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It should come as no surprise that when it comes to tone – there’s a lot more going on than simply your choice in pickups or guitar. Sure, your pups are responsible for the root signal which everything else is built upon tone wise but once you put effects pedals and amps into the equation, it’s a far bigger balancing act than most newbies are prepared for. The amp alone has so many little intricacies as far as tone is concerned that one can spend a great deal of time on them alone. For one, it’s not all about settings when it comes to their sound – the venue and placement of the amp will teak its tone as well, especially when it comes to bass, which is why today we’re going to spend some time breaking down some of the best ways in getting great tone from your bass amp in order to make sure that when you’re ready to rock, you’ll do so at your best!

Searching for the ‘Best’ Sound

At one poin...

There’s nothing quite like a properly balanced mix, but getting to that point is easier said than done. Whether it’s getting that low end just right for the bass track or selecting the right microphone for vocals, every song is a unique project with its own set of challenges. Last week, we here at PAL discussedn how to go about recording low end frequency instruments such as an electric bass or a kick drum as well as tips and tricks such as different recording methods, EQ techniques and even troubleshooting some common problems. Yesterday, we kept things rolling with a brand new feature specifically created to help you attain the best possible acoustic guitar track. We discussed the two normal techniques used in recording an acoustic guitar along with each of their strengths and weaknesses. We found out that although stereo recording offers certain advantages like giving the acoustic guitar much more depth and natural color, it can also create phasing issues along with other specific c...

FENDER Hot Rod Deluxe III Tube Guitar Combo Amp

If there is any one single piece of equipment that is as important to the overall sound and feel of live music as the electrical instrument itself, it most definitely has to be the amplifier. Although you are only as strong as your weakest link – meaning that everything from the quality of the pickups to the quality of the cable plays a part – a solid guitar amplifier builds the foundation for which the entire sound of your setup will come from.  Sure, this is nothing new as even the greenest of players will undoubtedly know the importance of a quality amplifier, but what many might not realize are all the little differences when it comes to these important pieces of equipment. Depending on your style of music or your instrument of choice, there are several different variations of the amplifier that can not only bolster your sound, but several iterations now come packed with plenty of extra features made to take your tone to the next level...

Choosing the Right Pickups

Welcome to the fourth installment of our Guitar Pickups 101 Series. In Part 1 we talked about the basics of what a pickup is and how they work. Part 2 we moved on to discussing pickup output and how it affects your sound. In Part 3 we looked at pickup location and the distinctions between single coil, double coil and humbuckers. You can read all these in series or simply read what you need to get tone educated!

Stacks vs Single Coil Humbuckers

Single Coil Sized Humbucker

There is no shortage of after market single coil replacement pickups, but there are a few things you should know when shopping for single coil replacements. Many of these are true-single coil pickups, but there are also pickups that are designed to be noise-cancelling, similar to a humbucker. These pickups have been designed to have the functionality of a humbucker, but to fit into the cavity of a guitar that only fits single coils.

There are two-types of single coil sized noise-cancelling pic...