Sweet Soaring Lead Sound Needed

C

cyn

Member
Hi folks, I'm having trouble balancing delay and reverb to get a soaring "Gilmour-like" lead sound (not into metal). I just can't seem to get the delay long enough--it seems to cut off too short no matter how I tweak it. It is possible that my delay and reverb isn't meshing well--not sure. Anyway, I'm not interested in posting sound clips--just looking for anyone who can share a really sweet combination that they have made for a long, singing delay. Thanks!!
 
yes, post the preset. what you're saying actually makes no sense. if there aren't enough delay repeats, then simply raise the feedback level. problem solved. unless you're using crazy short delay times less than 100ms.
 
Hi cyn,
Is it possible your delay is set to follow the tempo rather than the time?
Thanks
Pauly

cyn said:
Hi folks, I'm having trouble balancing delay and reverb to get a soaring "Gilmour-like" lead sound (not into metal). I just can't seem to get the delay long enough--it seems to cut off too short no matter how I tweak it. It is possible that my delay and reverb isn't meshing well--not sure. Anyway, I'm not interested in posting sound clips--just looking for anyone who can share a really sweet combination that they have made for a long, singing delay. Thanks!!
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simeon said:
yes, post the preset. what you're saying actually makes no sense. if there aren't enough delay repeats, then simply raise the feedback level. problem solved. unless you're using crazy short delay times less than 100ms.
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I will try this, thx!
 
pauly said:
Hi cyn,
Is it possible your delay is set to follow the tempo rather than the time?
Thanks
Pauly
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Hmmm, I'm not sure I know what you mean--where in the menu do I look to find this out? I'm really new to the Axe technology.
 
cyn said:
Thank you for your reply--I may do this in the future.
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Until you do, there’s not much help we can give you. “Soaring” means different things to different people, and it means a lot more than just Delay and reverb. You say you can’t get the Delay long enough, but the delay can be set to many times longer than anything Mr. Gilmour uses. We don’t know what kind of delay and reverb you want. And without seeing your preset, we don’t know how your current preset falls short of that.

P.S.: if you’re looking for some combination of delay and reverb that will make your leads soar, there ain’t no such animal.
 
Before the AX8, I had a Johnson Millenium. The soaring leads were easy to get--but, the AX8 is much more complicated. By soaring, I mean leads were one note sings out for a long period of time--basically as long as you want it to. I realize that a good guitar player is needed for soaring leads, but, the fact that I was able to do this on the Johnson rules out the "guitarist" factor. I could load a preset, but I was just seeing if anyone out there had a preset that fit the description that they were willing to share. How do you set the delay for a really long period of time? I get confused with feedback, repeats, ratio, and all the other lingo. I know there are many other blocks to consider, but the sound I am getting now doesn't suck--it just needs to be longer. After fooling around with the other blocks, I have narrowed the issue down to delay and/or reverb (with delay being the key suspect). I am basically using a Friedman through Celestions for my base sound. It would help if I knew the technology behind it all--but I don't. I twist knobs and am like "Oh, that sounds better, or Oh, that sucks more." Not ideal, but that's where I'm at. Thanks for the response, I appreciate it.
 
cyn said:
By soaring, I mean leads were one note sings out for a long period of time--basically as long as you want it to.
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Ah. Now we're getting somewhere (your definition of "soaring" is different from other people's definitions, which is par for the course).


There's only one way to make a note ring out for as long as you want it to: volume. The sound has to be loud enough that it makes your guitar strings continue to ring out. Gain and compression can encourage this to happen, but if the volume isn't there, it just won't happen. Delay and reverb have essentially no effect on this. That's why you haven't found the magical combination of reverb and delay to make it work. ;)
 
