Pretty dull and muddy... sure you can replicate it in the axe no problem.
It doesn't have a 'hi-def' sound, that's for sure. So it isn't ideal, but it's closer to what I'm wanting than anything I've been able to produce with the Axe. Inarguably, the speaker simulation in the Taboo is a large factor in this. Equivalently, I haven't delved much into IRs outside of the stock ones, just because it's such a chore, and I have no idea where to start except perhaps anything that's a 412.
I think this one is a little better, though. Very similar, as I think mainly the treble and presence are slightly different.
I'm hearing whole bunches of preamp distortion, not so much power amp distortion. Preamp distortion comes on fast, and it doesn't fade and evolve into other stuff as the note decays.
There's a good amount of fizz in that tone, but no notes are left to ring out in your clip, so you never hear the fizz move into the foreground. Keeping down the power amp distortion also helps with that.
Start with your favorite amp sim. Crank the gain like a madman, but keep the master down. Either use high damping, or disable the power amp portion altogether. Definitely play with the new Bright knob to find the spot that gets you closest. Try the Cut switch to see if that helps or hurts. Bass/Mid/Treble to taste.
I would call it a hiss; it's high-pitched and pretty fine in texture. Also it might depend on what you're listening through. My expensive studio monitors present such detail, and are so 'sterile', that any kind of gain tone bothers me on those.
The Taboo has no power amp simulation, so it's straight gain circuit. I have to go back and find out what in the Axe 'totally' removes power amp from the chain, as turning off Sag doesn't seem to do that. The other thing is that cranking the gain in a tube circuit affects the whole thing, whereas in the Taboo the 'tone stack' and all are separate/discrete. I think even the bands are 'non-interactive', unlike in the PEQ block.
Plus there's some kind of special gating element in the distortion circuit of the Taboo, called AGX, that reduces non-harmonic-related content. Something like that. And on that note, I haven't been able to set the gate, nor compressor, without affecting the tone in ways I don't want, especially the sustain...
Which brings in perhaps the main thing about tube designs, and which Cliff has remarked about, is that saturation (and hence harmonic distortion) fluxuates with input signal, which is where the fizz comes in that I don't like in the sustain and decay.
