[Impulses] Why don't my tones sound the way they should?

[Tharantyr]

Hi guys,

I'm pretty new to this whole IR thing, but I'm trying. I've actually tried doing this a long time ago, but I had the same problem I'm running into right now, so I gave up. Me and a friend have decided to record some songs to try to find some more band members. That's why I decided to give cabinet impulses another go, because I wanted a great sounding tone for our songs.

Anyway, every time I try do use impulses, the tone I get is completely different from the tone I'm supposed to be getting. I've actually literally copied some of the chains posted on this forum to see if I'd get the same result, but to no avail. For example, I copied this guy's chain to see if I'd get that same tone, but I got a fuzzy tone with a terrible amount of bass.

I also followed [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBjpXPaLIh0&feature=related]this video turial[/ame] explaining how to get the sound in the video using cabinet impulses. I did EXACTLY what the guy in the video said, but my tone was again different, with more bass and not sounding at all as great as that tone.

I really want to get the hang of using cabinet impulses, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing wrong. Do any of you guys have an idea, and could you help me out? I'm using REAPER. Thanks a lot.

 

[Trevoire520]

How old are your strings?

 

[Tharantyr]

About a week old now.

 

[SentencedToBurn]

whats your chain from the guitar to the computer. actually.... whats your guitar? what pickups?? everything plays a part. if your using a shit guitar with shit pickups (or not proper pickups for metal) and its going into a shitty interface creating a shitty D.I. signal. then.....

garbage in is garbage out

 

[Tharantyr]

My guitar is an Ibanez S770PB. I use the stock pickups, an INF1 pickup, an INFS1 pickup and an INF2 pickup. It goes into a Line 6 Pod Studio GX.

Thanks for answering.

 

[hurdy]

Man those stock pickups eat shit for breakfast dude, Ibanez probably thought that noobs will find the extra bass response really kool sounding
Try picking closer to the bridge, if it still sounds bassy put a tubescreamer in front of the amp or EQ with a low shelf cut

 

[Doctor Gay]

i saw this over at the guitarampmodeling forum, i think the sound you got is pretty-good. much much much better than what i get with his mbox mini if that's any solace!

 

[Tharantyr]

i saw this over at the guitarampmodeling forum, i think the sound you got is pretty-good. much much much better than what i get with his mbox mini if that's any solace!

Thanks, but I'm not satisfied with it.

Man those stock pickups eat shit for breakfast dude, Ibanez probably thought that noobs will find the extra bass response really kool sounding
Try picking closer to the bridge, if it still sounds bassy put a tubescreamer in front of the amp or EQ with a low shelf cut

Would you recommend changing the pickups? And what pickups would you recommend?

 

[hurdy]

I definitely recommend changing the pickups, that was the hint
Though, you could EQ the guitar tone BEFORE the amp with good results
Try a low shelf cut if its too bassy, EQ could quite possibly save you here.

EDIT: have a search around this forum and see what results people are getting with certain pickups

 

[Tharantyr]

Thanks for the reply.

So I've set my mind on a certain pickup. I opened a threat about it here: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...ng-my-ibanezs-stock-pickups.html#post10244457

Would you mind checking that thread out? Thank you very much.

 

[Tharantyr]

Anyway, back to the subject. I always hear people talking about NRR-1 and about how great it sounds when combined with TS-999. So I figured I'd give it a shot. My chain was TS-999 -> NRR-1 -> keFIR (with different impulses for testing). I played around with the settings of both TS-999 and NRR-1 but I'd only manage to get a really crappy thin sound, also very fuzzy. It seems that no matter what I do, I'm not able to get a decent sounding tone when using impulses. This can't all be related to the pickups I use, can it?

 

[Brandon E.]

Is it possible maybe the "length" knob in your Kefir isnt set high enough and is cutting out some of the impulse? Have had that happen before...Got any clips or DIs to post?

 

[Redoubt9000]

I've mentioned a few times on the GAM forum as well, following to the letter every dialed knob for someone else's tone will get you nowhere. Especially if you're using different gear, and ESPECIALLY because you're not a robot and able to mimick the exact same nuance and movement from someone else's performance. It's better to tweak from, or change entirely components that make up a chain for that sound (impulses, amp settings, w/e)

 

[hurdy]

How long have you been playing guitar for bro??
Dont be offended but alot of the time the shit tone comes from the playing technique, try picking in different positions (like closer to the bridge as mentioned earlier, andy sneap said this a few years back i think)
Maybe post a clip, then we can really help you

 

[Tharantyr]

Is it possible maybe the "length" knob in your Kefir isnt set high enough and is cutting out some of the impulse? Have had that happen before...Got any clips or DIs to post?

Hmm, I haven't played with that knob before. I read somewhere that that knob would not make a very big difference. I'll play with that knob a bit, thanks.

I've mentioned a few times on the GAM forum as well, following to the letter every dialed knob for someone else's tone will get you nowhere. Especially if you're using different gear, and ESPECIALLY because you're not a robot and able to mimick the exact same nuance and movement from someone else's performance. It's better to tweak from, or change entirely components that make up a chain for that sound (impulses, amp settings, w/e)

Yes, but even trying to come up with my own tone just leaves me with a horrible thin sound that's just awful.

How long have you been playing guitar for bro??
Dont be offended but alot of the time the shit tone comes from the playing technique, try picking in different positions (like closer to the bridge as mentioned earlier, andy sneap said this a few years back i think)
Maybe post a clip, then we can really help you

I've been playing for a little over 2 years now. Do you mean a clip of my playing or a clip of the tone I'm getting from using impulses? I'll post both.

Some of my videos on YouTube:


(The picking in the second one is not as tight because I was picking at what for me was a very high speed)

Me comparing my tone to what it "should have sound like":
http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/Tharantyr/music/all/play1098812

I realize that tone comparison is probably not the best example, since somehow I did manage to come pretty close with that one. But that really is an exception, because that was actually the only time my tone sounded remotely close to the tone it should sound like.

P.S. Don't mind some of the songs on that profile, most of them are really old.

 

[osiris8]

Try changing impulse loader. I've heard from good sources Kefir can mess up your impulses. Lecab2 instead maybe?

 

[schwinginbatman]

It's probably the differing guitars. It seems he cranked the bass all the way up, which worked maybe for him, but with yours it won't. Try EQing differently if you're going the route he did. I would use different impulses and amp sims, but from what I heard that setup has potential.