Amp Settings

[Des Christ]

Hello guys, I'm Despoina and I'm playing guitar for almost a year. I bought my first electric guitar with an amp a couple of months ago. The amp is the Marshall mg15gfx, But since I got it I couldn't find a sound that I like. Of course my playing is still really bad so that is a factor but I was wondering if I'm doing anything else wrong. So here are the setting that I'm using: For clean warm sound: bass:~8,middle:~5,treble:~3, For bright clean: bass:~3, middle:~5,treble:~8 For rock and metal I use the OD1 channel but I'm really strangling to find the right settings. Currently I'm learning some Metallica songs and the tone it's really bad. I would really appreciate if anyone can help me.
My English isn't really good, so I'm sorry if I made any mistakes

 

[Muz Malek]

Hello guys, I'm Despoina and I'm playing guitar for almost a year. I bought my first electric guitar with an amp a couple of months ago. The amp is the Marshall mg15gfx, But since I got it I couldn't find a sound that I like. Of course my playing is still really bad so that is a factor but I was wondering if I'm doing anything else wrong. So here are the setting that I'm using: For clean warm sound: bass:~8,middle:~5,treble:~3, For bright clean: bass:~3, middle:~5,treble:~8 For rock and metal I use the OD1 channel but I'm really strangling to find the right settings. Currently I'm learning some Metallica songs and the tone it's really bad. I would really appreciate if anyone can help me.
My English isn't really good, so I'm sorry if I made any mistakes

Hi Despoina!

Sounds like a great setup! What guitar are you using?

 

[Des Christ]

Hi Despoina!

Sounds like a great setup! What guitar are you using?

Hey! I have the schecter omen extreme 6, (btw if the guitar is buzzing does that mean that the action it's too low and I should adjust it or is it normal? It buzzes a lot on the low E and A string.) Anyway the setup for the clean tone it's the recommended in the online manual of this amp, so it's probably only my playing bad , but for metal and rock everything sounds too noisy (I have learned to mute the string that I don't play so it's probably not that)

 

[jshaw1225]

Hey! I have the schecter omen extreme 6, (btw if the guitar is buzzing does that mean that the action it's too low and I should adjust it or is it normal? It buzzes a lot on the low E and A string.) Anyway the setup for the clean tone it's the recommended in the online manual of this amp, so it's probably only my playing bad , but for metal and rock everything sounds too noisy (I have learned to mute the string that I don't play so it's probably not that)

Hey bud, as long as the buzz isn't coming through your amp it's fine. If it is, just raise it little by little (1/8- 1/4 turn each time) until it stops.

 

[Muz Malek]

Hey! I have the schecter omen extreme 6, (btw if the guitar is buzzing does that mean that the action it's too low and I should adjust it or is it normal? It buzzes a lot on the low E and A string.) Anyway the setup for the clean tone it's the recommended in the online manual of this amp, so it's probably only my playing bad , but for metal and rock everything sounds too noisy (I have learned to mute the string that I don't play so it's probably not that)

Well since you mentioned you just started out, I'm not really gonna advise if the buzzing is due to the setup or your playing, because it can be either or both.

Give yourself some time and practice to get comfortable with the guitar first, see how it goes

I've repaired guitars from guitarists who said it's too high or too low, but majority of them are because they're just starting out.

So as mentioned, give yourself some time and see how it goes, or get an opinion physically from an experienced player

 

[William B.]

Hey I got this setting from Ultimate-Guitar.com
Distortion: 10
Bass: 10
Middle: 0
Treble : 7
It's one of my favorites

 

[Adin Shepherd]

I haven't used the amp before, but if I was to make some suggestions they would be;

- less is more with gain, gain at 10 won't make your tone 'moar metal' it just makes things noisy

- don't over-do the bass, enough to get a nice chug but to much will get muddy

- use your mids!

I would probably start with gain around 3 o'clock, bass around 12 o'clock, mids around 10 o'clock and treble around 3 o'clock and tweak it from there.

 

[Gregg's_SYNquest]

Well since you mentioned you just started out, I'm not really gonna advise if the buzzing is due to the setup or your playing, because it can be either or both.

Give yourself some time and practice to get comfortable with the guitar first, see how it goes

I've repaired guitars from guitarists who said it's too high or too low, but majority of them are because they're just starting out.

So as mentioned, give yourself some time and see how it goes, or get an opinion physically from an experienced player

I have NEVER had a guitar come setup properly. Guitar Center, Sweetwater and a local store are guilty of letting their new products leave the store basically barely playable. There is a small shop here in Everett, WA called Tommy's and he won't let an instrument leave his store unless it's setup properly, for free!

 

[Ed Seith]

I have NEVER had a guitar come setup properly. Guitar Center, Sweetwater and a local store are guilty of letting their new products leave the store basically barely playable. There is a small shop here in Everett, WA called Tommy's and he won't let an instrument leave his store unless it's setup properly, for free!

I bought my PRS core from Sweetwater, and that came setup properly. More recently, my EBMM Cutlass was purchased from them, though - I paid extra for the Plek and setup, and it was TERRIBLE. I had to spend a lot of time setting it up properly myself. When I complained, they gave me the bullshit excuse of "shipping."

My Ormbsy shipped from Australia was dead perfect, as was my Kiesel from California.

 

[Alicia Willis]

I bought my PRS core from Sweetwater, and that came setup properly. More recently, my EBMM Cutlass was purchased from them, though - I paid extra for the Plek and setup, and it was TERRIBLE. I had to spend a lot of time setting it up properly myself. When I complained, they gave me the bullshit excuse of "shipping."

My Ormbsy shipped from Australia was dead perfect, as was my Kiesel from California.

Most of our guitars have come from sweetwater and we have never had an issue with the setup. Their customer service is phenomenal though and any issue they quickly correct. Now guitar center….eeeek… half of the stuff they have on the sales floor isn’t even in tune and some have some rusty ass strings on them lol. At least the one in Augusta does. I don’t trust those fuckers.

 

[Muz Malek]

I have NEVER had a guitar come setup properly. Guitar Center, Sweetwater and a local store are guilty of letting their new products leave the store basically barely playable. There is a small shop here in Everett, WA called Tommy's and he won't let an instrument leave his store unless it's setup properly, for free!

I guess based on everyone's perspective AND experience, you may have either gotten a really bad staff, or it can also be preferences.

Allow me to share my 2 cents

Having worked in a guitar shop and now a guitar technician, there are various ways that guitar stores/companies do their setup.

One would be where they set up to factory standards. It meant that for example, regardless of models, all their acoustics guitar would have the same string height, same strings, etc. Same goes for basses and EG. Most of the time, customers won't be happy because factory standards are usually not comfortable. They set the measurements based on "Safe zone", meaning it won't buzz, but it won't cause unnecessary tension to the guitar neck or bridge or body, etc. And to 'play safe' also meant to safeguard their asses. Customers would say "why is this not setup properly?" and they'll say "it is, based on factory standards. If we go any lower, it may buzz, and it may not be a reversible fix(for example, sanding down bridge/nuts".

The other would be if you're lucky enough to be served by a staff who is a proper player, one who is courteous enough to setup against factory standards, which is most of the time much more reliable, especially when you have a tech that knows what a certain player prefers in terms of style of playing. And i'm actually that kind of tech ahaha. Because I've played enough guitars to know that no 2 guitars can have the same feel and setup in terms of numbers and figures even though they may be the exact model(less likely, but there are instances). To make it a little clearer, even a Schecter Synyster Custom and a regular Avenger model have different ways to setup according to one guitarist's preferences. So I usually just setup all my customer's guitars by feel.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!