Preset Building: Tone Crafting

garyrogue said:
I'll have to follow this thread and other similar ones for ideas. I have not built any presets, just play a few different amps a day. Not in any band, so don't specific songs/lists to do. Pretty much treating it like an unorgainized store with not amp type sections.
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lil' tip when starting any preset:

"nail the basics"

before you muddy the waters with EQ and FX, nail the amp / cab tone first and nail it completely
different amps / amp tones react very differently with different cab types
so this is the first and most critical decision you make

have a good idea of the tone you're after..
like in this thread right now we're looking for a "robust" clean with a hint of hair..
there are lots of amps in the Axe that will do this..
try the ones you think are most likely to do the job..
and maybe a few more that could be surprising..

then go try several different cab options.. eventually narrowing them down until you find 'the one'

try to nail all of the tones fundamentals with just the amp and cab
then you'll be in good shape to add the enhancements, bells and whistles
 
Mark's Tone said:
Clarky, thanks for taking the time to put these together. I sit in the back of the class, but my attention is rivited.
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no worries matey...
let's just see where this one takes us...

got a few lil' jobs to sort in the studio..
when they're done I'll get back into looking for my clean hair..
 
clarky said:
tried it...
a nice thick clean... but not quite cutting in it the hair department [for me]
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Adjectives are always a bit misleading... hair is what I incorporate with Marshall. Something I don't want in my cleans. :) Unless it's a vintage tone and then it's ofcourse a PLEXI.
 
the way I understood Rex's requirements..
was that the tone should be inherently clean under light to normal playing conditions..
but if you dig in when playing it'll start to break up..

hairy clean.. lol..

the Plexi looks like a good shout actually..
I'll add it to my try out list..
 
It's what I use, the 50w plexi works perfect for me live "clean and with hair when digging" .

How about paired with a fender? Just like the old day's. A-B-Y.

Its uncanny that I used this same tube setup for more than 30 years.

Maybe that's to easy or run of the mill ?

Perhaps there is a better option for clean tone.....
 
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guys.. for this one I'm loving the clean Plexi's.. especially the 50..

the 5153Green is still a little too much for this one..
the Herbert ch2- is a little strong too, but if you cut the input-trim down to about 0.5 and set the drive between 2.00 and 3.00 there's a sweet spot in there..

but I have a clear winner...
which funnily enough was my first choice..
the JCM800
turn off the bright switch, set the drive around 3.00 and in the EQ page, dip the 500 fader by a few dB
 
clarky said:
the way I understood Rex's requirements..
was that the tone should be inherently clean under light to normal playing conditions..
but if you dig in when playing it'll start to break up..

hairy clean.. lol..
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You get a cigar along with the beer I owe you. :)
 
I had another go at the Trip-Tik for the clean tone, using some new information:

FractalAudio said:
The amp's Input Level control is equivalent to the model's Drive control. The amp's Drive control is mapped to the model's Input Trim control. I know it sounds backwards but it's a byproduct of the way the parameters are mapped.
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Using that information, it's much more usable for clean tones. Have a go, and see what you think.


Edit: Drive is still way low (around 0.13), and I've got Input Trim all the way down to 0.100, but it sounds way better.
 
This is a fascinating thread, I'm really looking forward to following it and hopefully learning a few things from you more experienced guys.

One thing I noticed about the AFX is how it responds to different guitars (pick-ups) where one patch can sound great on one guitar but terrible on another. You may want to factor this in when building a patch, but then you know that already so I'll sit back down....... :)
 
Coldsummer said:
One thing I noticed about the AFX is how it responds to different guitars (pick-ups) where one patch can sound great on one guitar but terrible on another.
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That's the neature of the beast (or any amp, for that matter). Clarky's got it covered, though. He has us using our ears, so whatever you create is automatically dialed in for your guitar.
 
for the preset we're working on here, I'm going to save the Trip-Tik for the full-on dirty tone
which I will of course morph clean [it'd be rude not to]..

but for the current stage of this exercise, I'm sticking with the JCM800..
this is so I have a clean tone that I can dig into to get it all fired up...
 
found a couple of cabs I'm liking with the JCM800

stereo cab block, pan the cabs hard
left side is the 4x12 Baskestweave AX mix
right side is the 4x12 Basketweave TV mix
 
Rex said:
I had another go at the Trip-Tik for the clean tone, using some new information:



Using that information, it's much more usable for clean tones. Have a go, and see what you think.


Edit: Drive is still way low (around 0.13), and I've got Input Trim all the way down to 0.100, but it sounds way better.
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as you'd expect with such extreme settings, it thins out..
but nowhere near as much as some of the higher gain amps..
means that the 'morphed clean EQ fix-ups" would be moderate rather than extreme

I think this amp will fair pretty well with tone morphing
 
clarky said:
what amp / cab combinations are you guys choosing??
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With FW 10.10 out, I fired up the Trip-Tik clean. I used a cab combo that several have recommended for the Modern: a 1x12 Deluxe Tweed Mix and a 3x10 Vibrato King Mix. It's working out very nicely. Got others to try, though.
 
the whole concept is simply breathtaking.:D

I have two patch locations waiting.

One where I copy and follow along,

The other where I build my own version.

What great internet fun.!

Lets get started !
 
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