Amp Settings for Popular Electric Guitar Songs (40+ Samples) | Pro Sound Headquarters (2023)

FAQs

What settings should my electric guitar amp be on? ›

For a distorted tone, set your amplifier settings to 7-9 for gain, 4-5 for bass, 5-7 for mids and 5-7 for treble. For metal, consider decreasing the mids and increasing the treble and bass. For heavy rock distortion, lower the gain slightly, and increase the mids. Keep in mind, that this is just a starting point.

With regards to your EQ, try having your bass on around 4, your treble on around 5 and your mids on about 7. This is a good place to start, but it could use some tweaking depending on your particular amp and guitar.

The Best Amp Settings For Different Genres Of Music

The general guidelines for starting are for your gain to be around 7-9, for bass at 4-5, mids at 5-6, and treble at 6-7.

Bright, chime-y clean tones are great for giving your playing lots of clarity. Go easy on the gain, because any distortion will lead to too much harsh high frequency distortion, but be sure to give it enough that it sounds nice and full.

600 Hz–3,000 Hz (Mids)—the range that humans can hear the best. The majority of the sound of vocals is here, so EQing this range represents the perfect equalizer settings to play with if you want to affect someone's voice. 3,000 Hz–8,000 Hz (Upper Mids)—most audiophiles handle this range with care.

For music, 64 (AAC)/96 (MP3) kbps is a good general-purpose setting that will sound good most listeners. This is the standard bitrate for podcasts, for example, and it sounds great on most contemporary devices, including smart speakers and mobile devices.

If you are trying to achieve Van Halen's tone, start with the following amp settings: Channel: distorted. Gain: 7-8. Bass: 5-6.

To sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan, start with the following amp settings: Gain: 5. Bass: 5. Mids: 6.

What fender amp settings did Eric Clapton use? ›

Recommended Crossover Frequencies

Car main speakers: 50-60 Hz, the most critical element in main speaker crossovers is to block low-end bass (frequencies 80 Hz and below) 2-way speakers: 3-3.5 kHz (high pass) Midrange: 1-3.5 kHz.

There can be many reasons why your guitar amp might sound bad. It could be that the tubes need to be replaced, or that the speaker is blown. It could also be that the settings on the amp are not ideal for the type of sound you're trying to achieve.

Frequency Response: 20-20kHz ±3dB = Good.

To get a good crunch tone, use either the overdrive channel on your amp with the gain halfway, or use the clean channel and crank the gain. Alternatively, use an overdrive pedal through a clean amp. Slightly boost the treble and mids in comparison to the bass and use the bridge pickup on the guitar.

Guitar pickups are super important when it comes to determining the tone. There are two main types of pickups, single-coil and humbucker. You can also change your tone by activating your neck or bridge pickups, or activating both at the same time.

The first thing to check is that your pickups are set at the proper height. Too low, and the sound will be thin. Too high and the magnetic pull on the strings can affect sound quality and intonation. If you change the type or gauge of your guitar strings, you may need to readjust the pickup height.

There are a few reasons why your electric guitar might sound acoustic. One reason could be that your guitar is not properly grounded. Another reason could be that your pickups are not properly aligned. Finally, your strings could be too loose, which would cause them to vibrate more and create a louder sound.

What is EQ on guitar amps? The EQ knobs on your amp control your overall balance of tone. EQ is a way for you to shape your tone in a very controlled manner. It gives you a way to dial in Normally guitar amps have three EQ knobs: Low/Bass, Mid, High/Treble.

What happens if your amp gain is too high? ›

If the gain is set too high with higher voltage sources (2.5 Volts or higher), the amplifier will be able to reach full power at a lower volume control setting from the source unit. This will allow the amplifier to be driven into clipping.

If the gain is too high at the input stage, your audio will reach the point of distortion or clipping. This can be a good or bad thing depending on what you are going for, as you might want to get some distortion with an amplifier, though you might want a clean tone for digital audio.

Amp gains work the same way – too low, and the background noise, or “hiss” takes over Too high, and music becomes distorted even at a normal volume level.

Sounds at or below 70 dBA are generally considered safe. Any sound at or above 85 dBA is more likely to damage your hearing over time. Researchers have found that people who are exposed over long periods of time to noise levels at 85 dBA or higher are at a much greater risk for hearing loss.

