Horrible fizzy tone? (Even with Impulses)

[staind_freak]

Hey people. I know this is my first post around here, but so far I'm liking this forum so sorry about leeching.

Anyways, to the point:

Whenever I use guitar amp sims I get this horrible fizzy tone. I've tried to get a good metal tone from guitar rig 3, amplitube metal, revalver III, AND impulses without that good of results.

I tried quad-tracking but it didn't seem to help that much.

I've tried a few presets for revalver and some impulses over at guitarampmodeling but I'm getting bad results.

Here's a clip:

http://www.supload.com/listen?s=tX87vI
(If the clip isn't playing correct on the site, you might have to download it because when I try to stream it, it lags and sounds f***ed up for some reason.)

My rig:
Guitar is a Godin Freeway Classic with stock pickups. I don't think it's the guitar since it sounds pretty sweet when played on real amps.

That's going into an M-Audio Fast Track Pro interface and into my computer with Cubase SX3.

So please, help!
It seems a BIT better with drums/bass in the mix, but it just doesn't sound right. I've been trying to get a good tone for a while now without much luck. So please, help!

PS: The clip I posted is using Revalver MK III with the 6505 going into an ENGL impulse. There's some slight EQ after.

Any help appreciated. Thanks

EDIT: Oh, and I'm 100% sure my signal isn't clipping.

 

[Torniojaws]

It almost sounds like you have a somehow broken pickup. There's a huge midspike somewhere that sounds almost like it's out of phase. Hmm, that reminds me: have you changed the pickup at anytime? If you connect the pickup wrongly, there will be some odd sounds. That could be what's happening there.

 

[staind_freak]

Nope, stock pickups. Well, there IS this thing:

On my bridge pickup, one side of it is slightly lower than the other and there's a screw missing that's supposed to keep that side in place (hence why it's slanted.)

That was pointed out to me but I never thought it would be the problem since my guitar sounds great on real amps.

 

[CrazyClown]

May be you have troubles with the cable?
Or your direct tone from guitar is too loud, so it's clipping and in distortion you have such fizzies.
Try another guitar and find some di-track of guitar (for example there were Control state di-tracks) and try it on your revalver preset.

 

[staind_freak]

Hmm. I've tried different cables, and the clipping LED on my interface doesn't light up when I play, but i've tried lower volumes with pretty much the EXACT same result.

Anyways, here's a clip I put together. Maybe the guitar is a little better in the mix?

I know, I rushed this and it could have been a better mix (plus the fact that I'm using my guitar for bass since I lent my bass to a bud to use for a week or 2)

But how's the guitar on this?

http://www.supload.com/listen?s=6Jnabj

That's just about the best I've gotten so far with amp sims tone wise.

Also, I'm using shitty $80 logitech PC speakers as monitors, so I don't REALLY know what it sounds like haha.

BTW: It can't be the pickup height thing I mentioned before, since I got that partially fixed.

 

[Erkan]

Hmm, reminds me of the type of tones I'm getting with my guitar.... and I HATE the fucking tones I'm getting over and over again. I've tried every type of amp in Revalver (My chain is like yours basically, guitar -> interface -> Amp sim + impulse), and it's always crappy. Fizzy, thin, muddy, crappy.... not sure if it's because of the stock pickups, which are EMG-HZ, but I have an EMG81 that is going to get installed very soon, so I hope that's gonna help the sound atleast! Otherwise I'm done for... it kills my fucking motivation to play with crappy tones :|

 

[staind_freak]

Ok, maybe THIS is a little better?

http://www.supload.com/listen?s=feW7tr
(No bass guitar this time)

It still sounds like sh*t without the drums, but then again, doesn't all metal guitar?

Anyways tell me what you think bout that clip.

 

[Erkan]

I'm not sure, you managed to smooth it out a bit but it's not so defined... :| And the drums were much louder than the guitars so it was hard to say.

What did you change in your sound now though?

 

[staind_freak]

Well, that's actually my peavey valveking 112 with the effects send out to my computer and using an ENGL preset.

Hmm, I might try using my SD-1 with it but the damn thing is so noisy.
Maybe a bit more trebles might help?


What do you mean by "not so defined"?
Are you saying it's muddy?
Not clear?

I'm sorta giving up hope on guitars haha.

 

[Erkan]

Yea well, I dunno how to explain it but there seems to be a "layer" of something, covering the guitars. Think of it like you're listening to a dude playing a guitar, but his equipment is behind a carpet or something.

Something interesting to add though is... me and a friend just changed his passive stock pickup to an EMG81 and GOD DAMN the difference was huge. Tomorrow is when mine is getting changed... gonna unleash an orgasm assault when I get to play on it!

I feel like an idiot now, when I have spent hours and hours...... and hours of tweaking while using a passive... EMG-HZ. I'm sure there are good passives out there but I reckon there has to be a limit to where passives can go in term of definition and tightness. The active mic really helped the tightness in the sound, and the clarity is very noticable too.

... you're not the only one "giving up hope" on guitars I have too, but the EMG81 will certainly change that I reckon... will see tomorrow

 

[staind_freak]

Yeah yeah, my amp tends to sound like that a lot.

Maybe the "bright" switch will help it out? I'll try that later.

So the pickups made a huge difference huh?
God damn, I'm gonna need some new pickups now!

 

[Erkan]

Heh, "unfortunately", yes, the EMG81 pup helps a lot. It addresses several of my current issues, which are clarity in the tone, not tight enough palm mutes, too "unsmooth" distortion etc. Well, atleast it did on my friend's ESP, I'll have to see on mine ^^

 

[schnarf2]

Can you just put up a recording of the dry guitar signal?

 

[staind_freak]

Heh, yea, hit me up when you hook them up to your guitar cause you seem to be having the same problems as me. Clarity of tone, weak palm mutes, shit distortion.

Sounds EXACTLY like me haha.
Yea anyways I'm probably gonna get some Seymour Duncan SH-8 Invaders (found some on ebay REALLY REALLY REALLY cheap and I heard they're really good for metal.)

Anyways, here's some dry tracks I recorded. Excuse the shitty ass playing.
http://www.mediafire.com/?nkf20aymyjy

 

[Fox Mulder]

1. Back off on the gain. If it breaks your heart use some heavy compression and quad track.
2. Why do I hear and see stuff over 12khz? Unnecessary.
3. You guitar is a little out of tune. Slightly. And that hampers our overall perception of tone.

Try these. If they dont work something's wrong with the input of your Fast Track.

OR: you didnt mention what exactly you are using in between your guitar and the fast track.

I dont think anything's wrong with your pickups.

And yeh, if you are using a CRT monitor, move back about 7 feet while recording. The radiation does cause some fuzz.

If you are not using a CRT monitor, could there be anything else that could be radiating shit?

Is your setup properly grounded?

Cheers!