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AC/DC = all countrols around 4/5
Slash AFD tone you need a kick up the but with high end in the front of the amp, most don't have it.
There are no rules, only thing I would say is having an amp that has a wider range available from the tone stack is better than one that only sounds good with everything on 5
I'm not going to dial it in to sound horrible just so I can have the knobs all pointing up, but yes, it would be nice if the pot value was lower so the sweet spot was much wider.
E.g. with the gain at 8 I have to have the bass on 2, otherwise the bass would be far too boomy. The presence also needs to be very low or else the highs will be too icepicky.
However, with the gain around 4, I need to wack the bass up to 6 or 7, with the presence and treble up higher too otherwise the tone will be thin and muffled.
If i'm going for an authentic AC/DC tone I sometimes need the treble on full.
It just gives you the flexibility of getting more types of sounds out of the amp and also in my case, balancing the tone for the amount of gain you have dialed in.
It could be that the types of tones you like and amps call for that.
Personally I have Treble on 8 Mid on 3 Bass on 2, then I run it into a 'smiley' eq curve post gain, but it's a Mesa MK type circuit so it still sounds middy and thick.
On a lot of amps with a passive tone stack (ie. a lot of Fenders, and Fender-derived circuits), putting tone controls on max is as close as you can get to bypassing the tone stack completely - try it some time
R.
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"Flat" is not all at noon. The Hartke LH series puts it in the manual. Bass and treble at zero, mids at 10 is actually flat.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
What about the gain controls? Presence? Depth? Master volumes?
On what basis are you saying that the manufacturer's designed range for the tone stack is incorrect, but their designed range for all the other controls is valid?
But it's very important to remember that *this is just for the tone stack*. That will not give a flat response from the *amp*, which is much more dependent on the rest of the circuit, and especially the speaker cabinet - this is even more true for guitar amps than bass amps. The reason the tone stack is designed to have a large inherent scoop is because the rest of the amp has a strong midrange emphasis.
There is a theory that if you find the 'sweet spot' on each control where it seem to have the most effect over the smallest range, that this gives the 'best' tone. I have to say that having tried it on a lot of amps, there does seem to be something in it… although I'm not sure exactly why. It's not usually with the controls all at halfway, either - in fact I've never come across one which is.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
There is something to be said for finding the spot where nothing hurts or disappears in the mix and just playing the guitar, even if it wasn't the tone you were originally aiming for.
It's almost like the amp has a natural voice, and deviating too far means you're just fighting it all the time.
The right tone will cut through with less volume.
Turn them. Does it sound good? No? Why? Too much or too little of something?
Tweak it. Try again. Repeat until happy. If the knobs are at zero/zero/zero and it sounds great, it's great.
Having said that the other day I ignored all of that and I'm currently enjoying the treble on full, middle at 5 and bass at 2.5 on my Mesa Studio 22.
I've heard that thing before. Sounds like rubbish. What if the knob does more at a point that sounds crap?
Much better to use ears.