Dialing in an Amp for Metal Tone

[Genius Gone Insane]

One thing that seems to be missing from this amazing forum is a thread on how to dial in an amp. Do you have a specific process to do it? Do you just turn knobs till the amp sounds good? Do you look at the amps schematics first? Do you A/B with tones you are after? Dial with screamer already in chain? Start with gain off or full? Start with master low or high? EQ's in middle or down? Guitar pickup switch set on neck for low end? Move amp around room first? Do you first go for an aggressive high end or a tight low end? Or is it mids or both? Maybe you start with the guitarist's settings if it is his amp? Let the guitarist dial it in for you? (pfft!) Maybe you say fuck it and look for a good Kemper/amp sim.

Maybe there is a thread out there already that I have somehow missed. If not, fire away bitches...

 

[Mooch]

Let the guitarist dial in their so called "amazeballs" tone, then be sure to include a DI so I can reamp it later so it complements the rest of the band. So far, no one has said "What happened to my tone?!"

Personally, I usually start with a certain eq/gain setting then I tweak until I like it.

 

[Mago]

usually doing all reamps in the same room, so I know where to place the cab or where not the place it.

If I know the amp already pretty well (like I do with my 6505+) then it's easier cause I know the boundries of where I like it with most players and DI's.
If I don't know the amp then I'll have everything at noon and just move the knobs to see what they do, and also how they effekt eachother.
Treble and presence for example.
Then just turn knobs until it doesn't sound like shit
Obviously a lot easier if you have a seperate control room and the head next to you.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

How much of a difference does the cab placement in the room really make with close micing? I haven't seriously really taken it into consideration

 

[Nebulous]

Twist knobs untill I get a tight, grinding tone while playing Iced Earth riffs, then add some mids and twist the other knobs in relation to the mids to bring the tone more into a melodeth/ heavy prog voicing

 

[Sethis]

Every amp has it's sweet spot. Start from everything at noon and see where it goes. I start with the TS on so I can be closer to the final sound while I'm playing with the amp. Same with the guitar, bridge pickup as it's the one I use 95% of the time. I finally check how the amp sounds recorded. I try to get it's sound as close to the final result as possible before any post-processing. Go back to the amp if needed.

How much of a difference does the cab placement in the room really make with close micing? I haven't seriously really taken it into consideration

I'd say not much. What would probably make a bit more difference is which room you're in.

 

[Skinny Viking]

I'd say not much. What would probably make a bit more difference is which room you're in.

still, it can be that 10% difference in sound that puts a tone over the top into magic territory

 

[amarshism]

Knowing your amps and cabs is the first part.

 

[greyskull]

If it's an amp I'm not familiar with, I tend to put the knobs at 2 o'clock (except volume!) and tweak from there.
I start with ts of, then turn it on if I feel it's needed and then can tweak from there

 

[cfh11]

i feel like after endless tweaking i almost always end up with 6/4/6 on bass/mid/treble then adjusting presence to taste. i might back off the mids and treble a bit depending how it sounds under the mic. i always try it with the TS off first, but 95% of the time end up preferring it with the TS on.

 

[Bay Studio]

Knowing your amps and cabs is the most important. Each amp works in its own specific way. For example the 5150/6505 works real great for me when bass and resonance are set at around 8/9. I have a seperate recording room where i have an isolation cabinet i built some time ago, that´s where my mesa cab sits. i don´t really want to go into detail about how i dial in my tones/come up with them, but, i can say the cab, mic pre, and mic position is most effective in how your tone sounds. Ofcourse, amps are different, but out of my experience i tend to believe the cab is the most important piece of gear, in this situation.
And yes, the cab placement in the room does affect the sound, even when close-micing the cabinet - as well as the floor it´s placed on. After stuff like that i would start choosing an amp (i always use 2 well chosen amps running at the same time through 2 different cabs and a nice tube mic preamp).

As far as micing goes - just trust your ears. A little trick i do: i loop a part in a DI track that blasts through the cab into the recording room. Then i go listen to each speaker, choose the best sounding one, and start moving my head around that speaker until i find the spot i think sounds the best and place the mic right there. And 90% of the time i leave the mic right there and leave it, because it was exactly what i wanted. Remember to not turn up the amp too loud, you might blow out your ears

 

[pikachu69]

Testing each speaker is important. It always amazes me how different speakers in the same cab will sound.

 

[Downtime]

Testing each speaker is important. It always amazes me how different speakers in the same cab will sound.

So true, it's supposed to be "know your amp, cab and every single speaker is most important" actually. The differences can be really big from time to time.

Besides that, I start from 10 / 12 / 12 / 2 (bass, mids, highs, presence - o'clock) most of the time without any effects like a TS and work from there. Always use the guitar you're gonna use during recording.

Cheers

 

[DavePiatek]

I start with all knobs at 12 o'clock and go from there. every time, every amp.

 

[guitarguru777]

Headphones, some DI's, Reamp Box, and the amp in the room with you..... makes all the difference in the world. Use your ears not your eyes