Are artist presets proprietary?

[sprint]

still not much of a guitar player compared to many here, but, as I progress, I'm increasingly amazed at how once I've learned a given riff / technique well, I can play through a preset that's just in the ballpark / not at all exact, and have it sound much more authentic tonally than it did before I'd really gotten the riff / technique down in my practice - once I've become proficient, it does not seem to matter nearly as much to me if the preset is spot on in tone, to the original artist's sound.

 

[rrhoads17]

Phil Collen said on a live chat he'd be happy to share presets. He said he'd speak with his tech.

I would imagine he simply forgot to do anything about it as a father of a young child and doing "normal" life stuff probably means a promise halfway through a two hour long chat got forgotten about

Phil and Vivian have no idea what’s going on in their Axe Fx rigs, they just let the techs make the presets and they say yes or no.

 

[fab-gm]

Phil and Vivian have no idea what’s going on in their Axe Fx rigs, they just let the techs make the presets and they say yes or no.

That makes sense to me, as after all these years, fractal engineers probably know more about guitar tones than most of their users using them ...

 

[George Estremera]

Phil and Vivian have no idea what’s going on in their Axe Fx rigs, they just let the techs make the presets and they say yes or no.

Really? Where'd you see/hear that? Just curious

 

[BBN]

There are no secrets with the Axe FX. If you want a Metallica tone, then dial one.
If you can't, then you can come to this community or AxeChange and find a starting point, or even a perfect preset.
There are many many ways to get the tone you are after, and it doesn't require an artist to share their specific preset.

I view the request for an artists' preset the same as wanting their guitar pick. It's just to have 'theirs'.

 

[LawbyDayGuitar@Night]

This is assuming that Fractal even has access to their presets. Additionally, I am not sure if Artist Presets would fall under IP protection since they were created using Fractal products.* I wouldn't be surprised if some bands, Metallica, take measures to protect their presets. Metallica is essentially ran like a corporation, see Some Kind Of Monster. But I also wouldn't be surprised if there is an unspoken agreement that presets aren't shared unless permission is given first from the artist.

* I practice mostly criminal law and family law.

 

[Feflicker]

The other point I havent seen anyone make is that the techniques and approaches used in presets can be considered a competitive advantage. Knowing how to get those tones and understanding the hardware/software to make it happen gives them an advantage over competitors. In the case of Metallica, they even partnered with Meyer to create their P.A., again as an advantage. It is tailored specifically for their live sound, to create the experience they envisioned. Whether you agree or not, Metallica is widely regarded as the industry leader for large venue heavy tones. Just another variable to consider.

 

[AJ Vargas]

still not much of a guitar player compared to many here, but, as I progress, I'm increasingly amazed at how once I've learned a given riff / technique well, I can play through a preset that's just in the ballpark / not at all exact, and have it sound much more authentic tonally than it did before I'd really gotten the riff / technique down in my practice - once I've become proficient, it does not seem to matter nearly as much to me if the preset is spot on in tone, to the original artist's sound.

Reminds me when Leon @2112 shared one of his presets AND did a video on how he tweaked them, and still there were people complaining that it didn't sounded anything like his video.

I'm totally with Cooper on this, it's pretty much any artist (or any pro for the matter) wanting to protect their time, effort and money invested in crafting the tones THEY WORK WITH.

I'm not (by any means) a Youtuber/influencer, etc... But there are a couple videos where I've invested a lot of time and effort in creating the backing tracks (programming drums, playing all bass and keyboard parts, mixing, etc...) And even putting money from my own pocket to buy a keyboard and bass even knowing Youtube won't give me a single penny back because Copyright and stuff... And still, when I choose not to give away the Backing Tracks or the presets I've crafted, then I'm the greediest effer on Earth.

So, to the OP: Yes, Artists' presets are their intellectual property and represent countless hours of work and years of expertisse invested.

 

[Frodebro]

Really? Where'd you see/hear that? Just curious

I saw an interview with Vivian where he flat out said he had no idea what was going on with his Def Leppard live rig, his tech handles all the programming and switching.

His solo live rig, on the other hand, he knows inside and out. Pedals, tube amp. That’s his thing.

Phil, on the other hand, comes across as a gear geek who probably knows his way around the AxeFX pretty well.

 

[Andrew Male]

I've played Metallica's live presets, they are easily reproducible by ear.

 

[rossipedia]

Honestly, I don't care about having the exact presets, I care about "close enough" to jam to my favorite tunes. I can do that with Tone Matching and IRs.

More so, most of the time I don't actually want to sound like somebody else. I want to sound like me, so I build all my own tones from scratch.

 

[RevDrucifer]

I just can't imagine anyone who is serious (Pro) spending any time trying to sound like someone else unless all they wanted to do with their career is do covers.

Well, while EJ has his own thing going on, he's been quite up front about the inspiration behind the tones he goes for and specifically states Hendrix, Clapton and Richards, sometimes using a song as an example ("Start Me Up" was the one he used for his dirty rhythm). Satch has brought up "Machine Gun" many times over the years. Hahahaha and there's no way Joe Bonamossa(sp?) didn't put some effort into recreating EJ's lead tone!

I know in my experience, figuring out how to achieve someone else's tone has a lot of discovery along the way that I wouldn't have learned had I just focused on 'my own tone'. Since the majority of recorded tones on albums sound incredibly different solo'd than they do in a mix, a lot of that learning is figuring out how that ends up happening, which inevitably makes it easier to dial in your own tone.

Like the Edison thing and figuring out 3,000 ways to not make a light bulb; you're never going to completely replicate someone's tone, but in those 3,000 attempts, you'll gather a lot of information that helps you figure out how to make you're own light bulb. Or LED. Or frickin' lasers.

