Using a real Peavey Triple XXX with cab IR's

[onetruth]

Hey everyone,

Been ages since i was last on here and I'm so glad I checked back.....ermz systematic mixing series is a godsend!! all hail ermz!

anyways, need a quick bit of guidance if anyone has got a spare few minutes. I've been fucking around with various amp sims for ages trying to nail a decent tone (TSE X30, various LePou amps, peavey revalver + various cab IR's etc) but not been 100% happy. On a few occasions when my neighbours have gone away, I've cranked up my peavey triple XXX (with JJ EL34's) into my marshall 1960av and mic'd with a 57 to achieve a pretty killer tone.....happy days. but my fucking neighbours don't go away often enough for my liking (inconsiderate buggers eh?!) and so i'm thinking of running my triple xxx head into my firestudio and then using my favourite cab IR (not sure why I haven't thought of doing this before really!).

I've checked the triple xxx manual which says the line out is post power amp which is pretty sweet as i should be able to get the full tone into my mixing desk right? so i'm going to run a cable from the line out into one of the inputs on my firestudio (not the hi-z one's obviously). but my question is whether or not I need to connect my cab to the head while doing this to prevent any damage to the head? i read somewhere that you must have a speaker connected...is this true? if so, can I keep the channel and master volumes at 0 and just use the level control on the line out, therefore having no sound coming out of the cab but sending a decent level to my audio interface? i'm guessing the eq controls are still active when using the line out....would be madness if they weren't right?

sorry for what must seem to some of you like the most basic questions ever but I just dont want to connect things up wrong and end up blowing my gear which i can't afford to replace!

thanks in advance for any help!
cheers
Jim

 

[sk8ersick666]

we have the exact same set up and I do this on the daily basis. i dont use the line out though I use the fx send on my PV XXX and I do plug in my cab just for safety but the beauty is this....the master volume can be all the way off in the Triple xxx and the fx send still works

 

[onetruth]

thanks for the quick reply mate!

so when you use the fx send, do you adjust the volume by just using the channel volume control? if the master volume can be on zero i guess that means the fx send is pre-power amp??

what's the tone like connecting it up this way, compared to the natural tone of the amp (preamp and poweramp) through a cab? Is there any need to use a vst emulation of a power amp before hitting a cab impulse to get a decent tone?

so i'm guessing you've tried using the line out before and the master volume has to be turned on to get a level into your audio interface? if so, that means the fx send it definitely the only way to go for me to not annoy the neighbours.

 

[Scott Horner]

I've done this with my Triple Rec and got decent results. Not sure about your amp but I have a FX Send level that I use to adjust the volume going into the sim.

 

[onetruth]

hey scott, thanks for chipping in

couple of questions..... do you connect your amp head to a cab while sending a signal into your audio interface to prevent any damage to the head? and can you have both channel and master volumes on zero while recording and just use the fx send level to control volume?

 

[azistenostora]

You can use the fx send and have the master on 0 = no sound from the cab. You still need to have a cab connected. Depending on your amp you adjust the volume with the channel volume. You will not get power tube saturation this way though. Only way to achieve that on fairly low levels is by using a hotplate.
By the way, most amps don't have to be cranked to get a decent sound out of them.

 

[Scott Horner]

ALWAYS have your cab plugged in. If not a cab then a dummy load so the head thinks there is a cab. Otherwise, no more head. I use the FX send level to adjust the level going in.

 

[MondoLikeMetal]

If you have some money - try this

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/randall-isolation-12-speaker-cab

 

[onetruth]

Thanks for all the advice guys! i'll setup my stack tonight and run the FX send out into my DAW and see how it goes.

The isolation cab looks pretty neat....cheers for the link!

 

[nwright]

I've done this with a XXX before and I used the FX send IIRC. I had the master volume all the way down, but I had to turn the channel volume all the way up to get a good level. Other than that, it sounded fine.

 

[onetruth]

I've done this with a XXX before and I used the FX send IIRC. I had the master volume all the way down, but I had to turn the channel volume all the way up to get a good level. Other than that, it sounded fine.

awesome! cheers for the advice. i'm sure i'll post some clips of the guitar sound in the 'rate my mix/tone' section soon. \m/

 

[MEt45]

awesome! cheers for the advice. i'm sure i'll post some clips of the guitar sound in the 'rate my mix/tone' section soon. m/

would be awesome dude... i've got a triple too and i'm excited what you will achieve with the way you gonna rec!

 

[onetruth]

would be awesome dude... i've got a triple too and i'm excited what you will achieve with the way you gonna rec!

hey buddy, i've still not got round to trying out my triple x with a cab IR yet but thought you might want to check out a mix of a track which i recorded in my home studio recently which i've posted here:

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/rate-my-mix-tone-threads/700428-punk-hardcore-vein-refused.html

I mic'd up my triple xxx and marshall vintage 4x12 with a 57 and quad tracked the guitars. not a "typical" metal tone mind you...more of a punk/hardcore esque effort. but i'm gonna link the triple xxx to a cab IR this week and see how close i can match the tone of the mic'd cab! watch this space!

\m/