Steve Lukater - Bogner - (Ampero Weekly Preset 13)

 Being Steve Lukater a session guy it is hard to track down what gear was used in a particular track. If you watch pictures from the studio sessions you will see a parade of amps.

But since many ossociate Lulater with bogner i've watched a demo of the guy using that amp and worked on that tone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouPa5swr610

Side note: You will see 3 amps in the video. You will read a number of explanations for the number of stacks you see on many stages: it's a backup, only the power section is used to have more power on stage (???). I have a different one. A lot of BIG do not change channel, they change amp to get different tones. There are many reason. If you use 3 amps, one for the clean, one for the crunch and one for the rythm, you can feed diffrent cabs with different speaker and mike position. A very good example is the clean tone. Many prefer 2x12 open cab for the clean tones. Petrucci on stage uses 2x12 cab for the clean tone. Vai has been spotted several time using 2x12 fenders for the clean tones.

Lets talk about the Boger XT (aka Bogner Ecstasy). We have 4 option modeled after 2 of the channels of the real amp, 2 different switch position for every channel.

The Blue Vintage is the starting point. Like a Plexi with a fully working eq stack. Its modern counterpart is like an hotrodded plexi: more gain.

The Red has even more gain and it is voiced to have more mids, has you will expect from a lead channel. Some will define the Red Vintage as an hotrodded midboosted plexi and the modern like a trip in the JCM800 territory.

Lets talk about the preset now, this i sthe signal chain:

The first 2 are deactivated, we have:

a touch wah

a MIB distortion that Lukater uses as a lead boost

then we have the amp:

almost default settings with less mids and more gain. Sorta of all round. I've choosen the Blue modern channel because it is the more "in the middle". I can go from the lead tone in the video to almost clean by rolling off the volume.

Then the Fast Gate Noise suppressor and the Boger CAB, default settings:

The usual shelf EQ

Then another disabled effect:

An univibe is always present in Steve's pedalboards! Just switch it on and experiment.

(Also a chorus, if you like...)

Lukater uses a lot of delays with various settings, this is in the ballpark of the standard lead setting:

I've choosen the Ekopress for its vintage subtle character.

And finally the classic studio reverb, a plate:

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

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

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

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

If you think that i nailed the preset or i am completely wrong you can write down here in the comment or in the fb group!

John Petrucci - Dream Theater - Peruvian Skies - Clean with phaser Preset (Weekly Preset 12)

 Generally speacking, making a Petrucci preset is not a big deal. I made this one with my "to go" clean preset, the "65 pure". It is a Fender Twin preset, wich is "american voiced" like any MB clean channell. Usualy i go for the Lone star for petrucci but you cant go wrong eather way. My tips here is: Petrucci for its clean tone goes for perfect clean, so do the same. Keep the gain pretty low, use as much treble as you can to get definition on the low strings without hitting the edge of breakup, keep the basses low to avoid mudness and just a touch of mids (or nothing at all). On the fender amp any control affect the others so dont fear to set the mids to zero since they are not really. Or, if you want a perfectly clean tone with no effort, go for the Jazz clean, sound fantastic and always stay clean.

Then my to go cab setting for the black twin:

I also use an EQ to rise another bit the patch volume:

After you create your super clean amp, you just add the magic with a phaser:

To my taste the Twirl P (Phaser with tremolo/pan) is pure magic!

Finally a reverb si needed if you play with headphones like me.

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

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

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

A list of all my presets can be found here

If you think that i nailed the preset or i am completely wrong you can write down here in the comment or in the fb group!

Surf Spring Reverb Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 11) and Spring reverb tutorial

SPRING REVERBS! Let's talk about it!

Did you know that we have options on the Ampero? The Izumi is modeled after the successeful Malekko Spring.

The Malekko is based on tree PT2399 chips in cascade so i assume that making a model was easy for Hotone. As far as i can ear it is apretty accurate model. The Malekko costs half my Ampero One so it is a good deal!

My guess is that the other Spring reverb in the Ampero is a TC Electronics one (looks like the Ampero Engeeners have a passion for TCE pedals!). I based that on the knobs layout and the tone character. I choose the TCE Drip for the graphics because i found it cool.

Here are my favorite settings for both.

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

The Izumi gives is best at the end of the chain for 2 reason: it adds some push if you place in front of the amp (unless you like it) and it fakes the DRIP with short delay that emphatise your pick scratch if you put in front. The Spring works better in front (more full and lush) but it is a bit dark (indeed like a TC sping pedal!) and you need to crank the tone knob to get its best DRIP performance.

