I don't know why I never thought of putting a little compression at the end of the chain... Great idea. Putting a little room reverb at the end of the chain helps with getting more of an "amp in the room" feel too. Great video.
Quick Summary of the 5 Tips: 1. High Pass/Low Cut (80Hz) & Low Pass/High Cut (10khz) presets. Mimics tube amp and speakers natural roll offs. 2. Compression on last block to (a) mimic studio outboard compression to even out dynamics & tame high end harshness & (b) mimics effect of a tube amps natural compression when cranked. 3. EQ: Pull out frequencies. Subtractive EQ to help gain staging down the chain. Remove low end mud & boom. High end harshness. Position: Post amp and cab & Pre Fx. EQ in the FX loop position. 4: Soft Clipping/OD pedal post amp & cab position to mimic speaker breakup and power amp saturation. More for ‘feel’ as opposed to more gain. 5. FX placement: Experiment with before and after the amp. Delay reverb B4=like pedals straight into amp & After = Studio effect/clarity.
1. High Pass and Low Pass implementation (global setting) 2. Compressor at the end of signal chain (very last) 3. Subtractive EQ a.k.a using EQ to take out - dB a certain frequency (placed after cabinet before modulations/delays) 4. Soft Clipping, soft shaper (for Kemper only) 5. Effect Placement, a.k.a putting your effect chain like the real live setting (put everything, e.g. delay, reverb, or OD/Dist pedals BEFORE your amp head) Hope it helps for summary. Should you wanna hear any detailed explanation and sound samples, of course watch the video thoroughly like I did. Hehe. Thanks for this video, Rhett! You tha man!
Thanks for the tips .... I have several tube amp heads and cabinets and now I,m getting the best tones of my life with the HX Stomp and a Tech21 solid state power amp .... the warmest tones and versatility !!!
I tried some of these tips on my Kemper . The Graphic EQ adjustment really improved my clean sounds. Less spikey "Digital sounding ". Much better than just adjusting the main or Monitor Out Put EQ . Thanks Rhett !
Great stuff! Agree 100%. 1. HP & LP 2. Post comp to FEEL like a tube power section. 3. FX into amp, NOT in the loop (FX will feel more homogeneous, and less separate from the amp)
Holy shit Rhett, Those tools must make a big difference because I can actually hear it...... This is a first for me..... I can't normally hear subtle differences over the ringing an snow...... Keep doing what you do!!!!!
Thanks Rhett! You're killing it. I cant wait to get home and work on my hx stomp now. And that track was killer. Cool about the high pass and low pass too. I really noticed the low pass doing its thing. My best tip right now for using the stomp integrated with a board is to use midi control. I'm able to use all of my favorite strymon pedals and overdrives/fuzz and switch them all with a single button push.
Hi Rhett, thanks for your great EQ-Tip!! I use it for all !! my sounds in Line6 Pod500X and take the "Studio EQ" with the following stettings: Lo Freq = 75Hz - Lo Gain = - 7 dB and Hi Freq = 8000 Hz - Hi Gain = -7dB --- for all my sounds usefull cause they are a more amplike and less hifi. Greetings from Germany
I know it’s a lot less capable, but I picked up a Fender Mustang II head some years back. I’m pretty sure a lot of us non-pro players never really dig too deeply into what these are capable of. My goal is to create some presets for both my acoustics (fishman retrofits) and electrics, so that I basically don’t do anything other than switch instruments. I have a four switch and two switch controller, and their effects pedal as well. I’m going to use some of your and Rick’s advice and ideas to finally create what I want. I’m starting to understand signal chain a lot better, and how gain and EQ work properly. It’s going to come down to making a “nest” in the basement for a weekend, and really trying to figure out what’s up. Thanks for waking up my musical brain just a little. As a side note, I really appreciate your candid admissions about the struggles of both improving and maintaining your playing skills. I’m in my fifties, and I just realized that my hands are showing some wear and tear from the REST of life. If you’re twenty-something, please don’t roll your eyes when I tell you that you’re going to see (and miss) a lot of opportunities along the way, and the possible negative outcomes you use to justify all the missed ones will likely never matter. It’s okay to indulge your musical inner child once in a while, especially if you want good memories. Thanks again.
What you do around 5:50 is what most Line6 and AxeFX users totally forget about. Those guitarists always sound SO harsh and fizzy that it seems to be defining what the new guitar sound expectation is... besides the lack of midrange and dynamics. Like everything must be happening between 4k and 15k and hypercompressed. This surely is a phenomenon of listening to everything via smartphone so our ears get sound-biased in general, and then music also has to be overcompressed to get all the information into that smartphone listening range through harmonic distortion.
on my Helix LT I do all the cuts before the speaker IR (and sometimes even after too), typically roll of after 6-7 Khz, goodbye digital rasp Compression after the amp should be done before time effects or you will get strange effects just like using time effects before a compressing amp
After watching this I checked my global EQ and found it was set really weird, then I remembered I got the Stomp second hand and it must have had the prior user’s settings. I can now use the distortion models! Before they were horrible and harsh. So, thanks for the tip!! Also, my 9s are working really well on my PRS, so that’s again for that too!
