Which one amp model can I use for clean, crunch and high gain?

B

Brett336

Inspired
Greetings,

What is a good choice for using one amp model where I can use my expression pedal to simulaneously roll the drive and master volume from a nice clean to a crispy crunch to a fluid high gain sustain.

Am I asking too much from one amp model?

Thanks for your experience and insights!

Brett
 
Best case scenario, the clean will sound very thin and brittle or the gain won't have enough sustain. This isn't really possible with any tube amp I've ever tried, and the Axe-Fx doesn't have anything to offer either. This is why 2-channel (or more) amps exist. Your best bet is probably a Marshall set so that you can roll back and get a clean tone, with an overdrive pedal kicked on to take the amp to the next level for high-gain.

Any reason you want to do this?
 
You're going about it the wrong way IMO, but I can do something similar with the 1987X model. I have it set pretty crunchy with my guitar's volume on 10, can roll the volume pot off a little for cleans, and I have a boost (I think it's a TS) that is footswitchable for more gain/leads.

If you don't want to use the boost pedal, you could probably get a similar effect with higher drive settings in the amp and working the volume pot more.

The volume pot on your guitar is far more useful for this than a volume pedal IMO.

There are plenty of amps that do this, but in the real world they're generally NMV amps that have to be incredibly loud to get the job done this way.

D
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I screwed up and posted this twice, thinking the first one did not make it to the board. I asked the moderator to delete the first one - and now it has replies...

I think the one approach that was posted is probably my best bet - using one amp set to a nice crunch that I like and then roll back the guitar volume and then hit it with a drive pedal or PEQ boost to take it to the next level.

I guess the reason that I want to do something like this is becuase the band I play with covers such a wide range of sounds, I just wanted to "roll" in the texture and feel that I want on any given tune while still retaining the voice that I am using. But I guess different gain structures are going to change my voice anyway.

Brett
 
What you said is definitely true. Myself, FWIW, I enjoy replicating tones, so when it comes to covers I like to try to get as close as I can on each song. Not exactly "real" or "organic" but definitely a progressive way to look at cover band gigs.
 
Could you have two amps in the patch and use the expression pedal to morph between them? A Komet amp will do that, maybe the wreck model is worth a try.
 
BenLevy said:
Could you have two amps in the patch and use the expression pedal to morph between them? A Komet amp will do that, maybe the wreck model is worth a try.
Click to expand...

Yes you can, and you can do some really cool things that way. I have a guitar that has both piezo and mag pickups with seperate outputs. I used the dual chain with an expression pedal to morph between a clean acoustic and a distorted electric sound.

The OP is trying to maintain the same type of sound though, so he's probably best off with one of the Plexi or Marsha sims.

D
 
The great thing about the Axe-Fx is that you don't have to be limited to the 1/2/3/4 sounds that you get from a single amp. If you want to retain the "flavour" of an amp, but want more versatility then build multiple presets around that basic sound. Although one amp model may not always get you the full range of sounds, using several models that have similar voices (Marshall-ey, Fender-ey, Vox-ey,) will allow you to stay in the same ball park.

Bearing that in mind, my favourite all-in-one amp is the Wrecker despite my being a metal-head. It's not really voiced for chugga-chugga metal, but it's a spectacular model for covering cleans, crunch and lead sounds. I've played entire gigs using one preset of that amp.

Personally, I find that using the volume knob on my guitar is a better way to reduce gain on an amp instead of a volume pedal; I have a finer touch with my fingers than with my feet. Also, you may find that changing both the drive and master controls with a controller on certain amps causes the tone to change. These two controls are (as I recall) the most important controls on the amp models. You may find the tone becomes too bright, too dark, or too mid focused.

Experiment with the different control options and spend time tweaking different amps and learning what they can do. This can take hours, but it's worth the time invested. You may find that an amp you previously overlooked gives you all the sounds you want. Eventually you'll find what works for you.
 
Seems like sort of a stupid exercise with a world class modeler at your disposal, IMHO. Sort of like buying a Swiss Army knife and then insisting on using only the corkscrew on it no matter what the task.

That said, why can't you pan between two amps with the exp pedal?
 
