Cover band folks, how do you set up presets?

How do you set up your presets?

  • Kitchen sink preset

    Votes: 28 40.0%

  • Preset per song with different amp and cab

    Votes: 26 37.1%

  • Same amp and cab all night

    Votes: 16 22.9%

  • Other

    Votes: 14 20.0%
  • Total voters
    70
Ledvedder said:
I've been dipping my toes into the Soldano amps. I've been primarily a Marshall guy for my entire playing life. But I've been trying to step outside that box a bit. Soldano, ODS, etc. I think it just takes some time to dial them in. With Marshall type amps, I've always dialed them in a certain way.
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It's a modern classic for sure... basically the missing link between the master-volume Marshalls and the high-gain monsters that ripped it off in the 90s like the 5150, Rectifier, etc. The Crunch channel has the perfect amount of gain and is super dynamic owing to the lack of cold clipper. The Lead is, well, the SLO Lead channel. It's like a JCM800 that married a nice woman and got its shit together after spending its 20s as a chainsmoking barfly - it still knows how to have fun on vacation but does everything else so well too.
 
I change amp/cab for heavier stuff. My main tone for most songs is a Plexi crunch, but a few songs require a bit extra. Not talking metal gain levels, though, which is shocking for me since I'm a metal guy outside of the band. I have a couple songs that call for either a phaser or an autoswell, and then I have a GM-800 I use for about 5-6 songs. I tried the one preset per song thing, but it's just easier for leveling and whatnot to stick with one main tone for most stuff.
 
Ledvedder said:
I've been dipping my toes into the Soldano amps. I've been primarily a Marshall guy for my entire playing life. But I've been trying to step outside that box a bit. Soldano, ODS, etc. I think it just takes some time to dial them in. With Marshall type amps, I've always dialed them in a certain way.
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The Soldano in the FM3 is what I use for my heavier tone and leads. It's worked very well for me.
 
Dave Merrill said:
Do you use all 4 channels of each of those amps? Or do you mean 1 clean channel and 1 dirty channel?

Do you use scenes for effects, for amp channels, neither, or a mix?
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I use 2 amp channels and 2 cab channels. I use Scenes to change the amp/cab channels as well as the effects on/off status. my set up is fairly basic. Input->amp->cab->GraphEQ ->Verb->delay.
Scene 1 - amp1/cab1 (rhythm)
Scene 2 - amp1/cab1...turn on Verb1/Delay1/Graphic EQ1 (solo)
Scene 3 - amp2/cab2/Verb2/Delay2 (clean)
Scene 4 - amp2/cab2/Verb2/Delay2/Graph EQ2 (louder clean)

The #s above with each block are the 'channel' within the single block.

I used to also have some 'stomp style' assignments for phaser and whammy....but don't really use them because I sing more than play guitar.

But with the FM3 - I can use only 2 buttons to toggle those 4 scenes. Really great set up for cover band....SMALL rig.
 
One preset per song for me. I try to match the amp and effects to whatever Google tells me the guitarist in question used on the record or on live performances that I like.

I don't purport to do a forensic reconstruction, but for example if I'm playing a Cure song I will use a Jazz 120 amp and a Boss-style flanger, etc. Then if I'm playing a Smiths song next, my preset will have a Twin with a Dynacomp compressor and a Boss-style chorus etc.
 
I have 2 main presets that are my "Swiss Army" and "Swiss Army 1/2 Step Down", those have a clean, mid and dirty scene - each from a different amp/cab and saved as global blocks. That cover about 60% of what we do. Then I have some song specific patches that have various effects layouts but use 1 of those 3 amp/cab combos and are linked. That gets me about 90% of the way there, and then I have some random patches that are completely different amp/cab combos for songs where those 3 scenes don't work . In total I have about 15 presets, and ~12 of them run off of the main 3 scene combo from the Swiss Army patch and that covers the 75 or so songs we rotate. Makes it fairly easy to keep things pretty level.
 
