How Much Gain Do You Use? How Much Do You Actually Need?

[kayd_mon]

Ok, so my main gigging guitars are my PRS SE and my CP Jazzmaster. I use the PRS for my original band, which plays modern-ish rock. I use the Jazzmaster for classic rock covers and pretty much everything else with other bands. My original band sort of needs a heavier sound, though I never use metalhead-level gain - I use an AC30, and I only have overdrive pedals.

 

Anyway, at my last gig, I broke a string on my PRS (first time that's happened since a gig during winter '08), and I grabbed my backup, which just so happened to be my Jazzmaster. I usually bring a Les Paul as a backup, but I brought the Jazzmaster because it's only in a gig bag, and I figured I wouldn't need it. It turns out, that even though I had a little less gain using it, I found my sound to be better - much clearer, and the music's vibe didn't suffer from me losing a bit of gain. In fact, with the bass using a bit of crunch, it was a great complimentary sound.

 

So here's what I'm thinking... how much gain do you use, and do you actually need that much? I always thought I used less than average, but using even less was kind of refreshing.

[Angry Tele]

when i played punk i used an sg or tele, a ratt pedal into a vox type amp. Now I use a twin reverb and green screamer mostly. For dicking around I plug into one of my fuzz pedals. But, I havent played a gig in several years.

that bbe green screamer is awesome. I can get just a tad hair or as much OD to cop Jimmy Page/zep1-2 tones easily. Thats all I need really.

Once I get a tweed deluxe and a deluxe reverb amp I wont use any gain pedals.

[craigny]

With gain youll notice less is more....even for metal, (which is what we play) and were considerd pretty heavy....i set my Egnater's gain on like 5 mabye 6 and it sounds pretty brootal...more volume gives you more drive too...(if your runnin tubes)tweak your EQ crank your volume a little more, and youd be surprised how heavy a sound you can get with less gain

[gorebreath]

Nothing sounds worse than too much gain. People would rather neglect clarity then learn to play with less gain, it's a shame. When using my amp for gain I have it set between 6 and 7 which is enough for the thrash stuff I play. Though it does depend on the amp. I do not use use OD pedals but I'm a fuzz maniac and when using a fuzz I set the gain to about 3 then set my fuzz to whatever.

[Guitarist+]

I always crank the gain all the way up. Then again, I could probably do with the gain on like 8.

[kayd_mon]

Yeah, fuzz is a different animal altogether. I like the thick tones you can get with fuzz, but I've only used fuzz at home; I've never gigged with it.

 

My amp's "gain" (volume on the Top Boost channel) was just past 9 o'clock, and the master was just past 11 o'clock. It was very full, but very clear.

[gorebreath]

 

My amp's "gain" (volume on the Top Boost channel) was just past 9 o'clock, and the master was just past 11 o'clock. It was very full, but very clear.

 

 

Yea it really depends on the amp. Some amps sound crystal clear with the gain on 10 while others sound like you are swimming in a swarm of mosquitoes.

[tiltsta]

I've noticed over the years that I use less and less gain. The type of music hasn't changed or anything, I just use less gain. My guess is it correlates with increases in my ability, but it might just be associated with the appearance of gray hair.

[kayd_mon]

 

Yea it really depends on the amp. Some amps sound crystal clear with the gain on 10 while others sound like you are swimming in a swarm of mosquitoes.

 

 

Well, if my amp had numbers, it would have been on 3 and 4, respectively. Although the AC30 does keep fairly clear with it maxed out, although it is a bit spongey. I've heard it's because of the tube rectifier, but I don't know.

[Dirty South Al]

With gain youll notice less is more...youd be surprised how heavy a sound you can get with less gain

 

 

So true!

[blingdogg]

I'm using less gain than before. I try to keep things not too heavy, along the lines of classic 60s and 70s rock. I used to overdo it with the gain levels, but I learned to cut that down for a better sound. I play a lot more cleans and just slightly breaking up tones these days, especially with the neck pickup.

 

I still like the over the top sound of heavy fuzz (like White Stripes, Black Keys etc...) but I use it less than I used to.

[kit_strong]

I'm just a bedroom (or living room really) player but On my elecra-dyne I tend to keep the volume knob (re-amp gain) between 10 & 11 o'clock and cycle a lot between clean and vintage-lo modes (occasionally flipping into vintage-hi for some heavier riffing).

