How can i make a good tone with a digital amp?

[ShrillBear52]

I'm still getting familiar with my "New" amplifier but i can't make a good tone on my own.

 

I think i'll do what everyone else does,keep the amp with a clean tone and make  distortion tone  with a pedal.

(i already have a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah pedal)

 

So do you think you could give me any suggestions ? :D

 

Note: 1.)My amp is a Marshall Code 50 Digital Combo amp (the current preset is "Classic Metal")

          2.)Not sure how relevant is this, but here is a picture of the "current settings" on what i have

 

 

 

[RedCrowBleeding]

firstly play some music through (e.g. plug your phone in) it for half a dozen hours or more with cushion or something in front of the speaker (to bed the speaker in)

 

get the amp up off the floor (the tone changes dramatically depending on height and placement in a room)

is it open back? if so you need to have play with the distance from a wall or just completely open.

 

typically, the best tones can be found via

adjusting each dial to point where it dips in an out (the sweet spot) sonically (on tone dials & gain dial) - that'll give you a basic clean to break up to be adjusted by your guitar volume/tone dials

make note of your settings then tweak from there, to each type of tone you want

again take notes 

of the best settings.

 

that's my method, but I could be completely wrong.

[theshart34]

Ask yourself what you makes you think the tone is bad in the first place and work back from there.  Is it too bright, too fizzy, too bassy, too honky, not enough gain?  An EQ pedal would provide more benefit than screwing with a distortion pedal your digitial amp may not play nice with.

 

Also, what are you comparing your tone to or what artist are you trying to emulate?  Don't compare the tone your getting from the amp to what you hear from your favorite albums.  A miked amp tone with all the recording studio eq'ing/wizadry is quite unobtainable in your bedroom (unless using cab/mic simulation software).

 

A good practice with digital amps I've found is to go through each amp model with just a touch of reverb with all tone settings set to 12:00.  From there weed down to 2-3 amps (Clean, crunch, high gain) that you like best.  Then tweak tone/gain controls for those as necessary to sweeten them further.  Try to live with those 2-3 amps for atleast a month and play the guitar vs. tweaking knobs to no benefit to your playing.  You may find that the core tonal eq structure of the Marshall isn't for you, but give it some time.

 

What kind of guitar are you using?  Strat with single coils vs single cut with humbuckers makes a huge difference.

 

Goodluck and take notes as prior poster mentioned.

[ShrillBear52]

firstly play some music through (e.g. plug your phone in) it for half a dozen hours or more with cushion or something in front of the speaker (to bed the speaker in)

 

get the amp up off the floor (the tone changes dramatically depending on height and placement in a room)

is it open back? if so you need to have play with the distance from a wall or just completely open.

 

typically, the best tones can be found via

adjusting each dial to point where it dips in an out (the sweet spot) sonically (on tone dials & gain dial) - that'll give you a basic clean to break up to be adjusted by your guitar volume/tone dials

make note of your settings then tweak from there, to each type of tone you want

again take notes 

of the best settings.

 

that's my method, but I could be completely wrong.

yeah, i've managed to get a somewhat decent tone right now.thanks

[ShrillBear52]

Ask yourself what you makes you think the tone is bad in the first place and work back from there.  Is it too bright, too fizzy, too bassy, too honky, not enough gain?  An EQ pedal would provide more benefit than screwing with a distortion pedal your digitial amp may not play nice with.

 

Also, what are you comparing your tone to or what artist are you trying to emulate?  Don't compare the tone your getting from the amp to what you hear from your favorite albums.  A miked amp tone with all the recording studio eq'ing/wizadry is quite unobtainable in your bedroom (unless using cab/mic simulation software).

 

A good practice with digital amps I've found is to go through each amp model with just a touch of reverb with all tone settings set to 12:00.  From there weed down to 2-3 amps (Clean, crunch, high gain) that you like best.  Then tweak tone/gain controls for those as necessary to sweeten them further.  Try to live with those 2-3 amps for atleast a month and play the guitar vs. tweaking knobs to no benefit to your playing.  You may find that the core tonal eq structure of the Marshall isn't for you, but give it some time.

 

What kind of guitar are you using?  Strat with single coils vs single cut with humbuckers makes a huge difference.

 

Goodluck and take notes as prior poster mentioned.

thank you. I'm currently using (i mean i play this guitar currently the most ) a Cort X4 one. 24 frets with a tremolo bridge and emg humbuckers. I've managed to get an almost decent tone. Maybe i'll leave a link in my next comment for you to hear how it sounds (altogh i'm going to record it with Fl Studio and i have to managed to set that up good :P ) 

 

and also yeah, i've came across this point, so i already know that i should not compare it to album tones dues to the fact that's goes through a lot of editing and mixing and it's affected by the guitar player too. but thanks anyway :)