Discovered Trick to Getting More "Bite"

  • So I recently discovered how to introduce more "bite" into some of my rigs which I have found particularly useful with Marshall-esque profiles. I place a Wah stomp in the A-D stomp section and set it to Touch Wah default settings at around 65% mix, with the volume increased to taste. This adds the transient attack that I often feel seems to be missing from Marshall type profiles. However, I would like to know whether this effect is achievable in the Amp/EQ section so that I don't have to use a stomp block. At present, none of the existing parameters in these sections quite seems to get me there (Pick Attack is sometimes useful but can sound a bit unnatural).

  • Very interesting, i will try that out tomorrow. It's the first thing i look/feel for with a profile and quite often it is lacking, particularly as volume is increased for live/rehersal use.


    Up to now I have been blending in the kemper dist stomps to achieve it with varying levels of success. Oddly I find that a chorus or phaser stomp with a low mix level can achieve a similar thing and can be useful at taming some of the higher frequencies on high gain profiles.

  • Having trouble recreating this, when I set the wah in stomp a with pedal mode set to touch, the wah effect is overpowering, how are you getting the transient feel without the wah effect?

    I think it's difficult to get what happens with this touch wha. Stringtheorist describes more bite or attack with it. For me that is very subjective. A wha is a filter which affects the sound, the touch wah affects the sound different ( in accordance to how hard you pick ). I use a fixed touch wah to get the typical Satriani sound.


    Definition, clarity and the pick parameter are friends of attack in the amp section.


    Also the choosen cab has a big effect.

  • Having trouble recreating this, when I set the wah in stomp a with pedal mode set to touch, the wah effect is overpowering, how are you getting the transient feel without the wah effect?

    What are your settings? I don't hear it as a "wah" effect at all, and because it's operating on the EQ it has a very different quality than the Pick and Definition parameters in the amp stage. Here are my typical settings:


    Manual 6.8
    Peak 2.5
    Pedal Range: - 0%
    Peak Range: - 2%
    Pedal Mode: Touch
    Mix: 63%
    Ducking: 0.0
    Touch Attack: 0.0
    Touch Release: 0.0
    Touch Boost: 0.0
    Volume: +1.0


    You could also try the Treble Booster stomp which produces a very similar effect.