John Mayer Clean Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 6)

 A quick one here.

I listened to te first notes of "slow dancing in a burning room". A sweet clean tone, with a lot of bass, scooped mids and spanky highs that can be controlled by touch.

We do not have the Two Rock but it is based on Fender clean design so i just picked my beloved Black twin:

As you can see the settings try to catch my description of the tone (scooped mid, lots of bass and highs, not much gain).

The Cab is Easier, we have the right one:

I choose the rib 121 because it is very good for the cleans and gives basses some emphasis.

I'm writing down a page with my preferred cab settings here:

https://ridingthemustang.blogspot.com/2021/01/ampero-cab-settings-guide.html

Finally i had a spring reverb in good amount:

The preset was made for headphone playing, imput level at 0 and not global EQ.

As usual you can dowload the preset from the user group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HotoneAmperoUsers/

AcDc Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 5)

The Plexi tone is a huge classic that i recently understanded how it works and what use it for.

My first usage was actually for "Back in black" from ACDC, but then it gained a spot for Iron Maiden Revelations, some Red Hot Chili Peppers tune, Pearl Jam and a lot of midgainy stuff. Here's the amp block setting:

I use the 50 jump because is the one closer to my ideal Plexi tone (angry highs, lots of bass and midrange and that humph!). The tone control are all maxed because in this amp are very subtle and if you turn it down you will just loose push without really shape the tone. The trick to change the tone is use a different guitar. If you want Red hot or Pearl Jam just lower the gain to taste.

The cab is a very easy default setting but this time i have used a very common trick: i used the shelfs controls in the para eq. Very powerful and classic EQ setting.

It will make the preset sounding very pleasy and sit well in the mix. Try to on/off to see what it does.

I'm writing down a page with my preferred cab settings here:

https://ridingthemustang.blogspot.com/2021/01/ampero-cab-settings-guide.html

I doubled the guitar with a very narrow 30ms delay:

As usual! If you noticed that my icon is different and want to know why, you can find it here:

https://ridingthemustang.blogspot.com/2020/12/amperoeditorhack.html

Angus Young did not use reverbs in his classic recordings but accurately choose a recording studio with a good "ambience". I play with the headphones so i added a subtle reverb (maybe the producer added it in the recording, i dont know):

I hope you enjoy it|

The preset was made for headphone playing, imput level at 0 and not global EQ.

As usual you can dowload the preset from the user group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HotoneAmperoUsers/

Ampero Cab settings Guide

 This is a small guide to help you in the tricky art of (virtual!) cab and mic selection and tuning.

The Basics!

What cab? I think that the most common choice is the matching cabinet when is available and appropriate.

When it is not the first rule is SIZE: 4x12 is usally the to go for gain tones, but for the cleans the most common choice is something smaller, like 1x12 or a 2x12.

In real life, very often, a blend of 2 different mics is used, we have 3 possible solution:

1 - find a single setting that come close to the blend result

2 - find an IR that gives you that result

3 - shape the cab setting with an EQ

Useful settings compilation

UK Lead 4x12 default is a very useful option for lead guitars. It may be your starting point for any tone based on a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. V30 are mid pushed speakers and the Marshall cab does not put much emphasis on basses.

Rector 4x12 is a valid V30 alternative if you need more basses. Very good for rythm, modern crunchy tones. My setting here is with a classic 421 mic and a more centered position.

Rector 4x12 alternative setting for leads. I used a 112 mic, i find it has a more defined attack.

Fender Princeton Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 4)

 There is a lot of noise about the new model of the Fender Princeton in the latest Helix Firmware, the Us princess.

I watched some video on youtube about it and tried to recreate what i heard.

Useful information: most fender clean amps are based on the same design, but with some change: the power stage, the tone stack, some have bright cap, some not, some have a bright switch, different cabs and speaker so different voices. Main difference will be the power stage. More power means more headroom, more clean and more push to get a dirty sound, like in the twin. Less power mean the opposite: less headroom but easier overdrive, like a deluxe. If yoy want cleans you go for more power like in the twin, if you want easy to verdrive or a good platform for your pedals you go for something like a twin. After that the speaker make a lay of difference, indeed many people swap it. The princeton was basically a small power amp with a 10 inch speaker tuned for good bass performance (to compensate the sze and the power) that makes its voice sort unique. (I ruled out the bassman from this, will get into it another time!)

Well, in the ampero we have the 2 basic fender flavors: the twin and the deluxe (plus the bassman that i dont count here) and about 10 fender cabs to work with.

Here my guess on why is this:

1) modeling a cab is easier and make a lot of difference

2) modeling an amp is a lot harder and make less difference

3) since is a digital model power stage does not metter that much, you can crank the twin model without damaging your ears

So we have our Tweed Prince 1x10 as a starting point.

The Rib 121 was selected by ear.

