What are the settings for super smooth amp settings for blues? We’re referring to a strong, soulful beat that accentuates each note and makes you wrinkle up your face like Jonny Lang always does. One requirement is the appropriate equipment. The blues sound is not only a less intense distortion pedal. A careful balance of guitar, effects, and amplification is used.
A full complement of high-quality equipment will greatly aid the effort to replicate it accurately. We’ve just concentrated on one piece of equipment in this post. Pedal for Boss DS-1 distortion. Alternatively, you may use any distortion pedal you happen to have. Just be advised that we’re customizing the settings to function just with the DS-1.
We’ll discuss how to utilize this pedal to produce a blues guitar sound and offer some ideal amp settings to go along with it.
Amp Settings For Blues: What Makes A Blues Tone
The following are broad characteristics of a bluesy guitar tone.
- Light saturation and distortion
- Bright with higher mids and treble
- High visibility
Lead vocalists rarely have as much prominence as blues guitar. Since a lead guitarist handles a majority of the melody in blues, their tone and amp setup should be audible enough to penetrate a song without being too loud to be distracting.
The best approach to achieve this is often with increased presence (and sometimes higher volume), a modest degree of distortion, and a bright or “high” tone. You should start there because it mostly involves your amplifier. Each control’s function and how to adjust it for blues guitars are briefly described below.
- Gain, often known as “drive” or “distortion,” should typically be set to approximately 2-4. It must be loud enough to push the tone, provide some saturation, and add some crunch without being too loud to border on rock or metal genres.
- The treble modulates the high-range frequencies, enhancing the clarity, bite, and brightness. For blues, the treble control should be moderate to high to give the tone sharpness and make it seem more crunchy.
- Mids: This regulates the mid-range frequencies that contribute to the depth of the tone. The “middle” control should be set to a moderate-high level to give the tone depth for blues.
- The bass affects how low-end frequencies are heard. Blues music should have a medium-low bass setting to avoid sounding too “boomy.”
- Reverb: This gives the tone life and color by simulating an echo sound. This helps give the tone more personality and keeps it from becoming bland. Reverb should first be set to 2-4 for blues music.
You can have somewhat different settings based on the amp you own. Here are some of the more common settings and instructions for adjusting them for blues:
- Presence: This modifies the high-end frequencies and, by acting as a cap, also affects the treble control.
- Contrary to the mids control, contour works. Setting the contour low for blues has the same effect as raising the mids.
- Tilt: If you’re having trouble adding brightness and clarity, this feature lets you move between treble-favorable frequencies.
- Adjust the EQ or tone to favor a treble- or mids-boosted tone.
What about modes and channels? Most amplifiers feature two channels, clean and overdrive, at the very least (or distorted, etc.). It’s preferable to utilize its overdrive channel and set the gain to medium-low when playing blues so that you may achieve some crunchiness & saturation without going overboard.
Select the overdrive option if your system has numerous distorted channels, such as overdrive and distortion. The use of an overdrive pedal is an exception. Choose your amplifier’s clean channel. Different brands have different restrictions. Review the brand-specific amplifier controls instructions to get the most out of your setup.
Try different combinations of these settings to find what sounds best for you. When you’ve got the perfect sound, practice blues licks, and riffs to improve your guitar skills.
How To Get A Great Amp Settings For Blues
Your amp adjustments are essential for obtaining the ideal blues sound. You may build the perfect tone for yourself by adjusting the gain & EQ settings. Let’s take a closer look at how each option affects your sound. The principal controls, which are found on the majority of amplifiers, are those mentioned above.
Gain refers to the amount of distortion and is responsible for the thickness of your sound. To get a grittier tone, you’ll want to increase the gain. You’ll get an unpleasant, feedback-filled noise if you turn it up too high. The EQ controls will help you to shape your sound.
Drive Or Gain
The gain knob controls the degree of crunch and distortion in the tone. It may produce an extremely clean sound or boost the gain until the complete distortion is achieved. Blues music benefits from a low setting since the notes should have sufficient endurance and clarity without becoming distorted. Usually, it is advised that you adjust this setting to 5 or less.
