Cab Block Preamp. Do you?

Tom Morris

Tom Morris

Power User
In the Cab Block under the Preamp tab there are Preamp Type settings. Modern, Vintage, Transformer and so on. Just wondering if people use this and if they do How, Why, When? Some info on the feature in the wiki.
16.9 Preamp simulation
 
Tom Morris said:
In the Cab Block under the Preamp tab there are Preamp Type settings. Modern, Vintage, Transformer and so on. Just wondering if people use this and if they do How, Why, When? Some info on the feature in the wiki.
16.9 Preamp simulation
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I use the Tape35 type... Just because I like how it sounds.

I have a very minor EQ, and I add a little bit of Drive and Saturation.

I added a few years back after Cliff posted about how it helped make his attempt at early Van Halen finally sound complete... Because it's like running into an mixer console like they use in a studio.

My particular settings are just what works for me. Occasionally I try turning it off... But I always come back to on.
 
I always use it. In all my presets, and in all presets from others that fall into my hands. I am addicted.

Normally Tape or FET. Sometimes Vintage or Transformer. (in hi-Q mode) Then add some EQ, Drive and Saturation.

It is the feature that I miss most in the AX8
 
I Have to try this. Just because its there :D but also can add to sculpting tones possibly.

Didn’t pay any attention to that before, but i am two weeks to the day having the axe fix 3 :) and still finding many things out, so just skimming the surface for sure.
 
unix-guy said:
I added a few years back after Cliff posted about how it helped make his attempt at early Van Halen finally sound complete... Because it's like running into an mixer console like they use in a studio.
Click to expand...
I too started using this from Cliffs post and have every since. I always put it on high quality, which is one reason I love the extra cpu of the III.
Would be interesting to know if Cliff continues to use it after all this time.
 
I used to use it on the II when it was a new feature. On my III things sound so good as is I’m just not feeling the need to do further tweaking in most instances. Cool feature but I only tend to use something if there is a need, not because it’s there.
 
Thanks for the thread/nudge. I was using modern no drive or saturation and didn’t want to mess with it until I was happier with the cab combination. This was for a high gain sound. After getting a good balance of three cabs, I started trying the different preamps. I found FET 2 to be the most round and dynamic, then I added a little drive and saturation and now there is yet more dimension and detail, bravo FAS!

On a related note, I wish there were more guidelines to follow for which pages and parameters to try and finess first. Many of us have our own method from dialing in tube amps for decades, but no other device has so many accessible parameters as the Axe and it can be daunting trying to figure out where to go next after the basic page settings. I’m glad I waited to adjust the cab preamp page until I found cabinets that sounded good together. This may seem like common sense, but I think that the more parameters the less intuitive things may be. It seems quite possible to be working at cross purposes if you adjust the wrong thing first. For instance, I’ve hardly touched the dynamics page because there are so many dynamics at work within the gain stages of the amps. So, it would seem like a bad idea to mess with that page until the amp is close to where you want it. But on the other hand, I’ve fiddled with mid, treble and presence controls until the cows came home, only to find that bumping up the power tube grid bias got me much closer to the kind of gain and high frequency response I was looking for. It’s hard to know what to do because you can easily spend many hours going down the wrong path until you understand exactly how all the parameters affect one another. The tech section is very informative and has helped me a lot in this regard, but even a few suggestions for how to best go about getting into progressively deeper levels of adjustment would be welcome..:)
 
I use it often. Usually tape but I should probably explore it more deeply. Have the originals ever been cited for each model, like the Amp block?
 
I use the modern preamp on all my cabs. I just like what it does vs. the other preamp types. I pretty much stay in heavy territory for what it's worth.
 
Piing said:
Cliff said that he won't reveal more details because it would lead to endless comparison/speculation.

There is nothing we can't bitch about :D
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That's the main reason most of us are on the forum. Bring it on Cliff! I've got a Neve clone so I need to know which one to complain about.
 
I've recently started using this and the room settings - massive improvement for me, just a little bit more - I loved it before, but when I go back for a before and after it's night and day
 
peteri said:
I've recently started using this and the room settings - massive improvement for me, just a little bit more - I loved it before, but when I go back for a before and after it's night and day
Click to expand...

That's right. I find that when using Pre-Amp + Room + Air I do not have to waste so much time inside the IR's rabbit hole. It is easy to make most IRs to sound as I want.

Think of a recording studio: they do not have thousands of different cabinets and speakers, but they still get the tone they are seeking.
 
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