My tone is too perfect?

Tom Morris

Tom Morris

Power User
Last night after playing one of our fans said my tone was too perfect, so much so that it sounded unrealistic. Only description I could get was it needs to sound shittier. Guess that's why he stood in front of my setup all night. Is there a shittier knob I'm missing somewhere in the amp block?

On another note I just now realized why I had my output cranked more than often. Had set output #1 to -10db when I was testing some gear earlier in the week and forgot to switch it back to +4.
 
I've heard that same statement from people trying to argue that analog amps are better and digital modeling sucks. That's what they say when they realize it sounds really good indeed 🤦‍♂️
 
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Ironically yesterday I plugged into a real amp (I hadn’t done that in years) and - I’m serious - it sounded very unrealistic! I guess I’m so used to the sound of ir’s / mic’d cabs that the amp in the room thing everybody’s after doesn’t do it for me anymore!
 
edo said:
Ironically yesterday I plugged into a real amp (I hadn’t done that in years) and - I’m serious - it sounded very unrealistic! I guess I’m so used to the sound of ir’s / mic’d cabs that the amp in the room thing everybody’s after doesn’t do it for me anymore!
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I have to agree here. I've pretty much always preferred the sound of a miced amp to that of it in the room. I simply hate playing through combo amps where the sound only hits my ankles...
 
guitarnerdswe said:
I have to agree here. I've pretty much always preferred the sound of a miced amp to that of it in the room. I simply hate playing through combo amps where the sound only hits my ankles...
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But playing thru a 4x12 where the sounds hits your ass provides an oomph that’s really inspiring.
I agree about combo amps. Its just a loud mess compared to my Xitone, which is FRFR.
 
It really is a weird thing to get used to hearing and playing high-quality modelers if you’ve spent most of your life playing in, running sound for, and listening to live bands!

It’s the same principle when switching to using in-ear monitors (from speakers). But once you start getting accustomed to it, the benefits are tremendous, and you start to prefer it!
 
It is possible to sound a little too polished and studio vs the raw and punchy tone that is more natural in a live setting. I deliberately avoid running compression after the amp for this reason. I also run basically 1 Cab/IR so it has a more raw, punchy sound. Ok, technically, I have 2: a main one and a "room" IR mixed super low to give it a little more of the "in the room" feel. Gain Enhancer also helps a bit.
 
Tom Morris said:
Last night after playing one of our fans said my tone was too perfect, so much so that it sounded unrealistic. Only description I could get was it needs to sound shittier. Guess that's why he stood in front of my setup all night. Is there a shittier knob I'm missing somewhere in the amp block?

On another note I just now realized why I had my output cranked more than often. Had set output #1 to -10db when I was testing some gear earlier in the week and forgot to switch it back to +4.
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He’s just angry that he’s still chasing tone, and you don’t need to, regardless of whether he saw or didn’t see glowing tubes
 
I've only been playing the A3 for a few months. After learning the system and getting it close to "my" tone, I couldn't help but think the same thing - its almost too good. I just didn't breath like a tube amp does and it was too crisp around the edges. It didn't bloom on an open G chord, ya know?
I play high gain tones for reference.

I started working with parms on tabs other than the ideal preamp tab. The ones I've had good results with are the sag, hardness, and harmonics parameters. They make it sound it more realistic to my ear.

I've also recently found the depth frequency parm (default was 250hz). I adjusted it down to around 85-90hz and then increased the Depth parm on the ideal tab. This added a more 3D sound.

This stuff may be common knowledge for the power users, but it made a big difference in my Brown type, high gain tones. I've listened to a LOT of recordings on this forum and Youtube and I must agree with the "too good" comment. Very, very few recordings have that "can't tell the difference" tone. But, it's in there!
 
chrisxs2003 said:
I've only been playing the A3 for a few months. After learning the system and getting it close to "my" tone, I couldn't help but think the same thing - its almost too good. I just didn't breath like a tube amp does and it was too crisp around the edges. It didn't bloom on an open G chord, ya know?
I play high gain tones for reference.

I started working with parms on tabs other than the ideal preamp tab. The ones I've had good results with are the sag, hardness, and harmonics parameters. They make it sound it more realistic to my ear.

I've also recently found the depth frequency parm (default was 250hz). I adjusted it down to around 85-90hz and then increased the Depth parm on the ideal tab. This added a more 3D sound.

This stuff may be common knowledge for the power users, but it made a big difference in my Brown type, high gain tones. I've listened to a LOT of recordings on this forum and Youtube and I must agree with the "too good" comment. Very, very few recordings have that "can't tell the difference" tone. But, it's in there!
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Are you comparing them through the same speakers?

Record your real amp and the Axe-FX tone using the same amp with the same settings (without touching advanced settings). Compare both recordings. Do you still notice that the Axe-FX is "too good" and the real amp is not "too good"?
 
There is something to be said about having a crappy tone.
I remember once feeling really disgusted with my tone and playing. This guy comes up to me after and was like "wow man, so rock and roll!"
I think we all want good tone... but after that and similar experiences, I worry less about the tone I feel stuck with, and try to focus more on how to make whatever it is work. Sometimes it is that imperfection and tension that makes it interesting.
Maybe twist some knobs and try for something more raw next time?
 
Casper said:
There is something to be said about having a crappy tone.
I remember once feeling really disgusted with my tone and playing. This guy comes up to me after and was like "wow man, so rock and roll!"
I think we all want good tone... but after that and similar experiences, I worry less about the tone I feel stuck with, and try to focus more on how to make whatever it is work. Sometimes it is that imperfection and tension that makes it interesting.
Maybe twist some knobs and try for something more raw next time?
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Exactly. The knobs are there to get whatever you want.

For many years I've been a freak of cloning Gilmour tones. Now that my ear is more refined and I can dial tones that are free from raw and nasty frequencies (perfect for my personal taste), I listen back to some Gilmour tones and I think: That is crap! I would tweak this or that to get it right!

I have arrived to a point where I prefer my own tones, free from filth. Only few recordings of famous guitarist can achieve my current level of expectations :cool:

Another way to read that is: I am too old for these nasty and raw distortions :D
 
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