Tone Knob issue

[Benjamin Hwang]

Hello everybody,

I dont know if its an issue with my guitar setup itself or does it apply to everyone. I AM relatively new to guitar, have been self learning for about 3 months or so (no tutors or friends to help whatsoever), and currently using a Les Paul type (Rally GL-300) guitar together with the nux mighty 15 amp. Using gauge 0.09 strings (suspect this might be the problem)

The problem comes whenever i adjust my tone knob to somewhere lower than 6, and the higher frets (12 and above) the high E string, starts sounding kind of muted and soft, and distortion doesnt really come out. And it happens that most of the songs i like to practice on happens to need a lower tone setting, and i am playing on the higher frets. The higher i climb the frets, the more obvious it gets. The other strings are only slightly affected by this tone knob issue.

Even then, i adjust the tone knob to somewhere like 9 or 10, i can still hear the difference in volume between the lower and upper frets, but just not as serious as it was when the tone knob was at a lower point. It applies to both the bridge and neck tone knobs and using both as well.

Has anyone had this issue before or knows how to solve this problem?

Many thanks!

 

[carboxymoron]

If you lower your the tone knob, you are literally reducing the treble / higher frequencies so naturally the sound will get "muted" or "muffled".

Don't understand what you mean by "most of the songs i like to practice on happens to need a lower tone setting". Try switching between the bridge (lead) and neck (rhythm) pickups to get different sounds instead.

 

[Benjamin Hwang]

Thanks for replying,

What i meant is I like the sound coming from the low setting on the tone knob, it sounds better for most of the songs i play.

Ive seen people turning their knobs all the way down but still getting proper distortion and definition on their high fret E string notes. Could it be the work of pedals? I dont have any currently.

Thanks

 

[blindacolyte]

When you see people turn down their knobs and still can have the tone, are you sure is withe the same guitar and amp?
Maybe you can fiddle with the volume instead. Go for bridge for heavier tones, and neck for lead clean with adjustment to volume
Eg. I use bridge for rhythm. Change to neck for lead. I roll down vol to 1 or3 for clean.
Maybe your just not playing loud enuf

 

[Benjamin Hwang]

If i turn the volume up loud, the entire guitar will get too loud with the higher fret on high E string also softer than the rest. I found that holding my pick slightly diagonal helps abit with the issue, but the issue is still there.

Gonna try gauge 10 strings to see if it helps. Been using 9 since the start.

 

[Nicholasim]

I highly doubt it's the string gauge.

A lower end guitar will have lower end components. Which means that the pot used for the tone knob is probably a cheap one as well. That COULD be the problem. The rolling off might not be as good. Also what carboxy mentioned, when u lower down the tone knob, your tone is going to get a little muffled.

Why not, instead of adjusting your tone knob to get the sound you want, try tweaking the amp settings an leave your tone and volume pots at 10? It might solve your problem.

 

[Benjamin Hwang]

Thank you,

The my new gauge 10 strings coupled with my improvements in my technique has helped to deal with the issue just a little bit more, still having the same problem though. Switching the selector to the middle to use two of my humbuckers (Mine is a les paul type) and experimenting with the different vol and tone also helped abit. Well, i guess i will just have to keep improving!

I am using a Rally GL-300
http://www.svguitars.com/rally-gl-300-9-colours-electric-guitar/