That poor drone! Making it fly through the cold and snow, brrrrr. Just starting my guitar journey, OMG, this is So Cool! Kudos to you for continually opening my eyes to the possibilities. Thanks!!
I have two tips for people with low budget. Get a "cheap" but recent all in one board from zoom or mooer but bypass the built in cab emulation and run it into a clean neutral amp or into a dedicated cab simulator. Great sound for a small price.
And about delay and reverb in front, it is worth pointing out that it will only work on cleaner sounds, clean and slightly driven to maybe medium gain like Van Halen did with his plexi back in the 70's. It works for your sounds that are more Vox, ÷13, matchless kind of sounds. But what about the metal players that are using Dual Rectifiers, Mark V, Engl, peavey 6505? You do not want to run delay and reverb into those monsters when they're at full gain.
Just picked up a Stomp a few weeks ago, so this video will be on repeat as I dial in my presets. (Or maybe I'll just buy yours and be done with it lol).
The one issue I have with the "subtractive eq" thing is that if you take AWAY gain by subtracting, aren't you just having to gain match by boosting gain after? There could be a difference in phase response (most eq changes the phase in ways) but I am not sure how there is much of a difference here.
I’m hearing 60-cycle buzz on the Kemper 5k EQ setting and the soft clipping. Unexpected, but realistic. When you switch back to microphone, there’s a room electronics ambience (8 to 12k?); not “studio dead” (as when your program stops). Nit picking, but there it is.
I prefer to run my Kemper through the return on my Marshall stack. It feels weird playing with headphones since the guitar doesn't respond the way it does to an amp in the room.
For us weekend warriors I hate to admit but do yourself a favor and buy a Boss Katana 100 with the footswitch... not bad on the wallet, easy on the back, more than loud enough for any venue, all 4 models are usable, takes pedals fine and your back will thank you :) (I use a Joyo Sweet Baby trans OD and a Dunlop Classic Wah in front and I'm good to go to play any genre with the little turd)
Awesome content as always. I'm considering pairing up my HX Stomp with the Two-Notes Cab M pedal. This way the HX Stomp can handle the effects and preamp section while the Cab M handles power amp, cabinet, and eq (opening up more blocks on the Stomp). Does anyone know if the Two Notes cabinets require less EQ tweaking than the Helix cabinets?
What should I be looking for to use at home. I have a line 6 modeller with lots of output options. Do you have a preference output? I would prefer to not use a PC.
Any suggestions for soft clipping / soft shaping with the Helix and the HX stomp? I usually run my HX Stomp through an active Thiele cab utilizing a fairly neutral g12h100 speaker and it feels quite amp-like to me. I suppose the speaker inside of the cab does all the low and high frequency filtering for me.
First of all, that lead in song was awesome. I saw you in a panel at NAMM talking about the Helix with 3 other guys. You mentioned you liked the JRT amp so I gave it a quick try. I liked it stock with the exception of the bass. It needs to be tightened up, but I didn't see any tone adjustments. I could probably use an equilizer, but wondered if you had any advice on making some amp adjustments? I have Pod Go. PS - I love your channels.
Here's a great trick for helix. Place the kinky boost between amp and cab sim, I set it to just above unity gain, leave the boost off and set the bright to taste. Its been dubbed the Eric Johnson trick.
I've started using a Hotcake OD as a way of adding more sparkle to my sound. Pedal has a ton of output and go from completely clean to fuzz territory, and it has a tone knob labelled "presence". Knobs are somewhat interactive. I've been using it set completely clean, with the presence knob all the way up, and it's wonderful after a compressor that kills highs. It does something to the signal that an EQ can't do.
There's something different about your arrangements these days. They've got this "breaking out/finally free" quality that i really enjoy. Good stuff, man. Thanks for the tips.
Rhett Shull I learned a lot (I don’t have/use modelers yet, no qualms with them, just haven’t gone that route yet). This was really enlightening man. Also, I know you’re gonna hate me for it, but you misspelled compression (sorry 😟). Love YOUUUUUU
Wasn't sure whether to write this or not, but I hope it gives you something nice to take away... I watched a couple of your videos about a year ago and found them a bit dull... skipped over your channel every time it showed up in my feed for a long time after that, but gotta say that I now regret anything I missed from you during that time... Over the past 6 months your content hasn't failed to not only teach me new stuff, but also to inspire me to pick up my guitar after EVERY watch! 😊 ... The behind the scenes stuff with Noah is especially of interest to me, so much so that I just subscribed! 😊 ... Is there any release date for an album with all these great tracks you guys have been producing lately???? Great job all round bro... keep doing what you're doing... no plan B 🤘🤘
This came at the right time for me! I have a 60W Tweed Blues Deville 410 which is great... until the kids go to bed. I got hold of Amplitube for bass since I don't have a bass amp but I decided to try using it for guitar for late night practices. Total $h!t show but a lot of the pointers in this video clearly point out my problem areas, especially the HP/LP tip. One thing that stood out to me was the use of EQ after the amp. This is something that's become a huge no-no for me when recording an actual tube amp. It robs the guitar/amp/cabinet of it's warmth, leaving it with a colder, more digital tone. Is this just less of a concern with sims? Typically, if I want to bring it out in the mix, I apply a harmonic exciter, accentuating the highs. If it's a little too hot, I apply tube or even tape saturation, re-purposing the unnecessary highs. Punch? Add compression with attack. In the past, Parametric EQ was my hammer and every problem was a nail. Now, I'm conditioned to hit the breaks every time it comes up. =D Thanks for everything, Rhett!
