VI. Cabs and Mics

• A. Cab/Mic Overview

• B. Cab Selection for Direct Tones

  • i. My Favorites

  • ii. General Tips

  • iii. Hiway 4x12

  • iv. Tread V-30 4x12

  • v. XXL V-30 4x12

  • vi. Greenbacks 4x12

  • vii. Uber 4x12

  • viii. Brit-T75 4x12

• C. Cab Selection for Live Tones

• D. Mic Selection

  • i. SM57 On/Off Axis

  • ii. Dynamic Mics

  • iii. Condenser Mics

  • iv. Ribbon Mics

• E. Dual Cabs

  • I. Introduction

  • ii. Getting the Patch Ready

  • iii. Phase Correction

  • iv. EQ'ing the Tone

  • v. Other Amp Settings

  • vi. E.R. Settings

  • vii. DSP Management

  • viii. My Favorite Combinations

• F. Cab DEP's

• G. E.R.

A. Cab/Mic Overview

There are several things to consider when selecting a cab/mic combinations for your patches. Your main considerations should be the general tone and feel of the cab/mic and whether frequencies are plain noisy or missing.

Ignore General Frequency Response...

While the most obvious thing is frequency response, simple things like too much bass, mids, or high-end can easily be filtered out using EQ (and/or some of the Cab DEP's). To some degree, that is important - other than a few general EQ tweaks, you're probably not going to EQ out all the differences between one cab/mic and another. But unless the frequency response you want is extreme and can only get there with a certain cab/mic, such considerations should take a backseat to tonal nuances or deal-breaking imperfections.

...Unless Frequencies are Missing

If frequencies are missing, trying to dial them back in will end up amplifying noise, which will kill your tone. If a cab is deficient in some frequencies to the point where they are noticeably absent, it's probably not going to work out. There are some Cab DEP treatments I cover below that may help, but if they do not, swallow any sentiments you have towards that cab/mic and move on - you're going to be happier with another one.

Response or Noise?

It's easy to confuse a strong frequency response with noise at first glance. You can tell the difference by playing different notes and chords up and down the neck and seeing if the tone remains stagnant, always sounding the same. If so, that's noise. If it's just a small frequency range, you may be able to dial it down with a Parametric EQ. That's what I occasionally do for fizzy spots. But before doing that...

Using Res. Level to improve snr

The cab's Res Level DEP might help reduce the noisyness of the cab. I find at low settings (15-30%) you get the cleanest, most-natural sound, but the tone can be a little rough and/or dark/scooped. As you turn it up, you'll hit the spot where the resonance starts to smooth out roughness and the tone becomes "squishier". From that point on, the resonance tends to amplify certain frequencies and filter out others, and the tone tends to sound a bit more and more washed out, almost like a presence knob for the lower mids. I like to find the sweet spot where the tone starts to get a little squishy, but I generally don't want the resonance to emphasize certain frequencies over others. This spot tends to sound like a nice, thick tone but also clear and relatively noiseless. Going past this point may improve the frequency response for your tastes, but may also introduce more noise and less clarity to the tone. Sometimes that's ok, but most of the time I avoid that.

On the other hand, if a cab is deficient in lower frequencies and not punchy enough, you may be able to balance it out by increasing the Thump or reducing the Res. Level Cab DEP. Keep in mind that reducing Res. Level may make the tone a bit rougher - you may be able to dial this out when dealing with amp/distortion tone, but maybe not. However, as mentioned above, deficient frequencies are often a deal-breaker. Trying to dial them in results in a noisy tone.