As a guitarist, you may find yourself having a hard time cutting through the mix when you're playing with a band. Though your first instinct may be to crank your volume or increase your gain, that's not always the best way to be heard.
For this first installment of Andy's Tone Tips, he's outlining and demonstrating how guitarists can juice their tone using three different kind of guitar effects:
EQ: First, Andy engages the Wampler EQuator pedal, which is a great choice for cutting through the band mix because of its controls. The EQuator not only offers bass and treble controls, but also allows users to dial in two kinds of mid-range. This EQ pedal allows you to increase only those frequencies that will help your guitar separate itself from the rest of the instruments in your band.
Wah: It might be an unexpected choice, but a wah is another great option for its resonant peak in the upper mid-range frequencies. Rather than using it for highly modulated swells, use it more like a filter with a handy footswitch that makes cutting back from the brightest setting and dialing in your tone on-the-fly even easier. Andy demonstrates with the Dunlop Mini Wah.
Treble Boost: Using the Greer Moonshot, Andy demonstrates one of the most classic effects that guitarists turn to in hopes of cutting through their mix. A treble booster is a great choice, as it cuts your low-end, while boosting your mids, highs, and overall output volume.
Be sure to watch the full video above to listen to Andy's tips. If you liked this video and have tone questions of your own you'd like to see Andy answer, let us know in the comments below or email your questions to [email protected].