Are artist presets proprietary?

Not like having an exact preset is going to make you sound just like them. I’ve played tons of artists presets from Leon to Burgs to Larry Mitchell to Cooper et al, and I’ve heard exactly what they sound like playing, they share the same thing, and when I play it doesn’t sound the same (ie; as good)

It’s not different for artist who don’t use modelers. Certainly enough info on the net to know every single bit of Gilmours rig, right down to the boxer shorts he was wearing on a given day of recording, and does having all that exact gear, with the exact settings magically make you play like him ? Not hardly….

Heck, I find sometimes I get a more “accurate” tone with different gear, because when and how I play makes it sound different.


As such, I don’t really see the big demand for artist presets.

I’ve got countless presets I can download that will give me a great Metallica sound. If I have James exact settings is it going to change anything ? Pretty sure the answer is no more than buying a signature guitar he endorses or using the same type of strings etc.


Heck, I bet you could take any one of countless Hetfield presets and say one is the “real” one and no one would have any way of knowing….
 
lqdsnddist said:
Not like having an exact preset is going to make you sound just like them. I’ve played tons of artists presets from Leon to Burgs to Larry Mitchell to Cooper et al, and I’ve heard exactly what they sound like playing, they share the same thing, and when I play it doesn’t sound the same (ie; as good)

It’s not different for artist who don’t use modelers. Certainly enough info on the net to know every single bit of Gilmours rig, right down to the boxer shorts he was wearing on a given day of recording, and does having all that exact gear, with the exact settings magically make you play like him ? Not hardly….

Heck, I find sometimes I get a more “accurate” tone with different gear, because when and how I play makes it sound different.


As such, I don’t really see the big demand for artist presets.

I’ve got countless presets I can download that will give me a great Metallica sound. If I have James exact settings is it going to change anything ? Pretty sure the answer is no more than buying a signature guitar he endorses or using the same type of strings etc.


Heck, I bet you could take any one of countless Hetfield presets and say one is the “real” one and no one would have any way of knowing….
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That's true to an extent. I saw Brit Floyd using an AxeFx, and if I closed my eyes, I could have sworn Gilmour was playing in front of me.
 
lqdsnddist said:
Not like having an exact preset is going to make you sound just like them. I’ve played tons of artists presets from Leon to Burgs to Larry Mitchell to Cooper et al, and I’ve heard exactly what they sound like playing, they share the same thing, and when I play it doesn’t sound the same (ie; as good)

It’s not different for artist who don’t use modelers. Certainly enough info on the net to know every single bit of Gilmours rig, right down to the boxer shorts he was wearing on a given day of recording, and does having all that exact gear, with the exact settings magically make you play like him ? Not hardly….

Heck, I find sometimes I get a more “accurate” tone with different gear, because when and how I play makes it sound different.


As such, I don’t really see the big demand for artist presets.

I’ve got countless presets I can download that will give me a great Metallica sound. If I have James exact settings is it going to change anything ? Pretty sure the answer is no more than buying a signature guitar he endorses or using the same type of strings etc.


Heck, I bet you could take any one of countless Hetfield presets and say one is the “real” one and no one would have any way of knowing….
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yep - hands and guitar - if my icon shared his/her preset with me, I'd be thankful and impressed they're taking time to try and help out fans / fellow guitar players, but not at all hopeful it would get me sounding the same.
 
iaresee said:
I've literally played Joe Satriani's guitar on Joe Satriani's rig and....




....sounded nothing at all like him. It was super disappointing and amusing all at the same time.
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When I was a student, I was working in guitar shops demoing <$500 guitars on the WE's, and fortunately for my boss at the time; people that would listen would always say "love that guitar tone" or "love that amp preset" and buy pretty much crap gear, just because they listened to the demo.
 
There are certain signature sounds that are nice to have in the arsenal. I usually make my own that sound better to me. Your fingers and technique are more important if you want to copy someone else. Besides, a lot of famous isolated guitar tracks sound terrible outside of a mix.
 
I'd seriously doubt that John Petrucci has one, since he's shown his amp settings in several videos, discussed his miking techniques in a few, and recently even showed how he was using the Axe III. And although in that video, he doesn't show all the exact parameters, the 'Petrucci Rig' factory preset that Cooper Carter either supplied or helped make, should get one very close. It seems like he certainly doesn't care, and as the lyric in As I Am says, "You cannot touch the way I play."

He even went around to the back of his rig to show his "secret weapon", the Mimiq pedal, along with his settings. Here it is. Go for it.
 
I’m not at all surprised NDAs exist and I’ll bet there are fractal artists we don’t know about because of them. Doesn’t bother me at all either.

At the same time, I’d be surprised in presets dcan be counted as protectable IP. You could in practice end up dialing in the exact same settings as a known artist and using those settings wherever you choose. It would be very unlikely, but still possible. I doubt you would be sued for using that preset.
 
TSJMajesty said:
He even went around to the back of his rig to show his "secret weapon", the Mimiq pedal, along with his settings. Here it is. Go for it.
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ah! had not seen this one - just watched it here (queued to Mimiq reference) - Mimiq users here will be intrigued! - he has Mimiq going stereo into the fronts of the 2 JP2Cs - interesting - most of that stereo rig can be replicated in Ax3 in a single preset.
 
iaresee said:
I've literally played Joe Satriani's guitar on Joe Satriani's rig and....




....sounded nothing at all like him. It was super disappointing and amusing all at the same time.
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At Vai Academy Nuno Bettencourt told a story about going over to "Edward's place" and playing thru his entire rig with his guitar... And sounding exactly the same as he always did :)

Then Vai says that one time Eddie came to his studio and played Vai's guitar and full rig... And sounded just like Eddie!
 
unix-guy said:
At Vai Academy Nuno Bettencourt told a story about going over to "Edward's place" and playing thru his entire rig with his guitar... And sounding exactly the same as he always did :)

Then Vai says that one time Eddie came to his studio and played Vai's guitar and full rig... And sounded just like Eddie!
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Maybe it's just one big conspiracy to get fans to stop asking for the secrets!
 
Even if you had Metallica's presets, would you find them useful if they are dialed to sound great at stadium volumes? With maybe in/out setups built for in ears, FOH, monitor wedges etc. It's just a very different environment from what us Joe Average people would use at home, small gigs and so on.
 
Zedhed said:
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.
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Why not? If you like a particular type of tone and you use it, that doesn't make you unprofessional. Are all the guitarists that use the EVH or the SRV tone cover players or unprofessional?

When you went to buy an amplifier or other gear, before modelers, didn't you have one predetermined type of sound on your mind? What made you discern between a Marshall and a Fender? There you were obviously trying to sound like something you heard before from someone else.

There are many serious pro musicians that started influenced by others. I would say everybody, unless they are born at the island of the aether muses.
 
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