KVR Audio

metalifuxx · Post by **metalifuxx** » Wed May 18, 2011 1:40 am

PaulG wrote:
susiwong wrote:
I'm talking about good ODs which are much more than a plain boost or a Boss pedal, they have character of their own, a few controls often not following the drive/out/treble stereotype, and magic happens when they are combined with the right, responsive amp.

Could you give a couple of examples?

I'm only familiar with the Boss OD, the TS, and the old MXR Dist +...

Unfortunately, there's no way to "try" the pedals you're talking about first, is there?

Thanks a lot,

- Paul

Paul, you do know about the TSE-808 and Ignite Amps TS-999 pedal sim plugins right? Pure quality, and free. Those two set the bar for "overdrive" plugin pedal sims. Better than the TSS.

PaulG · Post by **PaulG** » Wed May 18, 2011 2:15 am

Hey, I'll give those a try.

Thanks a lot.

susiwong · Post by **susiwong** » Wed May 18, 2011 2:24 am

PaulG wrote:Could you give a couple of examples?

I'm only familiar with the Boss OD, the TS, and the old MXR Dist +...

Unfortunately, there's no way to "try" the pedals you're talking about first, is there?

Sure, every online store here in Europe has no-questions-asked money back guarantee from 14 up to 30 days, with a local shop it should be absolutely easy.
Don't know about other parts of the world.

Here are some of my favourites for classic rock, country and blues, others might add theirs to the discussion.
- Klon, the very best, relatively natural sounding OD/boost to push a crunchy amp a little for lead (Warren Haynes)
- Fulldrive II, same job as the Klon but different, more compression, additional boost stage, hugely improved TS spinoff (David Grissom)
Unlike the Klon it can sound stellar with a Strat/Twin setup, too
- Zendrive, Dumble lead in a pedal, it's what Robben Ford uses into a clean Twin when he can't bring his Dumble, and he sounds killer either way.

- Cochrane Tim/Timmy, ideal for that very light country crunch a la Brent Mason, but also as lead boost (Warner Hodges), very effective HP/LP filtering
- BJF Honey Bee, great low/mid gain allrounder, ideal as lead boost for a Tim/Timmy, but also standalone, unique (bass) tone control
- List could go on forever, Landgraff, Wampler, Xotic, Fulltone and many others
- some are insanely expensive, but there's always the DIY route

Ymmv,
susiwong

ask Dean or somebody about metal applications ...

morelia · Post by **morelia** » Thu May 19, 2011 9:26 am

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29337836/S-Gear3.mp3

blueman · Post by **blueman** » Thu May 19, 2011 1:10 pm

morelia wrote:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29337836/S-Gear3.mp3

Nice rock tone

If I had to guess, I'd say "Stealer"? Is that a RiffWorks drummer I hear?

morelia · Post by **morelia** » Fri May 20, 2011 5:47 am

blueman wrote:
morelia wrote:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29337836/S-Gear3.mp3
Nice rock tone If I had to guess, I'd say "Stealer"? Is that a RiffWorks drummer I hear?

Sadly, yes. It's the easiest way to record something quickly.

Sorry, but again I forgot to add the track details which sort of defeats the purpose of posting. It's all Stealer.

morelia · Post by **morelia** » Sat May 21, 2011 10:52 am

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29337836/S-Gear%204.mp3

Stealer Left
Stealer Right
Duke lead
Ernie Ball Steve Morse

kbaccki · Post by **kbaccki** » Sat May 21, 2011 1:56 pm

For chunky overdrive I was playing around with the AuraPlug Red Skull + Duke clean last night. Another decent and free pedal sim... http://www.auraplug.com/site/?q=downloa ... ion-series

kbaccki · Post by **kbaccki** » Mon May 23, 2011 4:07 pm

blueman wrote:
egbert wrote:One thing I would really want in this is to be able to import the full redwirez set and navigate them via a hierarchical menu (eg nested folders) as you do in iFace - there are too many to navigate via a simple list.
+1 I'm going to email them about this...

