To boost or not to boost?! (Page 1 of 2)

The neatest trick that I know for lead boosts are to use a passive volume pedal.  I use a Boss Volume pedal, no batteries required or anything.  It is stereo but they make mono ones too, and I just run it through the effects loops of my amps.  Now what I do is, set a volume minimum so when the pedal is backed off it's set at a certain volume.  Then when I want that extra volume for a solo or something just press the volume pedal forward and VOILA!  More volume when you need it without any overdrives, line boosters, eq's, etc.  If you would like I could probably do a demo of what I'm talking about.  Good luck!

I play with the guitars volume alot for this, I set the amp to break up at around 8 on my strats then anything over 8 is a volume boost for me (AMP on loud, guitar volume quiet)... This has been working really well for me lately I've had quite abit of equipment bombing out so I've had to cope with just guitar > amp and no pedals. If im totally honest I'm actually enjoying it alot more its like theres nothing to complicate anything

Another thing that might be worth doing is messing with your eq a bit it might sound like crap by your self but when another guitar and bass are going it might fit in really well / cut through nicely.

You could also ask him to turn down a bit, I think the best bit of advice I've ever been given is to practise quietly it really makes a difference imo remember you only have 1 set of ears no point wasting them in practises

I have used a bunch of different methiods. I have tried the Overdrives in front of the amp and always felt they made the amp muddy sounding. I have done the EQ in the loop and it works great but you don't have a great amount of control. Case in point we have a few slower mellower songs I play clean and when I go for a solo and hit the EQ sometimes I was Riduclously louder than the band. I think the Volume pedal in the loop would be great I didn't know they made a passive volume pedal without a battery I would love a demo of that.

So far my best lead tone was at our last gig. I didn't use anything just had a great sound guy who turned me up from the house system during solos! IT was amazing. But sound guys like that are very very very very rare! HA

I totally agree with AD3THREE, I had the same problem, my other guitarist plays SG, and I play Les Paul...than I was using tubescreamer to somehow solve the problem, but since I bought strat, I dont have that problem, my solo always cuts through the mix so nicely, most of the time I just use volume control on guitar instead of pedals....but when I play some heavy blues stuff, and use Les Paul, then i use screamer as a boost....:)

Here's a free one, no money out of pocket.  What if the other guitarist could just roll back the volume on his guitar and ease up a little when it's time for you to take your solo?  Seems like the curtious thing to do...its what I do when playing blues or whatever with another guitarist.  When playing rhythm I just ease up on my attack until I'm barely noticable and let the other guy do his thing.  Anyways, you should still get the loop fixed in the Marshall, and a volume pedal works perfectly for what you are describing.  Replacing tubes affects the overall sound more so than output in a lot of cases.

try this then you said you have a wah pedal.  Why don't you just turn it on to get the high pitched sounds of it going and see if that helps you cut through.  If it does then your right he's taking all the high range and you've got the low end.   but if your still not cutting through I'd say then you need to just consider turning your amp up louder and use your volume controll to controll it.  If your not to attached to the original parts to your EVH swap out your 500k pot or pots which ever one you got for a 1 meg.  It will make it much more bright and won't clean up the distortion as easy but it should let all the high end freq. bleed on through.

I have played in a few bands with 2 guitarists and the big picture is the overall
sound  of the band is more important than 2 guitars fighting against one another
there is no point in taking a solo if its drowned out by another guitar , you should both
have a rhytme sound and a lead sound with volmes to compliment each other ,to
ensure each other sounds as best possible other wise its a loser for the audience and the band

"Everybody's entitled to my opinion.

I think a great way to get lead bite through is to have two different sounding guitars. A LP and strat, a LP and a tele, mostly... a humbucker guitar and a single-coil one.  A tele's bridge pickup can really shear through a band's sound. I also have had great luck in the past with the Boss EQ pedal for a good treble/mid boost for solos only while using a LP or a thicker guitar that needs more bite. You just don't want to get into the habit of using it constantly (not just during leads for for the whole song) because it will spoil your ear and your tone. A wah pedal can do this too if you find the sweet spot and leave it there during solos. I recommend trying that especially if you already have a wah in your lineup. Many ways to do this.

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
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