How to Match Amps and Cabs?

ralphonz

ralphonz

Inspired
Hi everyone,

I've had my axe fx II a while now. I don't have a lot of knowledge about amps or cabs. I have a few standard set ups which I always use as a basis for creating new tones. I mainly bought the axe to play with interesting fx set-ups and use modifiers as it was before the release of the FX8.

Now I've reached the point where I want to explore more amp/cab tones and combinations as well as learn more about some of the advanced circuit parameters available on the axe. Currently, I choose an amp and then one of the recommended cabs from the wiki but this feels drab and there must be so many creative options to explore so...

How does one go about matching amps and (stock) cabs? Do you just use the recommended cabs on the wiki? Do you have to go away and do research on the internet? Are there any good resources for learning about this sort of thing? It would take an age to try every cab with every amp and compare the results so how does one make an educated decision of which cabs to try with a given amp?

Thanks in advance :)
 
Read a bit about the basic "nature" of certain amps (tube type, distortion characteristics, recommended cabs and whatnot) then you'll see a lot of amps are "related", so then you can start trying different cab brands on a certain amp. The quick reference guide is pretty helpful too. And the new amp-specific posts by Yek are top-notch work. After learning what a greenback and a v30 have to offer, your ears will start leaning to what you like more.
 
Go to your cabs, click the auto-audition (pin right upper corner) and go through them till you hear something great. Make an uneducated decision with your ears. :) Save your find.
It's software, feel free to connect anything to find the sound you love. Brutal amp on 2x12 cab? If it sounds good to you, it is the match you were looking for. Matching an amp with a 'recommended' cab and just go through all the mics may even be enough to find what you want.

Effective parameters in my tone shaping experience after I match an amp with a cab: authentic/Ideal, amp compression, pick attack, presence/depth amp master and a good choice of reverb. Hope this helps. (If not: buy the Fremen presets)
 
ralphonz said:
How does one go about matching amps and (stock) cabs? Do you just use the recommended cabs on the wiki? Do you have to go away and do research on the internet? Are there any good resources for learning about this sort of thing? It would take an age to try every cab with every amp and compare the results so how does one make an educated decision of which cabs to try with a given amp?

Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

Start with the wiki as a reference. There really is no shortcut. But, for example, take a Marshall amp (just ONE that you like), and see what other cabs have been used with it. Greenbacks/V30's, C80's, etc. Try all those and see what sounds 'right' to you. If you look further, you might find that the Allmans used EV's at some point in time.

But I'm afraid unless everyone starts hearing tone the same way, there is no 'source' of what will work for you. Auditioning cabs is painful, but there is really no way around a bit of grunt work to figure out what you like. The good news is that you'll use the knowledge going forward, and dialing in almost any amp/cab combo will be a snap later.

R
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I was kind of afraid that it was largely a case of listening and using trial and error! There are just so many amps and cabs on the axe that it's going to take some work to go through them all and start to recognise the character of different combinations. I like to play with a huge palate of tones and nearly every tone will have a place somewhere.

With the mic selection I find it easier because I already know what to expect form different mics and their parameters due to the work I've done in the studio. Plus there are only a few to choose from compared to the vast array of amps and cabs on the axe!
 
I would seriously consider sitting down with a pen and paper and start auditioning cabs. Make notes about which ones are brighter, which ones are more nasel-ly, which ones sound better on cleans and which ones sound better with high gain. Then when you've dialed in an amp that you like, you can ask yourself, "What kind of cab would probably complement this amp?", and then have a short list of cabs to try.

Otherwise, you're going to spend a lot of time randomly flipping cabs around.

A lot of time.
 
StickMan said:
I would seriously consider sitting down with a pen and paper and start auditioning cabs. Make notes about which ones are brighter, which ones are more nasel-ly, which ones sound better on cleans and which ones sound better with high gain. Then when you've dialed in an amp that you like, you can ask yourself, "What kind of cab would probably complement this amp?", and then have a short list of cabs to try.

Otherwise, you're going to spend a lot of time randomly flipping cabs around.

A lot of time.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the advice - I thought it was going to take a lot of time.

When you dial in a tone form scratch do you just get the amp to sound nice without a cab block on and then experiment with cabs? I always have found the amps to be very quiet without a cab block?

Obviously after adding a cab you can go back and tweak the amp settings too, just curious as to what other peoples work flow is because a year later I still haven't found one that works for me!
 
ralphonz said:
When you dial in a tone form scratch do you just get the amp to sound nice without a cab block on and then experiment with cabs? I always have found the amps to be very quiet without a cab block?
Click to expand...

Usually, I start with one of the Fractal cabs that I think is fairly well rounded, like cabs 60 and 61 because, while they aren't "neutral", they are fairly easy to dial in a good sound. For Marshall type amps, it might be better to start off with cab 41, the 1960B-V30 which is going to be pretty close to authentic. I think that if you stick to just a few cabs to start with, then you'll get used to what they sound like, and you can focus a little more on the character of the amp model.

A lot of the things I dial in first on an amp aren't entirely "tone" oriented anyways. Things that affect dynamics, like compression and sag, are a big deal to how the amp feels. And the cab doesn't matter as much for those things.
 
I check the wiki for amps and read about the cabs; also
electronpirate said:
Start with the wiki as a reference. There really is no shortcut. But, for example, take a Marshall amp (just ONE that you like), and see what other cabs have been used with it. Greenbacks/V30's, C80's, etc. Try all those and see what sounds 'right' to you. If you look further, you might find that the Allmans used EV's at some point in time.

But I'm afraid unless everyone starts hearing tone the same way, there is no 'source' of what will work for you. Auditioning cabs is painful, but there is really no way around a bit of grunt work to figure out what you like. The good news is that you'll use the knowledge going forward, and dialing in almost any amp/cab combo will be a snap later.

R
Click to expand...
I completely agree. This is really the only reference I have been able to find that is simple. I kind of wish a user somewhere would set up a web site like "the internet movie database" (imdb) but set it up for axe fx stuff. Users could rate and review presets and gear in relation to the axe fx; share block settings, amp/cab combos, and we might then have the benefit of other's experience.

The way the forum is set up currently I haven't found a way to search for these kinds of things, except more or less randomly.

Until then (or even an axechange section devoted to voting on just amp/dab combos), its the amp list on wiki.
 
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Hello fellow AxeFx people! Noobs and Pros alike!
Where is this "wiki" and "quick reference guide" of which I am seeing messages of?
i searched and have not found.
thanks.
 
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