Some musicians utilize the volume control on their guitar to modify the gain knob while they play by turning it up as high as they feel comfortable. This is a real blues approach that needs to be applied whenever feasible. It’s also crucial to remember that certain amplifiers’ gain controls are also referred to as “drive.” Only the name has changed; the function will be the same.
Treble
The amount of high harmonics you hear depends on the treble level. It’s crucial to have some high frequency in the tone when playing blues. Each note is made clearer and more distinct as a result. Guitarists frequently use this control to “roll off” the volume in their sound. They just have a slight distortion and a few higher frequencies to assist shape it rather than a total distortion.
Depending on your preferences, you may adjust the treble for blues anywhere between 6 and 9. You may choose a higher level for a sound that is more unpolished and rough sound. You may dial it back a little for a crisper tone.
Mids
Excellent for adding thickness or cut is the middle control. Middle band frequencies, which make up most of the guitar’s frequencies, are crucial, particularly in blues tones. Your notes will pop and have more endurance if you choose this frequency. When playing blues, it is normally recommended to establish the mids at 5 or higher.
The middle control also works well with the neck pickup, as it can add girth and body. This is a great way to make your neck pickup sound full and thick.
Bass
Your tone will sound broader, and add some bottom end with the aid of the bass setting. Although they are not as crucial in the blues as they come from different genres, like metal or rock, the bottom frequencies may nonetheless aid in defining your sound. The bass control should be set at 3-5. You’ll get a beautiful, rich sound from this without your tone seeming muddy.
But occasionally, the bass may have to be lower since the gain control offers a richer response at higher levels.
Amp Settings For Blues: Blues Amp Presets
But if we’re going to be particular, how should the amp settings be configured? We tried various setups and discovered that low bass, medium to high treble, and mid cuts typically performed the best. Here are a couple of combinations you might want to try out.
- Bass: 5, Mid: 6, Gain: 0, Master Volume: 5, Treble: 7, Bass: 5, and Mid: 6
- Master Volume: 5, Treble: 4, Bass: 2, Mid: 6, and Gain: 3.
- Master Volume: 5.0, Treble: 4.4, Bass: 3.0, Mid: 5.0, Gain: 3.0, and Reverb: 3.
- Master Volume: 5, Treble 7, Bass 2.5, Mid 6, Gain 3, Reverb 5
Reverb can be added at your choice. We discovered that lower gain levels or no distortion made it perform better. Whatever option you select, please remember that you want your mids and treble to be just high enough to give your music that additional “bite” that bluesy siren quality without degrading the tone.
Blues guitar treads a fine line between being rich and full and having higher tone characteristics. Avoid pushing your treble tuner too much so that you start to lose a complete sound. We would caution you about one thing, however. If you’re using a tube amp, beware of pushing the volume too high. You could end up with a blown speaker if you’re not careful!
While these are by no means the only settings that will work for playing blues on your electric guitar, they’re a great starting point. Please note that these settings are just a starting point. You may need to adjust them to suit your particular amp and guitar setup. Also, keep in mind that your mileage may vary! Try out different combinations and see what works best for you. Happy jamming!
Amp Settings For Blues: Settings For The Boss DS-1 Pedal
Once you’ve straightened out your amp and are satisfied with the clean signal, add the DS-1. To give you a place to start, set all three dials to 12 o’clock.
12-Hour Dials
On our rig, we weren’t satisfied with that personally. Instead of sounding bluesy, it more closely resembled a flat punk-rock overdrive. Although we can’t guarantee you’ll hear it all the time, the 12 o’clock technique didn’t work out well for my setup. Remember that your degree of satisfaction with the tone is primarily a matter of opinion.
Therefore, regardless of how the knobs are adjusted, if you simply like the sound you hear, it should count for something. However, other options are available if you’re not a fan of the 12-hour dials.
