Taming the 'barkiness' and harshness at high volumes?

If you are in the studio you can surely record the problematic sounds and post it here. Otherwise it's hard to say

, because each of us perceives sound differently and describes it in different words.

Quote from FarleyUK

Anyone…?

I often find myself battling that barkiness as well. Haven't found the perfect solution on the Kemper yet but dialing back both treble and presence by -0.5 often helps.

What I usually do, however, is dial back the volume on the guitar a little. If I play my bridge on 10 everything seems a little too edgy. I guess you've gone through all of these solutions though and am interested what others have to add.

Just one more thing, I deleted all my Top Jimi profiles a while ago since they all seemed incredibly harsh to me. There are much smoother profiles out there.

A high/low cut of about 80hz to 8000hz should be better.

Are you using any delays or verbs in the signal? If so, cut down on the frequency.

Check the tone through some good headphones then adjust EQ for the cabs.

Quote from FarleyUK

I've got a hi and low cut applied to the output at 6500 and 125hZ accordingly, but that didn't tame it.

Quote from BayouTexan

A high/low cut of about 80hz to 8000hz should be better.

BayouTexan Hi. Why do you suggest less high-frequency cutting would be better against harshness?

Have you tried the "Studio EQ" ( put in "X slot" ) and cut around 2kHz - 2.5kHz ?

Nasty frequencies

Cheers !

Quote from Kaschko

BayouTexan Hi. Why do you suggest less high-frequency cutting would be better against harshness?

I get a much warmer tone and still have screaming highs with my settings. OP has his at 125hz - 6500Hz. 125 is to high for me and would take away the tone's warmness by cutting the bass. Midrange and Treble are very dependent on how much bass is added to the EQ with Treble even more dependent. I believe that is where he is getting that "barkiness" he describes. He also can go higher, IMO, from 6500 to 8000 since adding more low bass frequency (to 80hz) will counter that fizziness at the higher frequency. OP's setting of 6500 is not much higher than the drummer's cymbals so that high end may get lost some in the mix. So, Low should be at 80hz not 125hz, IMO. Then increase High until you can't stand it and back down some.

I hope that makes sense. I am only an amateur at this stuff.

Quote from Hoki Toki

Have you tried the "Studio EQ" ( put in "X slot" ) and cut around 2kHz - 2.5kHz ?

Nasty frequencies

Cheers !

That seems to help!

Pure Cabinet might help with the harshness.

Maybe the output eq is where you can roll of some frequencies. Have you tried this loudspeaker in a live band mix context or just jammin by yourself? How loud do you have it cranked up?

You have to turn up the volume to see what it will sound like, but I usually find those frequencies are around 3 to 3.5k on high gain profiles. A narrowish cut of a few DB will be needed to save a live audience. You really need to stand out front at a soundcheck to see the full effect!