Great job. Really appreciated. Personally, I think you still need to adjust your IRs slightly (just A/Bd against some VH originals). But that is total nitpicking/personal taste. Definitely heard a lot of 'real amp' VH attempts that do not even touch this and the tutorial aspect is just fantastic.
Thank you for watching! I appreciate the feedback.
As I said in the original video, the process would get us to 90% of the original VH early tone. I think I even closed the video by saying that the originals were a good bit brighter still. What I found is that, when I try to get to 95-99% of the original recorded tones, the feel becomes harsh and stiff.
I think this makes sense, if we step back and look at what we're attempting to do. By attempting to exactly capture the sound of those original tracks (and for those who haven't listened, it's worth pulling them up on YouTube for a careful and critical listen) we are trying to imitate the amp, the cab, the mics, the preamps, channel strips, EQ's, and any post effects like compression and 'verb. And then whatever add'l fixes and tweaks went into the mastering process after the mix.
That makes sense to us. This is not a new idea, and this is a discussion that has happened on this forum dozens of times.
But it misses a critical point -- Ed was
playing to a sound that was effectively amp-->cab-->ears. Or, at best, amp-->cab-->mic-->ears, if he was playing through headphones.
When I try to match every last detail of those final recorded tones that were carved into vinyl, down to the final EQ shape, etc, it becomes a very unnatural experience from a
guitar-playing perspective,and at the end of the day, I'm still just a guitar player. I can get REAL close by carving out even more low end, tweaking the highs, adding some preamp EQ in the cab block, and messing with a multi-band compressor afterwards. And there are times when I can get to 97% of that original tone -- it's so damn close! -- but the attempt to gain that additional 7% comes at a loss of playability, and to an extent a loss of
fun.
In the end, for me, it becomes an academic exercise, and my curiosity dries up quickly. There is A LOT of much smarter folks around here -- much more talented, with better ears and experience -- and if they want to take my 90% and get to 100% I have no doubt that it's possible by using this amazing machine.