Dials With High Gain (Dist)
More distortion is used by certain blues musicians than by others. Heavy blues musicians like Jonny Lang and Henrik Freischlader frequently employ higher gain settings. Set the DIST dial to around 3 o’clock on the DS-1 to achieve this sound. Similarly, use the LEVEL knob. Turning the TONE dial past the hour mark sounded too rough.
Adjust that one as you see fit. If you want to go even higher in gain, the Metal Zone MT-2 is a popular option. It can get quite extreme, so use it with caution.
Low Gain Gauges
When we turned the DIST knob down, this pedal seemed to shine and provide a warm, blues tone (like Eric Johnson), simulating a softer, slightly distorted output. Simply move the DIST knob to around 9 o’clock and reduce the TONE & LEVEL dials back to 12 o’clock.
We discovered that lowering the LEVEL and TONE too much caused the sound to become muddy, much as when the tone dial on your guitar is back down.
Finding your “sweet spot” with the TONE & LEVEL knobs on this pedal, then using the DIST knob to alternate between a moderate and powerful distortion sound, might be a nice strategy. It helps your tone sound more constant and needs you to make fewer adjustments.
Guitars
Compared to the brand, the grade of your instrument is more directly related to a decent blues tone. Most guitars available today have a sufficiently adaptable sound to correctly reproduce a wide range of tones and genres. The Epiphone Hollow Body model, Fender Stratocaster, and Telecaster models, to mention a few, are guitars that work particularly well with blues.
If not, it depends on how much money you have to spend. Cheap guitars have cheap sounds. Whether you’re looking for a blue tone or not, there is no getting past it. It won’t sound very good if your guitar costs $100 at retail. Those who began playing an inexpensive guitar before upgrading to a fancier model would understand what we mean.
The disparity is enormous, and the audio quality is incomparable. Therefore, we’d strongly advise investing in a premium guitar if you’re committed to getting the perfect blues tone. You might be able to get away with a mid-range guitar, but it’ll probably require some extra effort. You can do a few things to make a cheap guitar sound better, but we’ll touch on that later.
Assuming you have a guitar capable of producing a decent sound, the next step is to set it up properly.
Amp Settings
The amplifier is where things start to get a little more complicated. There are many different amplifiers on the market, each producing a unique sound. It would be impossible to give a definitive guide on how to set your amp for a perfect blues tone because it varies so much from amp to amp. However, you can keep a few things in mind that will help you get started.
The first is to make sure your amp is set to clean. A clean sound is essential for blues because it gives the notes room to breathe and sustain. If your amp is too dirty, the notes will begin to sound muddy and lack definition. The second thing to remember is that you don’t need a ton of volume. Too much volume can be detrimental to your tone.
If your amp is set too loud, it will start to distort, and your notes will lose shape. It’s important to find the sweet spot with your volume knob and to resist the urge to turn it up too high. The third thing to keep in mind is that you don’t need a ton of gain. A bit of distortion can go a long way in giving your tone some extra character, but too much will make your sound muddy and unfocused.
It’s important to find the right balance of clean and dirty for your amp settings is important. Once you’ve got your amp dialed in, the next step is to choose the right guitar pedals.
Guitar Pedals
Various guitar pedals are available on the market, which can significantly impact your tone. The most important pedal for blues is the blues drive pedal. This pedal is designed to replicate the sound of a cranked tube amplifier. It gives your tone extra grit and helps thicken your sound. Other popular pedals for blues include the wah pedal, delay pedal, and reverb pedal.
Each of these pedals can help to add a little something extra to your tone. The wah pedal is a classic pedal that many famous blues guitarists have used. It helps to add some extra expression to your playing and can give your sound a more vocal quality. The delay pedal is another popular choice for blues guitarists.
It helps to add some space and depth to your sound and can make your solos sound more interesting. The reverb pedal is a must-have for any blues guitarist. It helps to create a more atmospheric sound and can make your guitar playing sound more liquid and smooth. Once you’ve sorted your amp settings and guitar pedals, the next step is to focus on your playing technique.
