How do I most accurately recreate a Framus Cobra?

RifferMcDuck

RifferMcDuck

Inspired
I tried to do some research on this before posting, and found in previous threads that it's a "baxandall" tonestack with the preamp of an SLO100 or Rectifier, but most comments regarding it were still pretty vague. I also have no idea what "baxandall" is and it doesn't appear to be an available tonestack.

Is anyone aware of what exact settings most accurately recreate it? Obviously I can imagine there's only so close you can get, but I'm curious if anyone has realllly honed in on it.

Thank you!
 
I believe the Legato 100 tonestack may be what you're looking for; someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I think I remember reading that the VAI Legacy amps are unique in their tonestack because they use a Baxandall EQ, very unusual for a guitar amp.

Edit: Looks like @mr_fender beat me to it.
 
mr_fender said:
The Carvin Legacy (Legend 100 in the Axe FX) uses a baxandall style tone stack. You could try swapping in that one.
Click to expand...

Thank you! The next question is which preamp is most accurate in combination... I wish I could shoot a beacon into the sky to summon all Framus Cobra enthusiasts
 
I had a Cobra for a good little bit. You can get what the Cobra's are famous for (ch 3) by using:

FAS Modern
With the Output Compression bumped up to around 5-6.
Sag bumped up a little.
Master Volume no higher than 1.5.
And just a small nudge on LF Resonance.

That should get you close enough to get a feel for what the sound like. They are essentially an "improved" Recto, but with a little saggier/squishy feel to them, and a more defined, but present, low end.
 
Ah, I was literally in the middle of adjusting all those settings when you sent the preset. Awesome, lemme check it out!
 
biggness said:
Here's a preset to get you in the realm of it.
Click to expand...

Oh this does sound extremely close, thank you! We clearly have very similar tastes, because this is actually the first time I've used someone else's preset and loved it right off the bat. I barely had to adjust anything to make it fit my setup and sound right to me. Love when that happens.

Well done, this is really great and actually a bit closer than I expected to get.
 
RifferMcDuck said:
Oh this does sound extremely close, thank you! We clearly have very similar tastes, because this is actually the first time I've used someone else's preset and loved it right off the bat. I barely had to adjust anything to make it fit my setup and sound right to me. Love when that happens.

Well done, this is really great and actually a bit closer than I expected to get.
Click to expand...
Glad you enjoyed.

And I feel you on people's presets not really translating well for me. Sometimes I wonder if I even know what good tone is because of it lol
 
biggness said:
Glad you enjoyed.

And I feel you on people's presets not really translating well for me. Sometimes I wonder if I even know what good tone is because of it lol
Click to expand...

What were your go-to parameters to tighten this up so much, outside of the obvious TS808? Your preset made me realize I have a long way to go in learning how to tighten up my metal tones.
 
RifferMcDuck said:
What were your go-to parameters to tighten this up so much, outside of the obvious TS808? Your preset made me realize I have a long way to go in learning how to tighten up my metal tones.
Click to expand...

There's a few that I address, depending on the amp or tone I'm going for, but basically:

Master Volume: For modern high gain tones, you don't want this too high. There's a point where the poweramp starts introducing flubbiness for a lack of a better word. Lower master volume ranges between 0.5 and 1.5 tend to work the best. Just consider that these amps in the real world are insanely loud, so you often won't exceed those master volume settings, which means that is what most people are accustomed to.

Overdrive Pedal: This is a tried and true method with 0-3 on the drive, tone to taste, and 5-10 on the level. You can use the graphic eq in this block to get additional tightness and clarity by using an asymmetrical upside smiley face shape. You're not worried about losing lowend here because can reintroduce post gain stages in the amp via depth knob, or output eq.

Amp Block Output EQ: Use this to regain your lost lowend. Also the 400-500hz range is notorious for honking up your low mids, so I pull a little here if the tone calls for it.

Post Cab PEQ: I'll use this to to rolloff some of the lowend that I reintroduced, as well as additional fine tuning of the 400-500hz range, and maybe some of the upper midrange to get rid of the harsh timbre there.

That's my main tweaks, and works for most cases of what I try to do. There are additonal things you can do with filter blocks before your drive and amp blocks, and multiband compressor, but the above should yield fairly useable tones for what you're trying to achieve.
 
To add to @biggness' great post above, you can see if using the preamp boost in the amp block will do the job instead of the drive block; it's a fantastic way to save CPU if you need to and still can have the desired effect, but of course the drive block is much more powerful.
 
