Heavy Rock blind tone comparison - pre-production tone test UPDATE: results and presets added

Which amp preset sounds best to you?

  • Amp A

    Votes: 5 16.1%
  • Amp B

    Votes: 5 16.1%
  • Amp C

    Votes: 12 38.7%
  • Amp D

    Votes: 6 19.4%
  • Amp E

    Votes: 1 3.2%
  • Meh, I don't like any of these

    Votes: 2 6.5%

  • Total voters
    31

shaunb

Experienced


Hi guys and girls.

This is a tone test I did to determine which amp presets to use on the recording project I've got underway. I'll have an album or a couple of EPs out this year.

I didn't intend to post this as it was just a decision making tool for my process, but I thought it might be interesting as a blind comparison and see what you guys and gals think.

5 different amps, same riffs, all through the Zilla All Mix IR from the ML Sound Lab Bulb Zilla cab pack.

Feel free to let me know which tone/s you like.
Or do they all suck?
Or maybe they all sound the same.

I'll reveal the amp models used next week.

Bear in mind, these tones are for a heavy rock project, so I'm testing for I wrote this piece to comprising some Drop D riffage with some chords to test note definition and a little bit of chugga chugga.
I used my PRS Custom 22 with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge.

Let me know what you think.
 
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I think I like C the best. It just has a nice balance of low end, low mids, and highs. The low mid area in the chuggu is what made me pick it. it just seemed fuller and not as flat as the others. Yet it didn't have that pointy mid and top end that D, and E seemed to have on the single note stuff.

Would love to know what amp that one was..
 
i liked A the best. not sure why...i think it was maybe the crunchyness on the lower strings. sounds really aggressive to me. cool.
 
I voted C
A and B were a bit too thin sounding and was missing some balls. E had balls but was it a bit on the honky side for my liking.
C & D both had balls, but I felt C had a better balance in the mix
 
Ok.
Since it's Valentines Day and I forgot to get you guys flowers, I'll share these instead.
I've actually gone back and tweaked most of these already, but in most cases it's just adding some treble to the 5150 amps for a bit more life in the top end, and adding some mids to the Friedmans

On the recorded test I always use two slightly different sounds.
Scene 1 is panned left, then I record scene 2 panned right.

Amp A: Fryette D60M
Amp B: 5153 50W Blue
Amp C: HBE (left) BE (right)
Amp D: Corncob M50
Amp E: PVH 6160 Block

Looking at this poll and the poll on the User Group Facebook page these are the overall results.

1. HBE/BE
2. Fryette D60
3. Corncob M50
4. 5153 50W Blue
5. PVH 6160 Block

I've attached the presets, I have an XL+ so some of you will need to convert them.
Have fun.
 

Attachments

  • 5150 Zilla.syx
    12.6 KB · Views: 20
  • 5153 50w Zilla.syx
    12.6 KB · Views: 19
  • Cornford Zilla 2.syx
    12.6 KB · Views: 22
  • Fryette Main Zilla 2.syx
    12.6 KB · Views: 20
  • Marsha Zilla.syx
    12.6 KB · Views: 26
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Late to the party! For me it was all about the B clip. I did like some of the more aggressive sounds as well but I felt that the B clip had just the right amount of gain so that those muted riffs jumped out just the right way. This is 100% a taste issue. C sounded a lot like Metallica. D had a little bit more saturation than I'd like but honestly all of these sound great!
 
This one is a concoction the Mikko cooked up, I don't actually know what the recipe is.

It's called Zilla All Mix, so I'm assuming Mikko mixed every type of speaker into this IR mix.

Off the top of my head the pack has
Cream Alnico
Creamback H
Creamback M
Greenback
V30
K100

So there are a lot of elements in this one and it just seems to work for me.
 
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