UNDERSTANDING VOICING AND GAIN
The Input Sensitivity of an amplifier, commonly referred to as GAIN, determines how much overdrive and
sustain your guitar will produce. Tonal balance, which we refer to as VOICING determines how the amp will
respond to your playing style and sound with a particular guitar. Like all amplifiers, the SIG:X has tone and gain
controls, but unlike any other amplifier the SIG:X gives you total control over VOICING and GAIN. This GAIN I /
GAIN II / MASTER VOLUME configuration is the key to dialing in the SIG:X sound and volume to your specific
requirements.
Different combinations of VOICING switch and GAIN I settings, will have a dramatic effect on the response of
the amplifier and the personality of your instrument. It is easy to get familiar with the action of these controls
and you’ll be amazed with your ability to make any guitar sound mellow, fat, soulful or aggressive.
For example, play for a few minutes with the controls set as follows:
Now set the controls like this:
Notice that the overall amount of overdrive is approximately the same as it was but the tonal balance has
shifted markedly from crisp and spanking to full and warm. Now try the same settings again, only this time set
the voicing switch to BRIT, then BLOW. Notice how the same control settings take on an entirely new upper
harmonic quality. Finally, try the same settings on 40W mode. Notice how the rounder tone along with the
spontaneous distortion quality and touch sensitivity of the power amp stage dramatically affects the overall
personality of the amplifier compared to the 100W mode.
Having done this simple exercise, you will now understand how each channels function operates. As you will
see, by experimenting with combinations of settings you can cover an amazing amount of tonal territory before
you even begin to start thinking about tone control settings or switching channels.
