Need help on my tone

[ryancrl]

GEAR

Okay first things first, I'll list down the gear that i use.

Gibson Les Paul Classic (500T - Bridge, 496R - Neck)
Peavey Envoy 110 Amplifier
Hardwire Metal Distortion TL-2

PROBLEM

When i drive my clean channel with my Hardwire, I find my tone much too...

- Nasal
- Sounds like the neck pup when i'm using my bridge pup
- Sounds like a wah in a heel down position

This is true even when i set my amp's EQ and Hardwire's EQ to a flat setting.

POSSIBLE REASONS

MY OWN EARS
I consulted my friend on this and he suspected it has something to do with my own ears not being used to the added midrange with the Hardwire. Because before i got the Hardwire, i used my amp's drive with a scooped mid setting.

AMP
Perhaps the clean channel of my amp is nasal by nature. However, i used my gear with my friend's Vox AD30VT amp and it still sounded nasal.

PEDAL
I doubt its the pedal. The tonefactor demo for this pedal is not as nasal as what i'm experiencing. In addition, i've tried a Keeley MT-2 and MXR Dime Distortion with the same Peavey and guitar, and it still sounded nasal on both occasions.

GUITAR
I'm not sure about this one. Perhaps its the ceramics? When i tried my gear with my friend's Vox, i did try it with his Gibson too and it was still nasal.

--------

My guess is that its got to do with my amp.

Hope you guys can help me! Sorry if my description is a bit confusing and hard to grasp.

Thanks.

 

[diaperman]

AH.. TONE CHASING.. SUCKS

But when you finally get that guitar to sound how you want it to in your heart/head, man it sure is worth the whole while.

Many issues lah. i think hardware probs maybe? your pots you pups and all, but seeing its a Gibson i wont worry too much. Peavey might need servicing? i heard their amps are quite shifty... Might be your pedal prob. Anyways, trust your ears, they're prob right

Just my humble opinion, all the best and good luck!

 

[ShredCow]

This is true even when i set my amp's EQ and Hardwire's EQ to a flat setting.

What's a "flat setting"?

What do you set your amp and Hardwire to?

 

[ryancrl]

Shredcow:

Flat setting as in - All EQ knobs at 12 o'clock

 

[tyzjames]

Possibility that one of the connections is loose..

 

[ShredCow]

Shredcow:

Flat setting as in - All EQ knobs at 12 o'clock

Alright. So that's a 'flat setting'?

By 'flat', you'd mean there's no emphasis on the EQ - your guitar goes in and comes out, EQ is still the same. No bass boosts, mid cut, mid hump, treble cut, etc etc

Now, does it mean that when you set e.g. a pedal to all 12 o'clock, it is therefore going to be flat sounding? No.
Even if an amp/pedal is set to 12 o'clock, it doesn't necessarily mean it is therefore 'flat sounding'. Most pedals/amps do not work like that.


So have you tried to leave your amp at a nice clean sound, then tweaking the pedal to the tone you prefer? What happened then?

 

[lightice]

How do you characterise nasal?

Nasal usually means honky, or having treble peaks with a distinct bass lacking.

Whereas your sounds like neck pickup when using bridge , and the wah with heel down situation seems to be more bassy with trebles cut.

Maybe a better statement would be, EQ wise, how is your setup sounding now?

What would you add to it EQ wise?

 

[wadthefish]

like what shredcow has said, clean tones to your own liking is most important then comes the tweaking of eq on the pedal.

 

[ShredCow]

like what shredcow has said, clean tones to your own liking is most important then comes the tweaking of eq on the pedal.

Hmmm... I have to disagree a little.

Some pedals just don't have the capability to work with the clean tone I want to have. Some times, the amp just has to be set to compliment the pedal.

I find this to be the problem with several pedals and a great example is the almighty boss DS-1.


Anyway, I suspect the TS's issue has nothing much to do with amp or pedal. Its the guitar.

 

[Lifehouse]

The fact that you're encountering the same problem with 2 other pedals suggest that its the amplifier or the pickups that are causing the nasal tone.

I am running a Gibson LP Standard to the TL2 to a Mesa Lonestar and I don't encounter any nasal tone. Do note that the TL2 has a very powerful EQ, so do explore a bit especially the mid/frequency knob. Play around with the gain as well. The TL2 has gobs of gain, I'd suggest you start somewhere at 8 'o' clock and slowly tweak according to how much you need.

And no. 12 'o' clock isn't flat.

 

[ryancrl]

Okay thanks to everyone for your generous replies.

Firstly, I'll try to achieve the best clean tone and then start tweaking.

And Lifehouse, i do agree that it might just be the pickups. However, i tried the same setup with my friend's Gibson Les Paul studio and we agreed that it was still nasal.

 

[dudelove]

PROBLEM

When i drive my clean channel with my Hardwire, I find my tone much too...

- Nasal
- Sounds like the neck pup when i'm using my bridge pup
- Sounds like a wah in a heel down position

let me describe that for u bro..

it sounds like a half cocked wah. not heel down

especially playing with the higher frets. but honestly, it sounded perfectly normal when playing riffs. just that single notes sound like its going through a cocked wah.

ryancrl tested his stuff at my place also. so i know

 

[jskadiang]

^ Like it's going through a filter? That's a strange problem, I don't think anything in your signal chain is intended to sound like that. My best guess would be the amp though. I've played the stock pickups on a LP Classic and it sounds nothing like that from my personal experience.

 

[dudelove]

^ Like it's going through a filter? That's a strange problem, I don't think anything in your signal chain is intended to sound like that. My best guess would be the amp though. I've played the stock pickups on a LP Classic and it sounds nothing like that from my personal experience.

amp to pedal to guitar man..

although saying cocked wah is exaggerated. but it does sound like one

 

[ryancrl]

Okay.

I'm still unable to get rid of the nasal-ness after tweaking.

I believe its the character of the amp thats already nasal.

Any more suggestions? Just anything!

 

[lightice]

try if possible to reduce the upper mids, having peakish upper mids makes it sound nasally.

Another is to try and bring your pedal to another person's house with a gibson with different pickups. I guess its a trial and error thing.

AFAIK try to eliminate as many possibilities as you can.

As for now, its the pickups, amp or pedal.

3 possibilities, i'd suspect the amp though, cause the speaker or the amp may be the culprit.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

Is ur clean channel on modern or vintage emulation? try switching to modern if it's on vintage.

I'm using the same amp and with the right settings, i can make it very chuggish bassy with my tubezone so amp shouldn't be the culprit..

neck pickups are supposed to sound fatter than bridge pickups, so when u say switching to bridge pup sounded like ur neck position but nasal, it's a bit confusing.. how does ur neck pickups sound through the same setting?

 

[Plastic]