Music - the second helix / Triple Threat

I really love and hate this thing.

DOWNLOAD TODAYS PATCH - TRIPLE THREAT

I was noodling around and found a few progressions I liked last night, still trying to put at least one song together or find my new groove, and ran downstairs to setup the Helix and get a sound going. With my Pod HD500 this would take 10 minutes, if that, and I'd be onto recording. 2 and a half hours later I was done writing my patch and was too tired to lay tracks... that and my ears turned to mush.

I have come up with with what I believe to be a very versatile patch. I should be able to do a lot on this and there is still some tweaking to be done. I need to adjust some EQ stages to just tweak the sound a bit to get it where I want it. But I'm pretty happy overall... and it's the power of the Helix which really showed up in these 2 hours of tinkering...

This thing is powerful, and once I made the mental disconnection with the POD HD I was really able to dig in and figure that out myself. I've done some reading of other sites but never really took notes, luckily my brain somehow retained some of this info and I was able to use it in my patch creation process... So like everything, lets start at the foundation. I plugged in my Telecaster and went to work.

I grabbed a clean amp, normally I go straight for an AC30, but today I decided to grab the Archon clean channel. For a cab I went with the Orange 412 box, because well... I need some citrus in my life. Good for a healthy life you know? I tweaked the bejesus out of it and got what I thought at the time was a nice smooth modern clean.

I wanted a good drive tone to go with it, but as I mentioned on the last blog post I wasn't thrilled with the distortion options on tap, and I'm still not overly happy with them. The Archon reacts very differently than the AC30 so I did give them a go, but still didn't really like what I was hearing. So I decided to add the Archon Lead channel to the mix. I created a second path and now my signal chain splits before the amps and the rejoined before heading out the cab.

The Archon Lead is super powerful and I really dig it! I think I may want the real thing, this is a fantastic sounding patch. Really thick and heavy. Makes my Telecaster sound like a humbucker equipped lead machine! I decided to run both amps in tandem for my lead tone and just have a foot switch take the Archon out of the signal path. At this time I put a reverb behind the clean amp only.

Ahhh... the clean Archon and the Lead Archon get pretty thick and heavy together but loosing a lot of definition... thus the heavy tweaking commences. I swapped out the clean side for a bright Fender Bassman patch and edited it until I got some nice chime in with the lead tone. Very complex and dynamic tone. I adjusted the lead tone some more and started diving into bias and sag settings to get a good feel and response. I then went clean... holy ice pick!

I played with the Bassman some more. I really like this amp, but I don't know if its idea for what I'm trying to do... So I swapped it for a blackface Fender Deluxe normal channel. I don't like how the drive control gets this amp dirty so quickly, so I have it set to 1.0 or below to get what I'm looking for. A lot more EQ tweaking to get the clean sound I wanted but still retain some top end definition. Merged with the Lead channel I was super happy.

I wanted another gain stage however, so I started to go back to the overdrive and distortion pedals. I put these in front of the Deluxe so they wouldn't affect the Archon. I don't know how long I played with the, but I never got something I overly enjoyed... I figured it was the Deluxe itself and how the pedals interact with that amp. This is where I threw out the Pod HD mentality and wondered if I could create another amp path... I was right.

I took an AC30 Essex model and threw it in behind the Deluxe along the same "clean" signal path. I setup a foot switch to hot swap between the two amps. Dialed in a chimy crunch from the AC30 and done. I added a little boost with the Exotic EP Booster and the foundation was done.

There is some bottom end flub I get from this patch that I need to go in and fine tune with some EQ patches, but overall I'm really liking the tones I'm getting from it. So it was time to fill in the rest.

I added a trem, put the speed on the expression pedal, then added my usual phaser and delay pedals. Reverb got moved to the master channel, and all done.

All of a sudden its midnight and I have to work in the morning... so it's time to pack it up and record tomorrow.

But before I do that I look at my signal chain for recording that I've fine tuned and slap myself a little bit....

My signal path is:

Guitar -> TC Electronic Hyper Gravity -> Ernie Ball Expression Overdrive -> ABY Box

ABY Box A -> TC Sub n' Up -> Maxon Ad999 delay -> Orange Rockerverb 50 -> Cabclone

ABY Box B -> Helix

The compressor was on the whole time.... oh well, it sounded fantastic.

