If you want to really get inside the soul of a guitarist, start talking to them about how they like their drive tones. Some players want crystalline projection and clarity, others a swampy mudslide of saturated fuzz. Every player’s sweet spot is different when it comes to gain and, to make things more interesting, that perfect lead tone is the sum of several tonal influences – with pedals, amp and the player themselves at the heart of the equation. Marshalling all those elements to produce the tone you want, everytime, no matter the venue or musical task to hand, is a tough job. And, as in all things, knowledge is power. In the following pages, we call on the combined knowledge of three of the wisest heads in the drive tone business (see Meet The Experts box). They give their seasoned tips on how to make your gain tones more nuanced and expressive than ever – and dodge some common pitfalls that can spoil the gig.

Q I can dial in my drive pedals and amp to sound perfect together at home. But at rehearsals or gigs it all sounds wrong again. What’s going on?

A “You need to EQ your amp and your rig to that particular environment,” Adrian Thorpe of Thorpy FX explains. “Typically, if you’re running louder – usually the case at rehearsals or gigs – you’ll need to lower your treble and upper mids as well, just to make sure your tone is not a scythe that cuts through the audience. Treble and mids can get harsh at higher volumes, which is to do with Fletcher-Munson curves and how your ear perceives certain frequencies at certain decibel levels. At higher volumes, your speaker is in its optimum zone as well: it is just pumping out the decibels and working at its most efficient, so it’s able to beam sound outwards very effectively.