Annoying frequency on ALL (???) amps physical/digital SOLVED!!!! (sort of, at least)

  • I'm done with this thread I'm afraid. I asked for a summary and no takers. I am not convinced there is a problem that warrants attention. I play many profiles on my Kemper (as do many others, both live and in studio). They all sound fine. I'm happy recording them. No need for any adjustments. So as Frank said "Shut up and play your guitar".

    Huh???? Didn't you just provide the summary yourself??

  • It really sucks being able to hear this and I have to give credit to Ced for pointing it out. My hearing isn't the best (some hearing loss in one ear) but I did hear it in the samples presented and I was intrigued when CED mentioned that he didn't hear it in the JCM 800 Merged profile made by Steveness because I had loved that profile mainly due to its clarity. I'm going to see if I can hear it in the Gudio's Profile. My guess it's not there because those profiles have an extra level of clarity.

  • Huh???? Didn't you just provide the summary yourself??

    I think the question was fair-enough, Michael, 'cause in his summary post he asked:


    Have I got it right? If not can someone provide the summary asked for above, and suggestions for the amelioration of the problem (e.g. changes/additions to profiling procedures)?

  • Learning about frequencies is part of mixing guitars.
    There's a lot of crap+resonant frequencies you need to suck out of guitars (and every single instrument/track) before it sounds good and sits well in the mix.


    Do a narrow band sweep to identify the frequencies then reduce them.
    I always cut sub-bass and 4k as a start ( cuz f*** 4K right ? ) then identify the resonant (howling) frequencies and do gentle cuts till they don't bother me or are inaudible in the mix.

  • Learning about frequencies is part of mixing guitars.
    There's a lot of crap+resonant frequencies you need to suck out of guitars (and every single instrument/track) before it sounds good and sits well in the mix.


    Do a narrow band sweep to identify the frequencies then reduce them.
    I always cut sub-bass and 4k as a start ( cuz f*** 4K right ? ) then identify the resonant (howling) frequencies and do gentle cuts till they don't bother me or are inaudible in the mix.

    Sorry but it's not about "resonant frequencies". It's not fixable with "gentle cuts".
    I know you mean well, but if you actually read the last few pages you will (maybe) understand what the issue is.


    You're the millionth that comes and assumes the same thing thats been known for the last few pages not being the problem :thumbup:
    This has been the "standard" reply for many people in this thread, because I understand it's a common issue for many bedroom players, but this time it's not about "howling frequencies".


    Schreckmusic has identified the issue: it's something to do with gain and master volume in the amp.
    It has nothing to do with micing, the cab used, the room, the monitoring, or anything else.
    It's all in the amp settings.



    (I hope I clarified this without being ehum... "rude" :love: )

  • Rude? Perhaps not. Condescending? Yea that tone came through.

  • On one hand, I'm really sorry to destroy your happiness with your amps and profiles by exposing this noise... ;(


    On the other hand, if this issue gets well-known enough, maybe we profile makers could make it "a thing".
    WINDFREE PROFILES 8o


    And I'm very glad you could dial out the noise @sercho :thumbup:
    Did it alter your tone much?


    And I guess, it was your real JCM800, right?


    I'm not sure this is possible dial out once profiled, with gain and volume, since they dont work exactly like the real world equivilents. Especially not JCM800 where you really want to push that master volume has high as possible (I dont own one, but that's the general opinion I know, and it works the same in Positive Grid Bias Amp pplugin; it sounds better the higher the master is)

  • Yes, it was my `real` 800. It didn't alter my tone much actually. TBH when I noticed the noise was when I swapped guitars: I had the thing dialed to sound OK with my Tele (a bit more gain and much more bass needed in the amp), then I swapped to my PRS but didn't touch the settings in the amp. Then when kicking the boost in my pedal, the noise popped out very clearly, specially in the lower freq strings. I then cut some of the bass in the amp, balanced a bit master and preamp and retouched pedal settings as well.


    It got really better ^^


    ps. FYI I have a Silencer™ attenuator between the head and the cab (thus I can push more the master before my ears bleed, hehe)

  • Sorry to revive this thread but, and these may or not fix yours or other's issues, but I have a few pointers and comments to consider regarding this and other related issues that come to mind:


    SM57
    ---
    You might not like the sound of an SM57. It has a particular sound that some people don't care for, but is still used in probably 90% of all recordings, profiles, cam IR's, etc. The positions of it can also affect the frequencies at which the natural "wind tunnel" frequencies are picked up, from white noise.
    Some people will use a transformerless SM57, SM7b, or other MIC, that has a little less of the sm57's mid-range characteristics.
    Thers will pull the mic back from the cab a bit, which drastically changes "wind tunnel" frequencies, which could be a good or bad thing. Some people will even remove a speaker grill to get the mic closer to the speaker. If an an engineeer has the cab in a different, live room but the amp in their control room, they'll have an assistant move the mic in the live room to sound the least "wind tunnel" (or phasey), and then readjust the amp or preamp/mixing board EQ's in the control room until the effect is minimized.


    Tubescreamer Boost
    ----
    It's been mentioned that some high gain profiles don't have the problem. Some high gain amps are deigned to take care of the problem by design. I'm most cases with most amps though, most profiles are made with some kind of Tubescreamer baked into a profile or at least in the Kemper (or other modeler's) chain after the fact. This tightens up low end, and acts kind of like a gentle compressor and high pass filter, before the amp's gain stages. This helps get rid of rumble etc, and one can add a little bass on post EQ or amp EQ to help bring back some girth... Or just let it be so that the guitars play nice with bass guitars in a mix.
    If one hates the mid-range sound of a Tubescreamer, one could play around with EQ and other techniques before the gain stage. If revamping or using an amp sim, one might even try the Andy Sneap technique on the DI, before the amp sim (you may have to use different settings).
    Also, one could try a parametric EQ before making the profile, before the amp stage in the profile, or with an amp sim or whatever, or even a multiband compressor or even de-esser at the given problem frequency, to try to limit several issues. I'd Def start with the high pass and then a parametric EQ though, since compression etc will probably mostly take care of boominess rather than wind túnel noises.


    Noise gate and other issues
    ---
    Many people have problems with their noise gates not being tight. No matter how they set the noise gate, it will suck too much tone or not clamp fast enough, so they opt not to use noise gates, because they cause more problems than they're worth.
    The issue here is that hardly anyone ever realizes the reason for why noise gates suck for them... which is DECEPTIVELY simple as all hell to cure...
    Make sure the string tree area above the nut and behind the bridge (as on a TOM bridge) are muted with some kind of fabric (felt, sock, hairbands) or whatever. The extra ringing from the excess string cause all sorts of crazy noise issues... Weird harmonics.. Noise.. Ghost notes.. Etc etc etc.. which are very difficult to pinpoint... I mean.. It could take you years or even a lifetime to figure it out.
    Whatever the case, all these extra noise problems from the excess string can create a faux sustain that can not only cause the noise issues.. BUT THEY CAN KEEP YOUR NOISE GATE FROM OPERATING PROPERLY. Basically, the noise gate won't close immediate and will linger in an open state.. Causing one to crank the noise gate far beyond necessary, until ones guitar sounds like garbage. People might still not like a noise gate, but I'm pretty this takes care of the problem for most people.. at least partially, if not completely.


    Sorry if these points don't fix the issues at hand, but I'm sure they'll help someone somewhere, who happens to have fallen on this thread.

  • I saw this thread was kind of solved, but hopefully some find my additional info and other considerations perhaps helpful in figuring out a different solution to the same and other similar, related issues.