Last edited:
I have used two amp blocks in the past to set the two tones and drive that sound good to me and then used volume blocks to pan between the two with some success. However, it was kind of tricky for me to get the right balance between the two amps at every point in the panning. Even when I got things as close as I could, it seemed like I would get some strange phase cancelling or something at certain points that just did not sound right.

That's why I was looking into the idea of using one amp and just vary the drive and master vol. It worked Ok within a narrow range. But going to extremes seems to be a compromise that just doesn't seem to work all that well.

I thought that maybe there was that "magical" amp that could do it all.

I appriciate all the insights to how you guys use your Axe-fx. It's all great information!

Thanks!

Brett
 
The Buttery model is pretty diverse though I've never used it in the manner you're suggesting. I tried it once and didn't care for the results. I don't think I could get the transition smooth enough so I just use multiple presets of the same amp with different levels of gain. I prefer that to switching between obviously different sounding amps. However, I do throw in a Recto on occasion when required.
 
I was doing the same thing, but using the volume control instead of a volume pedal. What I use is 2 euro ubers with a filter as a boost in front with low gain settings on the amp, around 9-10 o'clock with a low master at like 3.03 and raised the bias a little bit. Hope that helps.
 
imho, crunch would be the hardest to get of those (assuming you don't mind a drive block assist...)

so, first get the best crunch you can, then use the guitar's volume knob to help dial in an appropriate clean tweak, and finally kick on the drive block for the gain
 
I'm asking this not to judge, but out of pure curiosity. Why would you want to only use one amp sim? Do you not have any way to change patches with your feet, so you want to make one patch as versatile as possible?

Because if you want three different sounds from one amp, what you're going to end up doing in the end is less "keeping the same sonic footprint" and more "making a huge compromise to every single tone you use because it has to cover so much other ground." Your clean tone will suffer because it also has to do high gain leads which require a different type of gain and eq structure, your heavy rhythm will suffer because it has to be able to clean up well so you won't be able to compress or drive it as hard as you're going to want to, etc.

What you really should do is make a couple of different patches, but create them with the other patches in mind. That way, you'll be aware of your overall sound and your patches won't be night and day changes, but you'll still have as much versatility as you'll need.

If you're using an Ultra, you have over 70 different amps, 20 different drives, 6 EQ blocks at once, and 256 patches with which to arrange those in any combination you can imagine, to be called up instantly. And you're seriously constraining that potential versatility why again?


However, having said all that, my vote goes to the VHT Deliverance for what you're looking for. It's wonderfully versatile and has a huge usable gain range. Your volume control will take you miles with that amp.
 
Most all my high gain amp settings clean up with my guitar volume .Some better than others. guitar volume=tone
 
Lots of good imput on this thread - thanks! (a few worthless - but that's the internet). M main point was to find something that could give me a 60%-70% coverage or the textures that i like to use to cover most of my bands tunes. I really don't care about covering tone exactly like the original artists.

The most significant problem I find with modelers is my desire to tweak to that last 0.5% of tone improvement - I really just want to spend my limited time playing my guitar... I have used a lot of modeling gear and I bought the Axe-fx because I felt that it offered the best digital foundation to eliminate the fizz - and it does!

Based on this useful feedback, I think I can cover my needs with two duel amp patches: Clean to grit and distorted to saturated. I will most likely find myself using one patch and leveraging the volume knob on my guitar a lot...

Thanks again for the replies!
 
I do what you want on all my patches pretty much. i set the amp sim to a nice juct breaking crunch, and roll off the guitar volume for cleans. I then have an IA set up to toogle a second gain level in the amp sim (and also a filter that reduces the volume at the same time to compensate), and also have a cleanish drive block - either the tape drive, tube drive or BB pre amp (dependant on amp type).

Between them i get clean, cruch, gainy rhythm and lead tones from a single amp sim in a single patch.

i do use 5 patches with different sims to cover different "broad tonal" differences, but tend to stick with one patch per song and ride the gain levels - as I said - with two IA buttons (one amp gain and one drive block) and the guitars vol knob.

i dont have a thin clean sound, andI have plenty of sustain on my leads.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom