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Tedwood · 11-17-2009, 04:55 AM

Another thing that will amaze if you haven't yet tried it is how different things sound out of the mix.

If you have been trying to get a good tone with trying it in a mix you will be wasting a lot of your time. Take the Santana tone out of the mix and I expect you find the tone itself nothing special. That means a lot of what you like is his technique. Don't bother asking how to get Santana's sound unless you can play like the man - really.

Santana, Paul Kossoff, Angus Young, to name a few give the impression of having a lot of distortion in their, but if you compare directly with a tone you think sounds like them (out of a mix) and listen them playing you find their tones are practically clean! what they have going for them is something that makes the whole amp sim thing redundant - it's called VOLUME!

I tweak my tones by running Spotify at the same time and make direct comparisons, the Signature Series, and the Dan Quartet were done this way and they sound fairly ordinary out of the mix, but almost exactly the same played along side. Of course you still have to allow a bit for actual sound of the guitars being used, because the strings, the pickups, the wood and the construction all make a difference too. I have a feeling the Larry Carlton tone won't sound a million dollars on a cheap 335 knockoff

There is no way to get the "guitar- amp - feedback interaction" of a loud clean tone without it being LOUD.

Therefore the best you can do is trick the ear into thinking it's loud with a bit of distortion and compression. It won't be the same, but that doesn't mean it isn't any good.

Personally I find the convenience and flexibility of amp sims far outweighs the shortfall of not being able to turn your amp up to 11.

11-17-2009, 04:55 AM	#19
Tedwood Human being with feelings Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: South Coast UK Posts: 14,303	Another thing that will amaze if you haven't yet tried it is how different things sound out of the mix. If you have been trying to get a good tone with trying it in a mix you will be wasting a lot of your time. Take the Santana tone out of the mix and I expect you find the tone itself nothing special. That means a lot of what you like is his technique. Don't bother asking how to get Santana's sound unless you can play like the man - really. Santana, Paul Kossoff, Angus Young, to name a few give the impression of having a lot of distortion in their, but if you compare directly with a tone you think sounds like them (out of a mix) and listen them playing you find their tones are practically clean! what they have going for them is something that makes the whole amp sim thing redundant - it's called VOLUME! I tweak my tones by running Spotify at the same time and make direct comparisons, the Signature Series, and the Dan Quartet were done this way and they sound fairly ordinary out of the mix, but almost exactly the same played along side. Of course you still have to allow a bit for actual sound of the guitars being used, because the strings, the pickups, the wood and the construction all make a difference too. I have a feeling the Larry Carlton tone won't sound a million dollars on a cheap 335 knockoff There is no way to get the "guitar- amp - feedback interaction" of a loud clean tone without it being LOUD. Therefore the best you can do is trick the ear into thinking it's loud with a bit of distortion and compression. It won't be the same, but that doesn't mean it isn't any good. Personally I find the convenience and flexibility of amp sims far outweighs the shortfall of not being able to turn your amp up to 11. __________________ The grass is greener where it rains Last edited by Tedwood; 11-17-2009 at 05:23 AM.