New user wanting some patch help from the veterans

R

reused

Member
Im a pretty new user, had the ultra for a week or so now.
Up until now I've mainly been flicking through the presets, reading the manual, having a bit of a go at tweaking here and there and going through some of the uploaded patches on the axe exchange.
I've managed to get some really nice sounds, especially a couple of higher gain sounds and crunchy marshall kind of sounds but i've so far failed to achieve any kind of warm Fender(ish) clean or dirty sound (ala wacking a tube screamer in front).

I've searched the forum and it seems there is quite a bit of debate about achieving fender sounds especially regarding the classic chimey edge to them.
Now, im not expecting a dead on replica sound and im not expecting there to be this perfect chimeyness, in fact Im just after something that sounds real sweet, dont really care if its not 100% authentic. But im aiming for the fender amp kind of ball park.
If i have to give an example im thinking sort of Stevie Ray Vaughan kind of sound, from the nice clear cleans through to some smooth breakup getting abit dirty and hairy to full on pushing the amp hard to get a warm lead sound.
Pretty much your typical fender amp + tube screamer combo.

Obviously, this was the first combo I put together to try and achieve this sound but, as this is all so new and complicated to me I'm getting a little frustrated and I would really, really, really appreciate it if anyone could either send me a couple of patches or give me some hints and advice to give me a good solid starting point to try and achieve this sound.
 
I'm a relative noob myself, but I've had pretty good luck building clean-ish patches around the MAZ 38 amp block. I have one now that runs it into stereo cabs (2x12 Gold + R121 mic & 2x12 Boutique + U87 mic). To my ears, it is warm and organic sounding. I have the master fairly high on the MAZ and I turned up the warmth a bit. But just fool around with it -- it's tons o' fun. Of course, a lot of it will depend on what you're running these patches through. Mine goes through an FRFR system that is a bit harsh in the highs, so I have the amp set extra warm to compensate.

Have fun.
 
reused said:
I would really, really, really appreciate it if anyone could either send me a couple of patches or give me some hints and advice to give me a good solid starting point to try and achieve this sound.
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It would help if you shared some information about your amplification system and guitar. Without that information, nobody will be able to help.
 
Just build a patch from scratch with the brownface model and tell us what you're missing. My tweaking for clean tones has revealed that the brownface rules for tubey cleans than can get dirty if pushed. USA Clean rules for high headroom spanky cleans.
 
I running straight out of the balanced output of the ultra into monitors so currently using the cab sims.
Using my strat to try and get the sound im after, 3 single coils, mainly neck and neck-middle pup combos.
Do you need any more info?
 
reused said:
I running straight out of the balanced output of the ultra into monitors
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What kind of monitors? Recording monitors or floor wedges? How do the monitors sound with a CD that you know extremely well?
 
yah, what monitors are you using? 12" yamaha BR12s? Powered Eon 15"??? 4" Studio Monitors... all these can affect the sound, the same way a guitar cab can affect the sound.
 
+1 on the brownface. To warm it up, try a TS808 with high level and low drive before the amp. Add the pedal compressor in if you want a bit more punch.
 
reused said:
Im using a pair of Yamaha HS80M.
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Well, it could be a lot worse. The first task is to make sure that you're actually hearing what the Axe-Fx is putting out. How do you like the sound of the Yamahas with a CD? You didn't answer that. If you find them too agressive (not an uncommon remark from reviewers of these speakers), then you should try to tame that via outboard EQ of some sort before using them to tweak your Axe-Fx.

Next, you need to make absolutely certain that the output of the Axe-Fx is not clipping the inputs of the monitor amps. There is no clip indicator on the Yamahas, so you just need to be sure to keep the output of the Axe-Fx relatively low and listen carefully for any evidence of clipping.

Now, completely blank a preset and insert a row of 12 shunts going from left to right. When you're done, play through the Axe-Fx. It should pass signal, and the sound should be clean and neutral. Now, insert an amp block and a cab block. You'll probably want to start with a Fender sim. I tend to favor the Tweed and the Blues (Bassman) sims, but there's nothing magic about any of them. Set Drive relatively low, Master Volume to something around 9, and tweak the tone controls to get the tonal balance you're looking for. If the feel is too hard, try increasing the Sag parameter. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Before you go too far with tweaking tone parameters in the amp, you might want to surf the cab sims. The difference they make is huge, and it can't hurt to get into the ballpark you're looking for with speaker sound before you spend a lot of time tweaking the amp.

So far, your sound needs to be squeaky-clean. Once you've got a tonal balance and feel that works with a clean sound, begin gradually increasing the drive parameter. As you begin to hear distortion, pay close attention to its character. If it sounds too wooly, reduce the bass control setting. Don't worry if you end up turning it all the way down. Use your ears, not your eyes, to adjust. In some cases, you may have to dial back some mids as well. If you dial out all the bass and still have too much wool, it's time to go to the advanced parameters page and start increasing the Lo Cut frequency. Don't be bashful. Keep turning it up until you get rid of all the excess wool. If you want a little more edge, try turning up the treble. If it then gets too bright, sometimes backing off the presence control will tame that.

The point here is to pick an amp sim and a cab sim and spend some time methodically tweaking the amp controls. Only you know what kind of sound and feel you're looking for, and only you can find that. If you operate methodically, you can reverse nonproductive tweaks and back yourself out of any blind alleys you may have entered.
 
Thanks for all the advice, it really helps.
Iv managed to get a sound that i am much happier with however, im finding that it still sounds "weak" if you know what i mean, its lacking a certain smoothness and umph just seems to sound a bit feable. Iv tweaked a few bits and pieces but Im struggling.
Anyone got any magic ideas to try and improve this?
 
reused said:
im finding that it still sounds "weak" if you know what i mean,
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Nope, don't know what you mean. Try to describe what you're hearing and what you would like to hear a bit more articulately. "Weak" can mean too little volume, too little bass, too little midrange, too little/too much distortion, etc., etc....

Anyone got any magic ideas to try and improve this?
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There is no single secret tweak that will magically make the sounds that you want to hear. The only way to make what you hear match what you want to hear is a methodical, one-step-at-a-time effort towards that goal.
 
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