Lowering gain without a drive block

C

cannibal

Member
So, in my current setup, I'm only using drive blocks for my leads. Rythem channel has drive block turned off. So, distortion is at a fixed value on the head itself.
However, I have certain songs in my set that need a more "vintage" sound (less gain). If I roll back on the volume of the guitar, I achieve this. But, with a tool as powerful as the FX8, I was thinking that I could just use a scene within a preset that will send a "less hot" signal to the amp input jack.
I tried messing with the "output pre" on the laptop, but it just thinned out the tone. Basically, it sounded bad.

If I roll the guitar vol from 10 to 8, the sound actually gets fatter while reducing the gain. That's what I want and was hoping there's a way the FX8 can do this. It's easier and faster to click a button with my foot than play with the volume knob. Not to mention repeatability that you won't get messing with a knob...

Basically, I just want to reduce the signal going into the amp input, without changing the tone. Possible?
 
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cannibal said:
Maybe a volume block in the "pre" would achieve this? I'll have to try when I get home...
Click to expand...

that's what i was going to suggest. might not sound exactly the same as rolling off your guitar's volume knob, but worth a shot
 
Sounds like a Graphic EQ block would work well for this. You can adjust the Level to match the volume difference you want and use the eq to shape the tone to match the effect of rolling off the guitar's volume.
 
Just use the guitar. It's there, it's already set up. If you needed a drastic change and less gain, then yes consider the EQ/PEQ idea.
 
Rolling back the volume on the guitar can result in some changes in how the passive pickups respond, changes in inductance etc, as the tone and volume pots are part of a passive circuit, unless your using EMG,s

Reducing the levels down the signal chain can sound similar in some cases, but often doesn’t sound or respond the same as using the physical volume pot on the guitar
 
havent had a chance to mess with the vol block yet, I'll give it a shot tomorrow.
I don't want to mess with the volume knob, I want the tone to be the same everytime I go to it, switchable, not variable.

The guitar currently has passive SD Full Shreds on it, but I am considering a move to EMGs soon....
 
cannibal said:
havent had a chance to mess with the vol block yet, I'll give it a shot tomorrow.
I don't want to mess with the volume knob, I want the tone to be the same everytime I go to it, switchable, not variable.
Click to expand...

So practice? ;). When I had my PRS Artist V, I *somehow* dialled the volume back to the same spot consistently. This was how I got my clean tone for 18 months, including tracking a 2-song EP in studio. I then got a friend to build me a pedal that was just a volume pot, LED and switch in a box to act as a "fixed volume drop" to do exactly what you're describing. It worked perfectly before the LED was added except there was no indication of on or off. Once the LED was added, it drastically changed how well it actually cleaned up the signal. A cheap experiment though.
 
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