Rhett Shull kemper user here. So do you apply the same principles you demoed on the hx effects to the kemper (global eq, compression start the end) Also, if I profile comes with the eq already tweaked do you leave it or set it 0 and apply the graphic eq? Thanks man
Man, that intro! It was one of the best mix I've ever heard, amazing! You could do a step by step on how do you recorded, mixed and composed that, it would give so much insight! Amazing content as always man, keep it up the good work! Thanks.
it kinda' reminds me of that LADY ANTEBELLUM song " i need you now," and the solo was like eric johnson playing in a style like david gilmore { if that makes sense}, not that he ripped it off , it just has that feel, i like it BTW
great tip on the compressor last in the chain: I have an HX stomp and while it is very responsive to the guitar volume in terms of gain level, the volume drop is quite annoying in most of the amp models, so the compressor last will keep the "front end" gain dynamics while evening out the volume Great content as always, Rhett
For A/Bing different effects combos or adjustments to different parameters on the Kemper, I've found the looper can be really useful. Record a simple loop, hit play, exit looper mode and A/B as much as needed. It speeds up the workflow pretty nicely.
Another great tip I found in YT is to match the amp and cab volume to the bypass volume of your guitar, which eliminates some digital clipping that sometimes can occur.
I understand why we want to replicate those tube amp sounds with modelling but in a way I also think, when ya have all that creative modelling potential at your fingertips, why would ya wanna bother trying to make sounds that have already been done to death. Make something amazing and different sounding. Ya got the tools! Make it unique!
I think that's what's so exciting about where this technology is at...people who want to experiment and use these new tools to create new sounds can. People who want to create a traditional sound can. Whats more, both of these groups can do so without needing 10s of 1000s of dollars of gear...or a bunch of different pieces of gear connected. A 13 year old can recreate the tones (or close enough) that inspire them to play...or have the freedom to innovate...in their bedroom with gear that can be amassed over a couple of xmas' and bdays. Pros can do the same without needing a full time roadie and tech hauling and maintaining a crap ton of gear.
Sometimes a song calls for a classic sound, familiarity is something to be thought of when coming up with tones of your own. Something recognized is what originally draws the audience in, until you've gotten recognition and can begin altering a sound to fit yourself. This is the evolution of musicians over time, and if you notice a lot of people get frustrated when artists change their sound. Its what they're known for. A lot of the greatest bands started out as cover bands.
Lol i have a fender mustang 3 v.1 and i turn on all the goofy shit on there just to see what I can do with it. Anything with multi effects can give you weird ass sounds 😆
Just downloaded Rhett's Helix presets- they are great, the tips he talks about in the video do really make a difference. I've been using my Helix for over a year, I love it but I'm a total noob when it comes to stuff like high pass filters and all that. Can't wait to try these out live in a band context. Rhett- you should do more vids like this for us guys who are using modellers but need some advice.
The EQ section of this video is really hard to see on the Kemper's screen. Kemper's Editor is now out in Rig Manager most recent public release (not beta). If you plan on using Kemper content, you may want to consider using the Editor instead of the Kemper. Would be a lot easier to see.
I don’t and just go by feel and sound. The ui is the only thing the Kemper needs work on and I’m not about to buy another one so I just deal with it. And if they do make the ui bigger after I’ve bought it I’ll be pretty mad tbh.
I’m with you on the delay and reverb in front of the amp emulation. However, I often put some additional stereo (room or plate) reverb after amp and cabinet just to make it feel less mono and more like in the room. Especially for in ear situations or headphone monitoring a great tool.
One thing I like to do with the kemper when playing through a real can via monitor/power amp out is to mess around with “sag” and “tube shape” under the “amplifier” section. You can add a bit of squish and resistance to it and it makes a huge difference to me and feels like I’m really interacting with the whole setup while playing
I’ve been messing with this and this is indeed true. Should I generally be turning up the sag to make it sound more realistic or down? Thanks for the tip
Super informative, I'm a Helix Rack user myself, and I always liked to use some Cpmression after the amp. Thanks a lot Rhett, I love watching your videos, I never miss one of them !
Add your favorite overdrive pedal or distortion or fuzz in front of your amp block. It helps with the feel and for me the sound. At the end of the day, I love my tube amps and literally just use one real pedal in front. FYI I do the same with the Kemper. Plug the pedal right in the front. With the helix put it in the loop though not in the front.
The "Pride (In the Name of Love)" riff during the pre-/post-amp delay and reverb demo was amazing. I do really like how those two effects sound in front of the amp, although it sounds good either way. The grit that comes onto the tails and repeats from running into the preamp is an oft-overlooked part of the tone. Pete Thorn did a great video about EVH's use of the Echoplex delay into the front of his Plexi and how that's the key to really nailing the sound of the riffs (aside from practicing your butt off to get the tempo and the notes right, of course).