You can download the patch from my dropbox at the link at the top of this post. I'll be updating that folder as I add patches as you come with me on this journey. Thanks for reading.

Music - Riptire song preview & love/hate the POD

I have a bunch of stuff on the go in my computer. I have a few working tracks and songs that I've been playing with. Essentially every time I sit down I'm working on a new songs, which must mean the stuff prior isn't sticking if I don't want to play them. That said, I really like what I came up with Saturday night.

I fired up my Telecaster and AC30 at "bedroom" levels and started to play around. The wife didn't text me or anything about being too loud, so that's a very good sign. I plugged in my favorite pedal (Crowther Hot Cake) and a Vox Delay Lab and just starting jamming away. I didn't really get a feel for anything with the delay that night. I also went in wanting to do something with a slower groove to it, but came away with a bluesy hard rocky riff at 140bpm...which seems to be my average as of late.

Here is the first draft and rough track jammed out.

"Riptire" is just a working title right now as I don't have any lyrics written, and it will most likely change. The bridge is probably the part I want to change the most, as well as the solo at the end. There is a chance it will get a bit longer.

This is where it gets interesting, the stuff I have been writing is very dry crunchy tones, no real FX use. I'm a huge FX user, I love filling out the soundscape with various effects that really add to the songs. I get very inspired playing with different effects, which is why I took out my delay pedal. I'm lacking in some pedals, and I originally didn't think I'd be buying back in... but I'm starting to do some head shopping to check some stuff out. I need a tremolo for sure, as it has been one of my most used effects. I'm also looking at a polyphonic octave pedal as I got a lot of use out of my POG 2 when I had it. But I cannot justify buying another POG2 at this time.

Guitar tones are interesting tho. I'm going to be exchanging the cab-clone for a 16 ohm version as soon as possible. I'm trying to use the POD for recording guitar and I'm just not happy with it. The track I linked above is recorded with my Rockerverb 50 going into the Cab Clone and using Wall of Sound speaker emulation in Cubase. I really like it, it sounds thick and full and expressive. The rest is all POD, and I really want to use my AC30, but will need a 16ohm version to plug it in.

It's not that the POD tones are bad, they aren't. They are very use-able, but I find I am constantly fighting with it. The more I get into this writing project the more frustrated I'm getting with this thing.

The first issue is when I'm trying to use it as a recording interface. One of the things I was doing originally was having it hooked up and running it as an interface right into Cubase. This allows me to edit patches on the fly on the computer. I guess I still could if I got another USB cable for it... but I will no longer use it for recording direct. I will now be passing it through my Audiobox. The main reason is that it is constantly glitching and giving electric static jolts. I assume because it can't keep up with Cubase.

The other issue I'm having is either not having enough output to the recording desk or clipping the front end. I've tried a bunch of different tricks, but ultimately it's just frustrating to have to be digging around and messing with things all the time. I don't like it, it's annoying.

Finally the tone. It's usable, it's workable, it sounds better than the Cab Clone before adding speaker simulation. But, it's not alive like a real amp, and it isn't as defined sounding as a real amp. Overall it's kinda muffled. The distortion models are complete crap too... but then again I'm used to using pedals like the Crowther Hot Cake, Empress Multi-Drive, Xotic BB Preamp, Diamond Fireburst...etc.

Once I get the 16ohm Cab clone and can use my AC30 I'll see if I need to start going any deeper, but I may also rent a Line 6 Helix to see how much better it really is.

So in the track above, can you hear which guitar is the Orange Rockerverb 50 through the Cab Clone into Wall of Sound vs the Line6 Pod HD 500.

Music - CLONE IT! part 1

Well I did it. I went to the place where the majority of my gear was stored and took my Marshall 412 box, a few pedals I got no use for, and an old bass to L&M for trades. I was treated with almost double of what I was expecting to get...which grabbed me some nice toys... two in fact.

So I brought home that American Pro Telecaster I mentioned in my last post, and I'm going to focus on that primarily here for reasons I'll explain later.

