Tone sounds muddled and in the background

[jeffsoble]

Hey everyone,

 

I have another question that’s puzzling me as I try to learn how the Helix works v the Pod HD 500x.

 

I’m trying to build some Gilmour signal chains. On the Pod I built pretty much every signal chain David has ever used during his career and had really mastered getting the tones exactly where I wanted them in my bedroom studio. With the Helix I obviously have many more options and flexibility so I’m using the same basics that I originally obtained from Gilmourish.com and kitrae.net (David Gilmour tone building) and making adjustments to fit my space acoustically. So far though, everything sounds muddled and in the background and I’m not sure what’s causing this. Again, sound engineering is not my strong suit with all of the additional parameters in the amps and effects pedals, there are pieces I’ve never worked with before and really don’t have confidence that I’m using things properly.

 

I have my Helix running into a Focusrite interface then to my monitors and the computer to Cubase. My basic signal chain is….

 

guitar/noise gate/compressor (using a few different types)/tube driver (different settings depending on the song)/big muff (only on some songs)/Graphic EQ/volume pedal/analog delay/dynamic delay/reverb/Hiwatt amp (have tried settings from different eras)/cab/yamaha rotary speaker.

 

I haven’t tried anything with modulation yet but obviously I will to get certain tones. And no matter what song/chain I’m on it’s coming out the same, muddled, in the background and lacking general volume when I would’ve thought I’d have a lot of extra headroom. I have several questions…

 

1. Should I be using a pre-amp and/or a 2nd amp for more power?

2. Is the fact that I don’t know how to deal with all of the additional parameters causing at least part of my problem?

3. In fact, my tone is beyond breakup without having the volume I would expect to have available.

The basic sound I’m trying to achieve is there, it just doesn’t sound powerful.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks

Jeff

[theElevators]

Do you have any stereo modulation or delay effects?  Maybe you are getting the "wet" side of your signal and not the "dry"? 

 

1. I would suggest taking your signal chain and bypassing everything where you first have your dry guitar signal.  Then go and turn on (un-bypass) one block on at a time.  You should hear at what point your sound becomes washy and in the background. 

 

2. Also sometimes stereo effects that are summed into one channel (Left/Mono) can sound weird.  For example, the ADT for me always sounds completely different in stereo vs. the same exact signal chain summed into mono: it happens due to phasing. 

 

Also I have been plagued by the "Left/Mono" bug for many Helix versions, until the latest one.  Make sure this is not what is happening to you.  

 

[jeffsoble]

Thank you for the suggestions. I’ll check it out!

 

i appreciate the advice!