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I only use 1 IR


AlexKenivel
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Is this strange? My experience with IRs go back a few years to when I was using VSTs for home recording and silent practice (didn't even have a Pod yet) and the only IR that clicks with me is one of Guitar Hack's old IRs, GuitarHack JJ BBAE 0.wav.

 

It's free and I'm sure everyone has it or can get it but I use it for EVERYTHING. High gain, clean, jazz, blues, literally everything. It's the ONLY IR I have loaded into the Helix. I've tried lots of other IRs but I keep going back to this one.

 

What I really want to know is if anyone can point me to something else that might change my mind (blowing my mind is encouraged)?

 

This is not a dilemma, but I'm just curious!

Thanks!

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Is this strange? My experience with IRs go back a few years to when I was using VSTs for home recording and silent practice (didn't even have a Pod yet) and the only IR that clicks with me is one of Guitar Hack's old IRs, GuitarHack JJ BBAE 0.wav.

 

It's free and I'm sure everyone has it or can get it but I use it for EVERYTHING. High gain, clean, jazz, blues, literally everything. It's the ONLY IR I have loaded into the Helix. I've tried lots of other IRs but I keep going back to this one.

 

What I really want to know is if anyone can point me to something else that might change my mind (blowing my mind is encouraged)?

 

This is not a dilemma, but I'm just curious!

Thanks!

I use this one I created from my own stage rig on all my presets. Initially I did it so I could play gigs and record with and without the amp/cab and have the same tone. But over time, I found it to be very versatile and my go-to IR.

 

MesRec212_2ioaD12_L6SV_6L6.wav

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ch8ekey3nr4ro5l/AABr5NAVSAIm9ZzfzwG9eOWKa?dl=0

 

This IR really has a wide frequency response due to to the response of the AKG D112 mic and can brighten up this Mesa Celestion Vintage 30 loaded cab IR when needed, unlike many other V30-based IR's.

 

It also captures the impedance curve, damping effects and resonance of a tube amp and Mesa V30 speaker with the Line 6 Spider Valve HD100 MKII power section with little to no coloration. The L6 SV is very neutral as it was intended to be used with full amp models from the Spider section or a Pod X3. It sounded great physically when I ran Helix amp models into the L6 SV power section into the Mesa 212 cab, so it made sense to make an IR of it.

 

I just tweak high and low cut depending on the amp type and amount of gain. Little to no hi/lo cut for cleans, 9kHz hi cut and 80Hz low cut for really high gain. It is also very responsive to the guitar tone knob. It seems to let a lot of the Helix amp model character pass.

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I personally think everyone seeks out certain differences in IR's based on what they like to hear.  I only have about 11 IR's loaded but in reality I probably only really use 5 or so consistently depending largely on the style of music, and the specific guitar I'm using (Les Paul, Strat, Gretsch hollow body).  All of them are OwnHammers specifically because I can audition the various versions of the IR (mic, mic placement, or mixes) and pick the one that best suits what I want from it.

 

I'll try to put it into context as far as style of music, type of guitar and the cabinet version I tend to use most:

 

Clean, ballad/country typically Gretsch:  Super Reverb 4x10 cab w/ Jensen C10R speakers, using MD-421 dynamic mic and Royer R121 ribbon mic about halfway out on the speaker.

 

Jazz on Gretsch, Clean Blues on Strat:  Vox 2x12 w/ Celestion Alnico Blue spkr, Combo SM57 and Royer R121mic about halfway out on speaker.

 

Dirty blues/slide Crunchy Rock on Strat or Les Paul:  Gibson Super Goldtone w/ Celestion vintage 10 spkr, using MD-421 dynamic mic and Royer R121 ribbon mic about halfway out on the speaker.

 
Classic Rock/Punk on Strat or Les Paul:  Mesa Boogie 4x12 w/ Celestion vintage 30 spkr, w a special multi-mic configuration by Scott Peterson about midway out on the speaker.
 
More modern rock and heavier classic rock on Les Paul:  Bogner Shiva 2x12 open back, blend of Celestion G12 Alico Silver and Gold with Silver dominant using SM57 and MD421-5 dynamic mic mix midway out on speaker.
 
 
I found these IR configurations have fairly distinctive effects on the overall tone of different amps so it really reduces a lot of tweaking of EQ when I build a patch.
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It might be too vague or not meaningful enough and a whole lot of work but sometimes for IRs I almost wish the creators would assign a 1-10 scale for certain parameters and describe frequency range, frequency response, where for instance there was a mid hump or cut, etc... Sort of like what guitar pickup sellers like Dimarzio do on their websites. They give you ratings for certain fixed parameters like bass, mid, treble on a scale of 1-10 as well as a further description of the pickup.

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/high-power/imperium-bridge

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Can someone explain IR's to me please?

I kinda understand the principle i.e i have an amp model,i load an IR after it and bam theres my signal chain.

 

I generally stick to 1 IR which is an Ownhammer george lynch marshall 4x12 model,it sounds fantastic,for clean i use a jc-120 model with the helix jc cab option and ribbon mic,it sound exactly how i want it so not bothered about using IR for that.

 

Now, i have seen some glenn delune amp packs that model amps that arent on the helix,how does that work?

He has a cornford and replicates the tone exactly,not just the eq but the whole thing,has he used an amp thats close to the cornford and worked with that?

 

Is the amp modelled in the IR?is that amps 'tone' just captured or the whole thing?

 

Is it possible to model say a telecaster or strat (2 guitars that have undeniable distinct tones) using IR's and apply to that to the signal chain?

