Beginner question: The amp?

[Karen Dunson]

I’m hovering around lessons 12 and 13, and my guitar doesn’t sound like that, which makes it harder to know if I’m actually doing it right. I realize I don’t have that level of equipment, but when I plug into the amp it still just sounds like a louder acoustic guitar. So my question is, are there “typically good settings” for the different knobs to get more of an electric guitar sound? Thanks in advance.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Hey Karen! What kind of amp do you have? Most amps will have what’s called a “Gain” or “Drive” setting. And when you turn this up, you’ll get more of a distorted sound that electric is known for. As far as wondering if it’s “right” based off how it sounds, you can look at the tablature on the screen or PG’s zoomed in hands to make sure you’re playing the right spots and the right notes. On 12 and 13, you could look for a knob labeled “reverb”. That will give a soft, echo sound that PG has. But to get an acoustic guitar to sound more like an electric is going to be difficult because you have the difference in strings among other factors. Acoustics are strung with a bronze string, and electrics are nickel. That alone will change the sound of the guitar. But, acoustics will naturally have a more “rounded, full, bass” sound. You could try turning the bass knob down, turn the mid down a little, and try turning the treble up. The treble is responsible for a brighter, cleaner, sharper sound. Maybe this will help

 

[Ed Seith]

Hi Karen!
Amps are like fingerprints – no two are alike, and that also goes for the people using them. A good rule of thumb is to start with all the knobs at the middle position (if they’re labeled 1-10, set them on 5, for example). Not the “volume” knob – don’t hurt yourself.
Then just start playing with each knob. From left to right, turn it all the way down to 1, play for a minute, then turn it up to 10 and play for a minute more. Return it to 5, and move on to the next knob. This will familiarize you with what each knob really does, aside from its one-word description.
Then, with all of them at the 5 position again, start to play, and listen for what you don’t like. Is the bass too boomy or overbearing? Kick it down to 3 and see what happens. That’s just an example. Your bass may be fine. Keep playing and adjusting to YOUR taste.
I find that I can get to a 90% good tone on an amp within 5-15 minutes, but to get to 98-100% takes several more months of noodling and micro-adjustments.
Enjoy the journey and get to know your amp.

 

[AGA]

Hi Karen! Both Jak and Ed gave some solid advice, I don’t think I can add much more to what they said other than keep hearing safety in mind. Luckily many practice amps can be played relatively quiet and sound good enough to practice and jam with. If you wish to play loud you can buy some cheap ear plugs at Home Depot. Since your kid is taking up drums I would also recommend to get him some sort of hearing protection, I have many drummer friends who wished they took better care when they were younger.

 

[Karen Dunson]

Thanks for all this great advice. I guess I should have posted some more information. The guitar is electric, but it sounds like an acoustic to me. I’m sorry, I worded that poorly in the original post. It’s a Yamaha Pacifica, and the amp is a Yamaha GA15II. It does have gain, but no reverb. I’ll try setting them all to the middle and play with it from there. Also never really gave much thought to hearing protection for my son. Thanks for that reminder, too!

 

[Karen Dunson]

Oh, also, what is clean and drive? Do I want that button in or out or is it different for different situations?

 

[Ed Seith]

[No message]

 

[Ed Seith]

Drive is distortion or gain, for bringing teh metalz.

 

[Kevin Kwasneski]

I’ll add my 2 cents There are a ton of amps, but a lot fall into 2 categories: Combos and Stacks. Combos have the speakers and controls all built into 1 unit. Stacks are built of heads (controls) and cabinets (speakers). When it comes to stuff what I do, minus the volume is take everything to ’10’ then dial it back until I find something I like. Keeping a notepad handy so you can write down levels that you like is a good idea because you won’t have to try to remember all your knob settings if they get changed.

 

[Karen Dunson]

Thank you all for your responses and the video. I was kind of intimidated by the buzzing when I first started playing with the knobs and haven’t touched it since, but I’m guessing now that’s normal because obviously the first button is the gain. I’ll play around with it some more tonight. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Even the room plays effect. Echoes.. etc. If you have head phones its also a new ballgame. Best thing about amps.