Dark sounding presets

The recto sims shine with a distortion block in front with a low gain setting. That way you can add distortion while lowering the gain on the recto, which means you can lower that fizz some. At least that's how I like them.

This is known as boosting, and you can do it within the amp block itself.
 
Same here TBH. Most of the presets doesn't seem to cut through in a mix, especially when it has to live up with not only the rhythm sections but also multiple layers of tracks such as strings, horns, synths and others. In those situations, guitar tracks are often not allowed to raise up the faders so brighter tone is preferable. I ended up erasing all the presets.

(Edit) I can sorta understand presets not necessary working in a mix - What sounds good mixed is not what sounds good isolated, and it's the isolated sound that people use to make decisions if AXE-FX III sounds good enough to buy. Therefore presets have to sound good isolated.
 
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Here is my test with the AC-20 Deluxe preset you've attached. I don't find it as dark as your recording.

And that is Scene 1 EF86 Bass. The second Scene EF86 Treble has more... 'treble'

American Deluxe Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5
 

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  • AC-20 Darkness Test.zip
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I am not even being sarcastic but when is the last time you changed your strings? I recorded a band before covid where both the bass and guitar player came in with guitars/bass where I don't think they changed the strings for several years and they both had caustic sweat. When I set their rigs up and told them to play I was like wow they sound like crap. I thought they had bad cables or tube or weird eq settings, so I asked to play their guitar and the strings were so old and gross they were almost smooth. I put new strings on and bam a whole new bright sound came out.
 
I find them dark too.
For me, the only fix was finding a set of IRs that sounded great to me, and then applying them to the preset cab blocks.
 
Many of the Factory presets may have been dialed in with a single coil guitar. In those cases, they will be dark when using a humbucker equipped guitar. You will have to tweak a bit for different guitars, some more than others, just like a real amp.
Moke is +1000 on point with this.


About 1/4 of the factory presets came alive and made sense when I bought single coil setups (fender strat/Tele). I legitimately thought I had a bad unit or was absurdly hearing damaged until I did this. I'm unaware of any single set up that will make every preset sound as it should or is intended to sound. They're tailored to specific set ups but can be set to the pups you have.

If the initial sound you get is overly dark...then it was probably intended for singles. The opposite may be true if humbuckers/actives/etc were used when creating.

You're not doing anything wrong, just know that the native signal used with the preset creation could be DRASTICALLY different. Fortunately, we have the tools to adjust it. They're in there, I promise.
 
Kind of resurrecting this.
I am in the camp of finding many of the stock presets as having a blanket over them. Most of the Fenders actually sound like ass without some gain or adjustments.
The Marshalls which tend to bright, raw, and stringy sound good with more sparkle out of the box.

I use humbucker guitars (DGT and Es 335) with PAF pickups, and many of the Fender presets do come alive in split mode with the DGT.
I also have Austin Buddy's recent preset pack. He has each preset setup for humbuckers and singles.
Makes a big difference.

On an older Austin Buddy preset pack he has a BB King preset (LUCY :335 neck6-9/tone) with a Fender Twin. It is very bright to start and he says to reduce the tone and volume down so the tools are there for sure. It is actually one of my favorite presets for years.
 
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I didn't find the stock presets dark at all when I tried them. I found them to be overly drenched in reverb and delay, but everyone complains about the stock presets on every modeler because everyone likes something different. IMO the main purpose of stock presets is to show off what the unit is capable of and as a reference when making your own presets.

It could be what you're listening to them through, your guitars, your technique, your preference, or any combination of those factors.
 
I always thought the majority of factory presets are very dark/wooly sounding. They just aren't dialled in for me, my guitars and my playing style.
Luckily I don't use them anyway, I create my own presets and they sound just fine, whether that's under headphones, or at a live gig. There isn't a 'one size fits all' collection of settings. If someone lent me their combo amp and pedals, it's highly unlikely I'd just be able to plug right in and have everything sounding just right. There would be a vast degree of tweaking involved.
 
My 7 string Jackson with Fishman Moderns sound good through a lot of presets, but when I nabbed SinMix 5 metal preset pack the guitar was Godly
I wonder what style of muse Kavevester leans toward🤔
 
Agree with the OP.

Play the presets with a Telecaster and they all make sense.
Sound fine to me with my PRS SC S2 McCarty 594. Yes , not as bright as with my teles and Strats. But I expect it to be that way.
Now I am an old guy and my high end hearing is NOT the same as it was decades ago. Yet they still do not sound dark to me. Darker, yes!
Some are smothered in FX, thats to show what the device is capable of.
 
My 7 string Jackson with Fishman Moderns sound good through a lot of presets, but when I nabbed SinMix 5 metal preset pack the guitar was Godly
I wonder what style of muse Kavevester leans toward🤔
Well, from my experience on this forum, when someone talks of dark, blanket over sound, etc, etc, it most of the time is HI GAIN,
 
I tend to find all stock presets dark when I'm playing through headphones but as soon as I switch to my studio monitors they are just fine. I think it's a perception thing and also lies a lot in volume.
 
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