How do you guys deals with different guitars?

J

jthomps123

Member
Background: Owned an FM3 for a couple years but mainly just surfed its sounds here and there, just got an FM9 and want to start gigging it. I'm a strat/tele guy, but I'm thinking about wanting to incorporate a dark-ish Les Paul into my live sets.

Question #1:
How do you guys go about switching between two fairly diverse guitars live? The input EQ's?
My Les Paul would likely NOT work with the patches I create for my strat/tele.

Question #2:
Whats the best way to set global high/low cuts?

Thanks for any input!
 
I make 0 changes between guitars. Most of my friends think I am nuts since we have so many preset slots to make different presets for each guitar. I just let the difference be what they are. I juggle through 10 guitars. Different wood styles. Both F and G scales. I have singles, buckers and p90 I just use one patch for all
 
The only time I really make any adjustments is to compensate for the output difference if I'm using two different guitars in a set with obvious level disparities. Otherwise, I leave the presets as is.

If you're wanting to compensate for level differences between guitars, you can use a Control Switch to make all of the level and gain changes you need to go from one guitar to another (single coils to humbuckers) within a preset.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

But do you have any actual input regarding the FM9 and best practices for global EQ? I'm guessing the INPUT eq is the only way to accomplish this?

And is there no global hi/low cut?

Thanks.
 
JoKeR III said:
The only time I really make any adjustments is to compensate for the output difference if I'm using two different guitars in a set with obvious level disparities. Otherwise, I leave the presets as is.

If you're wanting to compensate for level differences between guitars, you can use a Control Switch to make all of the level and gain changes you need to go from one guitar to another (single coils to humbuckers) within a preset.
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Thanks for the advice. I'm not really trying to compensate output, moreso compensating for a dark guitar. I'm fine with dialing in the input parameters for different output guitars as needed - but I'm more concerned with eq. I'd rather not build presets for specific guitars.
Do you guys use the input EQs?
 
jthomps123 said:
And is there no global hi/low cut?
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There is. On the device, Home > Setup > Global Settings > Output 1/2 EQ.

Among other things, I put the low and hi cutoffs for Out 1 on my perform page.

There are also low and hi cuts in the cab block, which are convenient. Plus in the PEQ blocks, depending on where you put them.

jthomps123 said:
Thanks for the advice. I'm not really trying to compensate output, moreso compensating for a dark guitar. I'm fine with dialing in the input parameters for different output guitars as needed - but I'm more concerned with eq. I'd rather not build presets for specific guitars.
Do you guys use the input EQs?
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Yes. But just the low-cut and not that much of it.

There are a lot of different ways to adjust for the guitar...you kind of just have to figure out what works for you...control switches, presets/scenes, channels, enabling/disabling PEQ blocks, etc.. They all have their differences, mostly in how you interact with them.

Personally...I just don't worry about it. If I plugged a different guitar into a physical amp, it would sound different...which is part of picking the guitar. If I can't get some particular guitar to sound a way I like...I just sell/trade it.
 
How do you guys deals with different guitars?
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I tell them to stop the B.S. or I'm going to turn the car around! :)

I don't adjust my sound for the guitar, because I WANT that change. My Strats don't put out the same sound, and I want them to sound different than the humbuckers.

I will adjust the Global Input Gain a tiny amount if I'm in that mood and want the Strat to hit a particular preset hard, but change EQ or other settings? Nope.
jthomps123 said:
I'm not really trying to compensate output, moreso compensating for a dark guitar.
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IMO, if you're not happy with the darkness, then plop it down in front of your guitar tech person and explain what you don't like, and see what they say.

Pickups and the string's gauge and metal are the first things that I'd look at. I'm a big fan of PAF-type humbuckers because the originals were quite high-fidelity with lower output, more in line with a Tele. Over the years, as Rock developed, then Metal, the demand for high-output pickups came along, but they tend to be darker as a trade-off. Lighter string gauges don't have the lows that the thicker strings have; Said the opposite way, thicker gauges have reduced highs.

Some strings sound darker because of the metal in them; I use NYXL and Paradigms in various gauges depending on the guitar because they last a long time, never rust, and hardly ever break - the last time one broke, the guy who asked to use my guitar broke it deliberately (and will never touch my gear again). I run 11s on my PRS DGT for "that" sound, down to 9s on my Strats because their scale is longer and I don't like how the strings feel at the end of the night if they're too bouncy. My other guitars are PRS and use their own scale length so I use either 10s or 9.5s. The later are on my 509 which has a Strat-length neck IIRC.
 
In my head, my thinking was to do the same as I had always done with tube amps: change nothing on the amp, and let the different guitars shine their own way.

But reality also added a twist to that theory. For years, I've developed and tweaked my tones on the Axe-fx using only one guitar, my Tom Anderson drop top. Now, since acquiring a wonderful Suhr moder pro, I find its playability awesome but its tone feels like it needs work... As if perhaps I need to develop and tweak a whole other set of presets for the Suhr.

All that to say, what I believed in (at the mental level) , and what I'm realizing (at the practical level), are in contradiction.

I have not yet given in, and have not tweaked a single tone for the Suhr. I want my mental belief to be given a better chance, to see if I can really let the Suhr shine in its own way (using Tom Anderson tweaked tones). The jury is still out.
 
Though I understand that it's important for an amp/modeller to let a given guitar's character shine thru (poor quality amps/modellers/fx I've owned twist the input such that all my guitars sounded the same), however, with good equipment (ie Axfx) I think each guitar needs to be dialed in to it's own needs for the best overall result. If I dial in amp/modeller/fx settings with my SG and try to use those same settings with my strat (even equalizing for input signal strength) - it's always garbage to my ears - extreme example, but nonetheless applies with varying degree to all my guitars (even the similar sounding ones (ie my humbucker guitars) each benefit in terms of overall resultant tone, from settings dialed in to them specifically - seems logical to me.
 
Dark guitars bright amps, bright guitars dark amps! at least that's what I do as a base line but it always ends up with adjusting to what I like best. In the end use your ears and dial in what you like to hear in the context of a mix or track or whatever.
 
The only difference I try to account for is pickup output so that gain settings are all in a rough ballpark. I've used this GFS unit in my single-coil guitars to achieve this; although their site says it's a mid-boost it's actually just a linear boost as far as I can figure. It seems to be nothing more than an Artec QTB so this is in all likelihood the case.
 
I make presets for each guitar. I buy guitars specifically because they’re known tonal qualities; I want a Strat to do a Strat thing, a Explorer to do an Explorer thing, etc.

Even between my two Strats, one has the Gilmour EMG’s and the other has these handwound Pribora’s, it’s worth creating their own presets to bring out the best of each guitar.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
It was a Strat with a tremolo, and he kept bending the string higher and higher. Of course, the tremolo springs were fighting it, but eventually he got it to break after pushing and pushing and pushing. There was no way it was accidental.
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One should always respect someone else's kit - even if one treats one's own a certain way, one has to treat another's better! No more loans for him for sure.
 
In the axe fx 2 I'd just alternate input volume to +6db for a single.coil. with FM3 this is not (yet) possible and I confirm it is a PITA
 
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