I eventually figured out why guitarists are always so loud

[Windreaper]

An interesting observation is that generally, if what you are hearing sounds good and is well played, levels that are somewhat too loud can easily be overlooked, but if what you are hearing is an assault on your ears and the musicianship is poor, anything is too loud.

Some guitarists I've heard EQ their instrument so it's all twang and low end boom; this cranked up will never develop into any sort of good sound. Maybe they never heard about mids?

Victims of the equal loudness curve. The ear is most sensitive to mids at low SPL, but the curve flattens out as SPL increases (emphasizing bass and treble). Also why a good live bass tone is all mids and no a** at bedroom volume.

 

[winston]

Well guitarists playing too loud is just a function of them not listening to the rest of the music, but...Little secret for non-master volume tube geetar amps:

Use the low gain input if there is one, when pushing the volume up you run the power tubes harder, which gives the good, satisfying kind of breakup that works well even on chords. Less of the icepick, and lower max volume. Yes I know solid state vs. tube rectifiers etc. blabla but this makes a difference even (especially?!) with lower output single-coils.

I'm saying this as a person whose tinnitus comes mostly from playing with guitarists using wretched silverface Fender Twins with JBLs.

 

[Wasnex]

Well guitarists playing too loud is just a function of them not listening to the rest of the music, but...Little secret for non-master volume tube geetar amps:

Use the low gain input if there is one, when pushing the volume up you run the power tubes harder, which gives the good, satisfying kind of breakup that works well even on chords. Less of the icepick, and lower max volume. Yes I know solid state vs. tube rectifiers etc. blabla but this makes a difference even (especially?!) with lower output single-coils.

I'm saying this as a person whose tinnitus comes mostly from playing with guitarists using wretched silverface Fender Twins with JBLs.

FYI this is more accurate. Many amps have a treble bypass capacitor strapped across the Volume control. This capacitor only passes high frequencies, and the Volume control passes a full range signal. At low Volume settings the capacitor dominates, so you get a very bright sound. As you turn up the Volume, the tonal balance shifts towards full range. At higher Volume settings, the capacitor has little to no affect.

Examples of amps with a treble bypass cab. AFAIK all blackface and silverface Fenders have the cap, but you can bypass it by toggling the Bright switch to off. This takes the capacitor out of the circuit.

Marshall Leads (MV) have a bright cap on the Preamp Volume. Marshall Super Leads (NMV) have a bright cap on Volume 1, but not Volume 2.

Some people clip one side of the treble bypass cap in their Marshalls, so they can get a mellower tone at lower volume levels.

 

[badinage]

Kenny Vaughan talks in a hotel room after Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives did one of their David Letterman Show appearances. Covers how 12 watts gets "the tone" the blues lawyers are chasing. No modeling, no pedals:

 

[HelpImaRock]

I dunno, I turn up just as loud on bass as I do on guitar. And I'm always telling my guitarist to turn up. Rock is loud. Deal with it. (Yes I understand not everyone plays rock music.)

 

[Windreaper]

I dunno, I turn up just as loud on bass as I do on guitar. And I'm always telling my guitarist to turn up. Rock is loud. Deal with it. (Yes I understand not everyone plays rock music.)

Stage volume is a matter of professionalism. A vocal mic doesn't know it's a vocal mic. In addition to vocals, it picks up an out-of-phase sample of everything else it hears. This translates into worse FoH and monitor sound.

That said, the culprit isn't usually the guitarist, but the drummer. Cymbals are loud. This in turn makes the guitarist turn up. The singer isn't too happy either, and constantly wants more of herself in the monitors, which doesn't help since her mic is also picking up the kit and the guitarist's cranked stack.

Cymbal noise can be mitigated with cympads (or equivalent), or by switching to thinner cymbals and sticks (and not hitting as hard). You can also tape the undersides of the cymbals to tame them, which we used to do when playing smaller rooms. A piercing snare can also be an issue, which you can also mitigate by lowering the tuning and using gel pads if it rings too much, makes the snare blend better.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Stage volume is a matter of professionalism. A vocal mic doesn't know it's a vocal mic. In addition to vocals, it picks up an out-of-phase sample of everything else it hears. This translates into worse FoH and monitor sound.

That said, the culprit isn't usually the guitarist, but the drummer. Cymbals are loud. This in turn makes the guitarist turn up. The singer isn't too happy either, and constantly wants more of herself in the monitors, which doesn't help since her mic is also picking up the kit and the guitarist's cranked stack.

Cymbal noise can be mitigated with cympads (or equivalent), or by switching to thinner cymbals and sticks (and not hitting as hard). You can also tape the undersides of the cymbals to tame them, which we used to do when playing smaller rooms. A piercing snare can also be an issue, which you can also mitigate by lowering the tuning and using gel pads if it rings too much, makes the snare blend better.

We obviously have different artistic goals. I play in an original rock trio and want the drummer to hit hard. The visceral experience is part of the sound.

 

[drpepper]

whew