IRs York Audio Master Thread - Newest Cab Pack: KW 412 M25-SH

[Chromatizm]

Scott didn't drive me mad.

I was saying this in a most positive way possible! He's someone who would never settle with anything but perfect, so I'm surprised it took "just" 5 months!
I absolutely love the guy. He is my "desert island" guitar player. I studied with him for some time, and I'm a big fan of Guitar Wank, so I think I can imagine which expletives exactly he was using Classic Scott!

Thankfully, whatever pack I do next won't take nearly as long to complete

Oh, I can think of so many cabs I'd like to try!!
Once I saw you guys collaborated, it was immediate "to buy or not to buy - that's not even a question!" (c) Hamlet moment

 

[stm113]

York wishes…

1-a plugin like Mikko, or Dyna cab Raquel but also have like a 6 band parametric EQ and allow for IR mix exports.

2- Uberkab super pack with V30’s & T75’s
3 -Diezel super pack with V30’s & k100’s
4-Marshall Mode 4 cab

 

[Thenewexhibit]

Thank you for saying this. Yeah, Scott is VERY particular about his tone and how he mic's his cabinet, so it was a tall order to naturally match what he hears in his studio vs an IR made in my studio with my gear. We went through several stages of testing all four speakers, using several 57s to find one that matched his personal mic, and even made adjustments to the cabinet's physical position in the room to get things right. I'll never forget sending him a batch... waiting... and then getting the call with him shouting expletives in the most positive way to show his excitement about what he was hearing. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. It meant a lot that he was connecting with these on such a personal level.


You'll still get a bit of the stereo effect with the FM3, but not as much as using the FullRes length IRs.


I'm hearing the same thing. I never compare cabs until the one I'm working on is released. I just compared the KW 412 to one of my other favorite cabs and it's not even close... it makes me want to recapture EVERYTHING.

Scott didn't drive me mad. It just took a lot of trial and error to find the magic spot on the right speaker with the right range of captures. Thankfully, whatever pack I do next won't take nearly as long to complete.


Thanks! I attached the preset below with the IRs I used in the title. I never take/record DI tracks, so I don't have that. Just load the stereo Mixes I mentioned into the FullRes cab bank. It's pretty self-explanatory from there. The guitar I used is an '89 Gibson Les Paul Custom with a Suhr Thornbucker+ in the bridge. I always raise my pole pieces a full turn or so and then raise the pickup as high as it'll go without the strings touching the pickup when palm muting. I like moderate output pickups, and that little trick works across the board for the kind of humbuckers I like, but it won't work if you're using hotter pickups. I have one guitar with really hot pickups and I had to lower them A LOT and raise the pole pieces A LOT to get any natural clarity out of it.

The preset is literally just an 800 and the cab, so dial in the amp to work with your guitar. And don't be afraid to mess around with your pickups. Small tweaks can make a pretty massive difference. Hopefully this helps.

Thanks for sharing all of this cool info! I've been playng guitar for some time now, and one thing I've never experimented with is adjusting pole pieces, just pickup height. What is it one gets from the pole pieces being higher or what sonic character is added by doing this?

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Thanks for sharing all of this cool info! I've been playng guitar for some time now, and one thing I've never experimented with is adjusting pole pieces, just pickup height. What is it one gets from the pole pieces being higher or what sonic character is added by doing this?

Pole pieces act like microphones in front of a speaker, to an extent. Move 'em closer and the string is louder. The slugs coil is non-adjustable relative to the pickup bobbin, so the only adjustment you get is via the pickup's height adjustment screws. The screws can be adjusted relative to the pickup and, unless screwed in until they are flush with the top of the coil bobbin, are starting off a little closer to the strings.

Adjustment gets you a number of things:

1. Adjust string-to-string balance
2. Adjust coil-to-coil balance within the humbucker
3. Adjust the tonal balance of the pickup overall (when combined with pickup height adjustment)

String balance can be much improved by screwing the fat E pole in a turn, the D pole out a turn, the G pole in a turn (or out 2 turns if wound G), and the skinny E pole out a turn (as a starting point for fine-tuning string balance). It's a small difference, but it helps all the notes be heard within a chord.

You can add oomph to the screws coil by turning them all out a turn or two. The screws coil is often a little bit quieter than the studs coil, due to the smaller mass of the screws and the inefficiency caused by the screws sticking out of the bottom of the pickup and diverting some of the magnetic field around away from the strings. The studs are a bit fatter than the screws (which lets them load the coil a bit more and raises that coil's inductance a bit) and they don't stick out the bottom of the pickup, so the slugs coil is a bit more efficient at picking up string vibrations. That said, magnetism follows the inverse square law (double the distance, and you cut the magnetism by a factor of 4; triple the distance and you cut the magnetism by a factor of 9, i.e.!), so at the small distances involved in pickup adjustments, a small change in the proximity of the pole piece to the string can change the string's volume significantly.

