1. 

   Paul
   Member

   my tone has been getting better, and obviously kurt's sound is the big influence (i have the ny-ss) - but with every guitar i've had, whether semihollow or hollow, i haven't been able to get that warm down without turning down my tone knob (neck pickup) very low - to 2 or 3, at which point it begins to get too dark and muddy. any higher and it's very bright, twangy. closer to a grant green sound, which isn't really what i'm going for. i've tried through a variety of amps, including my polytone IV, cube 30, an acoustic image combo (i think this has the best sound that i've tried), and a rebuilt (i think) fender deluxe reverb.

   anyone else have this experience? does anybody know how the modern guys who get really nice, warm sounds (kurt, ben monder, mike moreno, etc) have their tone knobs set? do they have them very low or are there actually guitars with warm neck pickups with tone full-on?

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   • Posted 1 year ago
   • #
2. 

   Poparad
   Member

   I have a 135 and it's a pretty bright guitar, plus I play through a Deluxe Reverb, which as most Fender tube amps are, on the brighter side. I first tried rolling the tone down, which is too muddy, as you said. What I've found works is a combination of things. First, I keep my tone about half-way down on the guitar. Enough to take some edge off, but still clear enough for chords. On the amp, I have the bass turned way up (around 7) and the treble way down (around 2 or 3). This actually helps the most, as the amp knobs don't drastically change the tone like the guitar tone knobs, but instead refine a pretty specific frequency range. By still having a brighter guitar tone going into this, it helps balance out the muddyness. Lastly, using a good pick helps. I've tried a few things, and ultimate I've settled on Dunlop 2.0 Gator picks. Sharp, clear attack (which the Jazz picks were lacking for me), but a warm, round tone. My articulation sound isn't as bright as someone like Kurt's, and I think his different pick choice has much to do with it. Well, also the whole Rat thing, too. I don't do the midrange boost thing.

   • Posted 1 year ago
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3. 

   Anonymous
   

   Totally agree. The only way to get a deep and clear sound is to get it before the electronics.
   It sounds like you "need" a harder and thicker pick and may be a heavier set of strings. And of course then you'll need to change a bit your playing. It worked for me. Also try to experiment with the mix of the two pickups, I usually turn down the tone knob of the brigdge pickup and put at maximum the tone of the neck pickup.

   • Posted 1 year ago
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4. 

   Poparad
   Member

   That's also similar to what I do with my pickups. I set the bridge darker than the neck, but not in an extreme way, though. As for strings, I only use 11's, so they're not really that thick.

   • Posted 1 year ago
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5. 

   Paul
   Member

   i use .13s, nickel wound. and the dunlop jazztone 207 pick. yeah, i know - i pretty much ripped off kurt's set up from around 2005 or so....but it's a good starting place to find out what i need to do to get my own sound. i could try turning the tone up a little more, but i've always had really bassy sounding amps, and unless i have the bass pretty low on my polytone, it gets boomy around the fifth and sixth strings.

   • Posted 1 year ago
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6. 

   Anonymous
   

   I have been dealing with this. First of all, picks are really important. Finding the right one can take some time, but it's worth it. I use Ultex Jazz III's now. I play a Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno into a Twin Reverb, both of which are very bright. I think the key is putting your tone on 9 or 10, so you get the maximum amount of sound and overtones from your guitar and then adjust the amp accordingly. On my amp, i have the Highs at about 3, mids at like 5 and bass at 3.5. This gives me a very nice, warm and natural sound.

   • Posted 1 year ago
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7. 

   add4
   Member

   I'm currently searching for the same kind of tone.
   At the moment, i found that it's possible to find it with
   1- tone to 5, lots of high on the amp, bass and medium cut - i like that setting because it makes the muddy guitar tone cut trough and it's warm, yet defined.
   2- tone to 10, amp dialed to whatever sound i like.
   i usually put a distrotion with a very subtle touch of gain between the guitar and amp. As most distortions will color the mediums/highs to boost them a bit, it might be good to consider it when you're searhching for your tone. my favourites are rat, tubescreamer dx, mxr distortion III.
   What i find funny is that my ears seem to be allergic to highs some days and love them the other.
   Kurt has lot of medium high/high sound to my ear, very defined, not like adam rogers who would have a very rich warm tone.

   • Posted 1 year ago
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8. 

   add4
   Member

   Another word about pick : i currently try to rotate the pick counterclockwise a bit, i've found that it gives a much brighter and percussive sound with the same settings.
   The picking movement then becomes a kind of rotation between the thumb and first finger and the hand doesn't move as much as it does with traditional picking ...
   i'm not used to it yet, but it seems promising. i'm trying to work all the scales and voicings using that.

   • Posted 1 year ago
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