Share Your Favorite Tips for an SS Power Amp w/ Real Cab Setup

I use a Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170 with a Mesa 2x12 vertical slant cab and am still learning to tweak my setup and make it better. Until recently, I didn't take a lot of time to learn from the manual (my bad, but I'm doing it more and more everyday and encourage other newbs to do the same) but instead just turned knobs until I found something that works to my liking. With some research and then thanks to Cooper Carter's work on the subject, I found that I could vastly improve my Mesa cab's sound/feel just by adjusting LF Res Freq on the Speaker tab.

For those with a setup like mine, please share your favorite tips for making yours sound and feel better. With my slight adjustment,I can definitely feel the cab "kicking" me in the chest a bit more. Thanks in advance
 
I have found that the speaker compression parameter made a big difference in the overall feel of the preset especially when playing through a power amp and cab. My brain was expecting to get a more compressed feel as I turned up the output volume (not the master volume) like you do on a tube amp, but with the Axe-Fx the tone is totally the same unless you are reaching the limits of your speakers (and I don't play at those kinds of volume).

Also, the output EQ is a very powerful shaping tool and is intuitive to use.
 
I have found that the speaker compression parameter made a big difference in the overall feel of the preset especially when playing through a power amp and cab. My brain was expecting to get a more compressed feel as I turned up the output volume (not the master volume) like you do on a tube amp, but with the Axe-Fx the tone is totally the same unless you are reaching the limits of your speakers (and I don't play at those kinds of volume).

Also, the output EQ is a very powerful shaping tool and is intuitive to use.

I almost always use the output EQ but haven't played with the speaker compression parameter yet.
 
Volume...just like a real amp/cab, there is a threshold and right there or above it starts sounding good where as with frfr you can get satisfying results at lower levels (IMHO, though the level difference for a good tone/feel between the two senarious is not that huge)

If you want the authenticity of your cab with that particular amp, yes speaker page is key. But you might get surprisingly good results with different setting/presets under speaker tab.
 
What are these speaker tab magic settings? I am trying to get this to work using a SS power amp and 212 cabinet. I have the cab sim off (although I sure would like to have output 1 with cab to FOH and output 2 without the cab to the real cabinet). I have the output set to SS&cab and been playing with speaker compression but some guidance on this would be appreciated because it sounds like....well, bad. I'm all ears but since I use both FR and cab I'd like to do the minimal amount of changes in the amp block so if I need to switch to FRFR I can easily do it. If it becomes to complex then I will just stick with the current FRFR setup as I have been using. Any advice would be appreciated. (Speakers are 12H75 and 12M65).
 
You can move the cab block so that it is only in the route to Out 1 for FRFR, while Out 2 goes to your amp + 212 cab. See page 27 in the user's manual (section title: Power Amp & Cab + FRFR/Direct) and note that the cab block needs to be setup for stereo if you have stereo effects.
 
Speaker compression was the parameter that made a big difference for me turning up a real cabinet on stage. Feels more amp like at higher SPL.

I do have to clarify that I use a pair of stacked 1x12 forte style 3D cabinets sold by Avatar. I ended up pulling the guitar style speakers and installing a pair of Celestion F12-X200 FR speakers. I can use IRs and do extra shaping with the Output-2 EQ to fit the venue.

I no longer spend time chasing live tone and feel.
 
You can move the cab block so that it is only in the route to Out 1 for FRFR, while Out 2 goes to your amp + 212 cab. See page 27 in the user's manual (section title: Power Amp & Cab + FRFR/Direct) and note that the cab block needs to be setup for stereo if you have stereo effects.

I will re-setup a preset with the cab after the effects. I had tried it with the cab after the amp but before the effects with output 2 missing the effects however I didn't know how important the FRFR output versus SS/Cab which is in the amp block would be. I will see what I can do with the cab after the effects and output 2 coming off before the cabinet.
 
Tune the impedance curve to your cab and set it the same on every amp model.

I have to set it based on the IR cab to optimize the FOH/FRFR response and sound. Since the cab curve is in the amp block I don't have another choice that I know of. I am going to increase the output 2 volume so it is pushing the SS more so even at lower volumes and see if that helps.
 
Set output 2 to +12db and it makes it a lot closer. Comparing to a tube amp through a cabinet and its more like it should be. Still adjusting minors, but almost to he point of plug and play.
 
Every time I’m unhappy with my sound through a real cab, I usually come back to taming the high end and any spikiness. I’ve had success simply turning down the treble knob more than I would think, or making more advanced cuts in the HF Resonance or Output EQ areas. Adding a GEQ or PEQ with cuts to the highs also works.
 
Every time I’m unhappy with my sound through a real cab, I usually come back to taming the high end and any spikiness. I’ve had success simply turning down the treble knob more than I would think, or making more advanced cuts in the HF Resonance or Output EQ areas. Adding a GEQ or PEQ with cuts to the highs also works.

100%! A treble tweak does the job a lot of the time
 
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