Need help with tone. So much low end.

[CyFan4036]

How low did you adjust the pickups? I still think that's the biggest part of your problem. The volume drop off is normal but can easily be compensated for. Also, get yourself a good overdrive pedal. That way you can play at very low volumes and ditch the need for headphones.
This will also allow you to choose the best amp for you without a need to only choose from amps with a headphone jack.

 

[jvin248]

.

go on youtube and search for 'joe walsh gibsonuk setup' and focus on the #5 and #6 where he goes through adjusting pickup heights.

If that doesn't do it (it should) then swap the tone cap for 0.033uF, test, and if still not there put the 0.047uF capacitor you just pulled in series with the too-muddy pickup hot lead (unsolder the pickup hot from the toggle switch, solder one leg of the cap to the switch the other leg to the pickup hot lead). This will de-muddify any pickup. If not then connect your bridge pickup direct to the output jack bypassing all the rest of the circuit. If still too muddy then go after the amp.

Post a sound clip on here for folks to listen to and advise.

.

 

[CyFan4036]

.

go on youtube and search for 'joe walsh gibsonuk setup' and focus on the #5 and #6 where he goes through adjusting pickup heights.

If that doesn't do it (it should) then swap the tone cap for 0.033uF, test, and if still not there put the 0.047uF capacitor you just pulled in series with the too-muddy pickup hot lead (unsolder the pickup hot from the toggle switch, solder one leg of the cap to the switch the other leg to the pickup hot lead). This will de-muddify any pickup. If not then connect your bridge pickup direct to the output jack bypassing all the rest of the circuit. If still too muddy then go after the amp.

Post a sound clip on here for folks to listen to and advise.

.

That's good advice but OP didn't even know how to adjust pickup height yet. I think wiring and soldering might be a bit steep for him. Maybe a tech though...

 

[CandidPicker]

...In the case of putting a speaker cab on a wooden shelf, the shelf and the blocks holding it will vibrate sympathetically and increase frequencies at their resonant points.

A complicating factor is sympathetic vibration. Floor vibration causes structural vibration that transmits noise elsewhere in a building. This can be solved by decoupling a speaker cab from the floor, and is why the Auralex GRAMMA platforms work, but they prevent structural vibrations like light fixtures rattling, or reducing those boom-boom bass noises transmitted to the downstairs neighbors, and don’t address the question of boundary surface reflections very much since the cab is still close to the floor.

...Try the Gramma, it’s certainly better than nothing.

Note that it’s probably a lot deeper than your shelf, and would have to stick out on both sides in a weird way, and might be tippy, so use it on the floor.

Les, the GRAMMA arrived this morning (gotta love USPS's Sunday delivery) and was installed easily. The size is actually 23"W x 15"D x 7/4"H. Here's a pic of the GRAMMA as it is seen with my amp...

 

[László]

Les, the GRAMMA arrived this morning (gotta love USPS's Sunday delivery) and was installed easily. The size is actually 23"W x 15"D x 7/4"H. Here's a pic of the GRAMMA as it is seen with my amp...

Looks great! Are you getting better sound?

Also...mics. So I need clips!

 

[bodia]

Les, the GRAMMA arrived this morning (gotta love USPS's Sunday delivery) and was installed easily. The size is actually 23"W x 15"D x 7/4"H. Here's a pic of the GRAMMA as it is seen with my amp...

Glad that worked out. Looks like a perfect fit. I've got them under both of my cabs.

 

[Gigi]

Les, the GRAMMA arrived this morning (gotta love USPS's Sunday delivery) and was installed easily. The size is actually 23"W x 15"D x 7/4"H. Here's a pic of the GRAMMA as it is seen with my amp...

nice to see you got an italian amp!

 

[CandidPicker]

Looks great! Are you getting better sound?

Also...mics. So I need clips!

Have not had chance to play through the amp today. Might fire 'er up and put her through her paces for a brief time this evening. Clips will need to wait. My GarageBand skills are a bit rusty (my chops as well ) and need some oiling...

Glad that worked out. Looks like a perfect fit. I've got them under both of my cabs.

Thanks! The CabGrabbers have not been tested yet with the mics, just sitting there just in case the cow strikes....LOL...

nice to see you got an italian amp!

Surprisingly affordable! A vastly underrated amp, too, with an awesome single channel vintage blackface tone. Cleaner than my old Blues Deluxe with smaller profile and just oozes tone. I think $1499 for the 35W combo, which to my ears sounds better than the 15W 6V6 combo or 50W 6L6 head/cab. Google GuitarX for the only U.S. dealer I could find. Gary did a bang-up job processing my order and shipping the next day.