I tried your suggestions last night at a gig and they made a big difference (in a good way). I am really starting to love my tone through the HX Stomp. Thanks so much Rhett.
They are set to give a signal that is the same as you get in a studio. The sound from 1” away. This includes proximity effect that boosts the low end and high frequencies that are very directional and only heard if you stick your ear right in front of the speaker. The studio tracks are given these cuts as are the mics feeding the PA by the engineer... the modelling is realistic but requires the engineers knowledge. The latest Helix firmware defaults do include default cuts.
Great video Rhett, another thing you can do which I do is adjust the sag in the amp, that will have more of an effect to the feel than sound but you can hear and feel the difference, if you want more of a spongy feel this is a good way to do it.
Not sure how often you respond to comments on older videos, but what would you say about using the sag/bias controls to alter the feel? Do you ever mess with those on any of your profiles?
The thing I’m always wondering is how come these amp models do not intrinsically include compression & hpf/lpf. It’s weird to me that these supposedly « on the spot » models do not replicate these components of the sound. Am I missing something ? Great informative video as usual Rhett!
Because it all has to do with what sound your going for. The amp settings are pretty decent stock. However where a lot of people get confused with modellers is amp in the room feel/sound vs amp in an isolated control room. I can almost guarantee there hasn't been an album recorded without high/low pass, and compression. This is what the Helix does. You choose your mic, mic distance, early reflections among a host of other things. So to pre-emptively compress or cut signal with no information as to what the end user will doing is rather useless. Yes they are complicated but in my mind it is much much easier than trying to midi wire a board and program a midi controller. I can have a live use patch for most of what I play in around an hour or 2. It takes that long for most people to figure out where to place there pedals on a board.
Spent some time just applying some of the things that you have mentioned in this video. Really helped me clean up my tones on my Helix. I normally use a parametric EQ to make a few narrow cuts in areas that I felt were really harsh. However, adding that compressor towards the end really started to provide the feedback/responsiveness that I've always been looking for. Subscribed to your channel, and shared this to lots of people. Really great stuff!
I use the HX in my computer/monitors only, but run a cable out of the fx send to the return of one of my little tube amp heads on a 4x12 behind me a few feet set to a really low volume. Helps get that "in the room" feel thing going.
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My first video course, The Tone Course, is now available. Check it out here!
flatfiv.co/collections/rhett-shull/products/the-tone-course
non of you url with presets to download works ...could you upload please?
The link is not available. How cab i get the preset?
Rhett - This is perhaps your best instructional video. I enjoyed watching this and learnt a lot. Thanks and love from India!
I don't know why I never thought of putting a little compression at the end of the chain... Great idea.
Putting a little room reverb at the end of the chain helps with getting more of an "amp in the room" feel too.
Great video.
Quick Summary of the 5 Tips:
1. High Pass/Low Cut (80Hz) & Low Pass/High Cut (10khz) presets. Mimics tube amp and speakers natural roll offs.
2. Compression on last block to (a) mimic studio outboard compression to even out dynamics & tame high end harshness & (b) mimics effect of a tube amps natural compression when cranked.
3. EQ: Pull out frequencies. Subtractive EQ to help gain staging down the chain. Remove low end mud & boom. High end harshness. Position: Post amp and cab & Pre Fx. EQ in the FX loop position.
4: Soft Clipping/OD pedal post amp & cab position to mimic speaker breakup and power amp saturation. More for ‘feel’ as opposed to more gain.
5. FX placement: Experiment with before and after the amp. Delay reverb B4=like pedals straight into amp & After = Studio effect/clarity.
LOL I wrote my own summary while listening.
1. High Pass and Low Pass implementation (global setting)
2. Compressor at the end of signal chain (very last)
3. Subtractive EQ a.k.a using EQ to take out - dB a certain frequency (placed after cabinet before modulations/delays)
4. Soft Clipping, soft shaper (for Kemper only)
5. Effect Placement, a.k.a putting your effect chain like the real live setting (put everything, e.g. delay, reverb, or OD/Dist pedals BEFORE your amp head)
Hope it helps for summary. Should you wanna hear any detailed explanation and sound samples, of course watch the video thoroughly like I did. Hehe. Thanks for this video, Rhett! You tha man!
Rhett, the opening videography is straight up LEGIT. I loved it, and that intro track is amazing! 😎👍
I hate when demo songs sound incredible cause then I want to keep listening to them. Please upload that as a song, that was sooooo good.
Thanks for the tips .... I have several tube amp heads and cabinets and now I,m getting the best tones of my life with the HX Stomp and a Tech21 solid state power amp .... the warmest tones and versatility !!!
I tried some of these tips on my Kemper . The Graphic EQ adjustment really improved my clean sounds. Less spikey "Digital sounding ". Much better than just adjusting the main or Monitor Out Put EQ . Thanks Rhett !
Bro I just applied these tips on my profiles and everything sounds waaay better!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Great stuff! Agree 100%.
