FM3 Sounds "Different" from YouTube Demos

[Dave Merrill]

^^^ This.

 

[simeon]

i listened as well and it's not that far off. what thickness pick are you using? something as simple as using a heavier gauge pick can make a huge difference. i think he's "digging in" a bit more as well.

 

[Boy_Narf]

I put my money on updates. A lot have changed since 2021.

Absolutely this. I've had mine about 4 years and things sound different after every major update.

Could even be the cable you are using. I recently swapped out some Daddario solderless cables for ebs and was shocked how different they sounded. EBS has way more top end and clarity.

Funny how I've been chasing brighter speakers for soo long when it was cabling that was dragging down my top end the whole time.

I concur with copying presets, just make your own. I don't find any of the factory ones usable at all. Incredibly narrow and dull imo. Probably great in a mix or at stage volume, but they don't work for me jamming through headphones in my basement.

 

[Aaabii]

You could have something wrong but it’s not rare for other people’s presets to not work for other people. That’s my experience anyhow. I even bought a well regarded preset pack that sounded not so good to me. The video demos sounded great though. Think of another persons preset as a starting point. You need to adjust presets to fit you. A lot of factors are involved including all the firmware upgrades. You need good volume too. I’ve had good luck with some, like Burg’s presets seem to work for me as long as the firmware matches. I don’t buy presets anymore. Roll your own. It’s the best way.

Yes! That's also why i hated Tonex, NAM etc. when people are saying they are the nexy big thing.

i listened as well and it's not that far off. what thickness pick are you using? something as simple as using a heavier gauge pick can make a huge difference. i think he's "digging in" a bit more as well.

Thank you very much for that. I did not think about this at all. Definately will give a try.

Absolutely this. I've had mine about 4 years and things sound different after every major update.

Could even be the cable you are using. I recently swapped out some Daddario solderless cables for ebs and was shocked how different they sounded. EBS has way more top end and clarity.

Funny how I've been chasing brighter speakers for soo long when it was cabling that was dragging down my top end the whole time.

I concur with copying presets, just make your own. I don't find any of the factory ones usable at all. Incredibly narrow and dull imo. Probably great in a mix or at stage volume, but they don't work for me jamming through headphones in my basement.

I recently swapped from a no name cable to Klotz La-Grange and my god.. Like you i could not believe the difference.

 

[Budda]

No one tagged @Jon Kaneshiro to ask him to compare that vid to current fw?

 

[sprint]

I’m looking for that kind of 'hidden' fix or a specific setting that could be causing this massive discrepancy.

I’m trying to figure out if there's a 'eureka' moment I’m missing in the system settings.

That's the common theme in many of these type threads - never say never I guess, but seems like folks are often looking for some very unlikely, remote (or non-existent) "hidden fix" or "eureka moment" when the more likely / logical (and less attractive / boring / more effort requiring) reasons (Guitar, Hands, FW ... see above) are given relatively little attention.

Anyway, I won't aggravate you any further. Best of luck on your search.

 

[RLD]

Thank you for your replies but my "problem" is really simple actually. The guy in a particular video creates a preset , i copy them , and the result is stupidly different.

I think you're being hyperbolic...they sound similar, but not exactly the same.

 

[Fretboard-Racer]

The „hidden effect“ is to stop chasing some other guys tone.
Take it as inspiration und pick the components, that compliments your playing.

 

[markc]

I had the same issue for years - fixed 3 days ago with the help of ChatGPT. My tones were widely different to what I was hearing on youtube. Won't go into all tweaks I made because everyone's situation is different, but my monitors (cheap) were an issue for me and were "fixed" (mostly) with an EQ tweak on the back. There were other changes, not much really in the basic tone controls settings and nothing really drastic, just little things that were "ohh, that sounds better". Sorry to be cryptic, but after my experience the other day, I think it would be easier if you use ChatGPT or similar to help troubleshoot. There was a bit of back and forth, but really got me on the right path and chipped away at improving my tones significantly. Anyways, it worked for me and it was like getting the device I always thought I should have had. Good luck if you give it a go!

 

[Budda]

Im gonna recommend forum searches and using ears before chatgpt

 

[markc]

Im gonna recommend forum searches and using ears before chatgpt

Fair enough. I did read a lot over the years in the forums and they suggested tips that never really worked for me and my set up (or perhaps, for me at least, the troubleshooting process was easier using ChatGPT). My ears love the sound I'm getting now, so it was a useful tool for me. Each to their own .

 

[sprint]

I had the same issue for years - fixed 3 days ago with the help of ChatGPT. My tones were widely different to what I was hearing on youtube. Won't go into all tweaks I made because everyone's situation is different, but my monitors (cheap) were an issue for me and were "fixed" (mostly) with an EQ tweak on the back. There were other changes, not much really in the basic tone controls settings and nothing really drastic, just little things that were "ohh, that sounds better". Sorry to be cryptic, but after my experience the other day, I think it would be easier if you use ChatGPT or similar to help troubleshoot. There was a bit of back and forth, but really got me on the right path and chipped away at improving my tones significantly. Anyways, it worked for me and it was like getting the device I always thought I should have had. Good luck if you give it a go!

