back and forth on the AF Ultra

D

Dday

Member
So I've been periodically tweaking trying to find sounds I like....very hit and miss for me. Seems Like more misses than anything. I'm beginning to think I'm too "old school" for all the tweaking, but other samples I hear guys get pull me back in to keep trying. I'm running the 10.1 version with an Atomic. It seems like every time I try and build a dirty patch (Shiva, Marsha BE/HBE, Fryette, etc), it always seems to have an almost notched wah-type sound to it. I always start with everything at 12:00, with the exception of master and drive (depending on amp type). I had what I thought were some cooler dirty sounds using the BE and HBE, but went back to them today and there was that sound again, along with a darker/duller tone.
I'm positive it's all "pilot error", but I really just want to start as simple as possible and "add" from there. Any help/ideas/base settings for me. Oh yeah...no midisport 2x2 yet. Still waiting on that, so I can't download anyones patches. Gotta do it the old way. I'm into all kinds of tones, but looking for a full-very clean sound, a "hairy" clean sound, VH2 type chunk sound, and a XTC type lead sound (since that's what I'm using right now). Thanks for any help!
 
For me the biggest "bang for the buck" adjustments are:

Cab and mic
Front panel input level
Amp block master volume vs gain vs how loud I'm playing

With this stuff sorted out, I rarely have to make any eq adjustments.

JWW
 
For me the biggest "bang for the buck" adjustments are:

Cab and mic
Front panel input level
Amp block master volume vs gain vs how loud I'm playing

OK...say I get the Marsha BE with a Marshall 4x12 green (I tend to gravitate to the sound of that one) and a SM57. Going for a VH2ish rhythm sound. I normally set my input level to where it goes to the red occassionally when I hit the guitar harder. Master-almost full, gain to taste (usually 9:00 to 2:00), and overall volume-Axe's output 10:00-11:00. I normally run my Atomic with it's volume set higher, and adjust the overall level with the Axe's output. FWIW, my main guitar's a Grosh EJ with a hum-bridge, P-90-neck.
So, as an example, how would you approach this?
Thanks for the help!
Dday
 
I am not an expert tweaker, and particularly not for the VH2 type sound, but I notice that you choose amp *and* cab here that lead to the "notched-wah" sound *very* easily in my experience. I find the Greenback pretty useless for my ears for that particular reason. Might wanna try the 4x12 Brit, the 4x12 Cali or even the 4x12 Recto1. Pairing this with eg the Brown sim would get me much closer to what I want immediately.

Please understand these are just some random ramblings that came to my mind reading your post above... :D
 
Please understand these are just some random ramblings that came to my mind reading your post above... :D[/quote]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give it a shot with the cabs you recommended. FWIW...I have random ramblings also...very often and to myself. And, yes, I'm married.
 
Dday said:
For me the biggest "bang for the buck" adjustments are:

Cab and mic
Front panel input level
Amp block master volume vs gain vs how loud I'm playing

OK...say I get the Marsha BE with a Marshall 4x12 green (I tend to gravitate to the sound of that one) and a SM57. Going for a VH2ish rhythm sound. I normally set my input level to where it goes to the red occassionally when I hit the guitar harder. Master-almost full, gain to taste (usually 9:00 to 2:00), and overall volume-Axe's output 10:00-11:00. I normally run my Atomic with it's volume set higher, and adjust the overall level with the Axe's output. FWIW, my main guitar's a Grosh EJ with a hum-bridge, P-90-neck.
So, as an example, how would you approach this?
Thanks for the help!
Dday
Click to expand...

I spent a long time initially with cabs and mics. I never was really happy with any of the stock cabs and mics on their own. My breakthrough was using a pair of mono cabs in parallel. What I ended up with was the 4x12 30w with a R121 mic on one side always, with the "flavor" cab with a SM57 on the other side. With the Marshall type sounds that cab might be the 4x12 Brit. For a mid gain sound that cab might be a G12H.

I found that a little bit more input level with a bit lower amp block gain sounded better than the opposite. I run my pickups pretty low in my guitars to help get a "clear" sound. My input level is at around 3:00, which seems to be a little higher than most people run.

Master volume is my latest big thing. I had been running the master volume really low on my high gains. I was getting a very clean high gain sound this way (if that makes any sense). In combination with the stereo enhancer and the parallel cabs, I was getting a pretty good sound. Lately, I have turned the enhancer off and jacked up the master. I find the master a really good way to control the "thickness" of the sound, and the compression of the amp block. I have the master set ~12:00 now for most of my high gains. This gives my toanz a lot more balls than before. Much more than that though and it gets too mid rangy and overly compressed for my taste.

My only comments about your choices are that I don't like the greenback cab at all, and that full master volume is too much for me on any high gain patch. Using the Marshas, I am at ~12:00 master, and I'm using the Brit or 25w in parallel with the 30w.

I have a couple of questions. If you are running a single Atomic, how is you output mode set? There is a setting that matters if you are running certain stereo fx. Are you running heavy eq in your chain anywhere? Are you playing loud or soft? All of my settings are for very low studio volumes, if you are setting up for high volume, my tricks might not work for you at all ...

JWW
 
Ingo said:
I am not an expert tweaker, and particularly not for the VH2 type sound, but I notice that you choose amp *and* cab here that lead to the "notched-wah" sound *very* easily in my experience. I find the Greenback pretty useless for my ears for that particular reason. Might wanna try the 4x12 Brit, the 4x12 Cali or even the 4x12 Recto1. Pairing this with eg the Brown sim would get me much closer to what I want immediately.

Please understand these are just some random ramblings that came to my mind reading your post above... :D
Click to expand...

I agree. The IRs may be a big contributor to your dissatisfaction. Most of the IRs are way too comb filtered and notched sounding for my taste when using distortion. The 4x12 Recto1 is one of the least 'notched' sounding IRs. I often start with no IR and use Filters and Parametric EQs to build a tone (free of the comb filtered sound), then blend in an EQd cab in parallel until the level of the comb filtered sound is just right. Keep trying combinations of IRs.
 
I have a couple of questions. If you are running a single Atomic, how is you output mode set? There is a setting that matters if you are running certain stereo fx. Are you running heavy eq in your chain anywhere? Are you playing loud or soft? All of my settings are for very low studio volumes, if you are setting up for high volume, my tricks might not work for you at all ...

JWW[/quote]

Thanks JWW!
I'll give your settings a try. I'm still using the Atomic...not sure on the output mode, I'll have to check. No heavy eq at all. My volume right now is moderate to low, but hoping to use it on gigs, so I'll have to try it with higher volumes.

Dday
 
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