Experts recommend keeping sound levels at somewhere between 60 and 85 decibels to minimize the damage your ears are exposed to. If you are listening to music at around 100 decibels, restrict your usage to within 15 mins. However, these are general guidelines and listening threshold is different for each individual.

Try starting at 8 kHz for a high shelf and only boost 1 dB to 1.5 dB. For the high roll off, 18 kHz is a good frequency to try at 24 dB of reduction per octave with a 0.07Q width. If that doesn't sound right to you, or sounds piercing, try moving the high shelf to 9 kHz and everything else accordingly.

WAV (Waveform Audio File) retains all the original data, which makes it the ideal format for sound engineers. “WAV has greater dynamic range and greater bit depth,” creative producer and sound mixer Lo Boutillette says of her preferred format. “It's the highest quality,” Berry agrees.

A lossless audio file format is the best format for sound quality. These include FLAC, WAV, or AIFF. These types of files are considered “hi-res” because they are better or equal to CD-quality. The tradeoff is that these files will be very large.

Definition: Sampling rate or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per second (or per other unit) taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete or digital signal.

In order to make your electric guitar sound like rock, you will need to make sure that you are using the right type of amplifier and that your guitar is set up properly. You will also need to use the right type of strings and picks, and practice regularly.

How do you get heavy metal sound on an electric guitar? ›

The Quick Answer. To achieve a good metal tone, have your amp settings on high for bass and gain, mid-low for the mids setting and mid-high for the treble setting. The key to achieving a good metal tone is high gain, high sustain and lot's of low-end (bass).

Quick Guide AC/DC Amp Settings

Gain: 5-6. Bass: 4-5. Mids: 5-6. Treble: 6-7.

To sound like David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, start with the following amp settings: Gain: 3-4. Bass: 5-6. Mids: 6-7.

MXR M300 Digital Reverb Pedal.

Answer: Jimmy Page's amp settings change depending on the song he is performing, but the foundation of his settings is to set the gain to 6, the bass to 8, the mids to 6, and the treble to 7.

It is with Fender amps however that Eric Clapton is best associated. Again, over the last five decades, Clapton has played a wide variety of different Fender amps. The two that have arguably had the greatest impact on his tone however are the Fender '57 Custom Twin and the Fender '57 Custom Champ.

Eddie used dozens of Marshall Plexis and Superleads throughout touring before experimenting with other amp brands, most notably the Signature Peavey 5150 that was later used by Van Halen for his partnership with Fender under the EVH brand.

When performing live Page primarily used Marshall JMP Super Lead amplifiers. In the studio his time working as a session musician freed him up creatively to try a wide range of equipment, including Vox, Fender, Orange, Supro and HiWatt amps alongside his trusty Marshall rig.

Amps. Jimmy Page is best associated with Marshall amplifiers. The image of him in front of a wall of 100 watt Marshalls has embedded itself in rock history.

Should I use high or low input on guitar amp? ›

Bass amps typically have two inputs, one labeled “high” and one labeled “low.” The high input is designed for instruments with active electronics, such as basses with active pickups. The low input is designed for instruments with passive electronics, such as acoustic basses and electric guitars.

The different settings on a guitar amp do a few other things. They can change the volume of the sound, the tone of the sound, and the reverb. They can also turn on or off specific effects that the amp might have. For clean sounds, you should change the settings on your guitar amplifier.

No damage will occur, you cannot “use higher amps”, the device will draw what it needs and not more.

With your amp on the floor, it is absorbing a lot of bass vibrations directly from the amp and transferring them through walls and ceilings. By raising the amp, you take away the chance for the floor to project your bass throughout the building.

When placed on the floor, the amp will “couple” with the surface, boosting low frequencies. When miking the amp for recording or sound reinforcement, that boosted low end can create problems. 2. The amp will disperse its sound into the room better if it is raised up.

The number of channels you need on your car amplifier depends on the number of speakers you have in your car sound system. Generally, you need one channel per speaker.

Amps = Watts / Volts

Examples: 4160 Watts / 208 Volts = 20 Amps. 3600 Watts / 240 Volts = 15 Amps.

To achieve a good metal tone, have your amp settings on high for bass and gain, mid-low for the mids setting and mid-high for the treble setting. The key to achieving a good metal tone is high gain, high sustain and lot's of low-end (bass).