How to set the tone?
When I am practicing a song like Eric Claptons Wonderful Tonight, I usually keep my tone in the middle on the guitar and amp, in fact, I usually keep it in the middle for everything I practice, but is there a way I can tell how I should set the tone.
# 1
Set your pickup switch wherever you like the sound on the particular piece you're working on. Dont focus too much on sounding like other artists...there are just so many variables, you will end up forever chasing that illusive tone rather than focusing on your playing technique, which ironically enough is where a lot of your tone will come from. Type of guitar, technique, pickups, effects, amps etc are all factors. Generally I set the selector swith to the neck position if i want a tubular type of sound similar to SRV or Clapton on a strat. With Clapton though you will want a dirtier distorted setting on your amp. Maybe not the case so much with Wonderful Tonight as that is a softer ballad, you can get away with a cleaner sound signal but id stay away from the lower switch settings as they sound too twangy for that song.
# 2
hav a fiddle around with your amp and try and find the tone thats best for you. also if you want to sound like eric clapton use a fender with single coils on an ot of phase setting on your pickup selector eg the bridge and middle pickup or neck and middle pickup (probably neck and middle), for wonderfull tonight id also turn up your reverb to about 5 and gain to zero
but try and develop your own tone rather than someone else's
marliga ;)
but try and develop your own tone rather than someone else's
marliga ;)
# 3
I agree with the other post here. Basically trial and error. Most guitarists change their tone over time. Clapton sounds a lot different now than he used..not in terms of the licks he uses but in the actual timbre of the sound. Again, as someone else said here, this is made up of a lot of variables.
I change my sound often. This being the case, I tend to run a clean amp with external stomp boxes to get the sound I want. For some reason Overdrive/Distortion seems to be the one I change most. Currently I'm using a Marshall Blues Breaker pedal. Kills with a Janglebox compressor. I was using a VS Route 66 (comp and overdrive) a few months ago. Probably will change again by the end of the year. Even with all this though, the guitar still sounds best through a tube overdriven amplifier.
Jax Music Supply
I change my sound often. This being the case, I tend to run a clean amp with external stomp boxes to get the sound I want. For some reason Overdrive/Distortion seems to be the one I change most. Currently I'm using a Marshall Blues Breaker pedal. Kills with a Janglebox compressor. I was using a VS Route 66 (comp and overdrive) a few months ago. Probably will change again by the end of the year. Even with all this though, the guitar still sounds best through a tube overdriven amplifier.
Jax Music Supply
# 4