Lesser Know Channel Switching Ideas.

If you're like me, you've been through a few rigs or you've at least re-designed it more than a few times.  I big part of music I love, is the use of dynamics.  Soft to loud, loud to soft.  It's a big part of the emotional part of music. I often have done what many people do in modern times to get these dynamics with an electric guitar and amp.  Either used a boost or distortion/fuzz pedal on a clean amp, or simply use the footswitch on my two channel amp. Pretty simple.  However I've been in situations where the I'm playing through a "Fender" style two channel amp with no footswitching abilities, or with an amp that is a simple one channel amp, and I'd like a quicker volume control than simply using the guitar's volume knob.

So how do we make a footswitch like channel switch on an amp with no footswitch?  There are a few simple ways which I've learn from people much older and wiser than me.

The first technique is actually the oldest idea.  Before there were fuzz pedals or boost pedals, players only had a volume knob.  Gibson guitars actually gave you two channels on their guitars by giving you two volume knobs, one for the bridge pickup and one for the neck.  They actually named these "channels" on their toggle switches as "rhythm (neck PU)" and "lead (bridge PU)"  The intended idea behind this is to dial in your basic tone on the amp with the neck(rhythm) pickup with the volume down enough to barely break up the amp.  When you switch to the bridge (lead) pickup the volume will be fully open and much louder and more distorted.  However it will be much brighter, that's when you'll need to turn down the "tone" knob to cut enough treble as you desire.  This technique works pretty well, and I've used it quite a bit in situations with no pedals and only a Gibson on a good amp.  I love where the toggle switch is on a Les Paul.  You can really hit it on the fly with your thumb.  Most of the guys you probably love from the classic rock era of the 60s and 70s probably started out this way, or continue to use this technique.  check out Page demonstrate it here: 

The next idea uses a two channel, non-switchable amp such as a Fender Reverb.  There are a ton of amps modeled after this amp and you've probably seen quite a few.  The amp actually has two sets of two inputs, for each channel.  To make this switchable by a footswitch, all we need is an ABY box.  A pedal which enables us to spit a signal and gives us the ability to switch between the two channels.  We can set each to different volumes or EQs and have two tones that are switchable by foot.  Simple.

Lastly, we have an interesting idea which actually is similar in principle to the first technique.  We'll simply cut the volume of an amp by using an EQ pedal.  For years I always used the EQ as a boost.  However most EQ pedals also allow you to cut the volume as well. The great part about this is we can shape the tone of the cut signal to customize it better.  EQ pedal off, gives us our loud full volume tone.  EQ on, gives us a clean channel.  I personally like to add a compressor to the clean signal to give it a bit more sustain and fullness. 

Even if you're happy with your setup as is right now, it's always good to have the knowledge of other ideas  You never know when you might need to use them.  I've played shows where most of my pedals aren't working or a cable has gone bad, and I've had to resort to some of these techniques.

How I Turned an ES 335 Like Guitar Into a Heavy Metal Machine.

I know, I know. What kind of asshole would try to turn a guitar better know for classic rock, blues and jazz into such a beast? Well, I would I guess. It was only a matter of time before I grew some sort of sick fetish towards pushing a guitar not normally accustomed to heavy music, into something people eventually gave me weird looks for. The thing about these guitars is the fact that they sound great because of their construction and semi-acoustic properties. I’ve always though they could be used for any kind of music, if modified to do so. It also seems to be some industry secret, which many classic records have been recorded with. Even to this day, artists continue to record on hollow bodied guitars in the studio. Pet Townshend did almost all the tracks for the Who on a Gretsch hollow body. Josh Hommee of Queens of the Stone Age even records with a variety of hollow bodies. Myself in fact, did almost all the guitar tracks on a heavily modified hollow bodied Epiphone dot, with Salvador. Lets look at the modifications I put this poor guitar through.

1. Stuffing the f- holes.

At the volumes I played at, these guitars would feedback like crazy and squeal. Being semi-acoustic, I would get acoustic feedback. This does not sound nice in the least bit. The whole top of the guitar would actually vibrate and air would push out of the open f-holes. To stop this, I stuffed the f-holes with foam. I haven’t had a problem since at any volume. Nor have I noticed any tone loss amplified by doing this. I have a feeling the B.B. King Lucille, and guitars like it will be more popular in days to come, as it is hollowed yet lacking f-holes.

2. Drop tuning and bass strings.

One thing I’ve always wanted with extreme drop tuning is clarity. I use to love using a telecaster for open or drop C tunings. But at the volume I play at, I had to find a humbucking guitar capable of staying in tune and having clarity. I found an old 70s Dimarzio Super Distortion that had great sound for this. Plus the output was hotter and they sounded much better than the stock pickups the guitar came with. Then, one day, the band decided to go to drop G. As in GGCFAD tuning. This is too low for most guitar sets. So, I stuck a .60 gauge bass string at the 1^st string position. This was about the heaviest gauge I could fit through the tuning peg of the guitar. (Disclaimer: I wouldn’t recommend tuning a guitar in a higher tuning while using bass strings. The tension could severely warp the neck.)

3. Intonation.

In lower tunings, I noticed the string scale on most of the strings needed to be lengthened. I noticed the G string on the 4^th string needed the most extension. To do this, I turn the string saddle backwards to add a tad more length to the strings intonation range. The nice thing about tune-o-matic bridges on these guitars is the fact that you can take them apart for the most part and do such a thing.

4. Some wiring modifications.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the volume controls on most guitars are frustrating or worthless. The lower you turn your volume down, the proportionately more you loose treble from your guitars signal. The result is a softer and more muddied tone. I like having controls that function, and it really helps to have a volume control in a band that uses a lot of harmonic feedback or dynamics. To fix this problem I did a “treble bleed” modification. A cheap fix as well. The 150K resistor and .001 microfarad capacitor only cost about $1. Some great details for doing this mod can be found here.

Another wiring modification I did was simple for safety. In as many dive bars I’ve played in, I can’t always trust the place will have proper up-to-code wiring and grounding. Even a malfunctioning amp can electrocute a person. You always run the risk of electrocution. So, to make sure the electrocution, won’t kill me, I made a fuse to absorb the shock. Instructions to make such a fuse can be found here.

Ok, enough geeking out.

You can listen to this guitar on this album I was lucky enough to make with some great guys.  Most of the rhythm tracks were done with this guitar.