Cleans up well - what does it mean

MartinBush

I suppose I should know what this means, and I could guess, but I might be wrong.

What does it mean when someone says that something "cleans up well"? An effect in the classifieds is described that way - and I know it doesn't mean it's easy to wipe with a wet cloth!

Bezzer

Unless I've been wrong all these years it means you can set the amp up with a good dirty / crunchy tone but as you wind back the volume on your guitar it gives a nice clean tone.

I'm not sure what cleaning up badly would be ... maybe thin and fizzy?

ICBM

Bezzer said:

Unless I've been wrong all these years it means you can set the amp up with a good dirty / crunchy tone but as you wind back the volume on your guitar it gives a nice clean tone.

I'm not sure what cleaning up badly would be ... maybe thin and fizzy?

Or muddy and dull, or less distorted but still rough-sounding rather than properly clean.

thecolourbox

What I find it to mean, is that people make a perfectly good noise with a drive pedal, then they reduce the volume on their guitar until you no longer get that effect, and make it quieter than it would be by just turning the pedal off as a consequence

MartinBush

Thanks - I did sort of think that. But I am one of those people who has their guitar up full all the time... I'm not subtle in that respect!

fields5069

I thought it had something to do with "male issue" and vinyl.

skunkwerx

Its for people who use those knobs on their guitars.. 

I’ve never really found a use for them myself! 

I roll off the volume all the way to mute stuff if the tuner is out of reach, or have it wide open.. 

monquixote

It's not something you notice as much at home levels, but stuff like a plexi you can basically just set up a dirty sound and by using the guitars volume, or a volume pedal, or picking dynamics get all the levels of drive and volume you want.

Low end modellers on the other hand tend to be really compressed and either sound the same, or bad as you turn down. When I've gigged modellers you can end up having 4 patches just to have different volume and drive levels which wouldn't be needed with a nice valve amp.

ICBM

skunkwerx said:

Its for people who use those knobs on their guitars..

Not just. I tend to do it more with hand dynamics.

monquixote

ICBM said:

skunkwerx said:

Its for people who use those knobs on their guitars..

Not just. I tend to do it more with hand dynamics.

Yep same here.

If you are using something like an HSS strat with a hot bridge you can also have the neck pickup clean and the bridge quite dirty if you have something dynamic.

Wazmeister

monquixote said:

It's not something you notice as much at home levels, but stuff like a plexi you can basically just set up a dirty sound and by using the guitars volume, or a volume pedal, or picking dynamics get all the levels of drive and volume you want.

Low end modellers on the other hand tend to be really compressed and either sound the same, or bad as you turn down. When I've gigged modellers you can end up having 4 patches just to have different volume and drive levels which wouldn't be needed with a nice valve amp.

My thoughts entirely...

A powerful pedal that cleans up well (think Paul Trombetta Design, AM white nkt 275), does add a certain ‘feel’ to your playing dynaimcs

merlin

Means after a shower, shampoo, manicure etc and a nice set of clothing put on, a person looks really nice. Possibly worth negotiating some naked time with. 

Kidding aside, it means that by using the guitars volume pots, many levels of noise can be produced. 

prowla

It's prettier than it looked when it came in off the street.

EricTheWeary

it's a thing that I've become more aware of recently that a Tim Pierce or an Andy Timmons  ( or whoever) will use an overdrive pedal and then turn down from the guitar ( via knobs and/or technique) to get their clean tone. I don't think it's entirely about controlling the sound from the guitar just to be old school for the sake of it but that it is a more dynamic sound than a totally clean one and that with overdrive on you don't necessarily lose as much top end as when turning down just plugged straight into the amp; an overdrive pedal will also shape the EQ to some extent . 
And if you go back to Hendrix his clean tone was ( I believe) primarily with a fuzz face on and the strat volume rolled back. Yet at full chat that's anything but clean. 

           

english_bob

thecolourbox said:

What I find it to mean, is that people make a perfectly good noise with a drive pedal, then they reduce the volume on their guitar until you no longer get that effect, and make it quieter than it would be by just turning the pedal off as a consequence

That's what happens when a pedal *doesn't* clean up nicely, surely?

IMO the epitome of "cleans up nicely" when it comes to effects pedals is the Fuzz Face- you can have full-out fuzz meltdown with the guitar volume on 10, then slightly hairy clean with the volume at 8 or 9. A Big Muff won't do that.

But for many of the amps and pedals that people describe as "cleaning up nicely" you can achieve something similar just by varying picking dynamics- with the right equipment you can have enough compression so that the overall volume doesn't vary much between very light and very heavy picking, but the amount of distortion does.

Works best when you don't want a massive difference between clean and dirty levels of gain- you can't really go from 80s metal gain sounds to Nile Rodgers clean sounds just with picking dynamics. 

Lebarque

ICBM said:

skunkwerx said:

Its for people who use those knobs on their guitars..

Not just. I tend to do it more with hand dynamics.

Funny way to describe w@nking.

jellybelly

Just means it's dynamic in terms of how it responds to the input - volume control, @ICBMs hand dynamics etc. Something compressed and midrangey probably wouldn't fall into this category, it's more (in terms of pedals) the more amp-like drives. 

Timmy is a prime example. 

There are exceptions though - you can get cool sounds out of a ballsy rat by dialing the volume back. 

UnclePsychosis

The relationship between volume and tone (and the multiple ways that these things interact) is simultaneously one of the best and one of the most frustrating things about guitars, amps, and pedals. 

I know its a different phenomenon to what the OP is asking about but I do wonder just how much money has been wasted (myself included) by people seeking "loud, cranked amp" tones at "baby sleeping next door" volumes. 

NorthernStomps

Guitar volume on 10 at all times otherwise you’re doing it wrong 

Winny_Pooh

For pedals the only ones I enjoy rolling the volume back on are fuzz pedals, most other things are less gainy but not a musical less gainy. 

Lebarque

Duplicate post