Were you initially listening to the youtube clips thru the same monitors in the same room? If so, I can't help but wonder why monitoring would be the issue, and how monitoring tweaks would be a solution for the significant tone difference since you know that particular tone from YT can be produced thru those monitors without any monitor tweaks (given your initial YT listening experience). Wouldn't seem to make logical sense.

 

[Tonedeaf]

The „hidden effect“ is to stop chasing some other guys tone.
Take it as inspiration und pick the components, that compliments your playing.

Exactly. There's not a single preset, including those based on famous artist/songs, that I have added my own personal tweaks to.

 

[Boy_Narf]

Have you tried messing with the input gain? Make sure it's "tickling the red". It could also be your pickup height which makes a MASSIVE difference to output and tone.

 

[unix-guy]

Have you tried messing with the input gain? Make sure it's "tickling the red". It could also be your pickup height which makes a MASSIVE difference to output and tone.

Input Gain is not related to "tickling the red".

That would be Input Pad on FM3, and that has an updated method for adjusting that doesn't rely on the imprecise "tickling" method of old.

 

[Joel.Brown333]

Thank you for your replies but my "problem" is really simple actually. The guy in a particular video creates a preset , i copy them , and the result is stupidly different. The part is not played in the context of a song , i record my parts also so there is no string noise etc. Dont get me wrong i can make the unit sound good with different IR's or by turning some dials but this sort of difference makes me wonder if i am missing something.

An example :
Same settings my tone, pardon the noodling :

This is an old video i dont know if the amp model changed in the later firmware , it breaks up earlier etc.. But the same thing applies with high gain stuff and Leon Todd videos. The guy clicks an amp model strums a chord and it sounds amazing. I do the same its nowhere close.

My first thought is the guitar pickups are different than yours. If you're pickup isn't as hot or maybe not adjusted close enough to the strings, it would do this.

 

[Eman7422]

I’ve also received great help via chat gpt.

Excellent tool. Can really help your tone if you provide very specific information.

 

[ivametal]

I think many of us here own several guitars. It is quite easy to notice that sometimes a preset sounds GREAT with one guitar and AWFUL with another, and it's because the guitar also affects the tone. A pickup has its own frequency chart; some are screamy like a Duncan JB, others are wide-open/transparent like a PATB (imo).

Sometimes I need to adjust a preset per guitar. In the case of someone else's preset, you need to adjust many things—your headphones/monitors/room, picking technic, pick, etc. Too many things. Better if you take a preset as a base and then tweak here and there to get the result you like.

 

[Cooper Carter]

Also, the player in the video has great hand dynamics. That's a total art beyond many of us.

And having anyone's hands other than yours will make their video and the tones in it sound very different from your playing, even -- or should I say especially! -- with the same settings!

 

[Aaabii]

That's the common theme in many of these type threads - never say never I guess, but seems like folks are often looking for some very unlikely, remote (or non-existent) "hidden fix" or "eureka moment" when the more likely / logical (and less attractive / boring / more effort requiring) reasons (Guitar, Hands, FW ... see above) are given relatively little attention.

Anyway, I won't aggravate you any further. Best of luck on your search.

Thank you very much.

I think you're being hyperbolic...they sound similar, but not exactly the same.

Of course they’re similar, but as you can probably guess, I bought the FM3 as the final stop in my tone search. So maybe it was a bit of a dream, but I was expecting a device that would be more or less plug-and-play. As it turned out, things didn’t quite go the way I expected
That’s basically the whole reason behind my search.

The „hidden effect“ is to stop chasing some other guys tone.
Take it as inspiration und pick the components, that compliments your playing.

I think that is the advice i seek.

I had the same issue for years - fixed 3 days ago with the help of ChatGPT. My tones were widely different to what I was hearing on youtube. Won't go into all tweaks I made because everyone's situation is different, but my monitors (cheap) were an issue for me and were "fixed" (mostly) with an EQ tweak on the back. There were other changes, not much really in the basic tone controls settings and nothing really drastic, just little things that were "ohh, that sounds better". Sorry to be cryptic, but after my experience the other day, I think it would be easier if you use ChatGPT or similar to help troubleshoot. There was a bit of back and forth, but really got me on the right path and chipped away at improving my tones significantly. Anyways, it worked for me and it was like getting the device I always thought I should have had. Good luck if you give it a go!

I can give this a try. Thanks.

My first thought is the guitar pickups are different than yours. If you're pickup isn't as hot or maybe not adjusted close enough to the strings, it would do this.

I absolutely agree. If you look at the headroom of the amp in the video, it’s breaking up with almost the slightest pick attack. But as we’ve talked about before, this is a four-year-old video, and I don’t really know what’s happened to this model since then or how it’s been updated.

Anyway thanks everyone for your precious time.