1. HP & LP
2. Post comp to FEEL like a tube power section.
3. FX into amp, NOT in the loop (FX will feel more homogeneous, and less separate from the amp)
Holy shit Rhett,
Those tools must make a big difference because I can actually hear it......
This is a first for me.....
I can't normally hear subtle differences over the ringing an snow......
Keep doing what you do!!!!!
Thanks Rhett! You're killing it. I cant wait to get home and work on my hx stomp now. And that track was killer. Cool about the high pass and low pass too. I really noticed the low pass doing its thing. My best tip right now for using the stomp integrated with a board is to use midi control. I'm able to use all of my favorite strymon pedals and overdrives/fuzz and switch them all with a single button push.
Wow, throwing on the delay after amp sounds so good in the headphones. 🤩
Hi Rhett, thanks for your great EQ-Tip!! I use it for all !! my sounds in Line6 Pod500X and take the "Studio EQ" with the following stettings:
Lo Freq = 75Hz - Lo Gain = - 7 dB and Hi Freq = 8000 Hz - Hi Gain = -7dB --- for all my sounds usefull cause they are a more amplike
and less hifi.
Greetings from Germany
Melodic perfection in your intro. ROCK on sir.
I know it’s a lot less capable, but I picked up a Fender Mustang II head some years back. I’m pretty sure a lot of us non-pro players never really dig too deeply into what these are capable of. My goal is to create some presets for both my acoustics (fishman retrofits) and electrics, so that I basically don’t do anything other than switch instruments. I have a four switch and two switch controller, and their effects pedal as well. I’m going to use some of your and Rick’s advice and ideas to finally create what I want. I’m starting to understand signal chain a lot better, and how gain and EQ work properly. It’s going to come down to making a “nest” in the basement for a weekend, and really trying to figure out what’s up. Thanks for waking up my musical brain just a little. As a side note, I really appreciate your candid admissions about the struggles of both improving and maintaining your playing skills. I’m in my fifties, and I just realized that my hands are showing some wear and tear from the REST of life. If you’re twenty-something, please don’t roll your eyes when I tell you that you’re going to see (and miss) a lot of opportunities along the way, and the possible negative outcomes you use to justify all the missed ones will likely never matter. It’s okay to indulge your musical inner child once in a while, especially if you want good memories. Thanks again.
Thanks Rhett, I've tried these tips and they really make the tone more authentic. It's taken me years to trust modellers, but I'm gettig there! : )
Wow, this video is worth it's weight in gold, even though videos don't weight anything, but you know what I mean.
Rhett you did a great job here. Thank you.
What you do around 5:50 is what most Line6 and AxeFX users totally forget about. Those guitarists always sound SO harsh and fizzy that it seems to be defining what the new guitar sound expectation is... besides the lack of midrange and dynamics. Like everything must be happening between 4k and 15k and hypercompressed. This surely is a phenomenon of listening to everything via smartphone so our ears get sound-biased in general, and then music also has to be overcompressed to get all the information into that smartphone listening range through harmonic distortion.
Thanks Rhett, Great info and absolutely love the musical intro!
on my Helix LT I do all the cuts before the speaker IR (and sometimes even after too), typically roll of after 6-7 Khz, goodbye digital rasp
Compression after the amp should be done before time effects or you will get strange effects just like using time effects before a compressing amp
Kemper flashing reminds me of Voyager and Enterprise bridge
Production value! Great intro, Rhett.
Im more of a metal and guitar tones that go "jent de de jent de jent je jent jent" but man that intro was TASTY
After watching this I checked my global EQ and found it was set really weird, then I remembered I got the Stomp second hand and it must have had the prior user’s settings. I can now use the distortion models! Before they were horrible and harsh. So, thanks for the tip!! Also, my 9s are working really well on my PRS, so that’s again for that too!
That poor drone! Making it fly through the cold and snow, brrrrr. Just starting my guitar journey, OMG, this is So Cool! Kudos to you for continually opening my eyes to the possibilities. Thanks!!
I have two tips for people with low budget. Get a "cheap" but recent all in one board from zoom or mooer but bypass the built in cab emulation and run it into a clean neutral amp or into a dedicated cab simulator. Great sound for a small price.
Love you dude!! All of your videos are the best!!
always helpful and informative, thanks Rhett !!
And about delay and reverb in front, it is worth pointing out that it will only work on cleaner sounds, clean and slightly driven to maybe medium gain like Van Halen did with his plexi back in the 70's. It works for your sounds that are more Vox, ÷13, matchless kind of sounds. But what about the metal players that are using Dual Rectifiers, Mark V, Engl, peavey 6505? You do not want to run delay and reverb into those monsters when they're at full gain.
You are a top man Rhett! Very useful! Thanks! Now where is my Headrush manual?...
Thanks for another great video Rhett!
Just picked up a Stomp a few weeks ago, so this video will be on repeat as I dial in my presets. (Or maybe I'll just buy yours and be done with it lol).
OMG... You're my savior 🥺👏👏👏👏
18:54 Did you just play the TPS opening chords on the AC preset? I love it.
This is awesome. You should do more videos like this once in awhile. :)
Great man! You videos are all great! But that black leather jacket.. where did you geth that black leather jacket??
