Why are people obsessed with solo boosts?

timmysoft

not a criticism, I'm genuinely interested.

i play in a two guitar band, I never seem to need a boost as we are EQ'd quite differently. I've never found the need for extra volume during lead passages but maybe that's down to the music I play (modern heavy rock)

paulnb57

I think you may have answered your own question!......

Gassage

Guitarists are....the rest of the band could be regarded as 'somewhat ambivelant'.....

Cabicular

I can't do with a fixed boost. It I put +7db on an expression pedal
its difficult to be prescriptive because it very much depends on the type of music you play and the dynamics of the song
i play heavy rock in a 4 piece and I'll rock the volume up for solos or wee key phrases

Col_Decker

You need to lift the guitar volume for a solo imo as it needs to stand out and cut thru against the rest of the band. It needs to be as loud as the lead singer. 

You don't want to crowd just hear it, you want it punch them in face. 

digitalscream

It's pretty simple, to me at least - single notes are quieter than full chords, which are quieter than chugged chords. Ergo...more volume required.

I also like a *lot* more gain for lead tones than rhythm, so I just use the drive channel on my amp for solos and the crunch channel maxed out for rhythm stuff.

Sassafras

I don't care about the volume boost, I've got a volume pot on the guitar for that, but I do like what a good boost like an SHO or a Firebottle does to the sound. When I had my Firebottle it just added a lovely complexity and richness to the sound. The SHO gives a nice clarity and detail to an otherwise dull signal.

stratman3142

Boosts are important to me. I've got two levels of clean boost that are post my OD/distortion pedals. One boost is typically set at 6dB and the other at 3dB. So I've got all my sounds at rhythm level that can then be boosted to lead level or an intermediate level if I need a slight lift (for example for picking parts).

Added to that I sometimes ride my post OD/distortion swell pedal for fine adjustments. Sometimes I add boost with overdrive and back off the guitar volume for lighter rhythm crunch sounds.

Cabicular

Sassafras said:

I don't care about the volume boost, I've got a volume pot on the guitar for that, but I do like what a good boost like an SHO or a Firebottle does to the sound. When I had my Firebottle it just added a lovely complexity and richness to the sound. The SHO gives a nice clarity and detail to an otherwise dull signal.

The volume control just makes my tone gainer and more compressed. You need something after the preamp if you are playing with a fairly distorted tone (I know you know this it's more for the casual reader)

TimmyO

Best setup I ever had for that was a Treble Booster into an 18watter - pushed through nicely without extra mega volume

Actually vying for top spot is setting one pickup up for lead sound and on the other pickup (assuming 2 volumes, because this is the best setup ;-) ) set for rhythm 

John_P

The boost is usually hitting the input harder and adding some gain to help make the notes sing and sustain as well as volume.   I see it as replacing the vocals during the solo so unless the rest of the band drop down then you need a tiny bit extra to stand out.  

viz

Col_Decker said:

You need to lift the guitar volume for a solo imo as it needs to stand out and cut thru against the rest of the band. It needs to be as loud as the lead singer. 

You don't want to crowd just hear it, you want it punch them in face. 

Exactly. Boost in the loop ftw

p90fool

I tend to self-mix just as i would in the studio, where a guitar solo is not an embarrassed, ashamed-of-itself little background noodle, it replaces the lead vocal for a few bars.

That said, I need total volume control from the loop, which gives me enough range to have everything from a loud, cleanish solo to a quiet, distorted outro passage underneath a final vocal chorus.

I reckon I'm probably boosting or cutting around 6-8dB either side of my average guitar volume to achieve that live.

I'm a firm believer that the reason I get loads of paid gigs is that no singer has to fight me - if I can't hear the words during a gig it's not because there's a guitarist's ego in the way.

TTBZ

Luckily I'm the only guitarist in my band so I dont have to fight too much now but I still find I want a boost to lift my solos a bit. I've found I don't need to use my fx loop now though, I get enough boost with an lpb1 in front of the amp, better than a tubescreamer actually. With a 2nd guitarist I think a boost in the loop is essential if you want your solos to be heard in a loud 2 guitar rock band.

Danny1969

Virtually all of the time I have someone turning me up via an iPad to do solo's but the occasions I don't I use an attenuator in the loop and then switch it out for a boost ..... cos that's just a 10K pot in a box you can knock up for less than a tenner

When mixing bands myself that have 2 guitars I dip one and boost the other for solo's, that's more effective than simply boosting one guitar. More experienced players tend to do this to a certain extent themselves to make the space for the guy doing the solo,  but that's easier in some genes of music than others

cbilly22

TTBZ said:

Luckily I'm the only guitarist in my band so I dont have to fight too much now but I still find I want a boost to lift my solos a bit. I've found I don't need to use my fx loop now though, I get enough boost with an lpb1 in front of the amp, better than a tubescreamer actually. With a 2nd guitarist I think a boost in the loop is essential if you want your solos to be heard in a loud 2 guitar rock band.

Particularly if the other guitarist has a limited grasp of band dynamics. I use a Blackstar LT Boost after whatever drive pedal I'm favouring as not only does it give a volume hike, it also adds a hair of dirt too Not to mention having a very usable EQ. One thing I will add is that a solo boost of any kind can leave you looking a tit if your boost works a treat for your big moment, but your technique lets the side down.

Maynehead

Even in a one guitar rock band if I don't boost for solos people tell me they can't hear me. I am playing through a Dual Rectifier though so the tone is inherently scooped. I use an EQ with a mild inverted V in the loop to take the treble edge off the lead tone and make it cut through more with more mids.

vasselmeyer

If you're in a two guitar ban then a solo boost is definitely needed, especially if the non-soloing guitarist doesn't have the best sense of when to play less (or differently, anyway) when there's a solo. I've been  in a couple of two-guitar bands  and had a solo boost or EQ change in both of them. One was when we both played Fender style guitars and that needed a slight volume lift and an EQ lift  as we both played sympathetically to each other.

The other band was a pretty raucous  classic rock band and for that one I  that needed a fair volume lift, more gain and  an mid boost to cut through as the other guitarist, though a decent musician, didn't really have enough experience in that type of band to  play sympathetically when a solo came up. Also the drummer took it upon himself to hit harder, the bass player really dug in and the singer often stuck a few adlibs in  during the solo. It sounds awful but i bloody loved that band and we got invited back every place we went (even though I thought we were often too loud).

I'm in  a three pice now and whilst I  don't boost the volume, I do boost the mids slightly and add some gain, just to make it obvious to the audience that there's a solo happening. For fills during teh rest of the song, I tend not to do that though.

professorben

digitalscream said:

It's pretty simple, to me at least - single notes are quieter than full chords, which are quieter than chugged chords. Ergo...more volume required.

I also like a *lot* more gain for lead tones than rhythm, so I just use the drive channel on my amp for solos and the crunch channel maxed out for rhythm stuff.

Funnily enough I prefer a slightly cleaner tone for leads than rhythm. 

Which has always been my issue with multi channel amps, the 'solo' channel is always over gained compared to the 'rhythm' channel. 

digitalscream

professorben said:

digitalscream said:

It's pretty simple, to me at least - single notes are quieter than full chords, which are quieter than chugged chords. Ergo...more volume required.

I also like a *lot* more gain for lead tones than rhythm, so I just use the drive channel on my amp for solos and the crunch channel maxed out for rhythm stuff.

Funnily enough I prefer a slightly cleaner tone for leads than rhythm. 

Which has always been my issue with multi channel amps, the 'solo' channel is always over gained compared to the 'rhythm' channel. 

Ahhhh, so that's why your solos always sounded weird.

57Deluxe

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