Finding the sweet spot

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Deny Watanabe

Member
DISCLAIMER: I know not everyone spends time and effort trying to find the sweet spot of each combination of guitar + drive + amp that they use, this post is directed at those who do.

Do you feel the sweet spot range in the AX8 is pretty tight? I mean, a lot of the time changing *one step* in input drive or drive output changes the tone noticeably, and there's usually *one* setting which yields the perfect sweet spot. Same thing with pickup height, 1/20 turn makes a noticeable difference. Just wondering if anyone else also noticed this. At one point I'll fire up my old tube gear and check if the same thing happens, I'm almost 100% sure it will.
 
Deny Watanabe said:
a lot of the time changing *one step* in input drive or drive output changes the tone noticeably
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not sure what you mean by "step." but i personally don't find it that small. our ears tend to hear things when our mind is convinced that it should. i always remember that.
 
chris said:
not sure what you mean by "step." but i personally don't find it that small. our ears tend to hear things when our mind is convinced that it should. i always remember that.
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By "step" I mean the smallest possible value step in a given parameter.

Agreed, we tend to hear things that we expect to hear, that's why I usually do some back-and-forth between values to make sure I'm not hearing things, and always confirm sweet spots by hearing the results of a tweak on different days, with fresh ears. That's where my perception of narrow sweet spots come from, interesting that you have a different opinion.
 
chris said:
are you saying that a Gain setting might be amazing at 4.05 but not at 4.06?
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No, I'm saying it might be very close at 4.06 and just right at 4.05, to my ears it's a matter of a very delicate balance between dynamics sensitivity and sustain. There's also a noticeable frequency response change at the exact setting, above which it will sound increasingly shrill and below which it will sound increasingly dull. At the exact sweet spot you'll hear notes "blossoming", which is what I look for in lead tones.
 
Seems like a loaded question. Those who say they've spent a lot of time tweaking and simply don't hear a "sweet spot" don't have discerning ears. Those who do are in an elite club of the select few blessed with golden ears.

Personally, I tweak presets a lot, trying to find the "perfect" tone but I would have to side with Chris on this though, that there's really no single "sweet spot" in any of the parameters. I'll revisit presets created months ago and apply new concepts or approaches I've learned but these may only enhance what at the time were great tones.

That said, if the gain set at 4.06 sounds much better to you than 4.05 and it inspires you to play more, go for it! Isn't that the ultimate goal?
 
Yeah I just can’t see a 0.01 difference being discernible. I might guess that we have x.xx interval mostly so people don’t complain that we only have a x.x interval.

Someone on the forum once said they hear a difference in tone between 48% and 49% on the Output knob. If so, neat, but I just can’t see anyway that’s true for several reasons.

As mentioned, if it does do something for you, go with it *thumbs*
 
Mostly I find an amp that works in the situation i’m using it for ,mostly minimal tweaking ,not as minimal as you mentioned , less bass ,whatever ,more treble ,I don’t usually got off the the first amp page.:).
 
EdgE said:
Mostly I find an amp that works in the situation i’m using it for ,mostly minimal tweaking ,not as minimal as you mentioned , less bass ,whatever ,more treble ,I don’t usually got off the the first amp page.:).
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Input gain, which is often enough for finding the sweet spot with a given guitar, is in the first amp page, so I think you're good ;)
 
Deny Watanabe said:
No, I'm saying it might be very close at 4.06 and just right at 4.05, to my ears it's a matter of a very delicate balance between dynamics sensitivity and sustain.
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Guess I'd have to call myself lucky that my ears or not that discerning. I fear I'd go crazy over trying to find that elusive sweet spot and then losing it because of the slightest change..
Also I use the volume on the guitar quite a bit and there's no way I'd ever be that accurate, if I land at 7.5 instead of 7 it's fine, I might just play a hair softer.
 
drievuldig said:
Guess I'd have to call myself lucky that my ears or not that discerning. I fear I'd go crazy over trying to find that elusive sweet spot and then losing it because of the slightest change..
Also I use the volume on the guitar quite a bit and there's no way I'd ever be that accurate, if I land at 7.5 instead of 7 it's fine, I might just play a hair softer.
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Great point. Not to mention the changes each guitar goes through depending upon the environment its in. A rise or fall of temperature or humidity level can make a lot more than one-hundredth of a change in tone.
 
I'm in the same camp as @JoKeR III in that I will see some tweak posted on the forum and give it a try. I've had set of patches that I use for my Tom Petty tribute band. They all work great. They will stay unchanged for months then I might read something here and try it out or I might make a patch for my classic rock band that makes my TP patches seem not as good. I'll then go back and alter them. As far as the audience (and band for that matter) know, they notice no change, no difference. Even guitarists wit the same setup would not notice the subtle changes - but they make me happy. Sometimes, I thing that as a guitarist, a bit of tinkering and revisiting of existing stuff is inevitable :)
 
When I'm tweaking in isolation I find that most parameters only require a very, very small adjustment and I find there can be only a single click from I like it to ahhh, there it is, perfect.

Most of that goes out the window when I'm tweaking with the band at production volume levels. I'm usually a lot more coarse with the various adjustments in that environment.
 
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