Famous Blues Songs And The Amp Settings For Blues They Are In
Here are some well-known songs and their settings so that you may use what you’ve learned to modify your guitar amplifier for blues.
The B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone”
Bright, clear, and with excellent sustain, B.B. King’s song is a fantastic listen. His collection of guitars includes Gibson Les Pauls and hollow bodies. A Twin Reverb or Fender Blues Junior might work well to get this tone. A digital modeling amplifier would be effective. Apply amp settings such as Gain: 4, Treble: 7, Mids: 6, Bass: 5, and Reverb: 3.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood”
Texas Flood is a song by well-known blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan. His tone features a lot of distortion and is rich and sustained. A tube amp like a Fender Bassman and a Stratocaster is the ideal setup. Set up your amplifier: Treble: 7, Mids: 7, Bass: 6, and Reverb: 3.
Eric Clapton: “Have You Ever Loved a Woman”
The best blues guitarist is Eric Clapton, and this tune is a superb illustration of his clean, effortless playing. For this tone, he plays a Fender Stratocaster guitar. For this song, a Marshall Bluesbreaker combination amplifier is another excellent choice. Your amp adjustments should begin here to reproduce it: Reverb: 3, Bass: 6, Mids: 8, Tenor: 6, Gain: 6-7.
Amp Settings For Blues: How To Use Effects For Blues
Although a substantial portion of superb blues sounds do not require effects, many do. Ideally, certain amplifiers have features like reverb or tremolo. But several different effects might assist you in discovering your tone.
Distortion And Overdrive
The best method to add grit and character to your tone is overdrive and distortion pedals. These may be used to increase the distortion level of your amplifier, either little or completely. Additionally ideal for solos, they are. The following are several good distortions and overdrive pedals:
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
- Boss Blues Driver
Fuzz Pedals
When playing lead guitar or if you want to be creative with your solos, fuzz is fantastic for creating texture and sustaining notes. Try including some fuzz pedals into your signal chain for a distinctive tone. The Dunlop JDF2 Fuzz Face Distortion is a fantastic pedal.
Reverb
Reverb would be an effect that may be used to amplify your sound. It gives space and makes your instrument look enormous. A reasonable number of reverb is ideal for blues. You don’t want it to sound like you’re performing in a cave or be overbearing. Currently, the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Neo is a well-liked reverb pedal.
Tremolo
Another fantastic effect that may give your music some movement is tremolo. It’s ideal for producing a “muddy” or “swampy” tone. Take a look at some well-known tremolo pedals:
- Tre-verb Fender
- Tremolo by Strymon Flint
As you’ve seen, many fantastic effects may assist you in discovering your own blues tone. Try out different pedals to see which one suits you the best.
Amp Settings For Blues: Common Issues
You will almost certainly have a few small problems while configuring your amplifier for the first time using a different sound. Here are among the most frequent problems when configuring an amplifier for blues music, along with some tweaks to attempt to resolve them. Do not forget to implement each modification all at once!
Weak And Thin Tone
- Boost the mids
- Boost the gain
- Boost the bass
Tone Is Lifeless And Dull
- Increase the treble and add some reverb
- Boost the mids
High Feedback
- Lower the volume
- Place the amplifier at the front of the instrument or as far off from that as you can
It Sounds Like Rock Music
- Reduce the gain
- Reduce the bass
- If the tweaks above cause it to sound thin, boost the mids.
Pedal effects might be helpful when attempting to replicate the perfect blues tone. The most common pedals you may use with your amplifier are listed below.
- Overdrive
- Fuzz
- Reverb
- Delay
Conclusion
Have any settings, concepts, or ideas on how to tune amp settings for blues to share? As we previously mentioned, achieving a nice blues tone can change slightly based on the rig you’re using and the type of musician you are. Share your experiences with us, and if you know anything that we don’t (which is quite likely), let us know. Post your comments in the space provided below.