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Tones for playing live through a 1/2 stack anyone?


spawn2031
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I've been looking for a metal tone for my rig.  Something along the lines of Bullet for my Valentine.  I keep finding tones of awesome tones but they all seem to be geared for recording only.  Does anyone have some links to tones made for playing out they can share?  I don't play plugged into a PA either, just right into a power amp and out through a 1/2 stack.  Thanks a ton guys.

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your best bet is to take those awesome tones you found and play with them to get them to work for you.  You can try changing the full amp models to pre models, turning cab and mic on/off, changing the output mode on your POD...  you have to find what works for your rig.  Just because someone else is using something through a similar rig doesn't mean it will sound good through your particular setup...  use your ears and have fun with it! 

 

and remember to really get something useful for live work you will have to tweak it at stage volume...

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I've been looking for a metal tone for my rig.  Something along the lines of Bullet for my Valentine.  I keep finding tones of awesome tones but they all seem to be geared for recording only.  Does anyone have some links to tones made for playing out they can share?  I don't play plugged into a PA either, just right into a power amp and out through a 1/2 stack.  Thanks a ton guys.

 

I don't want to rain on your parade, but this approach is never gonna work. I tried it myself, and all I got was a headache. Almost gave up and sold the 500X after a couple of weeks, because I was getting nowhere.

 

You can spend the next six months downloading every single thing on Customtone and auditioning them with your rig, and still find nothing usable. Why? Because any patch (don't care what style of music were talking about) that someone else dials in with their guitar, their amp, their cabinet, string gauge, playing style, etc. etc, is simply not going to sound the same when you get your hands on it. Were they playing at bedroom volume, or loud enough to melt concrete? What kind of room were they in when they did it? Hardwood floors, or a treble sucking environment with a big fluffy couch and 70's shag carpet? Were they playing through an amp at all, or using full models with mic and cab sims into headphones, or a recording desk and listening through studio monitors? The list of variables is of Biblical length...and trying to reproduce it on your end is next to impossible.

 

Starting from scratch, or taking a tone that sounds good in the headphones and painstakingly tweaking it until it suits your rig is really the only method that produces any results. It's not impossible, but it's also not easy, and tends to be time consuming.

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You should be able to get a pretty ripping sound fairly quick with a power amp/cab setup. I say this because if you set it up this way you are taking most of the variables out of the modeler:

  1. Set output mode to stack power amp
  2. Pick an amp pre (treadplate or fireball are probably good starting points) and set all knobs to noon
  3. Turn cab modeling off
  4. Set output level to line
  5. Turn power amp up (if tube) past 50% and use the master volume to set your overall volume

Hold off on FX for the moment. Keep it real simple. Honestly just this should sound pretty darn good assuming you have a quality cabinet and power amp.

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Yeah this is what I have run into myself mostly.  I have had some success getting a patch or two dialed in pretty well (not perfect.. yet).  I was just hoping that someone had some good ones to use as jumping off points.  Anyway, here is something else I was thinking of trying after reading Meambobo's guide for 100th time and seeing that I have the means.

 

I would like to get some of these tones on a frequency analyzer to see where the problem spots are.  Since these are live tones I can't just record them via the pod cuz the sound will be radically different.  So my plan is to use a Presonus interface with a SM57 that I have lying around to mic my cab and get a recording of it that way to analyze.  So what's going to be the best way to mic that cab to get the true sound coming out of it?  Has anyone done this before and have any tips for me?  Is there a better way? 

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It depends on your tone, your cab and speakers....If you like the ice pick in the forehead V30 vibe, then perhaps 45 degrees off axis...That approach is backwards from how I roll....get a great tone on the rig that works for the situations I need...Then figure out the mic strategy...

 

I would suggest not to get too caught up with analyzers....Too many tweak with their eyes instead of their ears....Certainly if it helps you understand what you might want to correct, go for it....You might be better off just using a reference mic and record from several positions...that might help you determine and average...

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This tone I have is great all except for a bit of mid range that I am having trouble dialing out.  I was hoping that the analyzer might help me narrow down the offending band.  Plus, I am really curious on what the signal looks like since I have read that if there are too many spikes all over the signal then it won't sound too well in a mix with others.  I guess I am looking for yet another way to fine tune before I go live to try and minimize time tweaking at stage level volume.

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I use these live through a Crate Powerblock and a 4x12

This one I use for deathcore-ish-breakdowny stuff: http://line6.com/customtone/tone/848340/

This one I use for stuff that requires more notes: http://line6.com/customtone/tone/848345/

 

Obviously, YMMV, as I am using them with 8 string guitars with hot passive pickups (SD Nazgul/Sentient) but I like how they sound onstage and they come out of the PA accurately when mic'ed.You'll probably need to adjust the gates to your style, and adjust the amp EQ's a little.

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Yeah, I know.  Such a pain in the lollipop there but it's worth it for the flexability.  I've got 3 different banks of identical patches setup names Practice, Live and recording already set up with that in mind so I don't have to keep messing with stuff I already have dialed in.  And Pianoguyy.. your signature, YES... oh man that would be so nice to have

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lol, I have three different guitars that I use for various tunings.  I bought all three with the same exact pickups and body woods to make sure my main tone would sound identical across them all.  I'm sure one day I will upgrade my speaker cabs and I dread all the tweaking I am sure I'll have to do whenever that happens.  Especially since I am not the best at identifying what frequency is responsible for what I am not liking in a tone.

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