Amp Modeling and guitar amps
Ok guys, many have asked why guitar amps color the tone. One thing to keep in mind with modelers is that they are designed to emulate the TONE, GAIN characteristics, Compression, and lastly the cabinet design..cranked up. Now, that also means it captures the \"coloring\" of each amp that is modeled too.
Now, you hook up to a guitar amp and say..doesn't sound as good as the headphones..EXACTLY ! Your guitar amp colors the already colored model.
Why is that? because the amp model/cabinet model, amplifier system and cabinet are not transparent. The headphone drivers, Monitors are very close to transparent hence..sound much better.
So now you say..how do you fix that. Once again, GNX rules here by having a cabinet save feature. Not everyone's guitar amp is the same and with so many variables of speakers it's hard to pinpoint what sounds good.
Solution- make a cabinet model that is transparent enough to use for your live sound patches. Only one is required if you have one cabinet and a PA or rack type amp with no EQ. If you have a regular guitar amp, it's a little more work. My video demonstrates custom cabinet creation for one patch..2amp models and warp,,essentially, 3 amps in one preset. Using Stompbox mode since that's what most here suggested as usage.
Okay, this can be done.. how?
See next post....
Now, you hook up to a guitar amp and say..doesn't sound as good as the headphones..EXACTLY ! Your guitar amp colors the already colored model.
Why is that? because the amp model/cabinet model, amplifier system and cabinet are not transparent. The headphone drivers, Monitors are very close to transparent hence..sound much better.
So now you say..how do you fix that. Once again, GNX rules here by having a cabinet save feature. Not everyone's guitar amp is the same and with so many variables of speakers it's hard to pinpoint what sounds good.
Solution- make a cabinet model that is transparent enough to use for your live sound patches. Only one is required if you have one cabinet and a PA or rack type amp with no EQ. If you have a regular guitar amp, it's a little more work. My video demonstrates custom cabinet creation for one patch..2amp models and warp,,essentially, 3 amps in one preset. Using Stompbox mode since that's what most here suggested as usage.
Okay, this can be done.. how?
See next post....
Comments
Simple. Connect your gnx to your pc and editor. Connect GNX to your guitar amp (CLEAN CHANNEL). Set your Guitar amp eq's flat ( mostly towards center) some amps vary so you can use the demo or a cd player to make the sound as even as you can get it. Now, open the patch in the editor and put the same amp model in both red and green. ready!!
1. Turn off all effects
2. Enable a cabinet model (choose from drop down menu or any custom)
in both channels.
3. Use the warp control until you are centered.
4. Using the cabinet tuning, vary each channel cabinet tuning a little bit each way until you find an area that sounds as clear as possible. Now use the warp control to clean the fizz or artifcats by moving it in an area that cleans the amp model or makes it sound transparent..(just the amp model selected).
5. Save the cabinet only in a pc location or in the devices custom cabinet area.
6. Change amp models and insert that saved cabinet in your patch for both red and green channels. Do this for all your live patches but save them as something else ( rename them) so you don't overwrite the original custom model patches.
What this does is create a unique but transparent cabinet model for your live amp rig. Common sense here..even if you were at a show and a/b'd heads, most likely you wouldn't cart around a bunch of cabinets. Same rule applies here. Remember, an amp model is made off of a real live amp. If you took a Marshall 900 and used a Mesa REC cabinet which is tuned differently, will your marshall sound the same?? No.. Cabinets are not transparent thus the amp driving the cab will sound different each time you change cabs. Same applies with modeling. Without a unique \"direct\" cabinet , it's going to yield very different tones out of your guitar amp. Not the same ones as the headphone or monitor sound. you can get very close to that by creating this custom cabinet to fit your sound. Use that same cabinet for all your models for live sound patches you select in stompbox mode and you will have a closely balanced live tone, regardless of the amp model. perfect??? No, cause it's a model.
You can also try using Eminence Legend Modeling 12's in your cabinets ( if you have 12's) to minimize the coloring. They work very well and are pretty transparent. Amp modeling mfg's like HK, L6 are using them in their modeling amps. I've used them in 4x12 custom cabs and they work very well. try creating the \"custom direct cabinet\" first. Use the same cab models as they apply..if you have a 4x12. most 4x12' patches will work, if you have a 2x12, more changes are necessary to make the patch work with the 2x12 combo. Depending upon your amp you use live, your cabinet \"custom direct\" model should coincide. Don't expect 4x12 stack tone form a 2x12 open back amp. What is in the headphone is not going to be achieved on the amp in this case..realistically. Same as trying to get pristine Jazz Chorus tone from a Marshall Head and 4x12 bottom..you can get clean and very usable tones though.
Modeling mfgs cannot assume we all have the same amps so using a system to create or warp a custom cabinet is a nice method of overcoming colorization.
G3456
If you have a power amp like a PA or Tube rack type amp with NO EQ adjustments you only have to make one cabinet model. Why, because the amplifier you use is basically colorless and only the cabinet now can add to that coloring. That's why guys that use PA's or powered monitors say they have very little tweaking. If you have a guitar amp remember, all of the amp's components..eq's speakers, cabinet type add color to the final sound you create. You can bypass the guitar input and go direct into the efx loop also..then you will only have to create a Unique cabinet model for your amp.
In my case for example:
I have Mesa dual ch power amp \"rack type\" and a 4x12 in stereo..8 ohms.. One cabinet model works for almost all of my presets..except clean jazzy ones. Here, I use a brighter version of the cabinet model to simulate a 2x12. I get usable tones.. but never exactly a 2x12 open back tone through a 4x12 bottom..it's not likely to expect that. Realistically, If I connected a Roland Jazz Chorus to my actual 4x12 cabinet..well, it'll never sound like the Roland correct? So, I don't expect the same from a preset in a GNX modeler. It's not ever the same thing. It'd be nice if it was..but that's a utopian society that does not exist. Usable tones do, but requires common sense approach and tweaks at times.
Small Clubs- I have a 2x12 Carvin X100B modified. This has all the eq and other things in the preamp, and speakers themselves, that color the GNX tone. In this case I have many many cabinet models to create as transparent a sound I can get from my live patches...all are different. In this case, I cannot have one unique cabinet. I have to have one for each preset. In some cases, I add an extension cabinet to the combo to get beefier tone. The 2x12 will NEVER sound like the Mesa Rectifier with a 4x12 to be realistic..adding the 2x12 extension cabinet to the amplifier itself, fattens and deepens the tonal arrangement. By itself, its' just unrealistic to assume that if I play a Dual Rect preset through my amp..that it will be as convincing as the real deal. No different than connecting a real Dual Rect head up to my open back 2x12 cabinet.
Maybe this can clarify some things for users. We cannot expect more out of less, or less out of more. With that said, don't expect your amp and 4x12 bottom to sound like a Fender tweed..it won't. Don't expect your Fender Ultimate Chorus 2x12 to ever sound like a Plexi with a 4x12....modeling is what it is...but it can never do what the real amps and cabinets cannot perform themselves. Hope that sheds light a little..
G3456