Using Multiple Presets Live

[Frodebro]

Same. I definitely recognize the names of John Sadites Cordy Jingleheimmer Schmitt Serlacci.... but don't imbibe the content.

Cordy is worth checking out just for the playing he does at the beginning of each of his videos.

 

[Lele]

Anybody with a Helix that has a compressor at the end of the chain has been watching Jason’s videos.

Can I "reveal" that I was using a compressor post amp already many years ago with my Digitech GSP1101, that is many years before Jason Sadites' videos?
I still like that thing, even if generally just after the amp and not after the post amp effects.

About live presets, I prefer one preset each song (cover band, many different songs), but I use just one IR or cab/mic everywhere, and really few amp models (and one or two on most of my presets). I prefer separate presets so that I prepare the snapshots with all the effects and delay time I need for verse, chorus, in/out-tro, solos, etc.

 

[Joshual-L]

I have one main kitchen sink on my fm3.
8 scenes:
Clean
Breakup
Crunch
Distortion
Lead
Crunch lead
Breakup lead
Clean lead

On this main preset the complete signal chain is
In-wha-comp-drive-amp-cab-chorus-delay-reverb-out
It can do 90% hours of my 4h gigs with absolutely no problem.

One amp for clean, All the other scenes are different gain stages of the same amp.
Same ir everywhere but with different cuts depending on the scene

I also dedicated presets when it’s really needed for a song. Mainly because of the effects and/or effects combinations.

I also have three presets already pitched.
-0.5 -1 -1.5.

I don’t have to worry about switching presets.
I use my iPad to select sheets (even if they’re blank) and it sends midi bt to my xsonic Airstep foot controller that send the midi info to the fm3.
This way I don’t care if we change the setlist 5 minutes before the show, I just reorder songs on the iPad.

The airstep have 5 switches. It goes from clean to lead (scene 1 to 5) and also have every lead scene on hold. I could do more with it but it’s enough for me.
I also plugged a expression volume pedal in it to manage to main out fm3 volume.
It let me have one spare exp input on the fm3.
Those are exp for wha and a 2 switches ampero for tap tempo and a cs midi (you have to create a midi loop with the Airstep and fm3 for that)


Sorry for the long post but with one preset you can do a lot!!!

 

[ucnick]

Starting back with my Kemper toaster, through my Helix/L6 days, and into my current Fractal rigs, for my usage case I found it best to use a hybrid approach: a few kitchen sink presets (predominantly BFSR, DR, 1959SLP, JMP50) for maybe 70% to 80% of the tunes, and a few choice artist or song-specific presets for tunes that have a lot of different effects that would require mucho tap dancing at a gig, which I need to avoid as much as possible as I sing a lot of backup harmonies and any tap dancing is a recipe for disaster.

And of the artist/song-specific presets, I attempt to craft them such that one preset with one amp type is configured to provide scenes for two or more tunes, if possible. Tom Petty tunes, for instance: I have one preset which uses a Princeton model with all scenes and channels set up to cover as many tones and fx combinations as possible. And some of those scenes work with tunes from other artists as well.

I spend a lot of time tweaking them to have everything leveled, and use a global volume pedal to even it out as required live. I have never, ever had a sound person complain. Ever. As a matter of fact, usually quite the opposite.

 

[vino_buono]

But at the same time, a Vox just has too much of a different sound than a Fender, and a Boogie, especially with its EQ, has a different sound than a Marshall (although ACTUALLY, the Helix does have Mesa’s EQ in a block, so I may need to think more on that lol). These differences need to be accounted for if you’re doing covers and want to do them as accurately as possible, in my opinion.

This is key. Do you really want to do them as accurately as possible, including the exact guitar tones? If I were playing in a tribute band, most definitely so; but then for Queen I'd need just one Vox amp and corresponding IR. In a cover band I like to play the music as close as possible to the original, including note-for-note solos when I can pull it off (unless we come up with our own take on the song, which is also fun), but I do not feel like I have to replicate the same sound as long as the sound I use works for the song. I think with many different songs with various effects this creates a sonic mishmash that may be confusing. The way I look at it is: I want the band to have our own sound, and to adapt that sound to the songs we play. Most of all, I want the band to sound good, and I think this is more easily achieved with some sonic consistency. Nothing wrong with other approaches, but this way it feels easier for me.

For compressors, reverbs and so on, IMO it is very much style or song dependent. Sadites' end-of-chain compression and other tricks never worked for me "as is", but often I do somilar things in different ways; for example, I like some sag in the amp, which is also a form of compression. Whatever works for you. For me, compression blocks are too sensitive to the threshold values, so that I need a different threshold for every guitar or I'll feel the amount of compression is always wrong, and that's a mess. Reverb I use very sparingly live, or not at all (unless it must be a very obvious effect), because it puts me back in the mix and the Lord knows the other band mates have trouble managing their volume... Same for compression and modulations. But this is for classic rock, and other genres do need different choices.

 

[Lele]

For me, compression blocks are too sensitive to the threshold values, so that I need a different threshold for every guitar

I had the same problem with standard compressor blocks, even those with multiple adjustable parameters. However, I found an excellent solution, in my opinion, by using a simpler compressor: the Ampeg Opto Comp. I use it post-amp, applying just a slight reduction of a few dB (in my case, I set the "Compress" parameter between 1 and 2), with a short release (set to 1) and a 75% mix.

The Opto Comp differs slightly from other compressors; it has a fixed threshold and ratio. I don’t know their exact values, but they seem to work exceptionally well with any guitar sound. The "Compress" parameter simply controls how much signal the compressor circuit receives—somewhat similar to a mix control.

I prefer post-amp compression because it doesn’t interfere with the clean, distortion, or edge-of-breakup levels and with the guitar volume control. This approach preserves the dynamic expression of my playing. What's more, since the Ampeg Opto Comp is very fast (perhaps with an attack time of around 1 ms), I find it works better mainly after the amp and with some parallel mix with the uneffected signal.

 

[ejecta]

Say you've watched HW videos without saying you've watched HW videos

Spoiler

Let's see if this works twice

 

[makeitstop]

When I first bought my AX8, I started programming song-specific presets. After a couple of weeks I'd built a library of over 60 presets.

Totally unmanageable, given the band I'm in (live karaoke, where we work without set lists and the song choices are picked entirely by the audience). If I was playing sets that never changed I could simply scroll through the presets, but I don't have that luxury.

Now I've got one preset to cover about 90% of everything we play. I use a secondary preset with unusual effects (rotary, etc.), and that's a whole lot easier than trying to scroll through 60-some odd presets at a moment's notice.

The only luxury I give myself is using different amps for clean and gain settings, and I use one IR for everything. Haven't had a problem with a sound guy yet (I've since retired the AX8 and use an FM3 now).

 

[toneseeker911]

Song specific presets get unmanageable fast. Add to that, the level and eq differences and it comes to a point where the FOH sound is a mess.
What I do :
One cab - or maybe two that sound close enough
A handful of amps into that one cab
Go wild with effects and create multiple presets with only effect changes if I run out of CPU.