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Lesson 1 of 8

Blues board

The goal: a warm amp just starting to break up, that cleans up when you play softly and growls when you dig in.

Tweak it

  • Use your volume knob. With the drive on, roll the guitar volume back to about 7 for rhythm and back up to 10 for solos. This is the heart of the blues setup, so set the drive so that it works this way.
  • Too fizzy? Lower the drive Gain and raise its Level. Let the amp do more of the work.
  • Dark amp or humbuckers? Turn the drive Tone up toward 1 o'clock. Bright amp or single coils: back toward 11.
  • Solo boost too loud? Match it to the band, not to your bedroom. Check it at gig volume.
  • Delay is noticeable? Lower the Mix until you only miss it when it's off.
  • Small clean amp with no breakup? Let the overdrive do the dirt: Gain around noon, and stack the second drive for solos.

Signal chain

Guitar to amp, left to right. Settings are starting points to get you close: trust your ears.

  1. 1. Tuner

    Tuner

    First in line, so it reads your guitar and can mute you between songs.

  2. 2. CompressorOptional

    Compressor

    Sustain
    10:00

    Evens out your picking and adds a little sustain. Keep it subtle; blues lives on dynamics. Sustain is Comp on some pedals; set Level so on and off match.

  3. 3. Overdrive

    Low-gain overdrive, Tube Screamer or Blues Driver-style

    Gain
    10:00
    Tone
    12:00
    Level
    1:00

    Pushes the amp a little further. Tube Screamer types also add a mid bump that helps you cut through.

  4. 4. BoostOptional

    Solo boost or second drive

    Level
    2:00

    A clean boost or another mild overdrive for solos: more volume and a bit more hair at one stomp. Gain low if it has one.

  5. 5. Delay

    Short delay or slapback

    Feedback
    9:00
    Mix
    10:00

    Time about 100 ms. One quick repeat thickens single notes without sounding like an effect.

  6. 6. Reverb

    Spring-style reverb

    Mix
    10:00
    Decay
    12:00

    A touch of room. If your amp has a good spring reverb, use that and skip the pedal.

  7. 7. Amp

    Amp at the edge of breakup

    Clean when you play lightly, crunchy when you hit hard. Set Volume where it just starts to crunch on hard strums.

Checkpoint

Move on when you can do all of these.

  • Set up the chain in order and A/B the overdrive against bypass
  • With the drive on, get a clean-ish rhythm at guitar volume 7 and a crunchy lead at 10
  • Set a slapback delay you only notice when you switch it off
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