Beginners Guide to Guitar Tone (ft. Strymon Iridium + York Audio)

[@jazzbuckeye]

Hey man! I bought my first "good" guitar last July and started slowly acquiring pedals (first a used Strymon Iridium since I didn't have an amp). I've been into music and theory for a while, but I've always just been a noodler when it comes to guitar. Now I have a pretty complete board and I know how to imagine a tone in my head and find my way there. All of this to say that I definitely wouldn't be able to do that today without all of your great videos. Thank you so much! You've been so instrumental (pun intended) in me understanding electric guitar.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hey Jazz! Great to hear from you again. Congrats on your new guitar. Isn't it a great feeling? What did you end up getting? What is your board setup? Thanks for your support throughout all these videos. Happy shredding!

[@jazzbuckeye]

@@SuperdangerStudios I got a Player Strat first and a G&L Tribute Fallout in January for the higher-gain stuff (amazing guitar for the money). For my board, I'm using an Iridium and a Flint. My OD pedals are a Behringer TS clone going into an EHX Glove (fusion of an OCD and Plexi sound). My distortion is a Pro Co RAT. Then I have a Behringer clone of a Boss CH-1 chorus and a Behringer clone of a Boss analog delay. Really focused on getting bang for my buck! I'm playing in an indie band and we're hoping to start playing live and recording soon. :)

[@canyondepths]

You nailed it .... the cabinet speaker/IR has a HUGE influence on shaping guitar tone.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

It is so often overlooked but really holds the key to getting your tone right!

[@groovyhat9282]

This video was so helpful. I just got my first modeler (Walrus ACS1 Mk II) and the IR rabbit hole was pulling me in a million directions. Your video gave me a lot of focus on going back to building a good sound from the ground up.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Great to hear! It can be daunting sometimes and easy to get stuck in the weeds so I wanted to give a guide that I use to dial it in easily. Cheers!

[@liontone]

The Iridium + YA is definitely a winner!I only have experience with the Fender IRs now, but it’s like night and day….

[@SuperdangerStudios]

It’s a remarkable upgrade in quality! Enjoy!

[@liontone]

@@SuperdangerStudios Thank you. Have you seen a similar uptick with the Marshall, and Vox IR upgrades?

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Absolutely. The matchless IR is actually insane for the chime channel and the dual Marshall IR pack is unbeatable in my mind.

[@CJLee-jd2lh]

this is a really, really nice guide. not only you go through it in a great pace, you address some really important questions with great answers. I've not only learned a ton but enjoyed watching it all the way through. Thanks!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

So happy to hear it was helpful CJ!

[@erJonhy]

Hey Alex! I am hooked on your videos! I have a question. Do you load the York Audio IRs into the IRIDIUM, or do you load them into a computer program? Thank you so much! 🤙🏻

[@SuperdangerStudios]

So stoked you dig them! I do both scenarios. If I am live though I have em in the iridium. When I’m doing it in the studio I usually add it post so I can change it later if necessary. I use positive grid Bias FX2 to load the IRs. Sometimes I use two notes wall of sound too. That’s another good program.

[@erJonhy]

@@SuperdangerStudios Thanks a lot bro! 🤙🏻

[@chadjohnson3275]

Thanks for demonstrating how you build your tones! Good stuff! -- also -- I LOVED your thumbnail! Nice!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hahaha I laughed way too hard when I was making the thumbnail in Photoshop and wondered if anyone would get the reference. Sometimes things I think are iconic are not as popular as I had once assumed. Cheers!

[@chadjohnson3275]

@@SuperdangerStudios Well -- those of us who are of a certain "vintage" shall we say -- greatly appreciate it! :-)

[@msanguin1989]

Great video! You explain everything really well and easy to grasp. One question though, are you going direct to your interface from the flint? Srry if this is silly but I never went from my pedalboard to anything else than my amp.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hi Marcelo! Thanks for the kind words and glad it was helpful. Signal chain is strymon iridium > flint > interface and into my DAW (logic). I am then using Bias FX to load the IRs so they come last in the chain.

[@garyfox8]

This is fantastic, thank you. It was interesting to note that when first picking speakers that you were good with the level of bass in them. But as you added the remaining layers, it made sense and wasn't muddy. Keep 'em coming!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks Gary! The speakers are so important in your tone and often is often thought of after the signal chain is built. This can lead to complications since it's a massive eq curve across the whole spectrum and can limit your options! Have a great weekend!

[@zer0dave]

Great video as always! I will be trying some of this this weekend!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks again, friend!

[@zer0dave]

@@SuperdangerStudios the thanks go to you!

[@97guitarzan]

Great Video. You've made me seriousely re-consider getting an Iridium...

[@SuperdangerStudios]

It’s a great little pedal!

[@Gimi.Endrics]

Did you place the Xotic booster first in the chain and the OCD overdrive last in the chain?

[@ChordYogaGuitar]

That was a hip lesson :) very helpful, especially being new to that digital approach.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks, Jan! Happy to hear it helped! Let me know if I can shed any more insight

[@BadMofoMusicCritic]

Great videos man. Subbed.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks so much! Let’s rock

[@JoshuaTeicher]

Hi, your vids on the Iridium and UAFX stuff are really interesting. I was wondering if you have had to use any EQ in post at times? (not specifically this video) I have found with direct solutions I sometimes have to shave off boomy lows, reduce low mids and some times roll off high end a little. The main issue I consistently find is the lows and low mids being too much.

