C. Tone-Based Terms

I. Tone

Musicians often use this term to cover any feature the sound of any particular instrument or device contributes to. Some common usages refer to frequency balance - how much high frequencies are present compared to lower frequencies or vice versa...or a particular characteristic of the frequency range (ex. dark tone, bright tone, midsy tone, scooped tone, etc.). Another usage describes the fidelity of the signal, often referring to tone as though it is a quantified amount. For example, someone might call some device a tone-suck, which means the device increased the noise relative to the signal. Or he might say some device has a huge tone, meaning the output is high-fidelity - low noise and low unwanted distortion. It can also refer to the amount of distortion the device produces. While those are the typical usages of the term, it can even refer to more quirky features, like being swirly, or shimmering, or ambient.

Ii. Fizz

The Pod tends to get a lot of complaints about "fizz", which is high-frequency noise, taking its name from the sound you get after pouring a carbonated soda into a glass. It also sounds similar to saying, "shhh" or the background noise you hear while flying on an airplane. It becomes prominent from around 3kHZ and up. Fizz is not limited to the Pod, but appears in some form in all modelers, and many analog devices such as microphones. There is no surefire way to eliminate it in the Pod, but I find the best benefits are from careful cab/mic choices and narrow Parametric EQ reductions. It tends to effect high-gain tones more than others due to their extended emphasis on higher frequencies.

Iii. Buzz

If fizz is "sshhh", buzz is "zzzzz". It is lower frequency than fizz, but still a feature of the upper end of the frequency spectrum. It's most common representation is a sawtooth wave, also called a buzzsaw. While a triangle, sine, or square wave could be considered "smooth", a sawtooth or similar wave featuring buzz is "rough" or grinding, like there's a little distortion in the tone.

Iv. Grinding

This gets its name because it sounds similar to stones or metal being grinded. Somewhere in between crunch and buzz - a characteristic of a rather raucous distortion. Can sound kind of "throaty", like a sustained hardcore/metalcore yell.

V. Crunchy

Similar to buzz but lower in frequency, like trying to say, "kkkkkk". Most distorted guitar tones tend to have at least a little crunch to them. This becomes confusing because amplifiers often label their channels as "clean", "crunch", and "lead". Clean and Lead channels can have crunchy aspects to them. A crunch channel is often marked a mild distortion that is focused on being crunchy in nature, as opposed to fuzzy or grinding. Similarly, sometimes a crunchy tone is assisted by being dry, so that the crunch sound is more easily heard. While squishy and crunchy are somewhat in contention, a tone can be both squishy and crunchy at the same time. Generally, however, getting the maximum amount of squish means sacrificing some crunch and vice versa. Crunch tones are often acheived by using very balanced or slightly scooped tones into a distortion stage.

vi. Chunky/Punchy

Refers to the amount of low-end in the tone. I associate chunk with the ultra-low-end around 100 HZ and punch more around 240 HZ, but many people use the terms interchangeably. Depending on the genre of music and the target guitar tone, it may refer to slightly different things. For example, in heavy metal, chunk is often in reference to how much squishy low end a palm mute generated, whereas for genres that have only mild distortion on guitars, punch might refer low-end percussiveness on the attack of a note or chord.

Vii. Fuzzy

A fuzzy tone is a distorted tone where most of the break-up is occurring in the lower frequencies. Fuzzy tones are known for an unfocused or loose bottom end and a buzzy high end. This can leave it difficult to discern the pitch of fast passages in lower registers, and thus fuzz is often avoided in metal. Additionally, simultaneous notes on different strings tend to "fight" each other for audible dominance. Chords tend to get extremely distorted and difficult to discern. Fuzz is often used in small amounts or in lead settings, although some alternative, indie, and post-rock musicians tend to enjoy the out-of-control tone it can generate at high gain levels.

Viii. Cold

This term incorporates multiple facets of the tone. In the most general sense, it is a tone that is somewhat discomforting to hear for long stretches at a time, although a full mix with a cold guitar tone isn't necessarily difficult to listen to. It can refer to a dry tone (see "dry" below), or a scooped tone, but even if a tone has plenty of mids, it can still be considered cold. Generally the area of midrange in question is around 350 - 800 HZ. It can also refer to a bright tone (see "bright" below), as well as an overly crunchy or a grinding tone (see crunchy and grinding below). It can also refer to a tone that focuses intensely in one frequency range.

