BIG Splawn Quick Rod Profiling Session Coming Up!

  • Sounds fantastic. I got to the Tim Owens session late so I'm looking forward to this!

    If you haven't done so already you should grab the Quick Rod profiles Tim and I (mostly Tim) did off the exchange.


    Depending on how many I get, I will most likely just make a public download folder off my website for you all. I'm guessing it'll be more than I feel like uploading.



  • Huh... That's also an interesting idea.


    Maybe mark of three favourite profiles beforehand (maybe a clean, a crunch and a distorted one), take DIs, and make profiles with multiple suitable mic positions. That'd actually be pretty awesome.


  • Huh... That's also an interesting idea.


    Maybe mark of three favourite profiles beforehand (maybe a clean, a crunch and a distorted one), take DIs, and make profiles with multiple suitable mic positions. That'd actually be pretty awesome.


    Yeah he could have a couple of settings that cover the basics of the amp to get the mic combinations/positions done.
    He'll have the DI profiles after making the merged cabs anyway, cause the amp part of merged rig is DI profile.


    My point being, as long as you know your amp, have a cab, good quality DI box and a room where you can make some noise (practice room) you don't benefit from doing the DI profiles in a studio.


    And to my ears they don't have any downside to studio profiles, despite what I read so far. Honestly every time I heard a sample where it didn't match up, the DI box just wasn't the right one it seemed. Hence my tip on the countryman type85. I had no issues with that what so ever so far.

  • Hey JerEvil
    I'm sure you're gonna have loads of fun!
    As some others have stated, things might take longer than you'd expect, as you need time for the setup, mic placement, testing your profiles vs the real thing etc... I recently spent the afternoon in my brother's studio, and we made about 12 merged profiles.
    So my advice is to take your time to make a few profiles that you love instead of hurrying to make the maximum number of profiles



    Hey
    Please someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that in order to make accurate merged profiles you needed to do the studio profile and the direct profile with the same settings on the amp (so during the same session). Merging direct profiles that you've made in your rehearsal space with a few well captured studio profiles in the studio will not be really accurate; am I wrong?


    thanks

  • @JerEvil awesome. Thank you in advance for all what you are doing.


    The stack looks gorgeous. As you are going for merged profiles, could you please make an independant cab profile so we could benefit from having an awesome 2x2x12 cab profile super well recorded in studio? which speakers are these?


    again, 1000 thanks


  • Hey
    Please someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that in order to make accurate merged profiles you needed to do the studio profile and the direct profile with the same settings on the amp (so during the same session). Merging direct profiles that you've made in your rehearsal space with a few well captured studio profiles in the studio will not be really accurate; am I wrong?


    thanks


    No, you are right in what you are saying, but it was not what I meant!


    Yes you have to merge the direct and studio profiles of the same session, if you want accurate merged cabs.
    But after you merged the cab, you can match it with any DI profile you want.


    So my plan would be:


    - Figure out what kind of GENERAL settings you want to have with the amp (bright, dull, crunch, clean etc...)
    -Note those settings


    then in the studio


    -Set the amp to sound A, bright
    -Mic the cab according to that settings
    -Make a studio profile of that setup
    -Make a DI profile of that setup
    -Merge those two


    Now you have a cab for "bright" amp settings.
    But you won't have to do another profile for other bright settings on the amp at the studio (other gain level, slightly different settings that fit the mic position, pedals etc...).
    You can move on to dull, crunch, clean etc...whatever kind of tones you want, make merged cab for those kind of settings. So you get the most out of the time in the studio.


    Then back at home, or your space or where ever, you can make any DI profile you want and match it with those merged cabs.
    That way you don't "waste" time at the studio and can maximise on what the studio has to offer (gear and experience).
    (for the record, time at a studio is never wasted in my opinion, but I'm a nerd haha)

  • @JerEvil awesome. Thank you in advance for all what you are doing.


    The stack looks gorgeous. As you are going for merged profiles, could you please make an independant cab profile so we could benefit from having an awesome 2x2x12 cab profile super well recorded in studio? which speakers are these?


    again, 1000 thanks


    You guys are very welcome. Also, glad you dig the stack! The Splawn is a "to the grave" amp. It's the tone I've heard in my head for years and finally found!


    The speakers are Celestion Creamback 65's. I'll have to look at making an independent cab profile. Donyou mean impulses?