 

[sprint]

Well, while EJ has his own thing going on, he's been quite up front about the inspiration behind the tones he goes for and specifically states Hendrix, Clapton and Richards, sometimes using a song as an example ("Start Me Up" was the one he used for his dirty rhythm). Satch has brought up "Machine Gun" many times over the years. Hahahaha and there's no way Joe Bonamossa(sp?) didn't put some effort into recreating EJ's lead tone!

I know in my experience, figuring out how to achieve someone else's tone has a lot of discovery along the way that I wouldn't have learned had I just focused on 'my own tone'. Since the majority of recorded tones on albums sound incredibly different solo'd than they do in a mix, a lot of that learning is figuring out how that ends up happening, which inevitably makes it easier to dial in your own tone.

Like the Edison thing and figuring out 3,000 ways to not make a light bulb; you're never going to completely replicate someone's tone, but in those 3,000 attempts, you'll gather a lot of information that helps you figure out how to make you're own light bulb. Or LED. Or frickin' lasers.

def some artist's tones are mysterious and would be cool to know how they work, not so much cuz I think I can sound like them, just to know the mechanics of it. EJ is a perfect example for sure. At the best of times I really struggle with strat tones and I can't even begin to fathom how EJ gets what he gets from any standpoint: guitar, hands, amp, fx - its all EJ magic to me, even more so after watching his rig run down (no super mysterious hardware in there)

 

[RevDrucifer]

def some artist's tones are mysterious and would be cool to know how they work, not so much cuz I think I can sound like them, just to know the mechanics of it. EJ is a perfect example for sure. At the best of times I really struggle with strat tones and I can't even begin to fathom how EJ gets what he gets from any standpoint: guitar, hands, amp, fx - its all EJ magic to me, even more so after watching his rig run down (no super mysterious hardware in there)

I'm working on some EJ tones right now, it really is a trip how he utilizes everything to get what he's going for. I'm focusing on the '88-'91 tones, I spent a good hour and a half last night just trying to get his Dumble tone from that era-

1:00 in this clip-


There's so much dynamics going on in his right hand it makes it pretty tough to figure out exactly what the amp sounds like on it's own. When I found out he rolls the treble all the way off on his Marshall things made a lot more sense, I've found it's been easier to ballpark the lead tone than the dirty rhythm or the cleans. I also didn't realize he used the bridge pickup for as much of the clean stuff as he does.

 

[orb451]

I think (as alluded to by others) that people are conflating Metallica (etc) the "band" and Metallica the "Corporate" entity.

The band members (minus Lars) probably couldn't care less if presets were shared. But the "company" that is their band won't/don't allow it.

As individuals they're probably pretty far removed from fans as well, at least as it relates to live gear and setup.

 

[flyingfadr]

One of the things that made this Community a great place to hang, when I first got an Ultra, was and open and Friendly environment where people openly and freely shared their presets for FREE... where people could look into other people's presets and see a little different perspective on how to achieve a certain sound or effect. Even some Artists have recently allowed for Fractal Audio to give away their presets... I hope people can keep the spirit of sharing alive... or people might start selling "Shunt" presets... "i painstakingly created 100 presets with only the best sounding shunts in AxeFX III, with a different color in each shunt... only $50 !"

 

[George Estremera]

One of the things that made this Community a great place to hang, when I first got an Ultra, was and open and Friendly environment where people openly and freely shared their presets for FREE... where people could look into other people's presets and see a little different perspective on how to achieve a certain sound or effect. Even some Artists have recently allowed for Fractal Audio to give away their presets... I hope people can keep the spirit of sharing alive... or people might start selling "Shunt" presets... "i painstakingly created 100 presets with only the best sounding shunts in AxeFX III, with a different color in each shunt... only $50 !"

Wait…what colors are we talking here????

 

[AJ Vargas]

One of the things that made this Community a great place to hang, when I first got an Ultra, was and open and Friendly environment where people openly and freely shared their presets for FREE... where people could look into other people's presets and see a little different perspective on how to achieve a certain sound or effect. Even some Artists have recently allowed for Fractal Audio to give away their presets... I hope people can keep the spirit of sharing alive... or people might start selling "Shunt" presets... "i painstakingly created 100 presets with only the best sounding shunts in AxeFX III, with a different color in each shunt... only $50 !"

That's fine, I DO believe in the power of sharing, and this community is one of the most generous ones I've known, whether it's presets, general knowledge and wisdom, and of course: Help.

The problem I see lying in the context of this very thread and countless others (specially on the Recordings Sub-Forum) is the sense of entitlement of certain people as if everything SHOULD be shared for "Free", just because.

Again, a huge thank you to those who share, but it's absolutely unnecesary to bash those who decide to make a profit from their work, even worse to harass them into giving it away "in the spirit of the community" as I've seen on a couple times, not only here.

 

[rodzimguitar68]

So, you want the Colonel’s Secret Recipe?

 

[Greg Ferguson]

I also didn't realize he used the bridge pickup for as much of the clean stuff as he does.

Yes, it’s very bright.

I have a roasted maple neck and fingerboard Strat with stainless steel frets, and the Callaham stamped steel saddles, and ‘59 style pickups, and didn’t even consider how it would sound clean, I wanted it for the sound when it is into my lead channel on my tube amps.

Then I was messing around with it into an Eric Johnson type preset, listening to the lead sound and switched to the clean and thought “DANG!” It nails the cleans.

When my new Eric Johnson-style hands and brain arrive I’ll be able to sound just like him.