John Nathon Cordy preset purchase.

[Paulzx]

One thing that was an eye opener for me was I had a guitar playing coworker over and plugged him into my FM3/F12 cab setup. Not playing and just listening my presets sounded different and he was playing my guitar too.

Interesting but you're going down the 'tone is in the fingers' rabbit hole, which we all know is partially true to an extent, in technique and expression, but not technically when you boil it down to just playing a couple of standard chords, which is what most people are talking about when comparing presets with how they sounded somewhere else.

What you tend to notice with paid presets is, the fundamental difference in the sound of the basic tone whether it's dark, or mids heavy etc. I don't like it when presets are demoed in a full mix either. It's mis-leading. These guys should just demo the direct tone with nothing else in there, otherwise your impression of what the tone sounds like will already be different from what it sounds like in isolation.

Probably the last preset i purchased was a lovely high mids typical 80's rock tone for the Helix, that just sounded amazing in the demo, but of course it was a full band mix so it sat perfectly. When I tried it at home (without his mix) it was shit. It sounded horrible and shrill. For all I know it might have sounded epic in a band mix again. So that went in the bin and I never bought another one.

I started just taking the ideas of these guys and using the amp models but just dialling all the other stuff around it to suit my surroundings. I usually know in 5 mins now whether a certain amp model is going to work for me or not, regardless of how the guys demo sounded.

 

[Geordielad]

 

[skolacki]

Interesting but you're going down the 'tone is in the fingers' rabbit hole, which we all know is partially true to an extent, in technique and expression, but not technically when you boil it down to just playing a couple of standard chords, which is what most people are talking about when comparing presets with how they sounded somewhere else.

What you tend to notice with paid presets is, the fundamental difference in the sound of the basic tone whether it's dark, or mids heavy etc. I don't like it when presets are demoed in a full mix either. It's mis-leading. These guys should just demo the direct tone with nothing else in there, otherwise your impression of what the tone sounds like will already be different from what it sounds like in isolation.

Probably the last preset i purchased was a lovely high mids typical 80's rock tone for the Helix, that just sounded amazing in the demo, but of course it was a full band mix so it sat perfectly. When I tried it at home (without his mix) it was shit. It sounded horrible and shrill. For all I know it might have sounded epic in a band mix again. So that went in the bin and I never bought another one.

I started just taking the ideas of these guys and using the amp models but just dialling all the other stuff around it to suit my surroundings. I usually know in 5 mins now whether a certain amp model is going to work for me or not, regardless of how the guys demo sounded.

Not really going into the tone is in the fingers rabbit hole. But the player does have a huge effect on tone. When my coworker was playing through my rig, I think I heard it in a way that I don’t when I’m playing it myself. Not sure how that can be real. But that was my perception.

 

[Bungholio]

I like JNC's videos. Sometimes he does things in his videos that I'd never think of. He recently put out an Eric Steckel inspired video in which he dials in some presets on Soldano models. Cranks the bass, mids, depth, and master volume! I would have never thought to do that but it sounded great! Definitely gave me some new ideas.

 

[DC11GTR]

Sometimes he does things in his videos that I'd never think of.

That’s my main thing for vids like his. I’d never expect to get the same tone, I’d end up tweaking the hell out of it anyway, but being shown some of the things I’d never heard of or didn’t know about is always great. Even things as simple as drive pedals I’d have never considered. The Griddle? What the hell is that? Now I use it all the time lol

 

[Aivoryuk]

I have been critical of JNC in the past due to the fact that he will make videos without understanding the subject he is talking about. He is a good player and the video he did recently regarding legato playing was really helpful.

 

[sprint]

but he's quite schizofrenic, every day he makes a video where he contradicts what he said the previous day..

I have been critical of JNC in the past due to the fact that he will make videos without understanding the subject he is talking about.

I think you guys miss the point: he does vids as ideas come to mind - his audiance discovers a subject with him, and, since he thinks quite logically, his vids can be quite informative as he makes his way thru a discovery or just expresses thoughts on whatever the subject is. The vids aren't supposed to be canned difinitive answers as far as I can tell, which I find quite refreshing amid so many BS youtubers claiming to definitely know what they are talking about when often, it turns out they don't.

