I blame Mark

Chad

Chad

Slender Hobbit
IMG_8812.jpeg
 
That was the unit that I was considering before the Kemper Stage came out. Nice piece of kit!!!
 
I’ve got a lot to learn with this thing, but 5 minutes after turning it on, I’ve got an awesome crunch and clean sounds. The delays are really good.
 
Lol.

Let me know if you need anything. I have a shit ton of IRs and presets that I use. DM me if you want some cool stuff.

A couple of things that I think make it easy to get rolling off the bat:
  • find an IR that works for you and start there.
  • Use the EQ cuts in the cabinets block - I usually cut everything about 7ish-k and below 60 hz although I mess with that a little bit
  • as you come up with settings that you like in any block save them to the library. I can quick-build new presets that I know work with pre-existing building blocks.
  • If you want to use an amp to play it through, turn off the cab block and obviously plug into the effects loop return.
  • Steal the best parts of other peoples presets. Sometimes I'll use someone else's sound as a jumping off point because they've done most of the hard work.
  • start tweaking amps on the "authentic" page first. If I get pretty close there but not really what I want then I'll go into the ideal tab with more EQ and whatnot.
 
Mark Wein said:
Lol.

Let me know if you need anything. I have a shit ton of IRs and presets that I use. DM me if you want some cool stuff.

A couple of things that I think make it easy to get rolling off the bat:
  • find an IR that works for you and start there.
  • Use the EQ cuts in the cabinets block - I usually cut everything about 7ish-k and below 60 hz although I mess with that a little bit
  • as you come up with settings that you like in any block save them to the library. I can quick-build new presets that I know work with pre-existing building blocks.
  • If you want to use an amp to play it through, turn off the cab block and obviously plug into the effects loop return.
  • Steal the best parts of other peoples presets. Sometimes I'll use someone else's sound as a jumping off point because they've done most of the hard work.
  • start tweaking amps on the "authentic" page first. If I get pretty close there but not really what I want then I'll go into the ideal tab with more EQ and whatnot.
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The eq cuts on the cab are key. I found that trick when I briefly had the stomp.

I’ve watch a bunch of videos by some dude who has a guitar forum and learned a lot from him already :grin:

That’s a good tip about saving thing to the library. I didn’t know you could do that. That will make setting the cab much easier.

I know the one place I’m going to struggle for a while is setting up the footswitches, scenes and those little thing. Getting a good amp sound took no time at all.

I’ll be hitting up up on the IRs for sure. That is a rabbit hole I don’t want to go down for a while.
 
Mark Wein said:
How's this coming along?
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Really good. I’m extremely surprised at how easy it is to maneuver. In the pc editor that is, I haven’t tried anything from the device itself. This weekend I remapped my buttons, then didn’t like it, so remapped them again. Since I’m not gigging, it isn’t life or death, but I may get the extra foot controller so I can use it like a pedalboard.

This being my first real dive into something like this, it’s taking me time to get my head around how to organize it and operate it from just the unit.
 
Yeah- the FC6 really helps. I even have a 2 button aux pedal for my HX Stomp because 3 buttons are kinda hard to make work. I rarely reprogram anything on the device so when I have to (like I did this weekend when I had to add the virtual capo to a new preset) it takes me longer than it should.
 
Almost a month in and I still really like this. I ordered a Seymour Duncan Power Stage amp and am running it through my Tone King cab and I like it a lot more than through the Headrush FRFR. Maybe I need a better powered frfr cab.
 
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The Headrush gets mixed reviews. I use an EV powered wedge with a 12" speaker and a concentric horn and it's pretty damn good but kinda pricey now. Fender has the new FRFR's that just came out that people seem to like but apparently they are kinda "hissy". The power stage and your tone king are probably really good to make it sound like a "real amp" in the room. I haven't tried that route yet.
 
Mark Wein said:
The Headrush gets mixed reviews. I use an EV powered wedge with a 12" speaker and a concentric horn and it's pretty damn good but kinda pricey now. Fender has the new FRFR's that just came out that people seem to like but apparently they are kinda "hissy". The power stage and your tone king are probably really good to make it sound like a "real amp" in the room. I haven't tried that route yet.
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It definitely sounds more like a ‘real’ amp. The Headrush sounds like an amp going through a PA, which isn’t necessarily bad, but not what I’m used to hearing after close to 40 years of playing. Even when I gigged, I was lucky to have monitors and when I did, it was almost all vocals. So it’s weird hearing the PA sound.

my next decision is to buy the extra footswitch, or sell the 3 to get the 9. Knowing me, I didn’t want to go all in, figuring I’d end up hating this thing, but now that I’m sold, I’m not sure which route to go. I know the 9 gives you the ability to use 2 amp blocks, but I’m not sure if that’s worth selling the 3 for.
 
Chad said:
It definitely sounds more like a ‘real’ amp. The Headrush sounds like an amp going through a PA, which isn’t necessarily bad, but not what I’m used to hearing after close to 40 years of playing. Even when I gigged, I was lucky to have monitors and when I did, it was almost all vocals. So it’s weird hearing the PA sound.

my next decision is to buy the extra footswitch, or sell the 3 to get the 9. Knowing me, I didn’t want to go all in, figuring I’d end up hating this thing, but now that I’m sold, I’m not sure which route to go. I know the 9 gives you the ability to use 2 amp blocks, but I’m not sure if that’s worth selling the 3 for.
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If you've bought into the Fractal thing and you're willing to spend the money on the FC6, I'd sell the 3 and just get the 9. I never run out of CPU power and I use much more silly shit than you would. I just got off the phone with someone about covering a show this afternoon because he threw his back out and since their band tunes down to Eb throwing the virtual capo on and dropping my normal preset down a half step was no problem. If I had the 3 I'd be downturning my guitar and I'm just not set up for Eb.
 
Mark Wein said:
If you've bought into the Fractal thing and you're willing to spend the money on the FC6, I'd sell the 3 and just get the 9. I never run out of CPU power and I use much more silly shit than you would. I just got off the phone with someone about covering a show this afternoon because he threw his back out and since their band tunes down to Eb throwing the virtual capo on and dropping my normal preset down a half step was no problem. If I had the 3 I'd be downturning my guitar and I'm just not set up for Eb.
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That’s probably what I’ll end up doing. Good thing is I don’t gig and it isn’t something I need to do right now. I may just try and deal with the limitations of 3 buttons and see how creative I can be with them
 
Mark Wein said:
The Headrush gets mixed reviews. I use an EV powered wedge with a 12" speaker and a concentric horn and it's pretty damn good but kinda pricey now. Fender has the new FRFR's that just came out that people seem to like but apparently they are kinda "hissy". The power stage and your tone king are probably really good to make it sound like a "real amp" in the room. I haven't tried that route yet.
Click to expand...


Just found a pretty good deal on a ‘used’ EV powered wedge. I got it from Pro Audio Star, so it should be here Tuesday.
 
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