TheAmpFactory PACK3!

  • Love the idea of a metal pack. Working with all my cab stuff that most of you know i have come to the conclusion, that for metal, the cab aspect is really more important than the amp side. Most modern high gain amps can produce very similar tones when cabs and mikes stay the same. So i personally would prefer less amps and more cab variations and combinations.


    I bought the 6505 pack and love the lead tone. For my stuff that goes a little bit into the thrash direction, it sounds really awesome if you combine the 6505 with a bit of that classic Marshall G12T75 sound which have that special sawing high mids. So perhaps mixing cabs with different characters might be a really nice addition.


  • Jeff, back at home now, about to email you. Just wanted to touch on this topic alittle. I think it is important to remember that, these producers get these sounds in the "mix" not on their own, and "reverse engineering" if you will, would probably be alittle difficult. I still stand by what I said about stem mixes. For instance, I used one of marks profiles that he used on a very famous album that has been released in the last year. The result? Sounded virtually nothing like the band in which he used this profile on. I think it is important to remember, these guys are the best of the best, and they still have jobs, for a reason, it is all about their mixes (duh right?). My newest recordings, which I'll put up soon, were virtually all andys profiles, and the 5150 sits great in the mix, there is no denying that, I can see why you, and many others love it. It is one of my favorite amps, I think I've owned about 5 of them haha!


    Furthermore, you are right, those guys dont use VHT's, or DAR's etc. In fact, Lewis for example hates the VHT sound, he thinks its too dry etc. But for me, I love it, and the ultralead is still my favorite amp on the planet. I think adding some extra amps, as well as profiling the "tried and true" sounds (5150 into a mesa cab for example) would be a great idea, allowing you to get your own sound, as well as develop your own mixing skills, while still having some of those classic tones. Emailing you now!


    E-mail received and responded!


    I understand what you mean about getting those sounds in the mix, but I also know what it takes to get a good tone out of an amp and translate it onto record; at this point virtually all of my playing and amp tweaking is studio based and has been for the last 3-4 years. I know that playing a profile alone won't sound dead-on to what you hear when it gets quad-tracked and played in the mix, which is partially why single-guitar clips mean nothing to me. That said, multi-track recording is how I'll be using the profiles to begin with, and when you record as often as I do your ear for a single guitar tone develops into one that dials single-tracks in a way that will get the desired tone once fully tracked, panned, and in the mix.


    That's probably why Lewis hates the VHT sound and you're so into it - I'm guessing you don't spend the majority of your time tweaking tones to suit mixes but rather to suit you playing infront of the amp; the two are very different until you train your ear otherwise. I'm not opposed to adding extra amps, but the core 5150, 5150III, DR, and Krank are going to be key for achieving recorded tones like what we hear out of Sneap, Richardson, Lewis, et al.

  • Hey Jeff, didn't get the email, maybe try again? Ya, you are probably better at that than I am, that is pretty new to me, but am definitely learning alot, and definitely know what I like for sure. Why mark doesn't like the VHT, not really sure, other than he feels they are way to dry. They are however, still my favorite amps, and definitely my favorite live amps for sure. Andy's 5153 and 6505 are great in the mix, the models I used mixed perfectly together, probably the 2 best tones together to create one great tone that I've done personally!

  • Morning..
    Wow you guys been busy, quite a heavy discussion here about things I dont understand too well.. (given im not a metal producer here) - to clarify things here, Im happy to profile any amp/cab options (as long as I have them available) in multiple formats to suit the metal market.


    When I released this pack (the 3rd one) - I had no idea what to expect, and seems your right, the metal guys (god bless ya) - love it and want more, thats understandable. but you will have to excuse me from the topic though, at the end of the day, my only skill here is my ears, and the way I go about my business in terms of producing and engineering. - there is no science behind it, I simply set a mark.. listen, dial in and change.. (then spent a few hours trying things) until the sweet spot emerges. - I then leave it miced up, and th e next day come in with fresh ears and if all is good, capture/profile - of course I understand that metal guys like things a certain way, but ultimately its how you work with it in a mix thats important too. - you metal guys double track? or quad track everything to get that larger than life metal tones right? - mix scooped with normal?


    So my aim here is to do, a "mighty " Metal Producers Pack. - thats driven by design to deliver the best in what metal amps can for the studio use. - this means going back over some of the amps I have done already, the Mesa Rec, 5150 EVH5150 etc etc, to get them perfect, then I will do that.


    A good metal record is only as good as its guitar tones.. right? - and so thus I want to deliver the best I can, and with your help this is achievable. but need to know importantly what the amps and its combinations are. - mic positions and distances are irrelevant for me, as these cant be told, as every speaker, cab, mic pre etc handles things differently.


    More to the point.. there are already Metal heroes out there, Sneap, Ola.. Im not sure I can compete with that. - but I'll certainly do my best of course.
    I can get as detailed as you want me to get. and do them with the Pedals up front too, im taking your not interested in cleans, or break up tones from these amps.. you just want the Meat!


    I have several options Im planning.


    To do <ampname> with <cab> with <mics>
    then to offer the same, but with perhaps 2 or 3 different mic positions, and 2 or 3 differnt cabs
    scooped amp, no-scooped, sweetspot, OD pedals up front etc.


    I dont have the MD line of mics as I dont personally like them. (although Im prepared to get them) if its a must.
    The mics I own,


    57, 57 Beta, Royer 121, TC30, AKG 414XXL, U87, U47, Beta52, and as of yesterday the mic the beatles used Reslo U21, and a few more that I cant think of now.


    In terms of Cabs..Im guessing, V30, CustomV30, GH30's, C90's should do the trick?


    I'll talk to Jeff on email, and hope he can confirm a definite list of whats needed here, although I'd rather not restrict myself too much, as sometimes doing things differently is whats cool!