 

I did ask the question a while back whether anything could be captured and it was kinda yes and no.

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I'm a bit obsessive. I have a full set of 128 IR's loaded. But, I don't scroll through all of them when I'm making a patch. I just audition them until I find one that fits the basic feel of the song that I'm creating the patch for. I probably have half of my IR's assigned to different patches.

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Can someone explain IR's to me please?

I kinda understand the principle i.e i have an amp model,i load an IR after it and bam theres my signal chain.

 

I generally stick to 1 IR which is an Ownhammer george lynch marshall 4x12 model,it sounds fantastic,for clean i use a jc-120 model with the helix jc cab option and ribbon mic,it sound exactly how i want it so not bothered about using IR for that.

 

Now, i have seen some glenn delune amp packs that model amps that arent on the helix,how does that work?

He has a cornford and replicates the tone exactly,not just the eq but the whole thing,has he used an amp thats close to the cornford and worked with that?

 

Is the amp modelled in the IR?is that amps 'tone' just captured or the whole thing?

 

Is it possible to model say a telecaster or strat (2 guitars that have undeniable distinct tones) using IR's and apply to that to the signal chain?

 

I did ask the question a while back whether anything could be captured and it was kinda yes and no.

 

I think you have the basic idea of what an IR does as far as putting a signal chain together.  In order to really get a feel for what they do you have to kind of put yourself in the mindset of what typically would happen in a physical recording studio.

 

In the days before modeling artists would have their preferred guitar and amp, but often in order to tweak the sound to exactly what they wanted, they would drive that amp through one or more various cabinet configurations and different mic'ing options.  These combinations would help to generate the actual tone they wanted to capture on the recording.  Some cabinet and speaker combinations might be darker, or brighter or more articulated and the way it was mic'd might give it more presence or fullness.  All of that has now been wrapped up into IR's, which are not created specific to any guitar, but are captures of how a given cabinet, speaker set, and mic and mic placements might affect the tone coming out of the amp.

 

Think of it this way, a Marshall amp sounds one way through a Marshall 4x12 cabinet, but will have a completely different feel and sound through a Vox 2 x 12.  By choosing an IR carefully you can craft a tone closer to what you want without having to do it all through EQ.

 

As far as the amp packs, I don't own any but the descriptions I've seen he uses an existing Helix model and applies IR's and EQ to simulate the sound and response of that specific amp.

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I have all 128 IR slots filled.  The Glenn Delaune and Fremen patches take up most of them.  I also use the Orange IRs from cabIR.eu, the Zilla & Suhr IRs from 3Sigma and the Taylor acoustic IRs.

 

I would really like to be able to store more of them on the Helix or an easier way to cycle through my IR collection on the editor.

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@pete1975:

 

An IR is a kind of snapshot of the acoustic characteristics of a room, cabinet, hardware device, etc.. IRs can capture frequency response, and also ambience, but short ones like Helix supports can't carry  the full decay of a large room. IRs can't model distortion.

 

I'm not Glen, and he hasn't publicized everything about his "tone match" process AFAIK, but I think he matches the tone and distortion character as best he can using the Helix's built-in blocks, then uses software to generate an IR with the difference between that tone and the one he's after. In other words, it's a very specific preset EQ.

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@pete1975:

 

An IR is a kind of snapshot of the acoustic characteristics of a room, cabinet, hardware device, etc.. IRs can capture frequency response, and also ambience, but short ones like Helix supports can't carry  the full decay of a large room. IRs can't model distortion.

 

I'm not Glen, and he hasn't publicized everything about his "tone match" process AFAIK, but I think he matches the tone and distortion character as best he can using the Helix's built-in blocks, then uses software to generate an IR with the difference between that tone and the one he's after. In other words, it's a very specific preset EQ.

 

 

Hey Zooey,

 

In Glenn's patches, are his "tone match/imprint" IR's separate from the cab blocks/IR's or do they act as the cab (plus special sauce)?

 

I always wonder if he and others make their IR's from scratch, or reprocess other's IR's with added eq/matching from a DAW.  

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Hey Zooey,

 

In Glenn's patches, are his "tone match/imprint" IR's separate from the cab blocks/IR's or do they act as the cab (plus special sauce)?

 

I always wonder if he and others make their IR's from scratch, or reprocess other's IR's with added eq/matching from a DAW.  

Hi roscoe, my IR's are not Cab IR's so you still need a cab block. I make IR's from scratch from start to finish. I don't reprocess other people IR's and make them nine. That just wouldn't be right.

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Is it possible to model say a telecaster or strat (2 guitars that have undeniable distinct tones) using IR's and apply to that to the signal chain?

Yes this is possible. Will it make a les paul sound like a strat?? That's debatable but I could come damn close!! I did something similar to this where I made a Les Paul simulate the sound of an acoustic and a classical guitar. 

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Hi roscoe, my IR's are not Cab IR's so you still need a cab block. I make IR's from scratch from start to finish. I don't reprocess other people IR's and make them nine. That just wouldn't be right.

 

 

Awesome, thanks Glenn!

 

BTW, I really dig the videos of the Boutique patches Vol I & II.  Those will be mine :)

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To original poster,

 

Really?!

Can you rename the file and pop it into Dropbox? It would make life a lot easier having one IR to rule them all :3

Sure, although a google search with the info I provided in OP and some dilligence could get you the whole pack and you might find another better suited to your tastes. They're old, but free and if you're no stranger the world of IRs then you probably know about them already. No shame in sharing, here ya go

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z9wusdrulia8k0s/To%20Rule%20Them%20All.wav?dl=0

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