If you screw the pole pieces out several turns, and back the pickup off, you can get a considerably crisper sound out of a pickup, as the slugs coil will now be considerably farther away, and the screws coil will be louder. Want a less wooly neck 'bucker tone? This is one way to get there. If the pickup has 3 or 4 mounting screws, and you can tip the whole pickup, you can do the same thing. The more difference in the coils' proximity to the string you can get, the more like a single-coil it will sound. The Gretsch Pro-Jet I have has 3 mounting screws, so I tip the whole pickup away and get considerably crisper neck pickup sound with no flub at all.

HTH!

 

[York Audio]

Thanks for sharing all of this cool info! I've been playng guitar for some time now, and one thing I've never experimented with is adjusting pole pieces, just pickup height. What is it one gets from the pole pieces being higher or what sonic character is added by doing this?

@Joe Bfstplk gave a lot of great technical information about this. In general, raising the whole pickup will add low end, and raising the pole pieces will add top end. The closer the pickup is to the strings, the more output you'll get from it. I like my pickups on the brighter side because it gives you natural clarity without having to boost a lot of treble/presence. Using moderate output pickups will also make your tone clearer and give your amp a more usable gain sweep. Using high output pickups hits the front end of your amp harder and tends to add a lot of low/low-mid mush and dulls the top end. One of the reasons why players who use high output pickups need a boost pedal in front of the amp is because they're essentially trying to "undo" what the pickup is adding to the amp. They use a boost to cut low end and add top end attack and normally have to set their gain on the amp fairly low to get note definition. Using moderate output pickups naturally cleans up that low end, gives you natural top end attack, and lets you push the preamp a little harder.

The funny thing is that I get my biggest tones using moderate output pickups and no boost with a simple amp and cab setup. My tones with higher output pickups need a lot more tweaking and brighter mic placements in order to get them to speak clearly.

 

[Sashman]

I couldn‘t resist and bought the cab pack today. And yes Justin @York Audio you are absolutely right. This cab has almost nothing in common with other Greenback cabs.
This is absolutely crushing!
Mix 01 together with the Full Res Stereo Mixes sounds absolutely insane, I love it!

 

[Thenewexhibit]

Pole pieces act like microphones in front of a speaker, to an extent. Move 'em closer and the string is louder. The slugs coil is non-adjustable relative to the pickup bobbin, so the only adjustment you get is via the pickup's height adjustment screws. The screws can be adjusted relative to the pickup and, unless screwed in until they are flush with the top of the coil bobbin, are starting off a little closer to the strings.

Adjustment gets you a number of things:

1. Adjust string-to-string balance
2. Adjust coil-to-coil balance within the humbucker
3. Adjust the tonal balance of the pickup overall (when combined with pickup height adjustment)

String balance can be much improved by screwing the fat E pole in a turn, the D pole out a turn, the G pole in a turn (or out 2 turns if wound G), and the skinny E pole out a turn (as a starting point for fine-tuning string balance). It's a small difference, but it helps all the notes be heard within a chord.

You can add oomph to the screws coil by turning them all out a turn or two. The screws coil is often a little bit quieter than the studs coil, due to the smaller mass of the screws and the inefficiency caused by the screws sticking out of the bottom of the pickup and diverting some of the magnetic field around away from the strings. The studs are a bit fatter than the screws (which lets them load the coil a bit more and raises that coil's inductance a bit) and they don't stick out the bottom of the pickup, so the slugs coil is a bit more efficient at picking up string vibrations. That said, magnetism follows the inverse square law (double the distance, and you cut the magnetism by a factor of 4; triple the distance and you cut the magnetism by a factor of 9, i.e.!), so at the small distances involved in pickup adjustments, a small change in the proximity of the pole piece to the string can change the string's volume significantly.

If you screw the pole pieces out several turns, and back the pickup off, you can get a considerably crisper sound out of a pickup, as the slugs coil will now be considerably farther away, and the screws coil will be louder. Want a less wooly neck 'bucker tone? This is one way to get there. If the pickup has 3 or 4 mounting screws, and you can tip the whole pickup, you can do the same thing. The more difference in the coils' proximity to the string you can get, the more like a single-coil it will sound. The Gretsch Pro-Jet I have has 3 mounting screws, so I tip the whole pickup away and get considerably crisper neck pickup sound with no flub at all.

HTH!

Thanks for the technical details! I appreciate it!

