The Biggest Mistake Modelling Users Make

Gear I use to make my videos

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[davemax]

All along I thought I was just lazy in using same cab set across the board… turns out I was making allies with the sound team

[toddbochenko]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Leon! As a FOH engineer I’m constantly fighting with guitar players and their modelers. Just because you have access to 1000 effects doesn’t mean you have to use them all at once. Less is sometimes more and using the same cabinet IR helps us out front so much. Thanks for posting.

[AdamGotheridge]

I once mixed a band live and the guy, really good player, was using some line 6 thing and changed patches for every song, and obviously spent a ton of time working the details out. It was a disaster to mix. It would take at least a minute into each song to get the guitar to fit again. It was an eye opener for me, and I think your pretty simple solution is a great idea.
Great video, great tones, and really cool tune.

[lyricbread]

Excellent video! This video needs to be stickied on the Fractal Forum. It could eliminate a lot of frustration from gigging musicians who are new to modeling.

[zoomzoom]

I'm a Helix user; with few exceptions, I use the same amp, cab, mic, and mic placement in a patch, then use snapshots to change amp settings. If there are multiple amp channel models, I'll use those in different snapshots, with the same cab, mic and mic placement.

I dial in the sound for my main rhythm tone first; then use that same cab, mic and mic placement for clean, lead; and rarely other variation, by changing the settings on the amp block / changing the amp block to a different amp block usually representing a different amp channel.


For example, I can use a jumpered plexi amp block, and just change the amp block settings in each snapshot or I can use the plexi jumpered, normal, bright amp models in three amp blocks and switch between them in snapshots.

[Doa]

I’m still new to IRs and modeling so this is good to know

[Burkhimself]

Man, this is not talked about enough…..I was thinking about this years ago when I first got my AX8, FM9 obviously now. I typically stick to a 2203 hi and even just volume down for cleans….add drive for leads, same cab ir all night. If I use an additional ir, it’ll sound really close to the main one and I’m just “testing it out live in comparison”
I honestly use 2 presets for a 4 hour gig. If a player has drastically different tones/ir’s throughout the night, they are being a little selfish and not thinking of the big picture. Great vid and great tip for people that don’t know 🤘🏼

[davidshankle]

Completely agree with you I use my two custom IR for all my patches and that solves that problem very well said here, my friend.

[NickLoperGuitar]

THANK YOU! As a live engineer, this pitfall comes up so so so often.

Seconded by this: shared backline (let's say, a festival), guitarist runs modeler through the power section of the amp and doesn't turn the cab/IR section on the modeler off.

[RyanChansler]

I use the same cab for all my scenes and even try to make the amp models complement each other with nothing drastically different.

[JustinTOsburn]

100%
As a FOH engineer, I deal with this stuff a lot. Thanks for putting it out there!

[echopoint]

When I first got into the modeling, I had a preset for every song in our set. Through the years I’ve decided to streamline everything to a couple different presets with a constant IR and it’s never been better. So consistent and even, much more pleasant listening experience. Instead of focusing on what amp model I am actually playing, I started focusing on the tone I really like, and that was life changing.

[taurushamilton]

This is great advice because at the end of the day, the way you want to use the modelers is like a REAL amp. Real amps don’t have different speakers for different songs etc… you’d be playing one amp w one speaker unless of course you always want an need a stereo sound w 2 amps or speakers. There are some great modelers out there, ( and I own some lol) I always revert back to the ones with the simple solutions. I get option paralysis w some of that stuff. Guitar players are gonna kille me when I admit to the fact that I own a HX Stomo XL AND an Ax 8 effects… still haven’t programmed those bad boys yet…have had both well over a year! I’m still having fun w all my other gear like the Iridium, American sound and Mooer preamp live. Don’t trash me you guys lol. Big fan of the channel sir. Ur a Great player as well 🫡💯✊🏾

[СергейЦвикевич]

Leon's got a great point. That's exactly the problem I've experienced due to lack of experience LOL. It took me a long time to realize that I should stick with one IR making things sound more consistent

[stevemacdreamcolours]

I would agree of course that as a rule its best not changing amp and cab sim in the same song; but that shouldn’t mean that when playing live you cannot be consistent with your artistic choice of tones and use the amp and cab that best fits each different song of yours 🎸

[pwnEdge]

Yup totally agree, like getting a sound without a band and then playing with that tone with the band…where did my tone go 🤔

[ChrisLee-okvu]

I've been doing the common IR in my live presets since I switched to modeling live. I got the idea from watching a video from Kristian Kohle. The point of the video is that your cab has a bigger effect on your tone than the rest of your chain. So I carried that idea into my live presets

[momogris]

Great tip! Man, all your videos are so well thought that its a pleasure to learn from you. I bought an Fm9 Turbo a year ago just because I watched all your videos. Needless to say, best modeller I have ever had. It is amazing. Thanks so

[viksrandomsecondchannel]

This advice was so important and well demonstrated but I was so distracted by the absolutely beautiful top on that guitar. my word!

[martyshwaartz]

What a difference! Much preferred the second mix when the chunky sound kicked in!