How To Make Your Electric Guitar Sound Better?

Everyone wants a perfect guitar with exceptional sound performance. However, it is only possible if you buy high-end guitars that are too expensive to buy. The problem is for those who can't afford such costly guitars. We are here with a guide on "how to make your electric guitar sound better", even if it is old or of low quality.

It's not a big deal to spend a few bucks and upgrade your guitar to enjoy the real taste of music. With only a few upgrades and changes in your old guitar, you can get the sound you want. However, if you have enough money to buy a new electric guitar, here is an electric guitar buying guide for you. In another case, keep reading this article to make tremendous changes to your guitar's tone.

Freshen The Strings

If you are worried about the awful sound of your old guitar, consider changing the strings. The new strings sound better, and gradually, the sound quality drops due to deterioration in the strings. The guitar strings play a fundamental role in the production of sound.

The old strings give a dull and lousy sound in contrast to the new strings which give a clear and crispy sound. If you are not achieving the required sound even after changing the strings, consider knowing your strings. Check the quality of the strings and observe them closely to understand how to play with them.

Set Up Your Guitar Properly

New guitars are already tuned well, and they don't need many adjustments to give joyful music. However, if you have an old guitar, you should look into the different parts and set it up. Check the saddle height, bridge height, frets, and truss rod position. These are some significant parts that affect the sound of a guitar.

To check your guitar, play a 12th fret note on it. Now play its harmonic tone and feel the difference. If the pitch of both sounds is odd, it looks like you need some adjustments.

If you don't have experience setting up an electric guitar, you can show it to a professional guitarist. Moreover, most shopkeepers are also very good at setting up electric guitars.

Learn Amplifier Settings

The amplifier is an additional part of most guitars, especially electric guitars. Acoustic guitars do not require an external amplifier, and they can produce excellent sounds without it. However, for an electric guitar, it is the central part that controls all the electric signals from the soundboard to the external speakers.

Never underestimate the amplifier if you are trying an electric guitar. To get the best sound out of your electric guitar, learn how to use your amplifier effectively. For that purpose, you may contact a professional or read the user manual provided with the pack.

However, here are some tips for you which might help you set your amplifier correctly.

Less gain improves the clarity of the sound, so try to keep the gain less.

Increased mids are more preferable as they prevent your guitar from getting drowned out.

Elevate your amplifier off the ground to avoid a lousy feedback.

Playing in rooms with hard surfaces may not give good feedback.

Upgrade The Pickups

The electric guitar produces sound by transferring the sound signal in an electric form to the speakers with many changes in it. The pickups receive these sound signals from the strings and make necessary changes to them. That's why they are considered one of the essential parts of an electric guitar.

If you are worried about your cheap electric guitar sound and can not afford to buy a new one, upgrade the pickups to improve the feedback of your instrument. If you have a low-end electric guitar, you can observe the pickups made of poor quality material. Such pickups can never make the sound clear.

Observing and upgrading the pickups is the job of a professional guitarist only. However, if you want to do it yourself, here are some guidelines for you. The pickups come in the two most popular designs.

Single Coil

Most Fender guitars have this type of pickup design with six magnets surrounded by a single coil of wire. It is famous for its brighter sound and a better tone.

Hum buckers

Unlike the single-coil pickups, Hum buckers have two metal coils. Their feedback is a bit thicker than the single-coil pickup guitars. Gibson Guitars like Les Paul use these pickups.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I make my cheap electric guitar sound better?

To make your cheap electric guitar sound better, you should make some improvements to your guitar, and also you have to learn some basic settings of the guitar equipment.

How can I make my electric guitar clear sound?

Besides doing other things like changing the strings, nuts, and saddles, you only need to lessen the gain of your guitar. This greatly improves the guitar sounds and also increases the clarity.

Which electric guitar has the cleanest sound?

Mostly,  a new guitar with a quality amp sounds great. However, branded guitars such as Gibson, Epiphone and Fender also have the cleanest sounds.

Do cheap electric guitars sound bad?

Not every cheap guitar needs to sound bad. However, some cheap guitars have the poor build quality, which affects the sound badly.

Final Words

This was all about how to make your electric guitar sound better. The best way is to use quality stainless steel strings, overdrive pedals, tone pots, and other guitar tech equipment. The more you use an advanced guitar, the more you increase the overall sound quality of your guitar.

There is a huge difference between different quality electric guitars. So it is better to get a quality guitar instead of later making adjustments and upgrades to it.

If you still have some confusion in your mind, feel free to ask us in the comment section. Also, share your suggestions about other adjustments to our electric guitar to improve the sound quality.