I just designed and 3D printed a 4 button unit and after a few nights of watching Stand-in switch Youtube videos and trying different setups I have implemented this first version:

Button 1: tap=boost output 5 dB, hold=Tuner
Button 2: tap=Toggle scene views 1-2, hold=CHORUS on/off
Button 3: tap=Preset down, hold=TREMOLO on/off
Button 4: tap=Preset up, hold=UNI-VIBE on/off

I use 4 presets (CLEAN, LOW GAIN, MID GAIN, HIGH GAIN), each with a rhythm and a lead sound and a few special sounds added where needed (like the Boys are back in Town harmonizer). The scene toggle makes room for 6 scenes per preset, which is more than I need.

20241028_082326.jpg

/Jim
 
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Jim-R said:
I just designed and 3D printed a 4 button unit and after a few nights of watching Stand-in switch Youtube videos and trying different setups I have implemented this first version:

Button 1: tap=boost output 5 dB, hold=Tuner
Button 2: tap=Toggle scene views 1-2, hold=CHORUS on/off
Button 3: tap=Preset down, hold=TREMOLO on/off
Button 4: tap=Preset up, hold=UNI-VIBE on/off

I use 4 presets (CLEAN, LOW GAIN, MID GAIN, HIGH GAIN), each with a rhythm and a lead sound and a few special sounds added where needed (like the Boys are back in Town harmonizer). The scene toggle makes room for 6 scenes per preset, which is more than I need.

I tried uploading a picture from my OneDrive but that doesn't seem to work, how are people getting pictures into this ancient-tech forum?

/Jim
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You may need to have more posts before you can upload pics.

Good job on the 3D printing though!

It's a little late, and yours may be more specifically designed for your needs, but there are also these:
https://ottercustomdesign.com/collections/extra-switches-for-fractal
 
I use one preset per song so that I can customize the per-preset switch placement and naming features in the FC-12, but they are all variables of a master preset that includes the Shiva Clean, AC-20, and the Smallbox. Each amp has its own IR combination, which are only slight variations of each other to keep some sonic consistency through FOH. I will have a couple of drives to use for solos, but I use scene controllers for the amp gain, or the in-amp boost, to get more amp variability.

There are some one-offs with special effects or synth, but 80%+ are off a master setup with all of the blocks in the same spot.
 
I really have to start auditioning other amps and IRs! I'm stuck on using Marshall variants for clean and gain, along with Greenback IRs.
 
Ledvedder said:
I really have to start auditioning other amps and IRs! I'm stuck on using Marshall variants for clean and gain, along with Greenback IRs.
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I personally use Ownhammer IRs of a Diezel cab loaded with G12K-100s which are a more balanced, less-spikey speaker than other Celestion offerings. I also blend the ribbon and condenser captures (an R121 and U87 respectively IIRC) and use broad 6dB/octave filters to sculpt them for a more natural sound. The whole Greenback/V30 with a 57 thing works great for others but I find that my current approach sounds much more pleasing to my ears. I've had sound guys comment that they've had to EQ it to be both brighter or fuller in the low-end depending upon the specific system/room so it seems to be generally well-balanced.
 
I use the set list with different presets per song. I end up using the AC20, Double Verb and Super Tweed as my go to amps, then add effects to get close to the sound of the recording. I scroll through songs on the middle button, then have a rhythm and lead setting on the right button. It works for me! We play 70s and 80s tunes that range from Born to Be Wild to Best Friends Girl.
 
alexjplant said:
I personally use Ownhammer IRs of a Diezel cab loaded with G12K-100s which are a more balanced, less-spikey speaker than other Celestion offerings. I also blend the ribbon and condenser captures (an R121 and U87 respectively IIRC) and use broad 6dB/octave filters to sculpt them for a more natural sound. The whole Greenback/V30 with a 57 thing works great for others but I find that my current approach sounds much more pleasing to my ears. I've had sound guys comment that they've had to EQ it to be both brighter or fuller in the low-end depending upon the specific system/room so it seems to be generally well-balanced.
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I wonder if the Dizzy K100 ML Sound Lab IR's are similar?
 
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