To 'Fatten' or add 'girth' to your preset?

cragginshred

cragginshred

Fractal Fanatic
For lack of better description my lower gain Marshall hard rock tones can get 'thin' sounding when not in my studio that has a lot of reverb killing foam. So,.. do you go to Bass or depth or both or other to bring back some thickness to the tone or other?

Key for me is not killing the mids that cut in the mx in the process.
 
cragginshred said:
For lack of better description my lower gain Marshall hard rock tones can get 'thin' sounding when not in my studio that has a lot of reverb killing foam. So,.. do you go to Bass or depth or both or other to bring back some thickness to the tone or other?

Key for me is not killing the mids that cut in the mx in the process.
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Stratman68 said:
Good question....Watching!
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No ideal amp fat switch? If no, use amp output EQ to dial in the appropriate bass/mids.
 
In the Cab Block, I like to bring in some Drive from the Pre Amp page, and some Room from the Room page (on the hardware; might be different places in the editor.) It's subtle, but I like it. And you have to watch the meter at the bottom of the page when adding that Drive.
 
Cab proximity is an easy option to implement. Something else which works, but needs more effort, is to put in a second Amp and Cab. You can use these to add depth without losing the clarity of your main Amp and Cab. Try different Amp settings, and different speakers and microphones in the Cab block.
 
Add too much fatness and girth and it will kill those precious mids that a Marshall has in spades. :)

It is why I tend not to like the modern-modified-Marshall circuits called "Friedmans" and such. They
have more low-end, and, hence, a more scooped modern vibe because you know, people wanted an
"improved Marshall."

Sometimes for me it is not about adding anything. I can roll the tone back on my guitar and the perception
is a sense of added warmth and fullness.
 
I discovered awhile ago that lowering the gain/drive exposed EQ "errors" in the amps in my presets. Higher gain settings can mask a thin sounding amp. Some EQ tweaks, reducing the highs and lowering the Bright Cap value (<400 pF) gets things under control for me on most tones. That said, I have found and use a couple of parameters that can help add some thickness or girth to the tone:

As has already been mentioned, Proximity is a great parameter to delve into. Don't be afraid to go low on the frequency, mine usually winds up around 65Hz, even with a low cut @ 100Hz, and adjust the level to taste. Mine is set between 4.00 and 5.00.

The Input EQ page of the Amp block. A bump of 2 or 3 dB in the 400Hz range with a Q around 0.500 can add some fullness.

Lastly, after making adjustments in the high end, the Feedback type Output Compressor (Dynamics page) will add some definition and clarity back into the tone. Usually set @ 1.20-2.00.
 
A couple things I have found that you could try.

1) Increase negative feedback in the amp block. This tends to make my sound less thin.
2) Add some high mids around 200Hz to 300Hz.
3) In the speaker tab in the amp block, try reducing the High Freq knob on the impedance curve. This helped a lot for going straight into a power amp.
4) As JoKeR III stated, reduce the Bright Cap value if you use it.

Good luck.
 
+1 proximity. I always bring up proximity in the cab block, sometimes on only one IR, sometimes both if using multiples.
 
cragginshred said:
For lack of better description my lower gain Marshall hard rock tones can get 'thin' sounding when not in my studio that has a lot of reverb killing foam. So,.. do you go to Bass or depth or both or other to bring back some thickness to the tone or other?

Key for me is not killing the mids that cut in the mx in the process.
Click to expand...

1 - turn it up.

2 - are you dialing in your presets in the sound deadened studio? Maybe you're cutting the stuff you need in a real world environment.
 
Sometimes you might find a fuzz or some kind of pedal that you can use atypically for interesting effects. The reason I bring this up is that I had a Voodoo Labs Microvibe on my pedal board before Fractal, and I would turn the vibe all the way down and the other knob, up like 9 oclock - 3 oclock. There was no effect but it added thickness to the sound. Guys were always asking me what my amp setting was to get that extra thickness, and it wasn't a muddy-ing so it cut through the mix like always. I am going to try that with my Fractal, reminded by your post.
 
Larry Ball said:
Sometimes you might find a fuzz or some kind of pedal that you can use atypically for interesting effects. The reason I bring this up is that I had a Voodoo Labs Microvibe on my pedal board before Fractal, and I would turn the vibe all the way down and the other knob, up like 9 oclock - 3 oclock. There was no effect but it added thickness to the sound. Guys were always asking me what my amp setting was to get that extra thickness, and it wasn't a muddy-ing so it cut through the mix like always. I am going to try that with my Fractal, reminded by your post.
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Good advice. :) A phaser with minimal depth and a slow rate (ala EVH) can do something similar.
 
With all the ir's, amp knobs and eq it shouldn't be an issue. I just adjust until I achieve results or end up trying another amp Model.
 
cragginshred said:
For lack of better description my lower gain Marshall hard rock tones can get 'thin' sounding when not in my studio that has a lot of reverb killing foam. So,.. do you go to Bass or depth or both or other to bring back some thickness to the tone or other?

Key for me is not killing the mids that cut in the mx in the process.
Click to expand...

I just got done setting up for a rehearsal in which at lower volumes I was so disgusted with my tone that I wanted to redo my preset on the spot..... And then I turned it up to rehearsal band volume and it got much better. And then even further to gig volume and it was awesome.

A lot of variables. But my speakers and amp seem to like being pushed. (Mesa 1x12 and Orange Pedal Baby).
 
JRod4928 said:
And then I turned it up to rehearsal band volume and it got much better. And then even further to gig volume and it was awesome.
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That’s why Fractal edits and adjusts the factory presets at stage volume, and we need to audition theirs and ours at the same volume.

The Fletcher-Munson Effect goes away above 90dB, and acoustic-coupling kicks in. The first affects our perception of the EQ and the second affects the fullness of the guitar and how it reacts to the speaker’s volume.

It’s fun hearing and playing the modeler at those volumes. There’s always a moment when I suddenly remember it’s NOT the real amp and it makes me even happier with my decisions.
 
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