But, I was able to achieve this on the Millenium at normal small venue gig level. The delay was generally at 350 to 400 MS with "wood room" reverb. But, unfortunately, I never really studied the preset in depth, and I sold the Millenium years ago. When I put the AX8 on at anywhere from 350 to 500 ms with warm reverb, I do not get the same sound as the Millenium. The guitar doesn't "sing" I feel like I am fighting it to delay longer. The Millenium was like butter. But, it was a dinosaur so I sold it figuring it was only a matter of time before it broke and I couldn't find parts for it. The Fractal stuff was so celebrated that I figured I could get that same tone, no problem. But sadly, I can't seem to nail it down. I think it can do it--but I need to find the right combination of parameters. You mentioned compression--that actually could be the problem as well...I really do need to post the preset, but, lord I hate connecting and uploading computer stuff!
 
cyn said:
But, I was able to achieve this on the Millenium at normal small venue gig level.
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There's another one of those phrases that means different things to different people. One person's "normal small venue gig level" is another person's "normal large venue gig level," another person's "screaming loud level, and another person's "way too quiet level."



cyn said:
The delay was generally at 350 to 400 MS with "wood room" reverb...When I put the AX8 on at anywhere from 350 to 500 ms with warm reverb, I do not get the same sound as the Millenium.
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That's because reverb and delay have nothing to do with it. They're just effects. The Amp model you choose — and how you dial it in — make a much bigger difference.


cyn said:
The guitar doesn't "sing" I feel like I am fighting it to delay longer.
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Then turn it up, or add gain, or add compression, or place yourself closer to the speaker. There's the "magic combination."
 
Rex said:
There's another one of those phrases that means different things to different people. One person's "normal small venue gig level" is another person's "normal large venue gig level," another person's "screaming loud level, and another person's "way too quiet level."




That's because reverb and delay have nothing to do with it. They're just effects. The Amp model you choose — and how you dial it in — make a much bigger difference.



Then turn it up, or add gain, or add compression, or place yourself closer to the speaker. There's the "magic combination."
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I don't play especially loud--so volume isn't the thing--I have a little vox amp that will "sing" at bedroom level. That's why it is so frustrating with the AX8--a 50 dollar little 20 watt Vox and I can't get this thousand dollar piece of equipment to sing, sheesh!! Does anyone out there have a long delay/sustain sound nailed already that they can share? I wish I could figure out what I am doing wrong. Thanks everyone for all the advice. Every bit helps piece the puzzle together or gives me other ideas to examine.
 
Assuming the AX8 is similar to the Axe Fx, go into the Input Block and turn down (or off) the Noise Gate threshold.

Also, trying adding a Compressor at the beginning of the chain.
 
cyn said:
I don't play especially loud--so volume isn't the thing--I have a little vox amp that will "sing" at bedroom level. That's why it is so frustrating with the AX8--a 50 dollar little 20 watt Vox and I can't get this thousand dollar piece of equipment to sing, sheesh!!
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That's acoustic feedback doing that. It's a combination of volume, gain, compression, and proximity of your guitar to the speaker.


cyn said:
Does anyone out there have a long delay/sustain sound nailed already that they can share?
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Most of the factory presets will sustain indefinitely, if they're turned up loud enough and the guitar is close enough.


Seriously, we don't know what you've got dialed in, we don't know what you're playing through...we have no idea how to change your preset, because we don't know what your preset looks like. "Help! My soup doesn't taste right! What should I do to it?" Until we taste your soup, we have no idea.
 
i suspect it's just user error at play here. if you don't know the difference between "feedback" and any of the other parameters in the delay block, it makes me wonder what's going on elsewhere in the preset. the only way to narrow it down is to post the one you're working on. are there any of the factory presets that come close?
if someone posts a preset here for you to try, will you be able to download it and import it into your AX8?
 
simeon said:
i suspect it's just user error at play here. if you don't know the difference between "feedback" and any of the other parameters in the delay block, it makes me wonder what's going on elsewhere in the preset. the only way to narrow it down is to post the one you're working on. are there any of the factory presets that come close?
if someone posts a preset here for you to try, will you be able to download it and import it into your AX8?
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Yes, and that is exactly what I am looking for. Then, I can examine the parameters and learn. There is nothing in the factory presets that grabs me.
 
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