How to dial up the Brown Sound in ten minutes

After listening back, I realized that I forgot to lower the voltage using the Variac parameter. Normally, that would be a key component. But I think it's a testament to how good the latest firmware sounds that I didn't even need to tweak what, for some, would be one of the most obvious parameters.

I'll try to get the next video -- the VH phaser and flanger -- posted by tomorrow evening for anyone interested.

Perhaps you can address your take on the variac at beginning of the Part 2 FX video. thx
 
Great Video and Explanation! Thank you very much...........seems so easy to get this VH-Tone............
 
That's an amazing tone!!! I'm gonna have to try this.

Edit: So, I gave it a try and as I said already, that is some seriously beautiful tone. However, this is literally the umpteenth video I've seen and copied the exact settings from and got a very different sound. Yes, I know, different guitars and different hands but I dialed in the exact settings in the video and seriously came away with a low gain/clean sound on the edge of break up!! Power amp modeling is on...Cab sims are turned on... At this point I'm starting to think there is either something wrong with my magic black box or I'm... well, you know (which at this point is very possible). The only way I can get close to this tone is if I turn the boost switch on, set the saturation switch to ideal and turn the saturation knob up to at least 4.

I'm seriously at a loss here [emoji19]. Either way, beautiful sound and playing and I really hope I can figure out what's going on with my setup "soon" so I can get tones like this.

Cheers 5150

P.S. Sorry for bombing your thread with this rant but I'm becoming massively frustrated with my inability to get these amazing sounds I keep hearing everyone else posting.

A big, very big factor is the guitar and pickups you are using. The Axe-fx is flexible enough to give you any amp sound/tone that you like, however if the source of the sound is not correct then you are going to struggle to match some of the videos. That said, even if you buy expensive guitars it doesn't mean that they already have the best pickups suited to your personal taste, so I highly recommend you have a look around at what options you have on pups - so start from the source.
 
Love this video btw, it's great to see how everyone breaks down their thinking and explain each step; there are so many things to learn from this! Everyone's tone is their own fingerprint.
 
A big, very big factor is the guitar and pickups you are using. The Axe-fx is flexible enough to give you any amp sound/tone that you like, however if the source of the sound is not correct then you are going to struggle to match some of the videos. That said, even if you buy expensive guitars it doesn't mean that they already have the best pickups suited to your personal taste, so I highly recommend you have a look around at what options you have on pups - so start from the source.

Thanks for the reply Chucma. I do get the whole pickups thing, I really do. The first guitar I tried this with was an LTD EC401Vf with a BKP Mule/Riff Raff set. I know those are lower output pickups so I knew I was going to have to add some gain to get the same result as the Dirty Fingers. The thing I ran into though was when I plugged in my Jackson Misha HT6 with Juggernauts and my Schecter with a Duncan Alpha/Omega set it still didn't have as much gain as the video showed. I've actually found this with a lot of high gain patches that I try to copy from tutorial videos. I also get the whole picking hard bit as well but, I was trying to pick as hard as I could without breaking strings and the tone still wasn't there.

I'm sure it's most likely something I'm doing wrong, but I just can never seem to get as much gain as others I've seen and I honestly have no idea why.
 
Nice video, what programs did you use for the screen capture and editing?

BTW, the 'ducking' in the reverb block won't do anything until you lower the 'Threshold' ?
 
Thanks for the reply Chucma. I do get the whole pickups thing, I really do. The first guitar I tried this with was an LTD EC401Vf with a BKP Mule/Riff Raff set. I know those are lower output pickups so I knew I was going to have to add some gain to get the same result as the Dirty Fingers. The thing I ran into though was when I plugged in my Jackson Misha HT6 with Juggernauts and my Schecter with a Duncan Alpha/Omega set it still didn't have as much gain as the video showed. I've actually found this with a lot of high gain patches that I try to copy from tutorial videos. I also get the whole picking hard bit as well but, I was trying to pick as hard as I could without breaking strings and the tone still wasn't there.

I'm sure it's most likely something I'm doing wrong, but I just can never seem to get as much gain as others I've seen and I honestly have no idea why.

Try posting your preset and an audio clip in a new thread so others can compare. I'm curious too.
 
Try posting your preset and an audio clip in a new thread so others can compare. I'm curious too.

Good idea! There are loads of guitarists here who will give you good advice on your preset and clip! :encouragement:
 
Thanks for the reply Chucma. I do get the whole pickups thing, I really do. The first guitar I tried this with was an LTD EC401Vf with a BKP Mule/Riff Raff set. I know those are lower output pickups so I knew I was going to have to add some gain to get the same result as the Dirty Fingers. The thing I ran into though was when I plugged in my Jackson Misha HT6 with Juggernauts and my Schecter with a Duncan Alpha/Omega set it still didn't have as much gain as the video showed. I've actually found this with a lot of high gain patches that I try to copy from tutorial videos. I also get the whole picking hard bit as well but, I was trying to pick as hard as I could without breaking strings and the tone still wasn't there.

I'm sure it's most likely something I'm doing wrong, but I just can never seem to get as much gain as others I've seen and I honestly have no idea why.

1) Make sure Input 1 Mode is set to Left Only.
2) Verify that Amp Gain in Global is at 0.
 
I just created a preset using 5150's walkthrough.
Sounds awesome!

While I won't apply all this stuff in my own presets, one should not overlook Character > Dynamics.
When you're playing a solo with a healthy dose of gain, and those high push ups do not cut through as much as you'd like: use this parameter. An amount of "1.50" at 450 Hz already suffices. It does increase CPU slightly.
 
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Nice video, what programs did you use for the screen capture and editing?

BTW, the 'ducking' in the reverb block won't do anything until you lower the 'Threshold' ?

Moke, your Eruption preset back at FW16 was very impressive. So was the clip of you playing some VH using your preset........

It's time to get your VH Quantum on my brother!!! lol
 
Moke, your Eruption preset back at FW16 was very impressive. So was the clip of you playing some VH using your preset........

It's time to get your VH Quantum on my brother!!! lol

LOL....thanks willowdale,

So much has changed, I will rework that one and a lot more. As is usual with major up-dates, I'm looking at different favorite models than before?
 
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Wow. Just wow. Closest VH tone I've got out of the Axe. Used my Vigier Excalibur, with the Dimarzio Paf Master (one of the best Paf sounds out there). Thanks for sharing the video!


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