Network of Professional Musicians in the Midsouth

What makes a good live guitar rig?

Is it multiple guitars and amps? Is it a quality instrument straight to a good amp? Is it stringing together 15 pedals? What difference does a good tube amp make? Discuss the virtues of different approaches. How does technique effect the quality of your tone. Ask questions and make suggestions. Help each other on this important topic.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hudson on October 31, 2007 at 2:31pm: I prefer to run everything direct. I use to be a huge tube buff, but I like having a consistant sound live and in the studio so I run a pod-xt live direct, I also use a loop station, and sometimes a guitar synth as well, but the main thing is I can play live or in the studio and still have the same sound not to mention engineers love me. It also makes it so I am set up and ready to play in 3 minutes! If I want Hendrix type feedback I just lean into the monitors instead of the amps! I useually use my steinberger live, and have either a strat or an ibanez as back up! I still have a ton of amps, rackmount processors and pedals, but I like that pod. What you get from the store is one thing, as long as you have some engineering skills you can get a very good tone anytime. The bass pod sucks though.lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Marco Barlow on November 6, 2007 at 8:16pm: What makes a good live guitar rig.. I personally think a good guitar and good amp are the most important factors for any guitar rig. Then working from there if you need effects. But I think it's important to note that the more pedals used the less pure the actual signal from the guitar gets.

I think my ideal situation is using an A/B switch for a clean and slightly overdriven sound. Then proper mic placement on the amps to get the best results.

I'm probably saying the basics, but I think that's important. I personally do have multiple effects pedals to achieve a sound I may need to color the music. It may not be the best for keeping a pure sound.. but I used them.. In recording I try to keep it all simple so I can keep it clean.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JT on November 7, 2007 at 1:43am: I'm no guitar player, but getting good guitar tone is a big part of my job.
1. Good playing technique on 2. a good guitar are the first vital components to good tone. Seems silly, but I know it makes a huge difference. Then, 3. amp tone. I have a couple lower watt class A amps that consistently deliver good tone for me. For recording, these are a must. Many of my clients also bring in nice amps: Vox AC15, AC30, Several different Fender Tube Combos, Mesa Triple Recs for heavy stuff, Vintage Marshalls, a couple of VHT amps, a vintage Silvertone. I can't remember much else that we've had here that sounded too good, at least for recording. I know there are some boutique amps that I haven't heard that would be great, but I usually don't get that kind of stuff (although the VHTs were pretty high end). 4. the right cabinet and (2X12 Celestion Vintage 30s open back combo, 2X12 sealed, 4X12 sealed, single 8" combo, 4X10 open combo,

5.the right mic in the right spot in the right room. Mics that work well can range from the good old SM57, to a Beta 57. MD 421, various large condensers, or a ribbon mic. It just depends on the sound you need. In a smaller to medium sized venue, the amp will project your tone to the audience to some degree, so mic choice is not such a big deal.

6. We could get into mic preamps, but that topic is beat to death on pro audio sites (which this really isn't). If you want to know more about that, send me a message. It's kind of subjective, but does make a difference, but not so much in a smaller venue.

7. pedals (only the ones that are necessary to get a desired effect). Generally I don't like them for extra distortion. Do the previous 6 things first, then see if you really need a distortion pedal. Wah pedals if you need them, funky delay pedals sometimes, perhaps a vintage Tube Screamer or Big Muff. AC or RC boosters to push your classic combo amp a bit harder. If you want the lo fi tones, which are cool sometimes, use the weirder ones (whammy pedal, delay modulation, Holy Grail Reverb, etc.). The fewer pedals you have in line, the better overall tone you will get. So don't string 10 pedals together if you don't have to...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hudson on November 7, 2007 at 4:10am: I play very fast most of the time so I get my sound a bit different than most guitarists. The number one thing, you nailed in the head technique. An amatuer can play the most expensive guitar in the world while a pro plays a first act Walmart special, the pro will still sound better. What I do, instead of reverb and natural room effects is pretty much a stacked delay, not bounce back, but set very fast, with multiple delays at different intervals so I get a very thick sound. I have to have something that will pick up every note cleanly at high speeds so I tend to use dimarzio pickups as well. That is for my fusion sound, if I am doing session work and they want a classic blues, rock, or country sound then I will play through class A amps with very little effects, and a great mic placed correctly. I also play with extremelly low action, because again I play very fast most of the time.lol Some people say the action effects tone, it does a little bit, but I get my tone in a complete opposite way then most guitarists so really I think it is a matter of how you play, what you are use to, and what you are trying to accomplish.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JT on November 7, 2007 at 9:36am: Jimmy:

You can definitely customize your action, pickups, and tone settings, depending on your style, whether you do lead, rhythm, or a a mixture of both. You know way more about that than I do. But I find that so many guitar players don't even understand the basics about setting up good tone.

Oh, and I left out something critical - proper setup and intonation! Have your axe set up periodically by a qualified guitar tech / luthier if you don't know how to yourself.