From couple videos ago
Great video , nice job dudey
Legend in PT-BR please!! 🙏🏼
Hey Rhett! Can you please profile the Hiwatt!
Q: How would one apply the soft clipping concept with the Helix(?) Great video btw.
The one issue I have with the "subtractive eq" thing is that if you take AWAY gain by subtracting, aren't you just having to gain match by boosting gain after? There could be a difference in phase response (most eq changes the phase in ways) but I am not sure how there is much of a difference here.
I’m hearing 60-cycle buzz on the Kemper 5k EQ setting and the soft clipping. Unexpected, but realistic. When you switch back to microphone, there’s a room electronics ambience (8 to 12k?); not “studio dead” (as when your program stops). Nit picking, but there it is.
I just bought a dual rectifier and Marshall 1960a cab. Should I sell the rectifier and just get this
I prefer to run my Kemper through the return on my Marshall stack. It feels weird playing with headphones since the guitar doesn't respond the way it does to an amp in the room.
Brian Caaaaaaaaaarl!
Wanna be real here, I read modeling amp as a *yodeling amp*
Either way, good video!
For us weekend warriors I hate to admit but do yourself a favor and buy a Boss Katana 100 with the footswitch... not bad on the wallet, easy on the back, more than loud enough for any venue, all 4 models are usable, takes pedals fine and your back will thank you :) (I use a Joyo Sweet Baby trans OD and a Dunlop Classic Wah in front and I'm good to go to play any genre with the little turd)
Anyone else notice Rhett playing the intro to U2’s Pride?
Epic intro!!
Would take a tonemaster over this anyday
You're brave for flying the drone in the snow!
Bro is your microphone tube? Because everytime you speak up I hear some distortion
FRFR = Full Range, FLAT response (not full response) for those who haven't heard the term.
What kind of High/low cut frequencies would you suggest for Bass players with the HX stomp?
Shouldn't the amp model replicate the low pass and high pass characteristics of the amp?
Awesome content as always. I'm considering pairing up my HX Stomp with the Two-Notes Cab M pedal. This way the HX Stomp can handle the effects and preamp section while the Cab M handles power amp, cabinet, and eq (opening up more blocks on the Stomp). Does anyone know if the Two Notes cabinets require less EQ tweaking than the Helix cabinets?
What should I be looking for to use at home. I have a line 6 modeller with lots of output options. Do you have a preference output? I would prefer to not use a PC.
What guitar cable do you use? :o
Any suggestions for soft clipping / soft shaping with the Helix and the HX stomp?
I usually run my HX Stomp through an active Thiele cab utilizing a fairly neutral g12h100 speaker and it feels quite amp-like to me. I suppose the speaker inside of the cab does all the low and high frequency filtering for me.
First of all, that lead in song was awesome. I saw you in a panel at NAMM talking about the Helix with 3 other guys. You mentioned you liked the JRT amp so I gave it a quick try. I liked it stock with the exception of the bass. It needs to be tightened up, but I didn't see any tone adjustments. I could probably use an equilizer, but wondered if you had any advice on making some amp adjustments? I have Pod Go.
PS - I love your channels.
The link to the presets is dead.
To make a modeler feel like a real tube amp just strap a 50lb lump of lead to it.
LMAO
This made me laugh. Thank you.
Idk though because my headrush pedal board is like 20 pound !??!
The clean at the beginning. Kemper or Helix?
That's the easy way. Strap it to a stack of cinder blocks.
Dude that intro, that needs to be made into a song and released, fantastic.
Yeah, it´ awesome! Go for it Rhett!
Word. That was awesome.
Indeed: reminded me of Mike Oldfield, Fleetwood Mac and The War On Drugs, which is a huge compliment. :)
Jimmy R I strongly concur with this statement
So much... This!
Here's a great trick for helix. Place the kinky boost between amp and cab sim, I set it to just above unity gain, leave the boost off and set the bright to taste. Its been dubbed the Eric Johnson trick.
And no more money wasted on new pedals trying to achieve that sound - or a thousand other sounds.
I've started using a Hotcake OD as a way of adding more sparkle to my sound. Pedal has a ton of output and go from completely clean to fuzz territory, and it has a tone knob labelled "presence". Knobs are somewhat interactive. I've been using it set completely clean, with the presence knob all the way up, and it's wonderful after a compressor that kills highs. It does something to the signal that an EQ can't do.
There's something different about your arrangements these days. They've got this "breaking out/finally free" quality that i really enjoy. Good stuff, man. Thanks for the tips.
An entire video of that intro would be magical.
The intro was beautiful and amazing. Fantastic and informative quality indeed!
Yup that was great
@@dep1001 Indeed my man
Truly fantastic !