 

[Riley Bushman]

Hey all just a small update. I have completely ruined the setup on the guitar and cant really play it at all, fret buzz, fret out, really bad sound and yes a whole lot of base. I might have bit off more than i can chew.

Still plan to take it in and get setup and have the tech and prs rep play it and see what they think.

Not sure throwing good money after bad is a good idea. I dont want to buy a new amp because of this guitar. I do want a kemper but if i have learned anything from all this is that i dont know what im doing. I cant play well, i dont know anything about tone and i cant work on a guitar. So ill proly sell the guitar and move on.

 

[grausch]

Hey all just a small update. I have completely ruined the setup on the guitar and cant really play it at all, fret buzz, fret out, really bad sound and yes a whole lot of base. I might have bit off more than i can chew.

Still plan to take it in and get setup and have the tech and prs rep play it and see what they think.

Not sure throwing good money after bad is a good idea. I dont want to buy a new amp because of this guitar. I do want a kemper but if i have learned anything from all this is that i dont know what im doing. I cant play well, i dont know anything about tone and i cant work on a guitar. So ill proly sell the guitar and move on.

Having any guitar set up so that it meets your personal requirements should never be a bad idea. Let the tech know exactly what is wrong and also how you like your setups.

When picking up the guitar, take your amp along with you so that you can test the guitar there. That will allow you to rule out the amp, or room acoustics if the guitar sounds good in-store, but bad at home. If it sounds bad instore, try a different amp or an EQ pedal in front of your amp.

 

[dogrocketp]

Don’t let frustration set you off. You don’t need the PRS rep to play the guitar. You do need a good set up by a luthier who knows PRS, which is usually not a chain store knuckle head who’s been fixing F and G for 6 months. When you get the guitar set up, don’t monkey with it, and above all don’t change the string gauge. Learn, it’s the guitar player’s mantra. I don’t know anyone who picked a guitar up and sounded like a god. If you have a decent amp, work with that before buying a new one. Above all, practice. That’ll get you where you want to go.

 

[Riley Bushman]

Hey all. Been a bit but wanted to give an update. I had the guitar set up by a great tech. I got a PRS Sonzsra 20 and a kemper stage. And I have played the guitar a lot.

Ive decided I just dont like the guitar. It sounds great cranked up with gain playing rock and metal. But thats not what I play or want to play. So youll prob see it up on reverb soon. Maybe i can parlay it into a new McCarty 594, thats more my style.

thank to all of you who shared your insights .

 

[CandidPicker]

I have had the guitar and amp for over a year.
The strings are elixor 10s nanoweave.
I have never thought about pickup height. Ill definitely try that. Are there videos on YouTube for how to do it? Should i go up or down first?
I have used several cables between guitar and amp and a few diff pedals. No help there.

Happy to hear you found a decent amp more your style.

I just tried the PRS website's suggested pickup height adjustments on my S2 SC that my guitar tech had previously set-up and intonated himself. Well worth the effort, just need a machinist's small scale ruler that can measures 64ths.

Sound better to my ear than previously, but still needs a outboard noise gate or guitar cavity spray shielding...

 

[THAWK819]

I’ve got a 594 and it is hands down the best guitar I have ever owned and played (subjective, of course). It is super stable and extremely versatile; I can’t recommend it enough.

I can play high gain stuff through my Friedman and there’s no “note soup,” and I can play crystal, clear, clean stuff (to the point I’ve been asked if I’m using an acoustic sim pedal on vids I’ve posted), and everything in between. And it’s not like it’s just passable on each of these; it excels with each of those sounds.

It’s got a touch of the ‘59 Les Paul growl in full humbucker mode, and when the coils are split (push/pull tone knobs), I can get a really chimey, Strat sound.

I’m completely head over heels for that guitar (as if you couldn’t tell).

Happy Hunting

 

[THAWK819]

Sorry about the double post; but it might be worth sticking to solid body too, especially if you already have the ES-335 (you did say you had one of those right?), for the hollow body sound. I suspect the McCarty 594 pickups (58/15 LT) will be more your style too.

Also, a good wah pedal can really help tighten up a flabby low end. I’ve been using the Jerry Cantrell signature Cry Baby and it adds a TON of tone options. It completely changes the sound of the neck pickups on my Les Paul and McCarty 594 depending on how I have it set. To be fair; those guitars have great low end sounds to begin with, but still, lots of tone chasing possibilities there.

 

[dmatthews]

Just for giggles... if you need to, try doing a factory reset on the Katana

https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001657826-KATANA-FACTORY-RESET-50-100-HEAD-ARTIST-