If you crank the controls on the Izumi/Malekko you can get some pretty cool/weird tone in between a reverb and a chorus.

The way i made the preset this time is different. I didnt copy anything in particular. I just wanted to make it works at its best, make the reverb sound at its best. I choose the Spring because i find it more springy and i wanted to put it in front of the amp. If you want to use the Izumi just set it and move after the cab.

As amp i settle for a Fender Twin:

My idea of surf is a slight breakup but clean so i chose to slightly push a very clean amp. I put emphasis on the trebles because i want to ear the dripp at its best. Do not roll off!

Usually i put i slight Costum gate in every preset. Not here, you dont want to ruin the tail of the reverb and you dont need it.

I used the same cab setting as the Princess preset, just because it sounds good and some time you better choose the easy way!

As usual i placed a shelf EQ next, but i tried to keep much more high frequences to protect the reverb tone:

You may think it is over, but i fell like the spring reverb is not a proper reverb so i added a second one with the usual trick of the Ekoverb:

The delay is off here but if you want it you just have to set it properly. The Rvb setting is subtle, just to add some ambience if you play with headphone (to me it really changes the preset!). Hi Cut set to zero always for the same reason,

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

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

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

If you think that i nailed the preset or i am completely wrong you can write down here in the comment or in the fb group!

You can see my list of tutorials here:

https://ridingthemustang.blogspot.com/2021/03/ampero-preset-list.html

John Petrucci - Dream Theater - Rythm Ampero Preset (Weekly Preset 10)

 Petrucci equates to Mesa Boogie and when it comes to MB there is few things i would like to tell you.

First thing the tone controls are also gain control (on high gain channels) and they also interact each other (like on many other amps but MORE!). Also the bass setting should be "just the amount you can handle". You put all the control to 12' (50) and then roll back the basses until it sounds good and defined.

One thing about basses and dual rectifiers. The "something special" on rectifiers is that they have big trasformers that allow you to get boomy basses without "falling apart". Indeed waht John does is get a tight tone in the preamp section and then push the basses in the graphic EQ. Because the power amp section can handle it! Obviously any modeler does not have "big tranformers" an cant emulate big volume, air pressure and so on. It is not its job.

I rolled back a bit the middles and push the trebles to get more defined sound and more gain.

This particular preset is my "smooth" one. It is not extreme and works decently for any song, with any guitar and has some more gain for soloing. The classic "not perfect for enything but good for everything".

For a lead tone you will need usually some more bass and gain, some less treble and a lot more middle.

Here is the cab:

The recto cab is oversized for better bass rendition, the ideal partner for a MB high gain amp with its properties. I mic'ed it very oddly with a Dyn112, mostly used for drums but here it seems to be the best obtions. Sometime you just need to trust your ears.

My EQ block does my classic shelf plus the trick of the basses like petrucci does. You can do all the Vshape EQing but i did not find that much difference and i enduo with change only what make a real difference to my ears.

The i "doubled" the track with a delay:

30ms 1 reapeat to emulate a second guitar. I tested various delay, we have plenty with different tones. If you want ot know whats the difference between the various options just set time to 1000ms and play some note with every stomp in the ampero. I choose the sweetie/boss after testing all with this preset because i faound that the change of tone (with ess trebles) in the repeats works best in simulating a second guitar with a slightly different tone. On the opposite the Pure Echo emulates a digital perfect repetition that does not work well in this context making the overall result a bit too arsh. Analog delays works well also for lead delays (3-4 repeats 300-450ms 20-30% mix) because the lack of high frequences separates well the raw signal from the repeats. Someone would say that the delay does not get into your playing too much. Digital delays better use is with modern clean parts, in my opinion.

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

Petrucci does not like reverbs, but he refers to playing with a 4x12 in an ambient. I am using headphones and i am mainly chasing the recording tone. Obviously in the recording there is some reverb and usualy iti a studio plate. A small amount, especially for the rythm part. Much more for a lead tone, in my taste.

Last tip of this very long post. I am using an ampero one and usually i use the 3 switch for clean, crunch and lead tone. I've found that i can use different reverb setting for different patch, but everything is more natural if i use the same type of reverb for all the patches. It is more natural sounding in the transition to my ears. Not like changing room when i swith patch!

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

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

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

If you think that i nailed the preset or i am completely wrong you can write down here in the comment or in the fb group!