Ix. Warm

Opposite of a cold tone - easy to listen to, with most frequencies in balance, and a healthy dose of "warm" frequencies from 350-800 HZ. Likely to have some resonance or reverb or delay to add at least some ambiance.

X. Hot

This actually refers to something different than the warm/cold dichotomy above. In reference to signal levels, a hot signal is used to describe a signal that is exceeding or nearly exceeds its maximum level before clipping/distorting. In reference to tone, this translates into the amount of distortion applied to the tone. A "hot" tone has lots of distortion. It can be used to express negative or positive connotations towards the level of distortion. For example, one may say the tone is "too hot", or one may say, "Man, that tone is hot!"

Xi. Dry

This has two different contexts. One is used to describe the ambiance of the tone, which factors in resonance, reverb, or delay. A dry tone would have very little ambiance. The other context is used to describe how much effects are mixed into the tone. This context is often used when describing a Wet/Dry or Wet/Dry/Wet (W/DW) setup, where the main guitar signal is split in two (or three), with one side having no effects and the others having effects, such as modulation, reverb, delay, pitch shifting, etc. applied. Often the individual effects will have their maximum or otherwise extremely high mix settings used, and this "wet" signal(s) is mixed against the "dry" (no effects) signal to find the right balance of how "wet" the tone should be. The greater the balance of the "wet" signal(s) vs. the "dry" signal, the "wetter" the tone is said to be.

Xii. Wet

Opposite of dry. See "dry".

Xiii. Dark

Has two somewhat synonomous meanings. One describes a tone with greater emphasis on lower frequencies vs. higher frequencies as judged from the frequency response heard. The other refers to the nature of the distortion resulting from a dark signal being fed into a distortion stage. The distortion will usually be fuzzy and be quite broken up.

Xiv. Bright

Opposite of dark. In reference to distortion, a bright distortion will often sound crunchy or sizzling (see "crunchy" and "sizzle"), perhaps even grinding (see "grinding"). The low-end will be "tight" and have more focus - no fuzzyness.

Xv. Smooth

Generally the opposite of buzz. Sounds more like "oooo" than "zzzz". Also can refer to a lack of crackle in the tone/signal (see crackle).

xvi. Squishy/Saturated

This refers to the nature of the tone's distortion, mainly in reference to the attack and sustain of palm mutes. A squishy tone has a weak attack and a long sustain - the opposite of a percussive sound. Overall, the tone sounds more like a synth than a drum. The squishy characterstics are all present in unmuted playing - while there may be much more attack there, the tone is still very compressed and sustains relatively long. Two factors that contribute to a squishy tone are plenty of distortion and a mid-range focus to the signal being distorted.

Xvii. Djenty

Term used to describe squishy palm mutes with a strong presence focus that makes them stand out. It is evident when playing muted power chords, particularly when using 4 or more notes.

Xviii. Splatty

Describes a tone that is not smooth at all, but not necessarily buzzy. Similar to crackly, but whereas crackly is marked by a cracking/tearing type sound in the tone, splatty is marked more by random drop-outs to the tone and high-pitched squeals. It generally occurs by feeding an extremetly bright signal to a heavily distorted amp.

Xix. Crackly

A noisy cracking or tearing type sound in the tone, noted by a seemingly random (irregular) appearance in the signal. Often caused by bad connections due to worn out cables or turning bad guitar pots. Rarely caused by settings, but can appear due to distorting multiple gain stages in succession to a high degree.

Xx. Clanking

Basically just a grinding distortion but the "clanking" nature is emphasized when the tone is more percussive than squishy.

Xxi. Ice-Pick

This refers to a tone that is so extremely bright, it hurts to listen to. It is said to be like driving an ice-pick into your ears. It can be due to high amounts of high frequencies that are normally very low volume compared to other frequencies in guitars - such as anything over 5-8 kHZ. But it can also be due to a peak frequency lower than this (such as 3kHZ) that is simply extremely loud.

Xxii. Harsh

A harsh tone is any tone that is difficult to listen to at high volumes or for long periods of time, generally due to an overly bright frequency response or crackly, buzzy, or grinding nature of distortion.

Xxiii. Muddy

Generally a tone that is too dark or has distortion on the low-end, causing it to lose focus and tightness, similar to fuzz. Basically fuzz applied just to the low-end. Almost always used in a negative context - unwanted mud.