Anybody hear back on this? Only major thing I see missing ATM. A hierarchical text/XML mapping file would be nice to be able to integrate user impulses with the same cab/mic breakdown as the stock ones.

susiwong · Post by **susiwong** » Mon May 23, 2011 4:41 pm

kbaccki wrote:
blueman wrote:
egbert wrote:One thing I would really want in this is to be able to import the full redwirez set and navigate them via a hierarchical menu (eg nested folders) as you do in iFace - there are too many to navigate via a simple list.
+1 I'm going to email them about this...
Anybody hear back on this? Only major thing I see missing ATM. A hierarchical text/XML mapping file would be nice to be able to integrate user impulses with the same cab/mic breakdown as the stock ones.

Simply get ABG iFace for the time being, it does exactly that.
Redwire with graphical UI, all others with less visuals but a hierarchical menu based on your folder structure.
Adding Recabinet 2 for example took me around 10 sec.

All that said, if I didn't have these collections already, I could live happily with S-Gear's built-in choices - exactly right for the amps in question.

Imho that's what separates S-Gear from all the last-generation ampsims - the devs are not afraid to make decisions and design choices, focusing on the essence of the models - in the real world you wouldn't expect a Marshall to excel at JC-120 sounds and vice versa, somehow in software people are expecting that and a lot more, the age old gourmand - gourmet dilemma.

Do the 3 included amps do what they're supposed to ?
In my experience yes, and with great playing feel, too.

Is S-Gear complete yet ?
Certainly not, I hope to see something along the lines of Vox/Matchless/BadCat added one day, perhaps a nice bass amp, a few choice FX (boost/ODs, trem/vibrato, a great spring reverb a la Mesa Quad, no digital stuff, we have that already) - in any case, quality over quantity !

Ymmv,
susiwong

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Mon May 23, 2011 6:27 pm

I have the entire Redwirez and Ownhammer libraries.
At first I wanted to import them all.... then I decided to import none.

The entire charm of S-Gear is in it's simplicity.
Quality over quantity!
What I love about it the most is that it lets me focus on playing.... not tweaking.
If I import 800 impulses the charm is gone.

There are a lot of tweaking options in the CAB section.
I decided to fully learn how to use those before I import anything else.

I mean, how many CAB option do you have in a real world studio?
Less is more sometimes.

All I need is 2 killer CABs.... not 800 average ones.

blueman · Post by **blueman** » Mon May 23, 2011 6:35 pm

morelia wrote:
blueman wrote:
morelia wrote:http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29337836/S-Gear3.mp3
Nice rock tone If I had to guess, I'd say "Stealer"? Is that a RiffWorks drummer I hear?
Sadly, yes. It's the easiest way to record something quickly.

Sorry, but again I forgot to add the track details which sort of defeats the purpose of posting. It's all Stealer.

I love RiffWorks!

The whole "instant drummer" concept rocks

It's a GREAT tool for songwriting.

egbert · Post by **egbert** » Mon May 23, 2011 7:29 pm

I find I am pretty happy with the preset cabs too and so pleased with the amp sound that I'm spending more time playing and less time fiddling with controls than I do with other amp sim setups. The "one window" approach that S-Gear shares with Vandal is definitely an advantage for anyone who wants quick and simple work flow.

davidka · Post by **davidka** » Mon May 23, 2011 7:44 pm

I tried it, and like it so far. I was surprised how versatile it is even with 'only' 3 amps...
Just tried the Pod Farm, too. It is the other end... While it sounds good to my ears, somehow it feels a bit inconsistent compared to S-Gear. The controls in the latter feel more powerful when changing the sound, also. I'm looking forward for it in the future; the tone has a genuine originality, paired with the feeling of something new

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Tue May 24, 2011 6:36 am

Little sample of what a few knob turns can do in S-Gear.

I took this "LP into Dumbly" preset:
http://www.andras-shimon.com/TEMP/S-Gear.mp3

Turned a few knobs and here is what I got:
http://www.andras-shimon.com/S-Gear/TwangyLP.mp3

Does that even sound like the same amp?

Scuffham Amps S-Gear (developed with former Marshall product designer)