    The rest you guys can carry on the arguments within yourselves :)

  • - you metal guys double track? or quad track everything to get that larger than life metal tones right? - mix scooped with normal?


    More to the point.. there are already Metal heroes out there, Sneap, Ola.. Im not sure I can compete with that. - but I'll certainly do my best of course.
    I can get as detailed as you want me to get. and do them with the Pedals up front too, im taking your not interested in cleans, or break up tones from these amps.. you just want the Meat!


    To do <ampname> with <cab> with <mics>
    then to offer the same, but with perhaps 2 or 3 different mic positions, and 2 or 3 differnt cabs
    scooped amp, no-scooped, sweetspot, OD pedals up front etc.


    Sending you a decent sized e-mail, but figured I could answer this for discussion here...


    In general, lots of things are quad-tracked; 2 takes of each riff per side. A lot of the 'thrashier' or faster, more technical material gets double-tracked, and sometimes double-tracking just suits the band better, but quad-tracking has a nice way of smoothing out the top end and adding a noticeable depth to the guitar tracks that lends itself well to the riffs in the genre.


    Some guys do different tones for each pair of Left/Right tracks, and some guys keep them all the same. I wouldn't say there's generally much mixing/matching as far as scooped and unscooped, as the tones are generally a bit scooped to begin with, but you do pick amps that naturally compliment eachother (big, low-mid present, relatively 'stiff' sound of a Rectifier mixed with the smoother, more upper-midrange, 'spongier' sound of a 5150, for instance).


    I personally wouldn't have use for clean tones from the amps, but wouldn't mind 2 different gain levels on each amp. Lower gain settings can be really handy for layering octave parts, melody guitars, intros/interludes, etc.


    I like the idea of doing amp+cab+mic specific tones, like going for a "Sneap Krank" tone and then doing additional Krank profiles with different cabinets/mics than he would normally use, or a "Richardson 5150" tone with additional 5150 profiles, etc...


    I honestly think that with a bit of brainstorming, tweaking the tones with DI's of suitable playing, using those DI's to refine the amp with, and referencing spots in albums where the guitars are solo'd (hell, Sneap posted some single-tracked examples in a tubescreamer and cab/mic shootout at one point that you could reference the 5150 to, at least) that we can get some truly incredible profiles that would be more than worthy of being on big commercial releases.


    Hell - how far are you from Derbyshire? I wonder if Sneap wouldn't be interested in doing a signature pack of his own like he did with Toontrack.

  • Andy great reply. Your mics are more than sufficient, most of the best guitar tones in metal are recorded with an sm57, and/ or a 609, with different mic techniques etc. might I suggest visiting the sneap forum to find out more, might learn ALOT since this is new to you :) I would also suggest maybe learning as much as you can, doing some profiles, and letting a few select few hear them, and critique/ give suggestions, that's probably a great idea as well :)

  • To do <ampname> with <cab> with <mics>
    then to offer the same, but with perhaps 2 or 3 different mic positions, and 2 or 3 differnt cabs
    scooped amp, no-scooped, sweetspot, OD pedals up front etc.

    This is to me far more important than bringing a myriad of amps. So much of the tone sits in the cab and mic position. A 5150/6505, Dual recto and a third would, at least for me, be enough given that they are sampled with perhaps three different cabs and mic positions. My choice of cabs would be Mesa V30 (obviously), Marshall 1960a V30 and perhaps an Orange.


    I would strongly suggest that you would use some sort of reference when trying to find those sweat spots.


    Anyhow, good luck with this package, and I wouldn't hesitate a second to spend my some of my earnings on it!

  • Ha I was just about to ask about making a Metal Pack.


    +1 to everything Jeff and VESmedic1 have said!


    Your best bet at getting the best results for this pack would be getting a knowledgable metal producer to help you with the micing and dialing in. If you could contact Andy Sneap like someone already said that would be awesome!


    Edit: Love the free clean & hi-gain packs and the Diezel VH4 profiles. Just bought the 6505 from pack 3 so will give that a try this weekend. Great work Andy!

  • any love for the ToneKing Metro? or is it just me that adores that amp :)


    Love the Metro Lead profile! The profile has chime and bite that has been impossible for me to find before the KPA. This profile is also really dynamic and I control it with only the guitar's volume knob. This is another excellent pack.

  • Hea Andy, what is the difference between profiles with a + and ++? For instance your 5153 lead+ vs 5153lead++??? Im sure it's been explained somewhere but I can't seem to find it.

  • I recently bought a few profiles from TAF and I can't believe how stunningly realistic they sound. I would recommend Andy's work to anyone wholeheartedly. The Peavey 6505 is indeed glorious and the Hot Cat sounds spectacular. It's amazing how small and boxed-in these make a lot of other profiles appear. Thanks again, Andy. You're work has really made the difference in my overall opinion of the Kemper!


    If it's ok, I'd like to humbly request the following amps:


    Gibson Lab Series L5 - More specifically, if you could profile one to Ty Taybor's sound in the King X album Gretchen Goes to Nebraska. I know a lot of people who would be happy about this.
    Fender '63 Vibroverb RI - Listen to Jeff Buckley's Live at Sin-e album for a reference on just how gorgeous these amps sound. It's also my main amp, but I don't have the means nor the gear to profile it accurately. I sorely miss not having its sound readily available in the Kemper and would greatly appreciate it done properly by Andy's proven talent.
    Carr Rambler
    Mesa Boogie Tremoverb


    I would purchase the above in a heartbeat! :D




  • I think you hit it on the head... Even comparing profiles through my VHT power amp and
    CAb, it's amazing how much smaller and boxy other profiles sound compared to Andy's, even with my setup