How many of you guitarists use the guitar volume knob less than 11?

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

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Heres the rub.
This friday we will be playing a gig in Crewe and we go through the in-house PA.
Once we've set the volumes at the beginning of the night they never alter but the mixing guy will swear blind that we are touching our gear.
The thing is that we NEVER alter volumes once we've setup.
Over the last three years of gigging there we have covered our amp knobs in tape so we can't access them and even gave him a pen and paper to write down our settings and if the sound alters he can jump on stage and see who turned up etc.
On the phone last night he said that he knew what we were doing which was turning our guitar volume knobs up. I tried to explain that the guitar volumes are on 11 all the time but he wasn't having any. I tried to explain that every guitarist who he mixes will have their volumes on 11.

Anyway, this begs the question, do any of you actually use the guitar volume less than 11?
 
Assuming you're using '11' in a Spinal Tap reference, then yes, quite often. Whack the amp up with a juicy overdrive, and reduce the volume down for a clean tone and all the stages in between. Great for jams where you don't need an on-off clean/distorted tone, but instead need to change with the feel of the music. Lots and lots of guitarists do this.

If you're serious about the '11', then again yes always, since my volume knob stops at 10 ;).

Sounds like the guy isn't a particularly competent mix engineer if he can't handle changes in levels. He surely must have the ability to pull a fader down a little or twirl the gain trim.
 
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I never play with the guitar volume at the same level all the time. I'd be surprised if many people did, although maybe it's more related to the type of music you're playing.
Do they really expect you to not alter your guitar volume? That's seems crazy to me! Dynamics 'n' all that....
 
I change volume a lot, the affect it can have on your sound is immense. I often turn down maybe 20% on heavily distorted tones too, combined with a pup wired in parallel you can get quite an aggreesive distorted tone.
 
yep, i use the volume all the time, and the tone.

i know some people in classic rock bands that dont use them at all and then when shown what difference it can make to certain tunes start using them.
 
I am a sound engineer, and while you do get guitarists ignoring your pleas to not turn up once the soundcheck is done, it sounds like this engineer is just a paranoid nutter.
 
I'm a rare thing in a guitarist, one that routinely has PA guys asking him to turn his amp up :D

I'm not a fan of loudness, particularly with my guitar part. All I'm interested about when I'm playing is it being just loud enough to be able to hear I'm not out of key and to give me my pitch for singing. The PA guy can shove all the rest out through the speakers as far as I'm concerned. About the only thing that really benefits from having the volume turned up on the amp is if you've got a vavle amp. Otherwise just leave it at the minimum you actually need. You only get one pair of ears in this life, no point ruining them for stupid reasons.
 
For the main part my guitar is always on full, I never turn down for the sort of music I play (metal). When at home and in the privacy of my study, however, yes I do fiddle and play a whole range of stuff. Quite often though a one- or two-notch rolling off on the volume won't actually affect the volume that much, depending on the sound and effects you are aiming for.

I hate relying on mixing guys for a decent level anyway, often a band will want their respective instruments at certain relative levels for effect but the mixing guy will just even it all out.

tbh as others have said, the engineer does sound a bit of a tool ;)
 
It's so that, when you're playing away, and you whack it up to full (10), but you think "this needs a little bit more", you've got that extra one to add on.
 
m3csl2004 said:
Use it to change tone/overdrive all the time.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's so important. If I was restricted to one volume level I think I'd quit!
I set my amps quite loud and with quite a lot of drive - then just leave them alone - and then I can use the guitar volume to go from quiet/clean, loudish/clean, crunchy, full-on overdrive (and more so with the Midboost on the EC Strats). No pedals needed, just do it all with the Strat volume/tone/mid, making many tweeks as the need arises.

As I said earlier, it may be dependant on the type of music. Maybe if it's 'metal' it's ok to be at '11' all the time (I have no real experience of playing that type of music though, i'm just imagining)... I play blues.
 
Question:

If one sets the amp quite loud and with overdrive then subsequently uses the guitar volume to vary between clean, crunch and distortion, surely there's going to be a LARGE volume difference between clean and distorted sounds? :confused:
 
MT01XP said:
Question:

If one sets the amp quite loud and with overdrive then subsequently uses the guitar volume to vary between clean, crunch and distortion, surely there's going to be a LARGE volume difference between clean and distorted sounds? :confused:
Click to expand...

Yep.. but there can be 'enough' volume when clean - doesn't have to be whisper quiet.
 
My band is set to the one sound.
Neither the rhythmn guitarist or lead guitarist have any need to alter because its full tilt all night.
We don't do soft.
 
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