I don't do others' presets much except to learn a new tweaking technique since I won't sound the same due to hands and guitar (not a rabbit hole, just a simple truth), and I think learning to dial in one's own is waaaay more efficient in the long run than running around trying to find and adapt canned presets, but I would consider taking a video lesson from him if that's possible, given what I percieve as an ideal communicative style for teaching guitar.

 

[Piing]

His presets are a mess and a waste of time. No organization. Furthermore, they are labeled as for FM3, but many are not. After wasting a lot of time, none of them has been useful to me.

I bought them because I liked the tone of one of his demos, but I couldn't find that particular preset. I asked the name of the preset, but he never replied.

I was going to write a negative review a while ago, but I didn't do it because the price is like a "a coffee and a cake". Now I take this opportunity to vent my frustration with his presets.

 

[Aivoryuk]

I think you guys miss the point: he does vids as ideas come to mind - his audiance discovers a subject with him, and, since he thinks quite logically, his vids can be quite informative as he makes his way thru a discovery or just expresses thoughts on whatever the subject is. The vids aren't supposed to be canned difinitive answers as far as I can tell, which I find quite refreshing amid so many BS youtubers claiming to definitely know what they are talking about when often, it turns out they don't.

each to their own I guess - I would say it is more content for the sake of content - which of course would be probably be a revenue stream for him so I can understand why he does it.

 

[Paulzx]

Not really going into the tone is in the fingers rabbit hole. But the player does have a huge effect on tone. When my coworker was playing through my rig, I think I heard it in a way that I don’t when I’m playing it myself. Not sure how that can be real. But that was my perception.

It's an interesting point.. do we perceive the same tone differently just because its somebody else playing it, because we're listening differently?

You do realise that if this is true, we really have no chance of ever matching somebody else's tone

 

[skolacki]

It's an interesting point.. do we perceive the same tone differently just because its somebody else playing it, because we're listening differently?

You do realise that if this is true, we really have no chance of ever matching somebody else's tone

Lol maybe your right.

 

[sambrox]

His presets are a mess and a waste of time. No organization. Furthermore, they are labeled as for FM3, but many are not. After wasting a lot of time, none of them has been useful to me.

I bought them because I liked the tone of one of his demos, but I couldn't find that particular preset. I asked the name of the preset, but he never replied.

I was going to write a negative review a while ago, but I didn't do it because the price is like a "a coffee and a cake". Now I take this opportunity to vent my frustration with his presets.

John’s a lovely bloke and extremely helpful. I’m sure he didn’t see your message. Hit him up on Messenger

 

[Dixiethedog]

Phew... I think that it is great that as much as we all love our guitars and Fractal units that we can have such a diverse amount of opinions, which I fully understand. If we were all the same the World would be a boring place. I like red, you may like blue but I can still appreciate that you will have things in common with me or somebody else somewhere down the line.

I have had a couple of days' break from here as I have been away for a family funeral. We stayed in a nice hotel with a very nice restaurant. So to go back to where this all started where I thought buying a complete folder of presets for £6 was a good deal I still stand by that. A bowl of soup in the hotel was £10. LOL Two cups of tea and one cup of coffee came to £15. I spent enough money there to cause me even more grey hairs. Hundreds...
I am now going to plug my guitar in and have a run through of JNC's presets. If I like them, great, if I don't it won't be a problem. But for me, studying how somebody with more experience puts a preset together and learning from it is priceless.

Anyway, wish me luck, my Les Paul is tuned up and I am ready to make some noise.

Stay cool, folks, it is all good fun that we should all be having. And I love you all.

 

[pvdmac]

JNC is a fantastic guitar player. His pre-sets are are also fantastic….do I sound like him when I play one of his pre-sets…No….but….I already know I won’t sound like him prior to me buying his pre-sets….nobody will…and more fool anyone trying to sound like someone just by buying their pre-sets…that’s just fantasy….I enjoy JNC’s YT content…as I do many other channels…I probably spend far too much of my time watching Guitar related YT content…as do many of the folk on this forum…Let’s just Keep On Keeping On…