 

[Thenewexhibit]

@Joe Bfstplk gave a lot of great technical information about this. In general, raising the whole pickup will add low end, and raising the pole pieces will add top end. The closer the pickup is to the strings, the more output you'll get from it. I like my pickups on the brighter side because it gives you natural clarity without having to boost a lot of treble/presence. Using moderate output pickups will also make your tone clearer and give your amp a more usable gain sweep. Using high output pickups hits the front end of your amp harder and tends to add a lot of low/low-mid mush and dulls the top end. One of the reasons why players who use high output pickups need a boost pedal in front of the amp is because they're essentially trying to "undo" what the pickup is adding to the amp. They use a boost to cut low end and add top end attack and normally have to set their gain on the amp fairly low to get note definition. Using moderate output pickups naturally cleans up that low end, gives you natural top end attack, and lets you push the preamp a little harder.

The funny thing is that I get my biggest tones using moderate output pickups and no boost with a simple amp and cab setup. My tones with higher output pickups need a lot more tweaking and brighter mic placements in order to get them to speak clearly.

Thanks for the reply, Justin! I appreciate it! I mostly use moderate output pickups and can relate to what you’re saying. I just never gave much thought about actually adjusting individual pole pieces though, just pickup height as a whole, so it’s cool to hear about this stuff, especially since your tones are so fantastic! On the topic of raising your pole pieces, do you do this for the neck pickup as well? Curious too, do you use a covered Thornbucker + or uncovered?

 

[VegaBaby]

this is great! well done!

 

[stm113]

Thanks for the reply, Justin! I appreciate it! I mostly use moderate output pickups and can relate to what you’re saying. I just never gave much thought about actually adjusting individual pole pieces though, just pickup height as a whole, so it’s cool to hear about this stuff, especially since your tones are so fantastic! On the topic of raising your pole pieces, do you do this for the neck pickup as well? Curious too, do you use a covered Thornbucker + or uncovered?

I’m gonna try messing with pole pieces for the first time. I have an Iceman tuned in Drop B with those old Carvin S22D pups. The A (F#) string sounds more pronounced than the low string. I was thinking maybe backing them off under the A will help that .

 

[York Audio]

I couldn‘t resist and bought the cab pack today. And yes Justin @York Audio you are absolutely right. This cab has almost nothing in common with other Greenback cabs.
This is absolutely crushing!
Mix 01 together with the Full Res Stereo Mixes sounds absolutely insane, I love it!

Awesome! I’m so glad you’re liking it! It’s a different animal in a really good way.

Thanks for the reply, Justin! I appreciate it! I mostly use moderate output pickups and can relate to what you’re saying. I just never gave much thought about actually adjusting individual pole pieces though, just pickup height as a whole, so it’s cool to hear about this stuff, especially since your tones are so fantastic! On the topic of raising your pole pieces, do you do this for the neck pickup as well? Curious too, do you use a covered Thornbucker + or uncovered?

I raise the pole pieces on the neck pickup a little too, but keep the pickup height pretty low. It keeps things from getting too muddy.

I have a covered Thornbucker+ in the Les Paul Custom.

 

[Anto]

Justin, I've just played live yesterday, The Shiver with the mix01, direct to FOH... it was really amazing, I swear I could feel the cab on stage with me, such a woody tone... This IR is your best to date, thank you and keep the work go on like this.

 

[Sashman]

Awesome! I’m so glad you’re liking it! It’s a different animal in a really good way.


I raise the pole pieces on the neck pickup a little too, but keep the pickup height pretty low. It keeps things from getting too muddy.

I have a covered Thornbucker+ in the Les Paul Custom.

Justin this Cab is amazing my new favorite combination is Mix 01 and 03 together with mix 01 from the Marshall V30 Cab.
So please, we need to hear some V30 Speakers in that cabinet

 

[Sashman]

Justin, I've just played live yesterday, The Shiver with the mix01, direct to FOH... it was really amazing, I swear I could feel the cab on stage with me, very woody tone... This IR is your best to date, thank you and keep the work go on like this.

I fully agree this and the V30 Marshall Cab are the best ones today.

 

[ThatCrazyBeat]

Thank you, Justin and Scott and JA and JMP. These IRs are killer. I loved your previous M25 pack as head and shoulders above the rest. This KW pack is head and shoulders above your previous M25 pack. Well done! As always...YA is the best. Can't wait to hear what you've got up your sleeve for dynacab.

 

[secondwindow]

Pole pieces act like microphones in front of a speaker, to an extent. Move 'em closer and the string is louder. The slugs coil is non-adjustable relative to the pickup bobbin, so the only adjustment you get is via the pickup's height adjustment screws. The screws can be adjusted relative to the pickup and, unless screwed in until they are flush with the top of the coil bobbin, are starting off a little closer to the strings.