What amp? the Princeton is on the "easy to overdrive" side obviously , is well regarded for is breakup tone and that is what i want ot replicate.

You may have guess that my amp choice was the Tweed Luc. I think that Tone at 100 is like having al knobs at 12' in a classic fender tone stack. Volume is at 38 beacuse is the point of breakup with singes coils, may vary for you. Just find the spot where you have a slight overdrive when you hit hard the strings.

If you need tuning the eq you can either use the eq block or the FET boost at unity gain. Experiment with the eq block in front of the amp or betweeb amp and cab. Before will change the way the amp overdrives, after will change the way you the tone sits in the mix (near or less!!!).

Add some reverb, spring obviously:

You will find that this preset take very well the green drive and the purple plexi.

As usual you can dowload the preset from the user group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HotoneAmperoUsers/

Kiko Loureiro Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 3)

 I've been working on this recently. The song actually is No gravity from the No gravity album

Main information are that Kiko uses a RAT brazilian clone (GNI MKL), a Mesa Boogie Rectifier, some Laney amp and other various things.

I think that this lead is done with the RAT. I've read somewhere that the best way to use a RAT is in fornt on a clean/breakup/light overdrive channel. The laney has a marshally tone so i headed to my Marshell 50 Jump.

Here is the amp:

As usual, all tone knob to the max, like you shoud to push a real plexi.

Add the Black Tail (Rat model):

Notice the volume at 46, many stomp on the Ampero have the unity gain slightly under the 50.

Also the tone control is a filter sono 100 is "all the high freqs gone".

Some word on my goal with this preset. First of all, Kiko as a very dynamic picking and i think that this tone needs a very soft picking to get its most out. Let the gain of the rat do all the job. Second my goal was not to get the tone perfectly as the recording, but to get the same feel, the specific characters of the tone that like, with a tne that is "in the ball park" but, if possible, with a bit of my taste.

Let's go ahead!

Here is my cab of choice. Being an high gain lead tone i've gone for my usual Rector 4x12. The only news here is the mic placement. This was a suggestion made to me by an user on the facebook page. Very useful tip!

Add delay and reverb to taste or dowload the preset from the user group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HotoneAmperoUsers/

Metallica Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 2)

 The biggest myth of the Metallica tone is the scooped mids. I've seen a lot of people with their amps (Mesa, 5150, Marshall and so on) using extreme settings like 0 mids and full trebles. It does not sound that good: it is harsh, thin and does not sit well in the mix. If you listen to Metallica doing chords, like in "From whom the bell tolls" or in some part of "Seek and destroy", their guitar roars: there is an obvious good amount of mids. Scooped mids referers usually to a setting around 4 in most of amps. Especially if you are doing it in on an american style Mesa Boogie Amp witch is already midscooped. The main point s getting roaring mids for  your chords and tight basses for your palm muting.

So, here is my setting for the amp:

It may be a surprise that i am not using a Mesa Model. In the Mesa Bass mid and treble are, in fact, secondary overdrive controls. They do affect your gain, especially the bass control (where trebe act this way on many many amp). Your bass control should be tuned based on your guitar. I wanted to avoid that and make a preset that works well with an (humbucker) guitar.

Here's the cab settings:

This was my first attemp to get a tight sound i like from the Ampero. It is a long work by ear so not much to explain other than this:

This is like a third filter, to make basses tighter and tame the trebles. Good for the riffs, not so good for the solos: it as some fizz in the high freq i dont like. I think it is the cab itself. For the leads i think you will be served better with a V30 cab.

The next ingredient is not crucial, but it just add something (taken from the orginal receipe):

Then delay to "double" your guitar:

(you can experiment with this one but i will avoid digital, some color i the repeats will help the dub effect)

And, as usual, a bit of reverb:

(As usual, use plate where no information is available)

Download the preset and join us here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HotoneAmperoUsers/

Joe Satriani Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 1)

 The basic gear of Satch are:

1) Vintage Marshall (Plexi)

2) Modern Marshall (JVM or JCM 800)

3) 5150

4) a boost like a Boss OD1

5) an overdrive like a DS1

6) Delay

7) Wah!

8) a v30 or a t75 marshall cab

8) Some fenderish thing for the cleans

My goal was to stay in the ballpark of JS and possibly get a tone good both for rythm (less gain) and leads (more gain). Based on my previous experience the JCM800 model was my choice (i plan later for a 5150 preset!). The reference tone was mainly "always with you, always with me" and "Summer song"

As you can see gain, bass and middle are pushed but trebles are rolled back to get a rounded and singing tone.

I added a boost:

Gain is 0, tone is 18, volume is 50 because it is maily a midboost.

Here is the cab (V30):

The goal was always to tame high freq and smooth the attack.

I also rolled of the 8k freq with the graphic eq.

Add a 400ms delay and reverb to tast.

You can actually downoad the preset from the facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HotoneAmperoUsers/