EXPERIMENTAL TUTORIAL: How To Transform A Strat Into A Ibanez Via Software

[Javi Perera]

Hello everybody!

I write this thread to describe to you an experiment that I do frequently. As many of you know, I make my songs using virtual guitars, the Prominy SC. The main disadvantage of these guitars is that they have a Fender Stratocaster's sound. You know, that irritating, nasal, "Jimi Hendrix's style" sound. This sound does not work in with metal music. Therefore, the main problem is not the sound of distortion, but the root of the sound: DI clean guitars.

Well then, what is what I make? What I make is changing the sound of my guitar pickups. In other words, I try to make the single coil of my guitar sounding like an EMG81. All right, approximately...

How do I make it? I do it in two ways:

- cloning EQ

- creating an impulse response.

The main thing is having two mono DI guitar tracks, 24 bits, 44100Hz: your guitar and the guitar you wanna copy. But they have to keep a condition: Both have to execute the same riff. The execution has to be very exact to get the best modeling.




METHOD 1: CLONING EQ

I use Samplitude in order to use this method. There is a FFT that allows you to clone EQ from an audio file called "Sound Cloner". With the Sound Cloner feature you can determine the sound characteristic of an audio file and transfer it to another one. Moreless, the same feature Steinberg Freefilter does.

I've made a videotutorial in order to show you how to achieve it. The audio file I've for the guitar I wanna copy comes from the song Goddamn Guitar uploaded on this thread

You can see the videotutorial clicking here.


METHOD 2: CREATING AN IMPULSE ANSWER

Most of the users will know how to create an impulse. It is very important that the audio file which is wanted to emulate have a small silence added at the end (for example, 1 second). And, of course, you'll need Voxengo Deconvolver to create the IR.

The guitar track you want to copy will be the "file to process" in Voxengo (obviously the Test Tone File is the guitar track you've recorded).

Set "Out Bit Depth" to 24, "Normalize to -0.3dbFS" and "MP Transform" option.

Click process and you'll have a wave file ended with a "_dc". This is the pickup impulse.


There's no 100% results, but the sound of both guitars become more similar. Hope you've enjoyed this experimental tutorial.

Keep on rockin' dudes!

 

[Javi Perera]

Have anybody of you, guys, tried to do something like this?

 

[FarBeyondMetal]

It's an interesting idea for sure, but most people here, myself included use EMGs or atleast some sort of hi-output humbucker for recording metal guitars. Definately sounds like a cool way to pull experimental tones though. I'll have to check it out sometime soon. Thanks.

 

[exzem]

I did the same thing but with Curve EQ a couple of months ago. Trying to get an EMG sound out of my strat by playing the same riff on my strat as on my EMG-equipped guitar, then matching curves.
Can't say that I liked the result though, there are probably more factors than just applying an impulse/EQ-matched curve.

I also did some experiments compressing the strats DI, because EMG:s signals are more compressed. It sounded fairly close when I applied it on both guitars playing the same riff, but if I just jammed around playing different stuff it didn't sound very good. That made it pretty useless so I gave up

Anyone knows how the line 6 variax guitar works? Haven't played one, but maybe they do something similar. They have 1 pickup per string if I don't remember wrong which should make it more accurate.

 

[reg3n]

i did the curveeq thing too, even used the acmebargig's soft for the pickup emulation thing, and the best tone i got, was DEFINATELY, the last, when i got a high gain pickup. When you start understanding that not EVERYTHING can be made out of emulators, things start sounding better.

 

[Javi Perera]

Well, it seems I'm not the only one that makes this kind of experiment, aren't I?

 

[Javi Perera]

I did the same thing but with Curve EQ a couple of months ago. Trying to get an EMG sound out of my strat by playing the same riff on my strat as on my EMG-equipped guitar, then matching curves.
Can't say that I liked the result though, there are probably more factors than just applying an impulse/EQ-matched curve.

I also did some experiments compressing the strats DI, because EMG:s signals are more compressed. It sounded fairly close when I applied it on both guitars playing the same riff, but if I just jammed around playing different stuff it didn't sound very good. That made it pretty useless so I gave up

Anyone knows how the line 6 variax guitar works? Haven't played one, but maybe they do something similar. They have 1 pickup per string if I don't remember wrong which should make it more accurate.

Of course there are more factors, like performance, sound of strings, attack, etc. It is not solved just with an impulse/EQ. I apply multiband compression too just to limit the annoying freqs.

It happens the same to me. It only works comparing it with the excerpt of the original audio, but when you mess around with other riffs, sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.

I dunno what line 6 variax is. Keep in mind that I work with a virtual guitar

 

[Javi Perera]

Well, I've been messing around with the freehand mode in CurveEQ and, sincerely, I've got much more results. Though I've spent lots of hours comparing spectrum analizers on both audio file to match 'em.

 

[cobhc]

To be honest, the reason you don't get good results playing different riffs is similar to the reason you cannot use someone else's presets for drums or the like your source isn't the same as their original source. The only way to get all riffs to sound good would be to take an impulse from the better sounding guitar for each riff you play, but in that case you might as well get a guitar with better pickups anyway.

I don't mean to take anything away from what you're trying to do, but it's the same argument as the one we've had here multiple times about whether presets work or not!!

And the Line 6 Variax is a guitar that "models" different guitar sounds to attempt to make the guitar sound like a Strat, or like a Les Paul, or even mess with tunings and Sitars, etc. How well it works I'm not so sure I've never looked into it much, but I don't envisage it to be that great.

 

[Javi Perera]

Don't worry, I am not offended . I do not intend to transform the sound completely either. I hope that I could make it . But I can do that the sound get better significantly. This is purely experimental, and I think that more than a person has made it ever.

 

[Philchef]

Can someone who has a strat/tele make an impulse with it?
This would be GODLIKE if that works....