Pultec, Echoplex tape and other gear in IR Player blocks ?

danielworks

danielworks

Inspired
Do you guys know any other equipment that can be emulated on IR player block like these?

Pultec EQ
Echoplex Tape

(they can be found in the cab section of Axe-change directory)
 
I’ve tone matched acoustic guitars, violins, cello, organs, and Rhodes pianos - then converted the tone match to irs. Also tone matched pickups.

This is just the eq match of the equipment you mentioned, not actually an emulation of that device
 
IRs only capture a frequency response and not the non-linear behavior or the interaction between the instrument and the device so it acts more like a filter than the actual device. So the pleasing transformer sounds and clipping will not be captured.
 
What we need is a Pultec amp model that can then be paired with a P style eq block. Been asked for before.
 
Having an IR pack of a Pultec eq is kind of unwieldy.

Do you realize how many permutations of the controls you would need to capture if you don't have one set up in your posession with your settings already dialed in?

That's a lot of IR files to go through and would make cab pack single mic file browsing seem rather streamlined.
 
dr bonkers said:
Having an IR pack of a Pultec eq is kind of unwieldy.

Do you realize how many permutations of the controls you would need to capture if you don't have one set up in your posession with your settings already dialed in?

That's a lot of IR files to go through and would make cab pack single mic file browsing seem rather streamlined.
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I know ...
for example the Echoplex Tape IR gives some cool sound coloration, like that "accidental" things that just gives cool sounds
 
danielworks said:
I know ...
for example the Echoplex Tape IR gives some cool sound coloration, like that "accidental" things that just gives cool sounds
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The difference though is that the Echoplex tape echo preamp has no user variable frequency cuts or boosts.

The inherent problem with capturing IR files of mic preamps and EQ units is the gain controls necessitate lots of files to capture the tonal variations.

For eq and mic pre units that are famous for non-linearities, distortion, or for some claimants' perception, subtle compression, an IR file just doesn't capture those things well or dynamically.

Just wanted to give you some insight as to why those stand alone files are not offered by a variety of the usual IR producers.
 
dr bonkers said:
The inherent problem with capturing IR files of mic preamps and EQ units is the gain controls necessitate lots of files to capture the tonal variations.
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And that's also the failing with profiling. Unless they capture every combination of controls and input levels and the reaction of the amp to its speaker, they're not going to be accurate in those in-between settings. And heaven forbid you toss in a guitar with pickups that aren't as strong as the input signal when they profiled it… or are stronger….

Similarly, trying to capture an IR of something like a rotary speaker…, if you don't have a sample of every part of the rotation of the horn and drum, it's only accurate each time the horn and drum synchronize in their original starting spots. Those in-between spots might be good, but good enough?
 
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The Pultec IR I posted on Axechange is setup based on the classic Pultec "low end trick".

I shot some IR's of my SA Zio at the same time I did that one. They're attached here. It's been mentioned before but obviously these only capture the frequency response, which is only half the story with those units.
 

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New to the Axe Fx forum, but I don't think this is a thread hijack, let me know if I'm out of line here, and I'll start a new one. I built a 150W SSS (2 actually) to try to copy SRV's amp for a friend of mine that has an SRV tribute band. I also built the Dumble style 4x12 cab and loaded it with EVM12L's. I really think I got it right (or close enough, just judging with my ears, no way to make that claim 100%), after about 3 years of finding every scrap of info I could get my hands on, reading the entire internet (only half joking), and about 10 iterations of tweaks. The setup sounds very authentic to me (sorry, I know I'm not being very humble here) but it is absolutely unbearably loud, (for it to sound its best). I mean hearing damaging in minutes, or seconds, loud. It doesn't really break up and is pretty much dead clean. What I mean is the harmonic richness of the tone is there (unbelievable feedback on clean notes/chords, if you want it), but there's not really any/much overdrive happening. The low end is something I've never heard before, and I would love to have even a small percentage of that tone in my new Axe Fx III.

So, because I just got the AXE FX III, I started thinking the same thing as the OP, why don't I find the sweet spot of the head and cab together, and make an IR and see how it sounds. I have all of the gear, Suhr Reactive load (the SSS has a half power switch that won't kill the load, and doesn't affect the tone when the Master of the amp is cranked so we actually run it at 75W most of the time), a Crown Microtech power amp, an SM57 (and an old White/grey MD-421, -N, I think?), and an AXE IO audio interface to act as the mic preamp, along with the Lindell Neve preamp plugin.

I understand that it's not the same as an amp model (would love to talk to Cliff/team to see if it's even a remote possibility), but do you guys think it would be close enough that some massaging with EQ or a Drive pedal, etc, would make it worth doing (I'll probably do it anyway, just for kicks, and to see if I learn anything). Any comments/tips? I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people, some of who've probably already tried this and know pro's and con's to save me some time.

Oh, and sorry for the long post. It's just my second, the first one was was short, I promise, lol!
 
Thanks Leon, I'm pretty much 100% new to the Axe Fx (got it last week, heard a clip and that was all it took - don't know how I didn't realize earlier how good this thing is) so it's taking a while to dig in and figure out the full capabilities of this unit. I realized late last night that I should tone match the head and just do an IR capture of the cab. And yes, that preset should be a great start for the tone match, I already have it set up. It's fantastic but the 150W SSS is HUGE sounding. I should have figured that out before I posted but the AFX has my head swimming with how much it can do and I kind of turned it into rocket science when the simple solution was probably right in front of me.

I'll hopefully be making a trip to see my friend within the next month. If I can tonematch this head and get good IR's of that cab it will be amazing. I'll practice tonematching and IR capturing on my amps and cabs in the meantime to get the process down.

Darrin
 
Have you tried a 4cm setup with the Axe and using the power section of your amp? Might be worth trying and will maybe help you understand how much of the mojo is in the power section vs preamp.
 
Tahoebrian5 said:
Have you tried a 4cm setup with the Axe and using the power section of your amp? Might be worth trying and will maybe help you understand how much of the mojo is in the power section vs preamp.
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Not yet, just got the Axe last week. I'd need a Dumbleator, as the Preamp Out/Power Amp In levels aren't suitable for regular line level gear. My friend who owns the amp used to have one but sold it. Something to keep in mind, though. Great idea.
 
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