Proper Preset Volume Adjusting?

ConnorGilks

Experienced
I hear a lot of talk about correct and incorrect ways to adjust the volume between your different presets to make sure they are the same volume (or different when desired), things like perceived volume versus actual volume and so on. So, what's the proper way to measure the output of my patches for when I play them live?
 
You can use a VU or dB meter, but reality is that clean presets cut better than overdriven/distorted... so I generally set a clean preset level (setting it to compare to a factory preset level) then match my other preset levels to the clean. OUTPUT goes into a mixer with a PFL that allows level measurement, and I adjust accordingly.

That doesn't make it perfect, so you may need to adjust EQ/levels at rehearsal to ensure you "fit" into the live mix.
 
You can use a VU or dB meter, but reality is that clean presets cut better than overdriven/distorted... so I generally set a clean preset level (setting it to compare to a factory preset level) then match my other preset levels to the clean. OUTPUT goes into a mixer with a PFL that allows level measurement, and I adjust accordingly.

That doesn't make it perfect, so you may need to adjust EQ/levels at rehearsal to ensure you "fit" into the live mix.

For those of us who don't have a mixer readily available, what would be the next best thing? Is a VU or db meter app on my phone sufficient? How much lower do you set your clean presets would you say? -5 db maybe?
 
IMHO you own ears are best, playing the patches at gig volume. Granted, not easy to do at home, but you can start a low volume to get them in the ballpark, then give them a quick blast at high volume to check.
 
i agree..

IMHO you own ears are best, playing the patches at gig volume. Granted, not easy to do at home, but you can start a low volume to get them in the ballpark, then give them a quick blast at high volume to check.

i Notice all the patches that i have stored, like HB, and the legacy patches, dont quite cut through and need abit more eq setting for them to cut through- i find when you have the volume right for songs at the beginning of the night night- change when more ppl are added in the room- thus again plays with your ears- but holy crap- i had a gig in th weekend, and i was so blown away with the axe fx 2, it has change the way i approch live sound now:)
 
You can simulate what happens in a live environment by adjusting the volumes while you're playing along to a recording. With the music going, it's a lot easier to hear which patches cut and which ones disappear.

John
 
This relates to perceived level and cutting through the mix. I'm finding that while I can use very distorted presets in recording, like a Diezel Ch4, when I play with my cover band, it just turns into noise that gets lost in the mix. On Working for the Weekend, I changed from the Diezel to a Plexi 100 Watt High, and now we can hear that little chord solo and the little G riff. The distorted leads seem to cut through the mix okay, but not on rhythm. I don't know if that helps you any, and I'd welcome others' insight on this. I love playing very high-gain, distorted presets, but over the past years, have just found them not working for me live. Maybe it's related to being in a two-guitar band.
 
I think its a matter of finding just the correct amount of gain for your rhythms versus your leads. To much gain will just kind of take away from the beauty of the crunch sound you get from each string while striking a chord. I am not sure if you know what I'm saying. I use to play with to much gain like using a real sustained solo type sound for all my rhythms. I would try backing it off to the point where your like there is not enough then just give it a touch.
 
I think its a matter of finding just the correct amount of gain for your rhythms versus your leads. To much gain will just kind of take away from the beauty of the crunch sound you get from each string while striking a chord. I am not sure if you know what I'm saying. I use to play with to much gain like using a real sustained solo type sound for all my rhythms. I would try backing it off to the point where your like there is not enough then just give it a touch.

Makes perfect sense. What's your best recommendation to do that, maybe use 2 amps, one enabled in scene 1 and 1 enabled in scene 2, the same amp, but with slightly different settings? I guess this is dependent on your specific setup, mine is scene 1 for rhythm with the output set to - 4, and scene 2 for lead with output at 0 + Drive + Delay. I guess you could also have 2 completely different amps, or you could just have one preset for rhythm and one for lead...
 
I would take advantage of the scenes for this for sure. You could do exactly what you said have one for your rhythm set up on scene 1 and then for scene two another option instead of increasing the gain on the amp you could engage a drive block set up just perfectly to get the extra boost you need. That is another way you could approach this. Also if you were going to use two different amps don't forget you can use the X/Y feature for setting up your amps in your scenes that way you wouldn't have to use two amp blocks.

Also on the drive effect I put mine in Parallel and set the mix to 100% and then I used the output to mix it in. I think this has helped me maintain the tone of the amp I am using. I was finding the Drive effect was changing the tone on me to much so I set it up this way. I really like it I can get just enough gain to get some good controlled feedback and my tone isn't really effected that much.
 
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I'll have to try the parallel thing, and maybe the X/Y. I read somebody's post that there was a delay or something switching with the X/Y option and haven't really used it, but no time like the present to try it.
 
X/Y works awesomely way better then if you were to change presets. I think you will really like it. I have all my presets set up using the X/Y feature for a lead amp and then I use a different amp for my clean tones. I use the same amp block and use the X/Y function to switch between them. Basically I have say a USA lead on X then when I go to scene 2 and I use the Y settings of the amp block for a clean tone. This works great.
 
Sounds great, I'll try this. I just played with the one I had 2 amps on, 1 amp on scene 1 and a 2nd amp on scene 2, and there was a hesitation and a noise when I switched from scene 1 to 2 with the MFC. It sounds like the right time to try X/Y !
 
So you have two amps set up in your effects chain? When you switched scenes you heard a slight hesitation. Let me know how it works out using the same amp block using x/y I'm hoping it works better for you. I would take the other amp block right out of the chain it will save on cpu usage to. Well just let me know how things work out I'm always trying to learn as much as I can about everything I can with the Axe someday I will be an Axepert.
 
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