Check Out My Helix Presets and Kemer Profiles here!
flatfiv.co/collections/rhett-shull
Rhett Shull I learned a lot (I don’t have/use modelers yet, no qualms with them, just haven’t gone that route yet). This was really enlightening man. Also, I know you’re gonna hate me for it, but you misspelled compression (sorry 😟). Love YOUUUUUU
Wasn't sure whether to write this or not, but I hope it gives you something nice to take away... I watched a couple of your videos about a year ago and found them a bit dull... skipped over your channel every time it showed up in my feed for a long time after that, but gotta say that I now regret anything I missed from you during that time... Over the past 6 months your content hasn't failed to not only teach me new stuff, but also to inspire me to pick up my guitar after EVERY watch! 😊 ... The behind the scenes stuff with Noah is especially of interest to me, so much so that I just subscribed! 😊 ... Is there any release date for an album with all these great tracks you guys have been producing lately???? Great job all round bro... keep doing what you're doing... no plan B 🤘🤘
Can you have a Guitar Collection Tour of all of gear at home and on the road?
This came at the right time for me! I have a 60W Tweed Blues Deville 410 which is great... until the kids go to bed. I got hold of Amplitube for bass since I don't have a bass amp but I decided to try using it for guitar for late night practices. Total $h!t show but a lot of the pointers in this video clearly point out my problem areas, especially the HP/LP tip.
One thing that stood out to me was the use of EQ after the amp. This is something that's become a huge no-no for me when recording an actual tube amp. It robs the guitar/amp/cabinet of it's warmth, leaving it with a colder, more digital tone. Is this just less of a concern with sims? Typically, if I want to bring it out in the mix, I apply a harmonic exciter, accentuating the highs. If it's a little too hot, I apply tube or even tape saturation, re-purposing the unnecessary highs. Punch? Add compression with attack. In the past, Parametric EQ was my hammer and every problem was a nail. Now, I'm conditioned to hit the breaks every time it comes up. =D
Thanks for everything, Rhett!
Rhett Shull kemper user here.
So do you apply the same principles you demoed on the hx effects to the kemper (global eq, compression start the end)
Also, if I profile comes with the eq already tweaked do you leave it or set it 0 and apply the graphic eq?
Thanks man
Man, that intro! It was one of the best mix I've ever heard, amazing! You could do a step by step on how do you recorded, mixed and composed that, it would give so much insight! Amazing content as always man, keep it up the good work! Thanks.
it kinda' reminds me of that LADY ANTEBELLUM song " i need you now," and the solo was like eric johnson playing in a style like david gilmore { if that makes sense}, not that he ripped it off , it just has that feel, i like it BTW
that is ment as a compliment
great tip on the compressor last in the chain: I have an HX stomp and while it is very responsive to the guitar volume in terms of gain level, the volume drop is quite annoying in most of the amp models, so the compressor last will keep the "front end" gain dynamics while evening out the volume
Great content as always, Rhett
For A/Bing different effects combos or adjustments to different parameters on the Kemper, I've found the looper can be really useful. Record a simple loop, hit play, exit looper mode and A/B as much as needed. It speeds up the workflow pretty nicely.
Another great intro! When is the video album coming out, Rhett? You've got the touch.
Another great tip I found in YT is to match the amp and cab volume to the bypass volume of your guitar, which eliminates some digital clipping that sometimes can occur.
I understand why we want to replicate those tube amp sounds with modelling but in a way I also think, when ya have all that creative modelling potential at your fingertips, why would ya wanna bother trying to make sounds that have already been done to death. Make something amazing and different sounding. Ya got the tools! Make it unique!
Hell yeah. I'm using a Helix and Variax combo and more bothered about reassigning the tone knob to control the pitch shifter and stuff like that.
agree. bring something new to the table.
I think that's what's so exciting about where this technology is at...people who want to experiment and use these new tools to create new sounds can. People who want to create a traditional sound can. Whats more, both of these groups can do so without needing 10s of 1000s of dollars of gear...or a bunch of different pieces of gear connected. A 13 year old can recreate the tones (or close enough) that inspire them to play...or have the freedom to innovate...in their bedroom with gear that can be amassed over a couple of xmas' and bdays. Pros can do the same without needing a full time roadie and tech hauling and maintaining a crap ton of gear.
Sometimes a song calls for a classic sound, familiarity is something to be thought of when coming up with tones of your own. Something recognized is what originally draws the audience in, until you've gotten recognition and can begin altering a sound to fit yourself. This is the evolution of musicians over time, and if you notice a lot of people get frustrated when artists change their sound. Its what they're known for. A lot of the greatest bands started out as cover bands.
Lol i have a fender mustang 3 v.1 and i turn on all the goofy shit on there just to see what I can do with it. Anything with multi effects can give you weird ass sounds 😆
Just downloaded Rhett's Helix presets- they are great, the tips he talks about in the video do really make a difference. I've been using my Helix for over a year, I love it but I'm a total noob when it comes to stuff like high pass filters and all that. Can't wait to try these out live in a band context. Rhett- you should do more vids like this for us guys who are using modellers but need some advice.
The EQ section of this video is really hard to see on the Kemper's screen. Kemper's Editor is now out in Rig Manager most recent public release (not beta). If you plan on using Kemper content, you may want to consider using the Editor instead of the Kemper. Would be a lot easier to see.
I don’t and just go by feel and sound. The ui is the only thing the Kemper needs work on and I’m not about to buy another one so I just deal with it. And if they do make the ui bigger after I’ve bought it I’ll be pretty mad tbh.
