FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Guitar Effects Setting

Question:
I have a Digitech RP200 effects box, a Fender Ultimate Chorus amp, a 72 and a 69 tele thinline, a Dde armond M75T and a DeArmond Starfire. I'm curious about where to set the tone settings. There is a three level EQ on all the effects. Do people set the amp to flat and then adjust the eq with the effects box? Or set the effects box flat and adjust the amp? And then there's the tone control(s) on the guitars too. Seems like there are just thousands of combinations which will probably sound lousy. What are y'all doing for tone control?

Answer:
If your effects box is changing your tone that much, I would ditch it. I start with just my guitar (volume and tone up all the way) and amp and adjust the tone from there. Once I get a sound I like, *then* I start adding effects one by one. If an effect sucks the tone out of my sound, I ditch it. If it doesn't, just A/B it while adjusting the tone on the effects box until you get something like your original tone (original from just the amp and guitar). That's how I set all my volume levels, etc, as well ... A/B so you can keep it as original as possible. You can also get a graphic EQ with more than a few bandwidths to help, if your tone isn't that great to begin with.