Best strategy for setting up an amp tone from scratch?

[andreas.stueger]

Maybe this is a dumb question after all the time, but since I never used a real amp with a real cab, real mics, recorded in a real studio, I simply have to ask:

What is the best strategy (with all the options that AT4 offers) to set up an amp tone from scratch?

Let´s say I want a nice creamy high gain lead sound. So I choose an amp. Maybe the ENGL Powerball (since this is my favourite amp in AT4). But then? What is next? Where do I start to twak my sound? What should come first, what last?

There are so many options that I always get lost in tweaking here and there, and in the end every tone I create sounds the same. You have your amp settings, cabs, speakers, mics, rooms, fx,... aaargh. And every single setting changes the tone.

Thanks in advance for some useful tips.

[Peter_IK]

I would leave the matched cabinet and mic + mic position alone at first. Concentrate on the settings on the amp itself. Get your signal in and out of AmpliTube at good levels (hot but not clipping) before anything.

Then I'd play with gain and volume/level on the amp itself. It is sometimes kind of like reverb, dial it in to where you think it is good then dial it back some because you've probably added too much.

From there go to EQ and further dial in the low, mid, and high frequency to taste.

Once you have a handle on what those adjustments do to your tone, you may want to step into the fray of adjusting microphones and their positions but that is in my humble opinion where most folks who don't have a lot of experience with mics and positioning can get in the most trouble tone-wise.

[andreas.stueger]

Thanks for your answer!

You describe the "real world" set up of an amp tone, where you would sit in front of your amp, dial in the tone you like and then add the mic, move it to a good position and record it.
The problem with AT4 - and all the other amp sims by the way - is that the mic is always in your chain. You cannot remove it and therefore you cannot hear the "pure amp sound".

So my idea was to create a different strategy for setting up amp sims. I think of a kind of "reverse" build up.
So, chosse an amp, set all knobs to 12 o´clock (neutral position). Then choose the cab and mic and tweak the position until you get a tone you like. Change cabs and mics to taste. Then move back to the amp and tweak its controls to fine tune your sound.

Just an idea... Does it make sense?

[Peter_IK]

The reason for this is that AmpliTube is designed to replicate the signal chain you'd use to record an amplifier. I suppose if you want the experience of sitting in a room with your amp and cabinet, you could turn off the microphone(s) and just use the room sounds but I'm not sure that's going to give you a great sound as it will be more like the room microphones used for ambience (and they work quite well for this, as in adding some natural reverb without using a reverb effect/plugin).

[carlaz]

Regarding the mic, I'd simply start with a Dynamic 5 ("based on Shure SM57") crammed up in the middle of the cone -- which, as far as I can tell, is the basis of a very large percentage of recorded guitar tones.

My "standard" starting approach for mics is basically that, along with perhaps a Dynamic 421 as a second mic crammed up against the edge of the speaker. That's also a pretty common approach, and is usually fine for me. Though I can nudge the 421 in toward the center to adjust the tone, if necessary.