I’m with you on the delay and reverb in front of the amp emulation. However, I often put some additional stereo (room or plate) reverb after amp and cabinet just to make it feel less mono and more like in the room. Especially for in ear situations or headphone monitoring a great tool.
Yeah bro me to
Just want to say the opening is extremely professional. Was wonderful job of editing. It had that million dollar feel.
@@justinTime077 Agreed haha
One thing I like to do with the kemper when playing through a real can via monitor/power amp out is to mess around with “sag” and “tube shape” under the “amplifier” section. You can add a bit of squish and resistance to it and it makes a huge difference to me and feels like I’m really interacting with the whole setup while playing
I’ve been messing with this and this is indeed true. Should I generally be turning up the sag to make it sound more realistic or down? Thanks for the tip
Jadon S. Depends on the profile but I find I usually like when it’s turned up a bit
Great stuff in here dude!! Thanks for the shout out!!
BTW that intro was 🔥
To get a real amp sound and remove the harshness on my Kemper, when going DI I just adjust the cab setting high shift to -0.5 (approx)
Lovin' that snow drone footage.
Super informative, I'm a Helix Rack user myself, and I always liked to use some Cpmression after the amp.
Thanks a lot Rhett, I love watching your videos, I never miss one of them !
I just got the Pod Go. Do you think there is a substitute for the Kemper Soft Clipping? Perhaps Sag or Bias etc?
Add your favorite overdrive pedal or distortion or fuzz in front of your amp block. It helps with the feel and for me the sound. At the end of the day, I love my tube amps and literally just use one real pedal in front. FYI I do the same with the Kemper. Plug the pedal right in the front. With the helix put it in the loop though not in the front.
The "Pride (In the Name of Love)" riff during the pre-/post-amp delay and reverb demo was amazing. I do really like how those two effects sound in front of the amp, although it sounds good either way. The grit that comes onto the tails and repeats from running into the preamp is an oft-overlooked part of the tone. Pete Thorn did a great video about EVH's use of the Echoplex delay into the front of his Plexi and how that's the key to really nailing the sound of the riffs (aside from practicing your butt off to get the tempo and the notes right, of course).
I would skip the compressor tip because naturally, as a digital amp, something like a kemper or helix is going to have that Sonic consistency already.
Excellent intro! I’m buying a Kemper this month and really looking forward to digging into the multiple sounds.
I tried your suggestions last night at a gig and they made a big difference (in a good way). I am really starting to love my tone through the HX Stomp. Thanks so much Rhett.
This is actually a great insight for mixing if you receive somebody's amp sim recording. I'm definitely gonna try this from a mixing perspective.
FRFR stands for full range flat response not full range full response
@A Man Not like the guy insulted him or anything. I think you need to take a walk
Why wouldn’t the factory pre set the lpf and hpf to sound like a tube amp? 🤦🏻♂️
Was wondering the same thing.
They are set to give a signal that is the same as you get in a studio. The sound from 1” away. This includes proximity effect that boosts the low end and high frequencies that are very directional and only heard if you stick your ear right in front of the speaker. The studio tracks are given these cuts as are the mics feeding the PA by the engineer... the modelling is realistic but requires the engineers knowledge. The latest Helix firmware defaults do include default cuts.
kayakchrispy you can use this with bass and synths as well. That’s why :)
Great video Rhett, another thing you can do which I do is adjust the sag in the amp, that will have more of an effect to the feel than sound but you can hear and feel the difference, if you want more of a spongy feel this is a good way to do it.
Not sure how often you respond to comments on older videos, but what would you say about using the sag/bias controls to alter the feel? Do you ever mess with those on any of your profiles?
The thing I’m always wondering is how come these amp models do not intrinsically include compression & hpf/lpf. It’s weird to me that these supposedly « on the spot » models do not replicate these components of the sound. Am I missing something ?
Great informative video as usual Rhett!
Because it all has to do with what sound your going for. The amp settings are pretty decent stock. However where a lot of people get confused with modellers is amp in the room feel/sound vs amp in an isolated control room. I can almost guarantee there hasn't been an album recorded without high/low pass, and compression. This is what the Helix does. You choose your mic, mic distance, early reflections among a host of other things. So to pre-emptively compress or cut signal with no information as to what the end user will doing is rather useless. Yes they are complicated but in my mind it is much much easier than trying to midi wire a board and program a midi controller. I can have a live use patch for most of what I play in around an hour or 2. It takes that long for most people to figure out where to place there pedals on a board.
Total Cost of Rhett Shull's equipment in this video > my entire ancestry's net worth!!!!!
Spent some time just applying some of the things that you have mentioned in this video. Really helped me clean up my tones on my Helix. I normally use a parametric EQ to make a few narrow cuts in areas that I felt were really harsh. However, adding that compressor towards the end really started to provide the feedback/responsiveness that I've always been looking for.
Subscribed to your channel, and shared this to lots of people. Really great stuff!
I use the HX in my computer/monitors only, but run a cable out of the fx send to the return of one of my little tube amp heads on a 4x12 behind me a few feet set to a really low volume. Helps get that "in the room" feel thing going.