The factory strings, or I am sure they are factory because they were a bit rusty and gross feeling came off right away and I tossed on some D'Addario NYXL 11-49 gauge on. After letting it settle overnight I came back to it and just had some minor adjustments to make for intonation and returning. It's plays beautifully, no height adjustment needed as I got very little if any buzz, even when really digging in. It's a just a joy to play.

I booted up my POD 500HD and built something as close as I could to my optimum stage rig. Unfortunately Line 6 does not have a Emma Reezafratzitz distortion, Crowther Hot Cake, or Xotic BB/RC/AC preamps in their modeling lineup, so I had to figure something else out. I took a standard AC30, tweaked the EQ for taste and started adding pedals. I took a Proco Rat Distortion model and cranked the output and lowered the gain just to get a feel of tube drive from the amp model which was mostly successful. I actually really liked it for a low gain tone with some crunch. Then I took the tube driver model and made a big fat high gain tone out of it. Distortion done.

I hate Line 6's delays. I don't know why, I just haven't enjoyed them much if at all. I did put an analog delay together as a generic delay. I'm not happy with it currently, but will tweak. A script Phaser was added, easy done. MXR Flanger, easy done. A seek trem, and an opto trem we're also easily added. Finally a '63 Spring reverb for taste.

With the Telecaster I got some very versatile tones and some inspiration flowing right away. I need to actually finish a song, but I'm going to figure out which one of all the different riffs I've been jamming on will come together first. The Tele will probably be featured a lot in this rejuvenation of song writing for me as it will contrast nicely with my other guitars. Right now I'm feeling my ES-335 and the Telecaster will be my primaries for most of this project.

Speaking of the project, I'm finding a lot of inspiration from different sources... but not really feeling like I'm getting out of my "box". I'm wanting to push my musical envelope here. A lot of what I've been writing has been very generic for what I've done in the past, not really coming up with anything "new". I'm on the hunt for a few of my old theory books (Guitar Grimoire) to see if I can find anything tasty.

My other purchase was a Mesa Boogie Cab Clone 8ohm. It was a floor model so half price off retail, and only 8ohm which is kind of sad because it means I won't be able to use it with my AC30 at this time. But I can use it with my Orange Rockerverb 50! If I like it I may exchange it for a 16ohm in the near future. Alas, I forgot to grab a speaker cable, and while I have a few extra power cables kicking around, there is no point in firing up until I can do so safely. I do love this amp tho, very much. I've heard mixed things about the cab clone... some are saying it's awful, others are saying it's more than serviceable. Rob Chapman did a video with Andertons here and while the cab clone makes a much tighter and sterile sounding recording, I still found it pretty serviceable. It was kind of unfair too because the boys at Andertons were using a dual mic setup with an SM57 and a ribbon mic which really makes a very open and engaging sounding capture.

Devices like the Cab Clone, which is a speaker simulator that gives you a direct in to your PA or recording system without having to use a speaker cabinet safely. Normally running a guitar amp without a speaker cabinet is not healthy for the amp. This is perfect for me as I'm doing most of my writing and playing late at night. However, it does have limitations that I am very well aware of going into this phase of my creative journey.

The Cab Clone specifically is a passive box that has a bunch of circuitry in it to simulate the sound of micing up your guitar cabinet. The problem is, it's just a bunch of resistors that are putting a load on the amp head and changing the output signal into something safe that can be run into your computer. This is very much like a passive DI for bass, which has been a standard way of running bass live for years. so what's the problem?

First off, you loose the sound of the room. Even if you are close micing the cabinet you will find that if you move the cab/mic around the room it will change the tones. A live mic will always sound more open compared to a DI. Then there is the fact that all those analog resistors will suck the top end out of your tone. I am expecting a major drop in thump, top end response, and mid range openness from my amp. I am not expecting to be overwhelmed here, in fact I plan on "fixing" as much as possible in post with EQ.


Anyways, I mentioned my music inspirations as of late... here is where I'm drawing ideas from:

Thrice - The Weight 
Mary Spender - Melancholy Parade
Dinosaur Pile-Up - 11:11
Closure in Moscow - Sweet#hart
Protest the Hero - Drumhead Trial
Rx Bandits - Wide Open