You can see my list of tutorials here:

https://ridingthemustang.blogspot.com/2021/03/ampero-preset-list.html

Ampero preset list

 Joe Satriani

Metallica

Kiko Loureiro

Fender Princeton

Ac/Dc

John Mayer Clean

Megadeth Youthanasia

Paul Gilbert - Mr.Big - Lean into it

Keith Richards - Rolling stones - Honkytonk woman

John Petrucci - Dream Theater - Peruvian Skies

Keith Richards Rolling Stones Ampero Preset (Weeekly preset 9)

 This tutorial is a bit different. is a "primitive" guitar player. keith richards tone comes mainly from the guitar and the amp. Not much more eccept his fingers... So for the amp i will choose a Fender. He uses a maxed volume Twin at his edge of brackup. I will choose a Deluxe because it is a better tool for the breakup job. Some tips is needed. Use the same tuning. Don't be easy with your strings. keith is a bold rock player with a fierce and dynamic picking. You need to do the same. He's very often portraited with a telecaster but in early  studio he used very often an SG. Here's the third tip. If you dont have the same guitar you will get a slightly different tone. It's ok. What we want is get in the ballpark but most of all is keeping the same quality. Dont overcompensate with your EQ. If you took away too much basses your sound will become thin and so on. Let your own guitar shine in the Rolling Stones mood!

Keith tone has an extra ingredient that is a bit of saturation coming from a Ful tone tape echo, so, our first block is a booster:

The Enhancer (Xotic EP Booster) is based on a tube tape echo so luckily we already have the right tool for this job. I suggest you to use it only if you feel some lack of bite in the tone. More for the singe coil than for the humbucker.

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

Then our amp block:

As discussed before, clean fender in its edge of breackup (you may need more volume or the booster here!).

The defaul twin cab was ok to me for this job:

As far as i know a dynamic mic was used mainly in studio and the default one sounds ok to me.

The usual EQ shelf will get rid of the arshness caused by high overtones we created with our amp settings.

At this point the mag echo should not be a surprise for you:

It is more a slap back setting to beef the sound. I dont know the exact Richards setting but this one shoud make you happy.

Finally a spring reverb is a must:

The preset is based on the recording of Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women and was made for headphone playing, input level at 0 and not global EQ.

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

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

If you think that i nailed the preset or i am completely wrong you can write down here in the comment or in the fb group!

You can see my list of tutorials here:

https://ridingthemustang.blogspot.com/2021/03/ampero-preset-list.html

Paul Gilbert Mr Big Lean Into IT Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 8)

 I love the intros in this album, and last week i spent a lot of time with Just take my hear and CDFF Lucky this time.

This preset is a bit different to my usual approach to guitar tone:

The key here is the gain at 25 (i dont know if you will need a bit of fine tuning!). With an humbucker at max value you are in the crubch territorry but use a single (o a splitted hb) and less volume and you will be as clean as it is needed for the Paul clean tone (AKA compressed/edge of breakup!). Usually i just change preset from clean to cruch and back, but this is own Gilbert do, so i will try to do the same for its songs!

Cab setting:

More informations on cab settings can be found here:

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

My standard parametric EQ to shelf unwanted freqs:

Then the modulation, was a chorus in the "lean into it" days and to me this one sound closer:

I have 2 preset, one with chorus on and the other with the chorus off.

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

Then a subtle amount of delay:

And finally a rightous amount of reverb:

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

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

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

If you think that i nailed the preset or i am completely wrong you can write down here in the comment or in the fb group!

You can see my list of tutorials here:

https://ridingthemustang.blogspot.com/2021/03/ampero-preset-list.html

Megadeth Youthanasia Ampero Preset (Weekly preset 7)

 The main point of this preset is the amp choice. If you search in the forums there are many debates on what amp they used. But it is my preset so you will have my theory :)

It is a recto, it sound like that to me (and this album has a unique tone in the megadeth universe).

I choose a recto cab and an exotic mic this time, sounds gooud but i dont exlcude the use of a Mashall cab, they are very good and dave looks like is pretty settled on that beside what amp was used in studio:

The mic choice was a "try everything and see what sounded best to me" thing.

Almost classic shelf EQ:

And the boss delay to duble the guitar as usual:

If you noticed that my icon for the Sweetie/Boss Delay is different and want to know why, you can find it here:

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

Then a subtle plate delay:

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

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

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

If you think that i nailed the preset or i am completely wrong you can write down here in the comment or in the fb group!

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/