D. Cabs/Mics Roundup

For more detail on cabs/mics, see the Cab/Mic Selection Page.

Hiway 4x12

This is my go-to cab. Of all the 4x12's, it seems to be the only one that sounds like real guitar speakers. It's got a well-defined midrange and high-end - nothing sounds washed out. I like to use it with the SM 57's, preferably on axis. It can be a little harsh on the high end, but that's easily filtered out by the Mid-Focus EQ. When I use dual cabs, I always make this one of the cabs. I like to reduce the Res. Level DEP a bit to make it even crispier.

XXL V30 4x12

Something sounds a bit off on this cab by itself, like the mids and highs are a little washed out. Boosting Res Level DEP up a bit helps bring out some mids. Still, the main draw of this cab is its huge low-end response. It's very punchy, making it great for a metalcore tone. But it can also be a little too boomy, requiring EQ to remove some low-end drone. By itself, the 409 Dyn mic tends to help bring out a decent high-end response from it. I like to use it in combination with the Hiway in a dual cab configuration using a SM 57 mic.

Other 4x12

The Greenbacks and Treadplate cabs have a high quality to them, but they're not as good as the Hiway. The Greenbacks do have a more unique sound, which is worth experimenting with. The Treadplate is very bright and louder than the other cabs, which needs to be compensated for. The Blackbacks and T-75 cabs sound fake and not worth using to me, but they also have their own unique tones which are worth exploring. The T-75's might be good for a vintage tone. The Uber cab is good, but it's kind of in no-man's land. I'd use it for the same applications I'd use the Hiway or Treadplate for, but the Hiway is better. It does have a better low-end response than many of the cabs though, and is a good conservative choice.

Other cabs

I like to use the Fender 2x12 for my Fender cleans, and for vintage tones, sometimes the G-12H sounds nice, but otherwise, I don't mess with these. Most of them sound thin and harsh, except for the PhD, which sounds a bit lacking in the mids/presence department.

SM 57's

The SM57 on axis is my go-to mic. By itself it can be a little bright, but it works well in a dual cab config when using the XXL as one of the cabs. It can also be EQ'ed to add in the punch and warmth it initially appears to be missing. The reason I like this mic so much is because it seems to have the least amount of noise, so all you hear is rich guitar tone. It can be a little harsh on the high end, but that's easily filtered out by the Mid-Focus EQ. The off axis variant is a little more buzzy than crisp-sounding. On its own it sounds more like a real guitar tone than the on-axis, but with EQ'ing I find they can be quite similar. I prefer the on-axis because the off axis seems to be a touch noisier and less focused in the high end.

Dynamic Mics

The dynamic mics sound a bit more scooped than the SM57's, and can sound a bit more aggressive in the high-end. They're also a little noisier. I prefer the 409, but I occasionally use the 421 but only in a dual cab config.

Other mics

Other mics are too noisy for my tastes. The '67 Condensor isn't bad tonally, but is just too noisy compared to alternatives. I might try these out for a clean or vintage tone, but I ignore them for a modern distorted tone.

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E. Pre-EQ'ing a Distortion tone

More on this here.

The key to getting the best-sounding distortion is pre-EQ'ing the signal before your main distortion stage, which could be a distortion effect, the amp model's pre-amp section, or the amp's power section. In the case of the amp's power section, that means the amp's EQ controls will affect the distortion tone. In the other cases, you'll likely have to add additional effects to the chain.

You can pre-EQ in several ways. The most common are to use Distortion effect as a filter or an EQ effect. To use a Distortion effect in this manner, you simply use low Drive settings. I like using one or more of the Q Filter, Line 6 Drive, Mid-Focus EQ, Parametric EQ, Tube Drive, Screamer, or even Wah Wah effects for this purpose. Other, cruder options are changing the Pod's input impedance settings or adjusting the Guitar's tone knob or changing your pickups.

The distortion tone will be defined mostly by the peak frequency range that hits the distortion stage. The way I like to think about this is going from low frequencies to higher ones, you get flubby, fuzzy, crunchy, djenty, tinny, then splatty distortion. You want to de-emphasize any aspects you don't want and emphasize the ones you do. For metal, that usually means having a nice mid-boost so you don't have any fuzz/flub or tin/grit but do have a solid crunch and djent. Of course, extreme pre-EQ'ing can hurt the tone, shrinking its frequency response causing it to be buried in a mix.

Keep in mind various amps or distortion units will respond differently to pre-EQ'ing than others.

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