Solos... clean boost or gain boost

austint01

I've seen a lot of posts about people putting something like an mxr microamp in the loop when they want a volume boost for solos.

Am I the only one who wants a bit of extra gain too? More is more right?

dogload

Depends on what you want from the sound I suppose.

I like the option so have various ODs and distortions for different flavours. It's good to be flexible!

austint01

So what kind of solo might you just want a louder version of what you already had?

John_P

It probably depends on the sounds you have before boosting - I would usually want a gain boost as well as well as a level boost.  Of course if the level boost is before the preamp you'll get both.   

I'd want a louder version of the sound I already had if I was playing clean and wanted a bit of level boost for a clean solo  or if I was playing something really heavy and extra gain would make it muddy. 

austint01

John_P;539969" said:

It probably depends on the sounds you have before boosting - I would usually want a gain boost as well as well as a level boost.  Of course if the level boost is before the preamp you'll get both.   

I'd want a louder version of the sound I already had if I was playing clean and wanted a bit of level boost for a clean solo  or if I was playing something really heavy and extra gain would make it muddy. 

Makes sense. I guess I never play fully clean or really heavy. I'd be a bit scared doing a clean solo!

Roland

austint01 said:

So what kind of solo might you just want a louder version of what you already had?

Obviously a clean one, or one where the crunchy rhythm tone just needs lifting in the mix.  How about the riff in Brown Eyed Girl, where you want it louder, but not distorted?

More seriously, there are also situations where you have already got more gain and volume by turning up the guitar volume, but then want a bit more volume on top of that.  This can happen where the band has got a bit louder than normal, and turning up the gain for a solo is not going to cut through.  

I have one pedal dedicated to a 6dB mid boost around 700Hz. It's useful for lines like the Brown Eyed Girl example, and when I need a little more volume without moving my hand to the volume control, or when the guitar is flat out but I still need a little more volume.

hubobulous

Mid boost is really the key for solos. Volume perhaps, but the mids are what will help it stand out. I also like a little more gain too

ICBM

I can never make a truly clean boost work for me. It's always not enough or too much, no matter how carefully I set it. I'm not sure why, since I play clean most of the time and I'm very used to controlling dynamics with my hands and/or the guitar volume - or maybe that's it, in that turning on the pedal gives a different range of the same control instantly, which messes up what I'm doing.

The only exception was when I had my Mesa DC-5, where I used the graphic EQ for a solo boost - but it was set for the opposite of what most people do! Bass and treble boost, which made the sound "bigger" rather than much louder or more cutting. And I very rarely used it on a clean sound, almost always to lift the dirty channel which was otherwise a bit too compressed for a solo.

So otherwise, gain boost (even if only slight) from a pedal or the amp.

EricTheWeary

I'm fairly convinced that simply louder rarely works. If, for example, you don't use pedals and work off the volume knob then are probably adding more treble and pushing the amp harder as you turn up. A Tubescreamer will give you level boost but also that nasal midrange to cut through a mix, gain optional.
If you plug into a lower end modelling amp and try to work levels from the guitar volume you tend to get less amp response and more just louder- quieter versions of the same sound and that's easy to spot the same two sounds don't always work for the different tasks.
Even for clean playing it's rarely two volume levels of exactly the same tone. Turning the guitar volume down a bit softens the guitar tone so you have more bite when you turn up; you may even find that a clean solo tone isn't actually 100% clean if you whack a chord through it.

mike_l

Dependant on how much gain you have before the solo there's a few options.

1. O/D pedal for a gain/volume boost, works well for a low-medium gain situation. Less so for high-gain. Too much gain can cause compression, limiting the volume gain, and "squashing" the sound.

2. Clean boost for a volume boost. Works well post gain* as purely a volume boost.

As has been said having something with a mids boost cuts best.

*deliberate, as the gain can be from a pedal or from the amp.

hotpickups

Interesting subject. Yesterday I did a gig and this subject came up. The band leader wanted me to come up in volume for solos but he, not really knowing how an amp/my amp works I had to do a work around. I don't like to use distortion but I do use a clean boost. On my small board it's an EHX Soul Food which is great for that extra push when I really need it. However, I find what works for me for this 13 piece band is my amp is set gritty and overdriving but I back off the volume using my guitars volume i.e. A Strat. For solos I then open it up from the guitar and it just sounds sublime. I only kick in the soul food if I need more but not that often really.

austint01

hotpickups said:

Interesting subject. Yesterday I did a gig and this subject came up. The band leader wanted me to come up in volume for solos but he, not really knowing how an amp/my amp works I had to do a work around. I don't like to use distortion but I do use a clean boost. On my small board it's an EHX Soul Food which is great for that extra push when I really need it. However, I find what works for me for this 13 piece band is my amp is set gritty and overdriving but I back off the volume using my guitars volume i.e. A Strat. For solos I then open it up from the guitar and it just sounds sublime. I only kick in the soul food if I need more but not that often really.

13 piece! Forget boosts, tell me about the band! Sounds epic.

hotpickups

LOL 5 singers, 2 guitarist, 1 bassist, Drums, Keyboard, Trombone, Trumpet, Saxophone

If it was my band I would say they could definitely lose 1 one of the guitars