Hi - thought this might be worth sharing:
When the Pete Thorn preset came out I was really shocked at the sound of the IRs he used, dropping them into my presets - they were much, much brighter than I'd ever use. Also as others have commented, settings which I use out of habit (gain enhancer etc.) were left at 0/default.
Looking at the amp settings, it was clear that he'd dialled the amp in to match the IR, so more bass than I'd have used by a long way, less treble but then many a touch of presence etc.
So I started re-doing my main presets, and what a difference!
I think in the past I've been dialling the amp in against a random (but appropriate) IR, and then going back and selecting an IR at the end, this has meant that I've really ended up choosing an IR not dissimilar to the random one I started with. So in many ways the wrong way around and also somehow not critically listening.
Related to this, was a thread on overwriting factory IRs, something I've considered in the past (I'm basically near full) - where people were saying about how good they were.
In redialling my presets, I went the other way - I left the amp at default and went straight to the IR, choosing one with the character I liked - but not worrying if it was too bright or a little dark.
Then back to the amp and adjust the controls to get the amp working with the cab, doing the old trick of turning each knob until you hear it working - and that's the sweet spot.
This ended up with knob settings I'd have never used, in the 'old way'.
Then going back to the cab block and making small tweaks, changing the smoothing at this point and listening to the change. Trying IR length and seeing if that works - and if there's still a bit too much low or high, doing what the amazing Andy Wood suggested and use the high and low cut in the cab, leaving the amp alone.
Again from Andy, using the room reverb in the cab block for 'space', and then the reverb block for 'effect' - and therefore having very low reverb mix levels (3-4%)
At the same time, tending to use Factory IRs more - they're really, really good! In the past I've tended to view them as free, and therefore not 'as good' as ones I paid for - that was a mistake, using the above technique and they all make sense.
My main patches are night and day better now, I loved them before (and in 6 months I'll have re-done them again) - but now I'm much, much closer to a real, true amp experience than I was before - there's just more high end, more low thump than before and it just 'feels' better.
Austin Buddy's trick of adding the neutral boost at 6-8 db on Marshall type amps has been really good for this too, just gives a little mojo.
So the point of this long thread? For me, this is why I love and am excited by the Artist Series - not because I can plug in and sound like Pete Thorn (if only), every single preset I've tried has been a little bit of an anti-climax for me, different guitar, monitors, plectrum, fingers means it's never the same. However by taking a bit of time regardless to look at what a very skilled professional has done - has opened up a whole different approach which I'm very happy with.
Hope this helps someone else too
When the Pete Thorn preset came out I was really shocked at the sound of the IRs he used, dropping them into my presets - they were much, much brighter than I'd ever use. Also as others have commented, settings which I use out of habit (gain enhancer etc.) were left at 0/default.
Looking at the amp settings, it was clear that he'd dialled the amp in to match the IR, so more bass than I'd have used by a long way, less treble but then many a touch of presence etc.
So I started re-doing my main presets, and what a difference!
I think in the past I've been dialling the amp in against a random (but appropriate) IR, and then going back and selecting an IR at the end, this has meant that I've really ended up choosing an IR not dissimilar to the random one I started with. So in many ways the wrong way around and also somehow not critically listening.
Related to this, was a thread on overwriting factory IRs, something I've considered in the past (I'm basically near full) - where people were saying about how good they were.
In redialling my presets, I went the other way - I left the amp at default and went straight to the IR, choosing one with the character I liked - but not worrying if it was too bright or a little dark.
Then back to the amp and adjust the controls to get the amp working with the cab, doing the old trick of turning each knob until you hear it working - and that's the sweet spot.
This ended up with knob settings I'd have never used, in the 'old way'.
Then going back to the cab block and making small tweaks, changing the smoothing at this point and listening to the change. Trying IR length and seeing if that works - and if there's still a bit too much low or high, doing what the amazing Andy Wood suggested and use the high and low cut in the cab, leaving the amp alone.
Again from Andy, using the room reverb in the cab block for 'space', and then the reverb block for 'effect' - and therefore having very low reverb mix levels (3-4%)
At the same time, tending to use Factory IRs more - they're really, really good! In the past I've tended to view them as free, and therefore not 'as good' as ones I paid for - that was a mistake, using the above technique and they all make sense.
My main patches are night and day better now, I loved them before (and in 6 months I'll have re-done them again) - but now I'm much, much closer to a real, true amp experience than I was before - there's just more high end, more low thump than before and it just 'feels' better.
Austin Buddy's trick of adding the neutral boost at 6-8 db on Marshall type amps has been really good for this too, just gives a little mojo.
So the point of this long thread? For me, this is why I love and am excited by the Artist Series - not because I can plug in and sound like Pete Thorn (if only), every single preset I've tried has been a little bit of an anti-climax for me, different guitar, monitors, plectrum, fingers means it's never the same. However by taking a bit of time regardless to look at what a very skilled professional has done - has opened up a whole different approach which I'm very happy with.
Hope this helps someone else too
