Set up for using different Guitars live

RebelRebel

Hey,

Quick question. I have a tele and a Les paul which I use for studio work. I primarially use Fenders live. But if I was to use both guitars live I would be presented with a few problems.

Firstly the les paul would be twice as loud as the tele with the clean sound. Fair enough - it has twice the number of pick ups etc. So obvoiusly I will have to adjust the volume.

Secondly, with the tele going through a BOSS turbo distortion I can have the pedal level set at half and that will keep the distorted volume approx as loud as the clean sound. However if I put the les paul through the pedal with the same settings, it will come out at a much lower volume. I would have to turn the level to full pretty much to get close to the volume I require.

So in essence my questions are, is this normal? How do people overcome these issues. Is it the case that the pedal can't cope with the output from the les paul and the volume going through the pedal is lower? Could that be solved with a differnt pedal? I don't think so cos I've tried it with an MXR distortion and have the same issue.

Anyway, Any comments, suggestions etc welcome.

RR

fish-head

Well the first question that comes to mind is do you really need to swap guitars when you're playing live?

Personally, I only swap guitars when I bust a string.

Dord

Using something like a Boss LS2 will solve your problem. You plug both guitars in and adjust the levels for each to match the output of the guitars. So, if you want to pick up the other one and play it, just stomp the switch and fire ahead. The output should be the same.

RebelRebel

Thanks Lads,

Have no need to really change guitars live unless I break a string. I was just a question for information more than anything.

Just not sure why the output on the gibson drops so much when played through the Distortion pedal. I would have thought if the input going into it was loud then the output from the pedal would be loud too.

Dord, would the line selector solve that problem. I've never used one so don't know how they work. So you plug the guitars into the line selector and then set the output for each guitar. And the LS" goes into your pedals. So because the output from the LS2 is the same, the output from the pedals would be the same too? Correct?

Cheers,
RR

Dord

RebelRebel wrote: »

Dord, would the line selector solve that problem. I've never used one so don't know how they work. So you plug the guitars into the line selector and then set the output for each guitar. And the LS" goes into your pedals. So because the output from the LS2 is the same, the output from the pedals would be the same too? Correct?

Cheers,
RR

Yes, but obviously the guitars would sound different and react differently though the pedals.

-=al=-

i dont think its normal that your les paul is twice as loud as your tele on clean but half as loud through a distortion pedal

something funny is goin on, the no. of pickups wont affect the volumes either


try a compressor? it makes the loud parts quiet and the quiet parts loud

rcaz

-=al=- wrote: »

try a compressor? it makes the loud parts quiet and the quiet parts loud

+1 on the compressor, that was my first thought. But are compressors designed to deal with the massive volume difference the OP is describing? I thought (the guitar pedal compressors, anyway) were designed for more aritificial purposes, like smoothing out really small fluctuations to make everything dead-even. Chicken pickin' stuff.

Is it that big a deal to bend down and twist a knob? I mean, if the solution is that simple, why bother shelling out for a Line Selector or a compressor?

Dord

El Pr0n wrote: »

+1 on the compressor, that was my first thought. But are compressors designed to deal with the massive volume difference the OP is describing? I thought (the guitar pedal compressors, anyway) were designed for more aritificial purposes, like smoothing out really small fluctuations to make everything dead-even. Chicken pickin' stuff.

Is it that big a deal to bend down and twist a knob? I mean, if the solution is that simple, why bother shelling out for a Line Selector or a compressor?

No a compressor won't do that much. My point with the line selector was that he could set it so then he would just have to pick up the other guitar and fire away. No setting of levels during the gig or arsin about.

rcaz

Dord wrote: »

No a compressor won't do that much. My point with the line selector was that he could set it so then he would just have to pick up the other guitar and fire away. No setting of levels during the gig or arsin about.

I played a gig in my school two years ago, where two different songs used two different settings on my Big Muff and Small Stone, I cut up little strips of insulation tape the night before the gig, stuck them next to the knobs to indicate where to set the knobs, and while the other guitarist was playing the intro to the next song, I adjusted the knobs. With the tiniest bit of planning, there would be no need for arsing about or spending money.