At that setting, while in vintage-lo, the Strat (69 grey bobbin pickups) gets just a touch of breakup under normal playing but I can dig in for a bit more Bite. The Gretsch (powertron pickups) pushes the amp a bit harder so I'm able to get a bit more crunch.

The electra-dyne uses these crazy ganged pots so the sweet spot really sits between about 10 and 2. anything under that and you don't get much breakup at all, and over that and it quickly starts getting out of control.

[J-E-M]

A fair amount, but not so much that I can't hear the individual notes in chords. Preamp gain on the HT-5 is only at 9 o'clock, then I slam the front end with the Small Fry which is set on max vol with the burn around 10 o'clock. A dirty boost into a barely overdriven amp gets me into old school metal territory - early Sabbath, Maiden, and if I push a little more, early 80s thrash like Metallica's Kill 'em All or Megadeth's Killing is My Business. Haven't got 'round to the ultra heavy sounds yet; I'll need humbuckers for that - overwound single coils can only get you so far... not for the brootz.

[metallica_00]

As little as I can get away with - I basically dial just enough to get the amount of sustain I need for soloing. I'd say my style is funk, blues, and classic rock with a bit of jazz vocabulary thrown in. I actually never use thick, saturated distortion when playing rhythm, just clean or with a touch of powertube OD using the guitars volume to move from one to the other. I use an overdrive to step out for solos and make it "sing" more. I'm not big on buzzy or raunchy tones, prefer a smoother sound, not to say that some bite in the top end is a bad thing.

[mr footinmouth]

well, when you are playing by yourself in your bedroom, It's ok to use more gain since you are not fighting for space with other instruments, but in a band situation I imagine the less is better aproach makes perfect sense.

 

In fact in a recording situation you absolutely need to use as less gain as you can get away with in order to get a good clear sound, even if you are doing metal and specially if you are layering tracks.

[Burgess]

How Much Gain Do You Use?

Not really all that much...

 

How Much Do You Actually Need?

Really, not much at all.

[smorgdonkey]

When playing at low levels, even most people who max the gain wouldn't like the tone so much when the volume starts going up. The sound that they are going for actually requires less gain at volume and gain if you are mic'd through a PA typically needs to come down quite a bit.

[PigWings_v2.0]

When setting gain for metal I usually crank it until it's fully saturated. Then I turn it back a little to regain some crunch and clarity.

[EllenGtrGrl]

IMO there's nothing wrong with lots of gain. One of the big problems many players have when running a lot of gain, is that they run excessive amounts of midrange, and/or treble. They treat the amp, like one made in the 60s or 70s, when the pre-amps were much lower gain. As a result, with today's amps that have higher levels of pre-amp gain, too much mids, make the amps sound compressed and blurry. Too much treble, and it's icepick city. The Mesa Mark V, Peavy 6505+, Engle Powerball, Fryette Pittbull, etc., are not Tweed Bassmans, or Marshall Plexis, and shouldn't be dialed up like those amps are.

[jrockbridge]

I use medium gain for rhythm guitar parts and sometimes more gain for solos. I like to play clean as well.

 

I'm not against using more gain when it's appropriate for the type of music. But, I don't usually play anything heavier than old school metal which doesn't typically have a ton of gain.

 

OD/Crunch/Gain pedals are my favorite type of stomp, so I have multiple dirt boxes at my feet. With a Suhr Riot pedal on my board, I have more gain than I'll ever need.

[jairic]

I think it varies by the guitar your playing and what pickups it has. For example, when trying out a Mesa Boogie triple rec, I used my Ibanez with a SD Invader and I had to turn the gain down. Conversely, when I used a Gibson LP that they had on hand, I had to bring the gain up a bit.

[Floyd Rosenbomb]

Some people just don't know how to play with a lot of gain.
It can be a lot of fun though and it can sound great... turn it up!

[=JL=]

Even with the heaviest music you need some dynamic attack. Maxed out gain = compressed smoothness.
That ain't "brootz", it's easy listening...

[Faber]

I use a sort of classic rock gain. Something in the Gary Moore/Slash range. Any more than that is more than I need and I feel that I loose dynamics. generally though, I play with more gain than I used to

[xrleroyx]

I use a clean, loud amp and slightly push the tubes with an od pedal on a low gain setting. My fuzz is at half too.