Harsh Heavy Tones

[slaughlin1103]

I have been getting really nice clean tones from presets and different patches I've downloaded and bought but almost all patches with drive get real fuzzy and harsh.

I have bought or downloaded all patches but when I created a new patch with just an amp and cab with some delay the patch is harsh at that point with only those added.

I am using the Helix and PC+ on flat mode but even the other speakers are harsh. I am off this week so I will have time to get into it more but any help would be greatly appreciated as
it seems everyone plugs in and has a tone they can work with but I am lost. 

By harsh I mean a compressed buzz that does not sound like a real amp and does not really clean up when I turn the drive down.

Thanks to all who respond and Merry Christmas to all

[Thark]

Hey, Slaughlin. I’m having exactly the same problems. My clean presets sound great through my PC+ but anything with a bit of dirt to it doesn’t sound right to my ears. As you say, harsh and fuzzy. I’m currently playing with it, trying to get it to match my Mesa TC50 as closely as possible. Going to try making my own IR using the Mesa today. I’ll let you know what happens and please, do let me know how yours works out.

 

[slaughlin1103]

Yes, tone is too harsh to work with. Sounds like everyone is plugging in and with a little tweaking are getting great tone but I'm just not getting there.
I am going to look into my settings and may even do a reset. There is no way this is right so was hoping it was something small I missed and someone
else has been through. Guess I should be contacting L6 soon.

 

Thanks

Steve

[Thark]

Hi Steve. I did my first homebrew IR using Voxengo Deconvolver and the instructions in

 

Pretty easy actually. For the cab I used a Mesa 2x12 compact rectifier cab miked with an SM57 off-axis. Then I put the IR in place of a cab in my preset and set the PC+ to flat. Sounds not bad to my ears and reasonably close to the original. You might also want to watch Jason Sadites' video for some tips:

 

Here's the IR:

Mesa Tone_dc.wav

 

Edit: Forgot to say what amp ... Cali IV Rhythm 2

 

[slaughlin1103]

Hey Buddy, thanks so much for you time and resources, will be checking out later today I hope.

Have a safe and Happy New Year and thanks again.

 

Steve 

[Thark]

Here's a cool way to demo a lot of IRs in the Helix very easily and quickly. Set up a preset with a six-switch looper at the beginning (instead of the end, as is usual) and, if you're using a Variax guitar, set the tone control to increment/decrement. You do this by going into the IR editor and right-clicking on the "IR Select" bar. I used the guitar's tone control but you could use the volume control or the expression pedal as well.

 

Record a short riff in the looper and set it to repeat. Now select IRs with the tone control (or whatever you have it set up for) and audition them. They will be selected one by one as you go through the list of IRs on the Helix. I have a full complement of 128 IRs and was able to go through them all very quickly and easily. You might want to season with EQ to taste. I've included a copy of the preset I used for this on my Helix.

 

A very Happy New Year to you as well.

 

Keith

 

 

 

IR test.hlx