[@JoshuaTeicher]

and turning down bass on the pedal EQ just does what a real amp would do, which is just sound thin and not fix the problem in a musical kind of way

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hi Josh so sorry for the delay. Yes when recording I always turn down lows and low mids on guitar tracks but for when I’m playing live sometimes I’ll turn up the mids almost all the way and turn down the bass a lot. Or I just leave it up to the sound guy haha.

[@JoshuaTeicher]

@@SuperdangerStudios thanks very much for your reply! Do you mean on an EQ post the modeller/IR or the EQ on the modeller?

[@SuperdangerStudios]

@@JoshuaTeicher I do both depending on the sound. If I am recording I try to get that tones sound good going in so there’s less work in post. But I always will go back and eq the tracks with a couple plugins. When live with my real amps I will always turn down the bass on my amps but when using a modeler and going direct I will usually turn down bass to where it sounds good in my monitors and then let the sound guy do the rest. Hope this helps!

[@deplinenoise]

Love the practical approach!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

🥂 thanks Andreas!

[@vladrapchan5330]

Hey! Great videos in your channel! Love to see people posting long and detailed videos like yours! One question: do you think there's an appreciable difference in playing guitar amp modelers (HX Stomp, Iridium, etc) in 5" studio monitors vs. 7" or 8" studio monitors? I mean, do you think the feeling is different? Like more air being moved, more weight, and so on. Or do you think that 5" covers enough of the guitar frequency response and that's enough? Keep up the good work! Cheers!

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hi Vlad, Sorry for the delay. I don't notice any tangible difference between 5 and 7 when monitoring for guitars. The biggest factor would actually be the size of the room, and if it is acoustically treated (bass traps/clouds/diffusers). If they are decent speakers whether 5 or 7" they will give you a great frequency response but there will be no significant difference in quality. Especially if youre just monitoring guitars. Hope this helps!

[@vladrapchan5330]

@@SuperdangerStudios Don't know if it would change your answer in any way, but I mean more that simply "monitoring" ... I mean as a substitute for a amp or FrFr. I keep thinking if 7" or 8" would give more "weight" to the guitar, or, if given the reduced frequency response range that guitars have, it would be just a waste... Anyway! Thanks for taking the time to answer me! 🇧🇷❤️✊

[@SuperdangerStudios]

I guess the question is are you just playing at home? And how big is your room. The frequency response of a 5” speaker will not have any noticeable difference for low frequencies in a small room especially if it is treated acoustically. There are tons of studios that just use 5” speakers for tracking and it definitely gets the job done. If you really want low end response the answer would be to get a subwoofer but again, we’re just talking about guitars and the mids are what matter most. The size of the speaker in a studio monitor will not affect frequency response as much as volume and output. But if you have your room calibrated right and your listening angle and listening height is matched correctly you will be getting the full response of the guitar.

[@teshysm3876]

Awesome vid 🙌🏼

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Thanks Tesh! Have a great weekend

[@mikem668]

Very nice video. Very helpful, especially because I have several of your pedals. What I don't have is an IR. In that regard, using an amp would be better for me. Still, great info.

[@tendingtropic7778]

Thanks, what I don't understand is how/why you are changing the IRs on the computer, is that the strymon IR loader software you are using?

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hi Tending, I am using Bias FX in my DAW post reverb to change IRs. This way I can access all the hundreds of different IRs I own and audition them quickly. I prefer to have the spring reverb come before the speaker sim as it is closer to the true sound of micing an amp w internal spring reverb.

[@drdre4397]

You have to try the Celestion digital Orange IRs. I don't much care for the heavy drive stuff, but the clean sounds are incredible, and there's one which is very fender twin like and incredible. A friend of mine let me try them out, and I loaded two of them on my iridium. York IRs are great too. They take up the other 7 spots. Iridium is so powerful.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

I'll check it out! Thanks for the recommendation!

[@deplinenoise]

A recording question that popped up for me: how much of this EQ tweaking do you prefer to do in post in the studio? It seems easy to make corrections to the IR EQ curve to make it fit in the mix.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

In my experience it depends on where I am in the music process. If the song is already written then I’ll just try to cut as much low end as possible and get it to fit in the mix as much as possible. If I am writing w the guitar then I’ll eq it to where my ears are the most pleased! Gotta have the good vibes when you’re writing!

[@vannigio6234]

uah! 🐻👍 💥🚀💥

[@Musicislife668]

Have you tried the Boss IR 200?

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Have not yet! Would love to one day

[@Jord1791]

Have you tried the acs1 yet?

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Not yet! But I will

[@jips123]

How do you get the flint before the IR?

[@mikem.1203]

By using loading a null IR in one of the Iridium's cab slots. It's essentially a neutral IR that doesn't change the tone. I believe he went through this in one of his prior videos. If I recall correctly, he adds the IR in his DAW.

[@SuperdangerStudios]

Hi Rick, yes Mike is correct below. I use an IR loader in my DAW and that allows me to have a mock fx loop. Cheers!

[@jips123]

@@mikem.1203 well then you need another ir-loader after the iridium. That is perhaps a bit uncomfortable.

[@jips123]

@@SuperdangerStudios ah. Well I just put the flint after the iridium and that satisfies me very well.

[@EdgeofBreakup]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