Ok, I'm going to start compiling a weekly (maybe bi-weekly) release around a particular amp. I can only repost free patches from the RE. For those I get outside of RE that are free, I will ask for the author's permission. For commercial profiles, I will submit my tweaks to the original authors and hopefully they will include them in those bundles - it certainly can't HURT them to include MORE profiles in their bundles that I am providing to them for free.
For me, the most difficult tone to dial in has been a really tight Mesa Mark (II, III, IV, V - I don't care - just make me sound like John P already). The tightest one I found was Steph. L's Mark IV's, but they use the Green Scream to get their tightness, and it definitely adds a TS sound which is NOT what I want. I like to use EQ instead - more transparent and more control. Also I find a lot of the free ones the authors tried all kinds of crazy crap with the amp profile parameters which pushes them away from the sound of a real amp IMO. Simply restoring defaults and using a bit of EQ works wonders.
So I'll shoot for early next week to compile my best Mesa Mark profiles. Most of these use a preset I call "EQ mab Boost". I will upload the preset at some point, but here are the basic settings:
Low Shelf: -12 db @ 80 HZ - cuts all the mud out without leaving the tone too thin
High Shelf: +2 db @ 1000 HZ - a light treble boost to get more high frequency harmonics
Mid 1: +6 db @ 600 HZ w/ default Q - a nice midrange boost that keeps all the treble boosts in balance and warms up the tone, but doesn't get into muddy territory
Mid 2: +3 db @ 2000 HZ w/ lowered Q - a wide treble boost that brings out the searing djenty distortion but is still too low on the spectrum to get into the splatty, crackly breakup that destroys a singing lead tone
Unfortunately my favorite ones are commercial releases from the Amp Factory and Pete Turley. But I will give "blanks" for those, where I change the amp/cab profiles to something free. The rig name/tags will stay the same, so if you buy either pack, you can easily swap in the amp/cabs. Others that I will feature are DJEMASS, MillA, Bjorn Gottfridssen (spelling?), Thumas, and Steph. L. There's probably more.
Then I just play with mix and make slight adjustments. If done right you get both djenty chunks and singing leads. Plus your power chords have interesting breakup but you still have enough clarity for more complex chords. It's an amazing feat. Why pick and choose when you can have it all?!
