In Praise Of Tone Controls (And Why You Are Probably Using Your Guitar Wrong)

Tone controls are extremely important for electric guitars.
I break my silence on this subject as for far too long people have been disregarding the tone control and even removing it entirely.

In this video I explain why you probably don't like it, why that's wrong and how to make the tone control work for you.

Watch in HD for best picture and sound quality!

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[Real_Boye]

Dude, I don't know what you are talking about.... All my controls go to... 11...

[UnveiledShadows]

That caterpillar on the amp stack looks like it's desperately hungry for some massive gain

[rockrenegade]

"Turn my tone control down? But why would I want less tone?" (true story).

[countor]

I've played guitar for just over two years now, and I've always been one of the "everything at 10" guys. After watching this, I decided I would finally do the unthinkable and change my guitar tone and volume. The difference in clarity is night and day, and the guitar sounds so much richer as a whole. So for any skeptics out there, this is definitely advice worth following.

[chrisofnottingham]

The practical outcome of dialing back...
Sound check: Vol =9, Tone = 6
Gig: Vol = 10, Tone = 10 for the entire time

[westsguitar]

Dude, this is so basic but typically bypassed by so many guitarist including myself. Thanks a million for the tips

[ChristianIce]

I guess it makes more sense during a live performance, but I wouldn't do it for any recording session.
Cutting the signal on the source can only give you a dirtier sound, cutting it at the end will also cut the noises produced by the amp and pedals.

[Silverjerk]

I don't even care what he's saying, I can just listen to this guy talk forever. Sub'd for the accent, staying for the content.

[ianbourg]

Rolling back the tone knob on a neck pickup is an essential factor of getting a good jazz guitar tone. Really anytime you feel that your sound is too bright or icepicky, you can just roll down the tone knob a little bit, and shizam!

[anvil]

So quick update: I reset everything in the signal chain and I'm a believer it worked really great. I turned my volume knob a bit down, also the tone knob and than tweaked the EQ on the amp and it solves my previous problem should I get a boost pedal. No need my volume knob can do it. And it didn't cost me any money! Thanks Colin. You have a new subscriber.

[Epicc]

Every once in awhile, I come back to this video to think about how I use my tone and volume knobs. Since I started writing solos and lead lines, this video is very important to me, along with the one where you show how to adjust your amp. You are very wise when it comes to tone and EQ. Thanks a million, this video has helped a lot.

[SamBorgman]

When I was researching these things last year. I found videos of more than one pretty famous guitarists saying its best to leave tone and volume at max to let the pickup put out most lively sound. Then I saw BB King's video where he likes to control from his guiitar and leaves the amp at a certain setting. Seems like neither way is THE RIGHT WAY. Maybe it all just depends on what sound you want.

[scoosh]

I normally have the tone sitting about 8/9. It takes the edge off and actually cleans up a bit. The volume sits about 8 too.
And I can vouch for Colin. The dude knew how to work his gear.
- the dude who stood back to back with him in the crowd. :p

[smokepeddler]

100% agree, it took a lot of live shows to figure this out.
Especially for me because I don't use any effect pedals.
To the ability to cut or boost gain with volume, and cut or boost tone on the guitar while playing keeps things simple and easy to dramatically change my sound with just guitar controls

[Dieselduster]

Thanks for the helpful advice man! I didn't realize how useful and important the tone knob was until now! Has really helped my playing!

[HCkev]

I don't like using tone or volume knob, because if you want to change the tone immediately while playing, you need to stop picking for a second or two, and it's also hard to be precise. I already have to switch pickups from time to time, but at least, flicking a toggle switch is quick and easy. So I much prefer using my foot, which won't prevent me from playing when I switch tone, and is also much more versatile as you can choose from a wide variety of pedals to get exactly what you want, while volume and tone knobs are rather limited. You might also want to switch the amp channel, which you can't do on your guitar anyway. Anyway, it's not like you need to change your tone every 10 seconds, so you can just come back to your pedalboard when needed and then go somewhere alse after, or if you really plan on doing something special, like playing a solo in the audience, you can plan with your bandmates so they stomp the pedal for you.

[SuperBobbster]

I'd never really considered this before, it's quite a clever idea. The only thing that I can think of to detract from it is needing to be accurate when returning the control back to 6 (or whatever number) to get your original sound back, otherwise that's a first class idea dude.

[druwk]

Totally agree. Maxed out volume and tone don’t leave any where to go. It’s also nice to roll back the tone to play rhythm when trading licks with another guitar. I have the volume cap/resistor mod on my volume, so being able to roll up or down tone is essential. The tone control also radically changes the quality of old school Fuzz pedals. If you have dynamic pedals and a tube amplifier, being able to dial in the volume/tone set allows you to create real dynamics in your playing. Setting up with this technique also leaves tone shaping headroom when the drummer starts hitting harder. You can push the power tubes on the amp harder (with the volume and tone down) and save the biting treble for solos and lead lines.

[michal]

sooo it's faster to set the tone and vol knob back to 7/8 lvl after the solo than to kick a booster?

[rose_____]

Not going to lie, "Time to play guitar..." is exactly how I *used to* play. Thanks for the tips!!