The biggest culprit for flabby, mushy tones is usually feeding an amp too much low end. That's the main reason putting a tube screamer in front of a Recto tightens it up. Tube Screamers have a huge low end roll off. You can accomplish the same by using either the cut switch in the preamp section for a quick pre-defined low end cut before the amp, or use the Input EQ section of the Amp block to dial in the specific low end cut you want. If your tone is then too thin sounding, you can add low end back with post gain EQ, such as the Output EQ section of the amp block, Proximity in the cab block, or using a Filter or EQ block after the amp.

Generally the more gain you use, the less low end you want going into the amp's input. On pre-gain tone stack amps like blackface Fenders and Boogie Mark series amps, it's not uncommon to run the Bass knob down super low when you're pushing them hard to keep them from flubbing out, especially with guitars/pickups with a healthy low end.
 
Last edited:
biggness said:
There's a few that I address, depending on the amp or tone I'm going for, but basically:

Master Volume: For modern high gain tones, you don't want this too high. There's a point where the poweramp starts introducing flubbiness for a lack of a better word. Lower master volume ranges between 0.5 and 1.5 tend to work the best. Just consider that these amps in the real world are insanely loud, so you often won't exceed those master volume settings, which means that is what most people are accustomed to.

Overdrive Pedal: This is a tried and true method with 0-3 on the drive, tone to taste, and 5-10 on the level. You can use the graphic eq in this block to get additional tightness and clarity by using an asymmetrical upside smiley face shape. You're not worried about losing lowend here because can reintroduce post gain stages in the amp via depth knob, or output eq.

Amp Block Output EQ: Use this to regain your lost lowend. Also the 400-500hz range is notorious for honking up your low mids, so I pull a little here if the tone calls for it.

Post Cab PEQ: I'll use this to to rolloff some of the lowend that I reintroduced, as well as additional fine tuning of the 400-500hz range, and maybe some of the upper midrange to get rid of the harsh timbre there.

That's my main tweaks, and works for most cases of what I try to do. There are additonal things you can do with filter blocks before your drive and amp blocks, and multiband compressor, but the above should yield fairly useable tones for what you're trying to achieve.
Click to expand...

Thank you for this! This is showing me that while I've been on the right track overall, I'm definitely not paying attention to which areas I'm cutting out and not putting back in, or vice versa.

Probably doesn't help that I play with headphones most of the time due to very old, very miserable neighbors.
 
RifferMcDuck said:
Thank you for this! This is showing me that while I've been on the right track overall, I'm definitely not paying attention to which areas I'm cutting out and not putting back in, or vice versa.

Probably doesn't help that I play with headphones most of the time due to very old, very miserable neighbors.
Click to expand...

It's just a combination of trial and error, and time, to get the results you want. Reading tips and tricks can cut down on the time aspect, so I recommend reading every available free moment you have lol

You can get some gnarly tones through headphones, and with some reverb tweaks, get it to sound fairly room-like. You'll miss the coupling of your guitar resonating with soundwaves though, so just keep that in mind.
 
biggness said:
There's a few that I address, depending on the amp or tone I'm going for, but basically:

Master Volume: For modern high gain tones, you don't want this too high. There's a point where the poweramp starts introducing flubbiness for a lack of a better word. Lower master volume ranges between 0.5 and 1.5 tend to work the best. Just consider that these amps in the real world are insanely loud, so you often won't exceed those master volume settings, which means that is what most people are accustomed to.

Overdrive Pedal: This is a tried and true method with 0-3 on the drive, tone to taste, and 5-10 on the level. You can use the graphic eq in this block to get additional tightness and clarity by using an asymmetrical upside smiley face shape. You're not worried about losing lowend here because can reintroduce post gain stages in the amp via depth knob, or output eq.

Amp Block Output EQ: Use this to regain your lost lowend. Also the 400-500hz range is notorious for honking up your low mids, so I pull a little here if the tone calls for it.

Post Cab PEQ: I'll use this to to rolloff some of the lowend that I reintroduced, as well as additional fine tuning of the 400-500hz range, and maybe some of the upper midrange to get rid of the harsh timbre there.

That's my main tweaks, and works for most cases of what I try to do. There are additonal things you can do with filter blocks before your drive and amp blocks, and multiband compressor, but the above should yield fairly useable tones for what you're trying to achieve.
Click to expand...
Great post. Bookmarked 🤘😜
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom