This will fix your HARSH Amp Sim Guitar Tones (for real)

[@RaytownProductions]

What's YOUR favorite Amp Sim? Let me know in the comments 👇👇👇

[@Real_Epic]

i have a problem with low-mid and low-end in my DI guitars even using the roll-off on the interface :( cab simulator ML Sound Lab MIKKO2 (free version!) sounds incredable for high-end you can litterally copy-paste a second track with a different mic without any phase issues! 57 and 414 mic blend on seperate tracks i don't suggest having 2 mics on 1 track :) *figured out my low-end DI guitar issue... using a sterling interface DO NOT use the inpiuts on the back use the front inputs they REALLY are tailored for instruments 💀💀💀

[@RaytownProductions]

@Real_Epic ​Try using a multiband compressor with just the low band engaged. That helps to smooth all that out. I'll make a video about this in the next month or two! Thanks for the comment🤘 ​

[@Real_Epic]

@@RaytownProductions thank you! :)

[@lovekilss]

Overloud TH-U , for some reason it sounds way better than neural DSP and STL tones 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@demoinglife]

Mixwave mike stringer has been my go-to for months

[@rome8180]

In addition to cuts like this, I'll also often use a tape emulation plugin. Tape has a great way of softening the high end.

[@RaytownProductions]

Yessss!! Waves Kramer tape does this for me on guitars and also drums! (Just have to be careful not to kill the drum transients!)

[@bernardwilliamson2257]

Or just get older and you cant hear a difference at all😢

[@paulcooper5904]

As a 73 yr old I can definitely relate to that!!

[@RaytownProductions]

Sometimes it can be hard to tell with the guitar tone, but maybe you will notice much more clarity with the other instruments. Try focusing your ears on the top end of the voice and the drums instead of the guitar maybe? Hope that helps!

[@jessecantrell]

😂

[@InTheSh8]

You actually said it right! Most people swear on the exact 4K placement. But the truth is you have to search for the sizzle manually and often it sits lower than 4K and at around 4K there is nothing annoying. I had that with many NAM-Profiles. I also search for a rumbling directly after the 120 Hz low cut and reduce it. It is annoying, but trust him, it is worth the work. The drums will "magically" sound tighter and clearer when you remove harsh guitar frequencies.

[@ringi1970]

For me I have to say, this amp sim sounds terrible. Ever tried NAM? It is free, and revolutionary. Null tests have the best results out there. Here on YT there are many videos about NAM, showcases, null tests etc. I never had that high fizzy frequencies with any good amp sim. The cab IRs are also a point we have to look at. Bad IRs = bad tones - even if the amp sim is good.

[@zeclomal2265]

I use Tonehub. Usually guitars on Feldmann or Sam Pura's packs. I do a LP at 100hz and a HP at 10k. Then a cut between 3-4k. Sometimes a cut at 3.5k and another one at 4k so I remove all the unwanted noise that I hear there. Also I found that I don't like how 2.3k and 2.8k sound. I like how these frequencies sound isolated but in the contest of the mix they add a harsh noise that I don't like so I cut a little bit there until it's not a problem to my ears anymore.

[@guidorehder6802]

I use Revalver for most of my guitar tracks. It never sounds bad and it allows me to include free amp sims.

[@win8win77]

Also try to cut a bit from 500 to 1k, to make it it sit. Distortion is a wide spectrum of frequencies like any white noize or synth, and needs to be shaped for your mix 100%. Thanks for the video

[@oldguysplaymetal5517]

Agree and almost always low pass distorted guitar around 8 K, and then high pass under 80 or so. The 12 inch "woofer" that sits in a guitar cab, isn't going to produce much energy in frequencies above 7-8K since it is such a large speaker with no metallic or other designated tweeter. Another trick that seems to be coming of age, with amp sims, is that turning down the interface gain to zero, and then reducing the "input" gain on the amp sim, can make a huge difference in the "spongy" texture so many have.

[@RaytownProductions]

Nice!!! I didn't know that. I'll have to try it out 🤘

[@jakesmith4506]

great info. I just got a TONEX pedal and I will use your info to fix the sound of this thing. So far I haven't been impressed with the TONEX pedal. Perhaps now things will go better with the sound. I'm old school when it comes to recording. Real amps and mics are hard to beat. Thanks again Brother.

[@rubenmedina5050]

Thank you, great info

[@kierenmoore3236]

Nailed it.

[@davidasher22]

Beautiful!

[@Wrath_Starz]

Hell yeah! 🎸🤘

[@DelgresMusic]

Good point! I generally start by rolling off top and bottom to roughly match a guitar speaker frequency range between 70 hz and 6khz. Then cut the sizzle at around 2 khz For clean and crunch sounds I tend to leave the 4 k region alone for that’s what helps the guitar cut thru the mix. But then again it depends on the context. ( I use Mixwave, Mercuriall and Neural Morgan suite)

[@JamesJones-th3ml]

Try Genome, Th-U, and also S Gear AND Soft Tube ENGL and Metal Suites. They all don't have that stupid high thing... Less filter = Better tone!!!

[@wonkastudio-johnny]

good tips...i usually cut at 3k or i will just cut it at the source before the DAW...axe fx

[@satanistruth666]

I would use a different IR, I dont think it has anythig to do with the amp

[@Motosportz]

And my favorite amp sims... * All free AidA-X - This one can do it all by loading IRs. Clean to crunchy - LeXtac Weird choice I know but I get some really good sounds from it. Very Fender plus and witht he FIRE distortion used sparingly and a nice verb it sounds great. 80's studio shred - Anything by Ignite. Emissary, NRR-1 etc need separate cab sims (IR) VanHalen - Nick Crow 7170 Ignite TPA-1 poweramp sim works great on some pre/cabs. Blue Cat stuff is good So fun.

[@hollowmenrule]

Funny and super helpful. 2 free ones you gotta check out are swanky Amp and analog obsession JAMP bot are great then wit analog obsession KABIN. Swanky sounds great distorted with the right stuff jump is more alt indy but has a great Amp like tone

[@ovicaloni1923]

I use the treble knob in the amp sim or the one knob on the guitar for this.

[@saltyproductions3135]

I’ve followed so much guidance from KZbin videos & everything still sounds so crap. I do get this though & is good advice. Maybe one day, I’ll get a good sounding track & I think, I need more years of practice & failure.

[@N8oRMusic]

"How do I mix my guitars to take away the fizz"? Use your ears, bro!

[@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn]

I do this, but play with how many dB per octave the low pass filter is cutting. Sometimes, cutting less per octave, but moving the filter down further works better. You can tame that 3 to 5k stuff you cut, in a smoother way that actually notching it out.

[@jaredt3985]

I saw Kristian Kohle do exactly that in a video once, and I’ve been doing that ever since. Sounds way more natural and less phasey to me.

[@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn]

@@jaredt3985 I don't watch a lot of his videos, but I think perhaps I've seen it. I have a habit of playing the progression just on the high E and B strings to add bite, so it's just natural to want to low pass those tracks.

[@KeenanCrow]

My one move: choose a different, less fizzy IR

[@xNoktemAeternus2]

The best move

[@rjgeigersmusic]

eh i didn't hear much of a difference with your first example, tone was already bee in a bottle also the boost find bad freq then cut trick is almost always bad to do.. you literally are boosting to find something bad of course you are going to hear isolated freq as annoying so you cut it... bad move. if you can't hear the problem without boosting then you probably shouldn't be messing with it. it gives you a false sense of a problem when boosting especially if you are new to mixing

[@ExiLeZH]

Agree, all those higher mid frequencies sound horrible isolated/boosted, should we cut them all?

[@rjgeigersmusic]

nope don't cut anything unless you really know what you are doing and can hear the problem without boosting. boosting gives you a false sense of a problem. any freq you boost like that is going to stick out you know. he does a sweep in the video but nothing really sticks out to me as an issue, you hear the problem but he his boosting it so it creates a problem you know? plus the cut is waaaaay too much. i do agree with him on cutting the super highs like that, a lot of amp sims, software and floor models are harsh and a lot of people do the shelf in the super highs. i should make a video with my take on it because i've been down this road, watched so many videos with the whole boost sweep find bad freq cut "tricks" .. its mostly bs

[@Destroyersoul-e9x]

@@rjgeigersmusic Totally agreed with you mate, that "boost the frequency that annoys you the most" trick is false, because like you said, you are boosting something of course it will sound bad. Sometimes people create problems for themselves, the trick i always use is to use reference tracks of bands i like and do my mix based on that.

[@tilmanwolff-moore276]

Funny 😂😂.This guy claims only amp sums can sound fizzy, not real amps!! 😂😂 hmmm. I wonder who’s sounding like an amateur right now. 😂

[@Destroyersoul-e9x]

Yeah, real amps also have a lot of fizz, also it depends more on the cabinet than anything else... like put that plugin through a good IR and then put a real head with the same IR, that would be a good comparison.

[@skudgyy]

It sounds great and I'm definitely going to improve now that I know this, but for now it's so impossible to tell where those noises are when I'm trying to work an EQ. Blessings of being a complete novice with guitar tones and mixing, I guess.

[@80s_kid]

1:53 No, it doesn't even sound good in solo mode.😅 (It sounds like when you don't set the dry/wet knob to 100% in the IR loader plugin. The EQ tips are useful regardless.)

[@danielnielsen6900]

What sounds good in solo might not sound good in the mix.

[@andriealinsangao613]

​@@danielnielsen6900Yes, and vice versa!

[@samsonlovesyou]

I keep getting really annoying resonances bang on the 3.2k mark and around it with the UAD Marshall JMP 2203. So it's not so much fizzle as piercing harshness. Haven't been able to work out if it's ALL my guitars having some sort of metallic resonance, fret buzz which only becomes prominent with the amp sim on, my tones being too bright, or if this is a problem with the amp sim other people have encountered. If anyone has ideas to help, I'm all ears. If I cut, it has to be so severe and wide that I lose the nice percussive part of the pick attack.

[@petset77]

Glad you said you'd roll it back farther, because I was just typing that suggestion. Also, couldn't you cut the irritating buzzy 3.7 just on the guitar track and deal with vocals on their own? That's the irritating range rectifier sims seem to love, and it ruins overdriven electric guitar.

[@TakeHit0]

A better way to do this would be to move the mic placement on your amp sim around until you get just the right amount of sizzle. Doing this makes the guitars feel lifeless

[@justinplaysguitar]

Just a high cut. They do that cause clean channels on modelers sound great at those hz but those distortions you gotta use a 7-10 k cut

[@N8oRMusic]

your button should say "Eat, Sleep, Produce, Loop"

[@andriealinsangao613]

Ha ha! Yep, that's more fitting!

[@deliverance9975]

EQing is fine and all but is there any way to deal with the sizzle before the EQ stage, closer to the source?

[@Durkhead]

I think you just need better irs my amp sims dont sound like that

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

If you put a BBE Sonic Maximizer in the amp’s effect loop you can have sizzle for days. 😂

[@alejandrososa2310]

great explanation and examples! tks Bobby

[@mullewap6670]

I haved heard that the magic frequenz is 2khz? Isnt so?

[@RaytownProductions]

For me the 3.5-4.5khz is the harsh spot...

[@Vdrummer182]

Exactly what I needed. Just applied this and it really worked. Thank you so much \m/

[@RaytownProductions]

Hell yeah man! Glad it helped!

[@GappyDanZ]

Also a low cut at around 100h is good too as below that is just tumble and the bass will fill that gap anyway

[@NikedasSirekios]

Hey good stuff man. Sometimes less is more.

[@ryanfishel9394]

Another great video, Bobby! It's been 25 years since I mic'd a cab, so I don't even remember what's "natural" anymore. Lately I've been trying to EQ my sims less, so I've been trying to be gentle on this high fizz frequencies, but I think you're right, I gotta just roll it all off. I went back over a mix now, and the guitars really do sit better -- cymbals are more gentle too. So thanks again! You always seem to have the pulse on great mixing tips.

[@rockf3knr]

Spot on with this vid. And, current sim fav: Two notes GENOME

[@BigBadMadden95]

I find that no matter how much i low pass i always get some sizzle. Like ive tried rolling off all the way down to like 4k and obviously it soubds like far away but still fizzy

[@RaytownProductions]

Try those EQ cuts I showed! That might be the ticket 🤘

[@elguitarTom]

Or you can play along with the guitar and amp to your drum plugin and tweak the settings on the amp so it sit well with the drums. A trick is to listen to the drums and what the guitar sound is doing to them. You can actually make your drum sounds more soft or harsh depending on your amp settings. Also best to adjust treble before the highs to avoid you make it too bright.

[@Rose-oak-cake]

I’ll filter all the way down to 4.5-5k sometimes. Usually 6k and under

[@RaytownProductions]

Wow! That seems really low to me, but every song is different. 🙂

[@escapegulag4317]

as if ampsims have more fizz than a micd cab.

[@KennethACrashwaggonMusic]

Oh they do. Almost all of them and I've used and owned a lot of them. A good ribbon mic (instead of the awful 57 everyone swears by, which WILL give you plenty of fizz) on a cab kills anything else. I wish more people would actually learn how to mic a cab properly instead of searching for IR's. Too much work I suppose...and I'm probably old...

[@danpena7922]

Run your interface at zero gain on Neural sims.

[@dougb3854]

you still have to compensate depending on your interface

[@Motosportz]

Interesting. I just got back into writing music and recording. Using Bitwig and a bunch of guitar plugins and came to the same conclusion on my own. I also cap the low end for unnatural sounding bass output. Some mic/Cab sims (IR) do a great job of of handling this for you. Also the free "Fire" distortion plugin is amazing. Get it, read the quick notes as there is a lot to it with compression, selectable band distortion and limiting. Has a eq setup to do exactly what you describe.

[@Songaholica]

You just fit it into the song.Most times it's 4 to 5k , Marshall-wise but sometimes it surprises me !!

[@joeycovington4681]

Thanks!

[@cjmllvv]

Not rolling off your low end?

[@RaytownProductions]

Low end doesn't typically make your guitars harsh, but I DO roll off a lot of low end from my guitars.

[@mathieuandrei2755]

STL Josh middleton

[@Depurity]

Best one out there. It feels very real!

[@jaredt3985]

Agreed. I have spent way too much money on amp sims, and STL JM is my favorite by far.

[@malcolmrff]

Is it worth picking up and replacing archetype gojira?

[@mathieuandrei2755]

​@@malcolmrff i got Gojira from neural and even with the improvements that goes with the Gojira X, STL middleton is still worth it for many reasons, and ESPECIALLY for beginners. The "input autoleveling" feature is a real treasure and will teach u a lot on how to record ur signal properly. All the presets are monstrous and come with an Eq that u can learn from in order to reproduce the tone u love the most with any other VST. U can see the approach of Middleton on EQing (and that's priceless). All the amps feels real, because they're reproduced digitaly components by components and that's a huge difference ! The cab section is one of the best i ever heard (the cab are from the personnal collection of Middleton, the mic placement and behaviour is really well reproduced...) effects are simple but sounds like a dream... shall i continue ??? I mean, u can go for it. U'll thank josh and STL later u can really understand with this plug in what IS a USABLE tone and how to achieve to dial in such ones, and that's for me, the best feature. Plus Josh did a lot of videos explaining HIMSELF how to use his plug in and dial tones, and then mix it... Gold on a plate

[@ValentineProzorow]

"We have Bobby Frightbox at home." - "Bobby at home..."

[@Busbybeats]

Great information, thank you!

[@ScalerWave]

2.4k also

[@martijn_yt]

Or use a nice guitar cab sim ;)

[@tilmanwolff-moore276]

…sorry amp sims😊

[@lovekilss]

this song and band are so good !

[@DanBires]

I love the fizz

[@RaytownProductions]

Some people do! It does have a "width" to it that does away when you roll off the top end. But I feel like it sits better with the instruments when you do roll off that fizzy stuff. Thanks for the comment 😊

[@666Musik]

That's not a very good amp sim, rate my rhythm guitar tone in my last track. :)

[@brgl61]

this just sounds dull

[@russlund2507]

worry less about it sounding like a "real" amp. Who cares if it's a sim or an amp, long as it sounds good? Do you think having "real" amps gives you some kind of cred?

[@SparkySparkSparkles]

Bro, You just changed my game. Bless you for the EQ breakdown for dummies. You are loved.

[@RaytownProductions]

❤❤❤ thank you so so much