Hi,

so here i am sitting in Sweden with a Ibanez grg270b i picked up at a really really good price, but im thinking to myself how can i improve to sound without swapping out the pickups?

im playing through a roland micro cube and dont have the chance to purchase any new pickups for the guitar.

So my question: Is there a way of improving the quality of the sound from the guitar without swaping out the pickups or changing amp?

feedback much appreciated,

Cheers,

Larsson

I doubt it. If you run the effects on the cube start by turning them off. I'm not a huge fan of the Cube. The amp you use is very important to your sound. The Micro Cube is a tiny practice amp. When you couple that to a 5" speaker and DSP effects and a guitar with hot pickups, the end result isn't that great. The amp itself sounds very boxy to me. Turn off the effects, and turn the volume control down on the guitar until it's clean sounding, then bring it up from there.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Hate to tell ya this, but it is from personal experience with the micro cube.
This amp is nice as far as being light, loud and working with a batteries for a long time.

As 63supro mentioned before out of 5in speaker and DSP you are not going to get a good sound even if you have a custom shop guitar.

The amp is good for what it is but don't expect much from the tone "department".

I have found the best sound out of my strat to be on JC120 clean emulation and the next one to it (it emulates fender, can't remember the name now) with the gain half way to 5 or 6.

I owned this amp for a 6 moths and replaced it with the Fender SCXD, which also has DSP but with 10 in speaker makes much difference.


Hope that helps.

You could take your guitar to a shop and try out various amps, that would tell you what you want to know...

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Try adjusting pickup height (if possible) and a better amp.

the cube isnt bad for what it is honestly.
if your not a tone freak like some of the guys above
(nothing bad by that guys) then it will do you fine.
one thing folks often over look when asking about changing their tone, or sound, that makes a huge impact is string guage.
if your using 9's try 10 or 11's. if your using 11's or whatever try 9's.
remember when changing like that you will need to get your guitar setup for the new replacements. the cubes are ok if used as they were designed for. the best of them all was the cube60 which is no longer made.
hope this helps.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Well, I am thinking he is gravitating towards a "tone freak"... otherwise, he wouldn't be asking the question in the first place...

Changing to a better amp will make a world of difference... a lot more so than changing the guitar...

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In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

i went from 9's to 11's on my tele last month. a world of difference in tone.
that tele will never see 9's again. tuned down .5 step too.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

first of all what type of music do you play?

what tuning are you in?

is it a floyd or tremolo? if so do you use it?

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I like my tone like my women. Full round bottom, sweet and clean but can get as dirty as I desire.

It's impossible to give you advice when you do not define what you consider "good" tone or the sound you want to achieve.

Until then, I'm going to go out on a limb and agree with the others that basically said that your amp is the weak link in the chain. There is only so much that little amp can do. it's fine for practicing or jamming around the living room, but if you're looking for serious volume and tone look elsewhere. Your guitar is fine. Cheap amps can make the most well crafted and expensive guitars sound like poo. Don't skimp on the amp.

edit to add: the Microcube isn't a bad amp for what it is. I'm just illustrating the point that maybe the OP is trying to make the amp something it is not.

Since you say you cannot get a new amp, maybe in the meantime fiddle with the EQ controls on the amp to see if you can make it sound more to your liking. Is your guitar well set up and adjusted? New strings to replace dull old ones?

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

if you have a trem and do not use it try a "tremol-no" or block it. that will give you a bit more sustain

also try out bigger strings. if you are in standard try 11s if you tune down try 12s

and if you dont tune down try that just try like a half step down at first and then keep going with it.

if i had my choice i would be in d standard at all times but my band plays in standard tuning so thats what im stuck in

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I like my tone like my women. Full round bottom, sweet and clean but can get as dirty as I desire.

So Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, BB King, Jimmy Page, and a thousand other guitar greats must have bad tone because their strings are thinner than 11's????

I wish tone nirvana was as simple as upping a string gauge or two. If that's the case than why aren't we all playing piano wire? More is better, right?

I doubt string gauge would have any effect through the Microcube besides giving the OP hand cramps.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

The amp is the biggest thing.

But sure there are tweaks you can do to get the most out of anything. Try:

* Adjusting pickup height up and down
* Shortening the length and increasing the quality of your cables/leads
* Upgrading the amps speaker
* Checking that the stock speaker and other chassis mountings were not over/under tightened
* Adjusting string guage and brand
* Adjusting action and neck relief
* Cleaning pots and electrical connections
* Taking good care of your equipment.
* Using fresh strings, keeping them clean, and being sure your guitar is FINE TUNED...a little off here and there can make chords and leads sound bad even on the best rig

As far as setting the tone on your amp, I believe start with everything set dead in the middle with volume at the desired level on each channel/voice. Every amp should have a usable tone just with this alone, but adjust to taste. You have to be careful and experimental. Sometimes adjusting the bass can effect the way the treble knob works and vice versa. Every amp has its sweet spot, regardless of how sweet that spot is. This method will help you find it easier.

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

Also you could practice more. 80% of the tone comes from the hands.

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life is too short for bad tone.

Actually, yes. SRV had better tone than Clapton, Gibbons, King, and Page combined, and a large part of it was the 13s.

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life is too short for bad tone.