Adjustment gets you a number of things:

1. Adjust string-to-string balance
2. Adjust coil-to-coil balance within the humbucker
3. Adjust the tonal balance of the pickup overall (when combined with pickup height adjustment)

String balance can be much improved by screwing the fat E pole in a turn, the D pole out a turn, the G pole in a turn (or out 2 turns if wound G), and the skinny E pole out a turn (as a starting point for fine-tuning string balance). It's a small difference, but it helps all the notes be heard within a chord.

You can add oomph to the screws coil by turning them all out a turn or two. The screws coil is often a little bit quieter than the studs coil, due to the smaller mass of the screws and the inefficiency caused by the screws sticking out of the bottom of the pickup and diverting some of the magnetic field around away from the strings. The studs are a bit fatter than the screws (which lets them load the coil a bit more and raises that coil's inductance a bit) and they don't stick out the bottom of the pickup, so the slugs coil is a bit more efficient at picking up string vibrations. That said, magnetism follows the inverse square law (double the distance, and you cut the magnetism by a factor of 4; triple the distance and you cut the magnetism by a factor of 9, i.e.!), so at the small distances involved in pickup adjustments, a small change in the proximity of the pole piece to the string can change the string's volume significantly.

If you screw the pole pieces out several turns, and back the pickup off, you can get a considerably crisper sound out of a pickup, as the slugs coil will now be considerably farther away, and the screws coil will be louder. Want a less wooly neck 'bucker tone? This is one way to get there. If the pickup has 3 or 4 mounting screws, and you can tip the whole pickup, you can do the same thing. The more difference in the coils' proximity to the string you can get, the more like a single-coil it will sound. The Gretsch Pro-Jet I have has 3 mounting screws, so I tip the whole pickup away and get considerably crisper neck pickup sound with no flub at all.

HTH!

Thanks for posting this - great info!

 

[acwild]

After the MV30 Pack, I thought I was done. It’s exceptional to me. This new pack has set a new standard. I’m absolutely loving it! I get more excited about your new IR releases than any other gear (these days).

 

[jaycal6]

So the stereo mixes should be loaded into the Full Res section? And are the stereo mixes meant to be used on their own, or blended with another IR just to add the room sound?

 

[Sashman]

So the stereo mixes should be loaded into the Full Res section? And are the stereo mixes meant to be used on their own, or blended with another IR just to add the room sound?

Yes the Stereo IR‘s should be loaded into the Full Res Section and also yes you can absolutely use them on their own. As you can hear in the audio sample that Justin already posted.
Post in thread 'York Audio Master Thread - Newest Cab Pack: KW 412 M25-SH'
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...st-cab-pack-kw-412-m25-sh.156603/post-2410067

 

[York Audio]

Justin, I've just played live yesterday, The Shiver with the mix01, direct to FOH... it was really amazing, I swear I could feel the cab on stage with me, such a woody tone... This IR is your best to date, thank you and keep the work go on like this.

Yes! Man, this is great to hear! I’m excited to capture more cabs with the new gear and REALLY glad that it seems to be worth the hefty investment and that players are truly noticing the difference.

Justin this Cab is amazing my new favorite combination is Mix 01 and 03 together with mix 01 from the Marshall V30 Cab.
So please, we need to hear some V30 Speakers in that cabinet

I gotta try those combos. I’ve never blended Mixes before, so that sounds interesting. I’m going to reach out to Scott today to see if he’ll sell me that cabinet. Fingers crossed.

Thank you, Justin and Scott and JA and JMP. These IRs are killer. I loved your previous M25 pack as head and shoulders above the rest. This KW pack is head and shoulders above your previous M25 pack. Well done! As always...YA is the best. Can't wait to hear what you've got up your sleeve for dynacab.

Thank you! I feel the same way about the MRSH M25 vs the KW M25.

After the MV30 Pack, I thought I was done. It’s exceptional to me. This new pack has set a new standard. I’m absolutely loving it! I get more excited about your new IR releases than any other gear (these days).

The MV30 pack has been wildly successful and gave me a lot of anxiety over the reaction to whatever cab would come next. The response has been incredibly encouraging. And I’m with you, I get more excited about IRs than any other piece of gear.

So the stereo mixes should be loaded into the Full Res section? And are the stereo mixes meant to be used on their own, or blended with another IR just to add the room sound?

Yes, the Stereo Mixes should be loaded into the FullRes section so you get the most decay tail time from the natural room ambience. The Stereo Mixes are designed to be used on their own and hard panning the Left and Right sides into IR slots 3&4 in the Cab block. You can also load the stereo room captures (RMS and RML) into the FullRes cab bank and blend those to taste with your favorite “normal” IRs from the pack to make your own custom “amp in the room” stereo mixes.