  • I don't think he means impulses. If you are doing merged profiles that is enough, then you have an independent cab profile, that's the whole point of DI/merging :D

    You're saying DI but do you mean DA? This still trips me up a bit.



  • Yeah, good point - maximize the micing time, not the dialing time.


    Well, probably a blend of both is preferable.

  • yeah that's what I meant, regarless of whether we call it DI or DA. If you are making direct and merged profiles, you are able to separate the amp and the cab. so in the end you are able to make a cab profile (or many, depeding on mics prosition etc.) that you can then load into the KPA and use it with any other profile. And as you stack looks great, I am asking for some :)

  • To me that is the most critical aspect of all this: maximising micing time. If I were in your position, I'd tweak and nudge in degrees down to poofteenths. Explanation to follow.


    I have but one suggestion / request, JerEvil:
    Please, for the love of God and all things good, try to be as sensitive to phase cancellation as you can afford to be.


    I say this from the biased perspective of its having been the bane of my life for decades; I'm now so allergic to it that I wear a Pure-Cab™ raincoat in the shower depending upon the nozzle used.

  • If by DA you mean 'Direct Amp' then yes, I mean that...I think Kemper themself call it DI-Profile though, at least I thought I read it in the manual?


    For me it's a DI profile, cause I'm using a DI Box to capture it...that's always the way I thought about it ^^

  • To me that is the most critical aspect of all this: maximising micing time. If I were in your position, I'd tweak and nudge in degrees down to poofteenths. Explanation to follow.


    I have but one suggestion / request, JerEvil:
    Please, for the love of God and all things good, try to be as sensitive to phase cancellation as you can afford to be.


    I say this from the biased perspective of its having been the bane of my life for decades; I'm now so allergic to it that I wear a Pure-Cab™ raincoat in the shower depending upon the nozzle used.

    Oh I hear you! LOL!


    As I will be using these for live and studio and ALWYAS at least do 3 guitar tracks I am very concerned about phase issues.


    I think once the cab is well mic'd it'll be smooth sailing. I am thinking I will merge a couple at the Studio to make sure they sound as identical to the studio profiles as possible. Then Inwill merge the rest at home.

  • Thx for your efforts for the whole community :)


    I hope you can get most of the soul from this beast , I'd need a full week to get right profiles sorted out by myself, an experienced engineer will surely cut the time out, good luck. I'm looking forward the results !

  • Oh I hear you! LOL!


    As I will be using these for live and studio and ALWYAS at least do 3 guitar tracks I am very concerned about phase issues.


    I think once the cab is well mic'd it'll be smooth sailing. I am thinking I will merge a couple at the Studio to make sure they sound as identical to the studio profiles as possible. Then Inwill merge the rest at home.


    Are you planning on doing only a single mic position setup - (I mean, having all the mics being at the same spot throughout once you've set them up intially)? This would be a shame, I think...

  • Are you planning on doing only a single mic position setup - (I mean, having all the mics being at the same spot throughout once you've set them up intially)? This would be a shame, I think...


    I will probably have them positioned differently based on the amount of gain and whether I am looking for more open sounds for mid gain rock as opposed to super chubby high gain sounds for In Flames-y type stuff. I think different mics for clean vs dirty as well. I am really going to defer to the engineer on some of this as it is just not my forte and he has done a wide range from pop to death metal. They have such a huge mic list that it'd be a shame to limit. Hopefully my tone examples will give him some inspiration.


    Plus, I COULD get nutty and do profiles like:
    • Gear 1 OD 1 - Crunch setting - Single SM57
    • Gear 1 OD 1 - Crunch setting - SM57 / MD421
    • Gear 1 OD 1 - Crunch setting - SM57 / MD421 / R121


    The possibilities are pretty endless. I don't want to go full potato or anything but This could get pretty damn cool.

  • A suggestion, and a request:


    1. For metal guys, one of the holy grails is Fredman micing - two SM57s, one straight on, one right next to it at 45 degrees, like so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWnYFRXHYgE - if you've heard In Flames' Clayman, that's a 6505 with a Fredman-miced Mesa cabinet. So, my suggestion: Grab a Fredman profile for each of your cabs or, if you have the time and are feeling generous, get a profile for each of the mics and one of both to give people options.


    2. My personal favorite for guitar tone is Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth. He uses expensive custom amps, but he said recently that the Quick Rod is the closest thing to his tone that he's ever heard. If you could get something in the ballpark of this: https://youtu.be/Qs1czfGxTD8?t=38s I would quite possibly shit my pants.