Jimmy, do you know much about the Buzz Featon intonation upgrades? I knew a luthier up East who was certified in Buzz Featon retrofitting for all kinds of electric and acoustic guitars. I know that the Peterson StroboSoft tuners have special tuning presets that you need if you have the Featon system. I'm interested in getting my Strat set up that way down the line.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hudson on November 7, 2007 at 4:10pm: Yeah I finally got to the point about 15 years ago where I would take my guitar to a luthier and it would always come back with high action.lol I studied lutherie at music school so I got to where I could get the action extremelly low with no buzzing. The problem is with me and Shawn, we play faster than most people so luthiers never understood what we wanted. Intonation is very important of course.

Heres my thinking on the Buzz Feiten system. IT works, it is accurate, however if you are playing with other musicians mainly bassists and guitarists and they are not using the Feiten, then you sound slightly out of tune. There is also a guy in Jonesborro certified to install as well if you don't want to send the guitar off. They sell allot of tuners now for the Feiten system. It is just slightly off. That is one other thing that I have done when I worked with Aquarium Rescue Unit. They would tune to A430 instead of A440. IT was supposed to be based on some ancient Egyptian philosophy saying 440 cause chaos, and 430 causes love and tranquility? I don't know, it was Oteil's idea.lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by David Bugg on July 19, 2008 at 1:20pm: I see that this is an older thread but I had never checked it out... my thoughts are what you and others have already said: good technique is a must, then guitar, and amp...when I saw you post the Vox AC30....I rose my hand in compliance =) . I have used the AC30 for both live and studio work....and it's such a solid amp!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by daniel stovall on November 8, 2007 at 1:40pm: i live by fender tube amps. i love the warm sound they produce and their tone is awesome. i mainly buy boss pedals. they usually don't let you down. i've got a couple of prs guitars that i love. one is set up for slide and one is everything else. it's a hollow body so it's super light. one problem i've been having though is excess noise. it buzzes extremely loud at times and i don't know what to do. i don't really want to use a noise gate pedal because i don't want to cut down on tone. any suggestions. i'm kinda new to using pedals so i'm going to experiment with the order of those and see if that helps.

daniel; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hudson on November 10, 2007 at 3:16am: Daniel,

The buzzing is all in the truss rod. Get the truss rod right and you won't have a problem at all, the neck needs to be almost perfectly straight for low action. All low action guitars buzz unamped, the main question is does it buzz through the amp and sometimes you will have that but it is worth having a slight buzz for sick action. One of my Ibanezes buzzes a bit but it is set at .08mm off the 12'th fret using 8's, that is my go all out speed guitar.lol
The best thing to do is get a couple repair books and buy the cheapest, crappiest guitar you can find and make it play and sound better then your PRS's, then if you can do that imagine what you PRS will be like when you get done with it!! Most luthiers are worthless and they keep your guitar forever. I think every guitarist should learn how to work on their own stuff!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by daniel stovall on November 13, 2007 at 3:33pm: I never thought about the truss rod. i figured the guitar would be set up correctly because it's brand new. i do have an old strat that i'll try adjust the truss rod and see if that cuts down on the buzzing. i use pretty heavy strings (11's) and the action is somewhat high so i can play slide. i've done a lot of my own work on my amps and pedals but never the guitar. i guess it's about time i got some books and learned how. i did try arranging my pedals in a different order and that cut down on the buzz some. now the buzz mainly happens when i engage the compressior / sustainer pedal. it could be that pedal, but it's also brand new.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jimmy Hudson on November 14, 2007 at 5:02am: Your truss rod has to be adjusted at least twice a year, with weather, humididty and everything else. Wood is a living breathing object and will warp and bow. Just be carefull not to strip it out as that can really be costly depending on the guitar. Also don't tweak it to much. I like the method of fingering the first and last fret and sighting it down the next for bows and warps. There is a difference between electronical buzz and fret buzz. It sounds like you need to adjust your truss rod, especially with the way the weather has been changing latelly. I have to adjust mine about every two months or so because I am the most picky person you could ever meet when it comes to guitar action. It's not that hard though and if you learn to work on your own stuff it will save you allot of money and headaches down the line. I can't tell you how many times a luthier has kept my guitar for three weeks when I have gigs only to get it back in worse shape then I left it just for them to keep it another week. They have luthier schools for a reason.lol Most luthiers don't know what their doing so beware.lol Would you let a guy out of highschool do surgery on you? Nope, but basic stuff can be learned. I was fortunate enough to go through luthier school, but I only work on my own stuff nowdays as I don't have time.lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Evan on November 21, 2007 at 6:04pm: Jimmy, I play with Daniel so I have heard the buzz issue he speaks of. It's more of an electronic buzzing/hum and not fretbuzz. To me it sounds like some sort of grounding issue but i could be wrong.; ▶ Reply to This