tube amps (valco, supro, etc.) and Tele's for recording, not the Les Paul / Marshall stack rig often seen in live performances.

As has already been stated keep the gain down and drive the output section of the amp harder. Choose an amp model better suited for you desired results. This should improve the guitar volume response significantly. If your guitar signal turns into mud as you back off on the volume pot you may need to look into installing a treble bleed cap.
 
Yea, cliff's suggestion should get you there.
The fenders, wrecker, buttery, and voxes are great amps for this. Just crank up the master, lower the gain to like 3-5, and you should have it in spades ;)
 
Pickups and vol pot make a big difference also.I have ultra and all my distortion tones clean up with rolling the guitar vol down.With high output pickups and lower output.My tone is kind of satch,vai and early vh.
 
Just got back from rehearsal where I tried out a new clean-to-crunch patch that I programmed in the bedroom. At this point, I would say its the most responsive amp I've ever played. Pick lightly for amazing full cleans and dig in for throaty crunch. Which model...

Cameron channel 1. Default settings, master way up and drive way down.

John
 
just use plexi treble with MV to max (as always on a marshall u can set everything else on 10 too ;)) one of my favs with rolling of volume as it gets some high end when rolling back while getting full, not too shrill, distortion sounds
 
First of all - thank you ALL. I sincerely appreciate your help.

Second, I sometimes wonder if I'm 1/2 retarded sometimes. I don't understand how I couldn't connect the dots. Go with a lower gain patch and with the emphasis on a cranked master volume (rather than a dimed preamp). Duh! Good lord, I really really feel dumb now. I'm sitting here with all these AMAZING ultra high gain tones and I can't for the life of me figure out why it's not cleaning up when I roll back the volume. <face palm>

FWIW, I was playing through a variety of guitars (Anderson Cobra, Warmoth "Jimmy Herring" type strat, Brian May Red Special, PRS SC245...and basically same deal.

Anyway, again thank you all for getting my headspace corrected on this. I'm going to mess around with the Wrecker, Butter, Plexi (etc..) and maybe a fuzz...and see how that fairs for the Jimmy Page stuff.
 
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