How do you deal with this problem?

N

nateb

Inspired
I am really not sure what to do about this issue. How do you guys deal with the issue of guitars having different output levels. I have quite a good mix of different guitars with different pickups (active/passive/hum/single) and every single time I switch guitars, I have to screw with my input level. Is there something I need to do in order to solve this problem, or is this just the way things are?

-Nate
 
I'm interested in this too. My main guitar has p-rails in it, and the variance in output level between the settings is significant. Originally I thought about running a volume pedal before the Axe-fx, but from what I heard I would be starving the humbuckers. So a boost pedal before the axe-fx might work.
 
Dead simple: set the Axe-FX input level for your hottest output guitar, and then leave it alone. That's it. Can't be any simpler.

When you use a (so-called) real guitar amp, do you twiddle with its input level (internal circuitry) to match your various guitars? No, of course you don't. And that way, your hot guitar sounds hot, and the ones that are less hot sound, well, less hot. As they should. And the Axe-FX set up as I stated in the first paragraph is going to behave exactly like one of those real amps.
 
I set input accordingly to each guitar just to slightly tickle the red but that's just me,
set it for your hottest one and leave it there as many do.
 
Probably not what most people would want, but I have EMGs in all of my guitars.
I play out enough that I always wanted my guitars to sound the same regardless of which one I pick up, I rely on the amp to control the tone and not the guitar as much.
 
The hottest guitar is the master of the input volume. Make the other guitars hotter by lifting the pick-ups towards the strings. Now all your guitars are HOT. :mrgreen:
 
Radial Engineering makes an A/B box that allows you to plug 2 guitars in and send to one amp...(yes, normal A/B box function)

But what they added was a gain adjustment to individual outputs, so you could match the output level of your two guitars prior to going to the amp. Nice little trick.
 
I would like a MIDI-controlled A/B/C/D ;) box w preamp that could change output together with the preset when e.g. I select a neck pickup that sounds more quiet, etc. (when I want that). I (psychologically?) *do* feel it would sound better (if the preamp would not be coloring it).
 
Why are there so many people who want *all* their guitars to sound alike??!??!

I would never want my strat (with neck pickup selected) to be as hot as my Tom Anderson (with hot bridge humbucker selected)... but that's just me.
 
Dpoirier said:
Why are there so many people who want *all* their guitars to sound alike??!??!
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There aren't.

I would never want my strat (with neck pickup selected) to be as hot as my Tom Anderson
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That is essentially irrelevant to their tonalities. "Equal signal level" does not mean "same sound."

The Axe-Fx renders a pickup's output level moot, but it does a better job of preserving a pickup's tonality than anything else I've ever played through.
 
I adjust all my guitars so that every position on every guitar is about the same in terms of output. Makes life a whole lot easier! Impossible with P-rails, but for pretty much everything else, it works.
 
Jay Mitchell said:
Dpoirier said:
Why are there so many people who want *all* their guitars to sound alike??!??!
Click to expand...
There aren't.

I would never want my strat (with neck pickup selected) to be as hot as my Tom Anderson
Click to expand...
That is essentially irrelevant to their tonalities. "Equal signal level" does not mean "same sound."

The Axe-Fx renders a pickup's output level moot, but it does a better job of preserving a pickup's tonality than anything else I've ever played through.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Dpoirier said:
Why are there so many people who want *all* their guitars to sound alike??!??!

I would never want my strat (with neck pickup selected) to be as hot as my Tom Anderson (with hot bridge humbucker selected)... but that's just me.
Click to expand...

Personally, I play out a lot and I *need* my guitars to sound consistent.
I play ESPs (real ones), Ibanez RGs and Peavey Wolfgangs.
The stock pickups in all of those guitars sound drastically different.
If I were to be playing a show using an Ibanez RG; then need to switch guitars due to a broken string or what have you, picking up a Peavey Wolfgang means my tone changes drastically.
I couldn't have that happening. I'd rather *KNOW* what my guitars should sound like and allow the amps or preamps to get the tones I want. I'm not doing noodly, soft jammy bluesy stuff where the sound of a Fender single coil makes all the difference in the world, so having those nuances that different passive pickups give you isn't a concern to me.
I want to be able to use all of my guitars, not be limited to certain ones for certain tones or to have to jump thru different hoops just to switch guitars. Besides, I love the sound of EMGs anyways.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not clueless to the desires of wanting specific tones that some guitars bring, to me, I *LOVE* the sound of a great old Tele as much as I do the sound of some big fat P-90s in a Gibson, but given my *NEEDS* for what makes me money, I need guitars that all are consistently going to sound the same without causing me extra work to make them sound how I need them to.
 
jimosity said:
Personally, I play out a lot and I *need* my guitars to sound consistent.
... I need guitars that all are consistently going to sound the same without causing me extra work to make them sound how I need them to.
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In that case, why carry different types of guitars? Buy two or more of whatever you like, get them set up to sound the same, and you're there.
 
jimosity said:
Personally, I play out a lot and I *need* my guitars to sound consistent.
Click to expand...
That's easily addressable via your choice and setup of your guitars.

I'd rather *KNOW* what my guitars should sound like and allow the amps or preamps to get the tones I want.
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That would be pretty easy to accomplish with an Axe-Fx or any other rig. OTOH, many guitarists who gig with more than one guitar do so specifically to get the different sounds those guitars produce. E.g., changing presets will never make a Strat sound like a Les Paul or vice versa.

I'm not doing noodly, soft jammy bluesy stuff where the sound of a Fender single coil makes all the difference in the world,
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Uhh, the sound of an SC as compared to a humbucker is huge, and it affects every style of music that is played on electri guitar. Your use of the phrase "noodly, soft jammy bluesy stuff" could be taken as a slap at those of us who can hear these differences and who choose to take advantage of them in the music we make.

so having those nuances that different passive pickups give you isn't a concern to me.
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The differences among the sounds of different passive pickups are most definitely not "nuances."
 
LMO said:
jimosity said:
Personally, I play out a lot and I *need* my guitars to sound consistent.
... I need guitars that all are consistently going to sound the same without causing me extra work to make them sound how I need them to.
Click to expand...
In that case, why carry different types of guitars? Buy two or more of whatever you like, get them set up to sound the same, and you're there.
Click to expand...

Working with what I already have in my collection over many years of playing
 
This thread has gone a bit off course I think....

The original poster was talking about matching guitar output level, not match the tone of his guitars.
And being that he had a variety of nice guitars with different tones, I'm going to assume selling them and buying a duplicate of his favorite guitar, wasn't what he was looking for either.


My personal way of dealing with this issue (without spending any $) would be to create different patches.
I usually switch between 4-5 different patches every night.
If it was important to have a second guitar ready in case of a broken string, etc.
I would have a duplicate of the 4-5 patches with a slightly modified volume to match my second guitar.
 
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