Xxiv. Thin

Usually means the tone is too bright, but isn't just related to the frequency response. It can also mean the tone is too dry or the distortion isn't squishy or warm or punchy enough. The term relates to the association of thinner strings or objects having less mass and producing less momentum, resonance, and lower frequencies.

Xxv. Brittle

see "thin"

Xxvi. Thick

Opposite of "thin" and often used in a positive context. You are more likely to hear "too dark" than "too thick".

Xxvii. High-Gain

High-gain typically refers to an amplifier designed to add large amounts of distortion into the signal. Early guitar amps had no "Drive" or "Gain" control, only a master volume control. After amp manufacturers realized many players were turning up their amps as loud as possible to purposefully induce distortion, they incorporated this ability into their pre-amp circuits, where the player had more control over the level of distortion without having to make his amp deafeningly loud. Technically, any amp with a pre-amp "Drive" or "Gain" control is considered a "high-gain" amplifier, although different amps will provide different characteristics and levels of distortion.

XIV. Change Log

10/18/13

Added some new favorite dual cab combos based on mixing Uber and XXL 4x12's.

8/23/13

Updated the docx and .pdf versions

5/10/13

Added some incredible EQ frequency/gain analysis pics by pfSmith0 on the EQ page.

5/6/13

Added the /pdf version of the dual cab/mic latency-matching (phase correction) spreadsheet. Big ups to ya boy trip guitar on SSO for making it available to the community.

4/17/13

Revised Dual Cabs Spreadsheet and the dual cabs section to be more readable and accurate.

Added % to HZ translation for the Q Filter.

3/23/13

Added a nut section to the Guitar Setup page, as well as other changes inspired and influenced by my local tech, Benjamin Strange, who recently custom made a bone nut for my RGA 8 to replace the problematic stock locking nut.

Added an Effects page to handle some common tips on preferred effects and tips to dial them in.

Added a Q Filter section to the EQ page.

2/27/13

Made a bunch of changes to the Cabs/Mics page. Added Brit T75 cab description. Added graphic displays of subjective cab properties (loose/tight, vintage/modern, dark/bright, etc.). For each cab and mic description, I now address how it works for dual cabs as well as single cab usage - the way it sounded before is that a lot of cabs and mics I had written off completely, yet I find them awesome when used in conjunction with a complementary cab/mic. Made some changes to the dual cab section to hopefully better simplify how to dial them in, and made some corrections to EQ treatment. Updated my favorites list of dual cabs.

11/2/12

Added the new 2.1 amp models and slightly revised the Distortion effects sections on the amp page. Added E.R. tricks to dual cabs section and updated favorite dual cab combinations.

9/28/12

Added use of amps with different gain levels to dual amps section.

9/27/12

Altered the CSS and page format. Added guitarist pictures and logo. I am now selling ad-space for interested buyers.

Added a quirks section to the quick guide. Added massive research to the dual cabs section, with spreadsheets allowing for phase correction on basically any combination of cab/mic pairs. Added a patch leveling section. Updated action and single-coil vs. humbuckers sections to reflect the technical responsibility for the tonal changes, as brought to my attention by ozbadman on the Line 6 forums.

8/20/12

Added a FAQ and Links page.

8/21/12

Changed the Gain Staging section, to better illustrate the principles and practices.

8/18/12

Changed the Input Settings section, to reflect that I'm almost always using Input 2: Variax now. Also, made it one of my top ten tweaks.

7/26/12

Reorganized entire site. Dialing in a Patch page is divided up into Amp/Distortion Tone page, Cab/Mic page, and Tips and Pitfalls page. Odds and Ends page has mostly been moved to Tips and Pitfalls. Cheat Sheet has been mostly turned into the Quick Guide page, but it is mostly overhauled. Hookup and Setup pages have been merged into Setup page.

Various edits have been made to keep everything up to date. Cab DEP's have more info. Some cab/mic favorites and descriptions have changed.

Distortion Effects now have their own section in the Amp/Distortion Tone page.

Old version available here.

4/26/12

.doc and .pdf versions updated.

4/24/12

Changed the look and feel of the site. Moved a few sections around and made various edits.

4-17/12

Changed the amp DEP's and Uber sections to document a strange, faint, digital-sounding ghost signal that emerged when moving Hum upward from 50% on the Uber model.

Updated the fake Mesa/Boogie Mark tones section to reflect latest successes. I think this will be the last time this gets changed 8-)

4-9-12

Revised the WishList page a little.

4-9-12

Added a systematic diagnosis and prescription process to eliminating unwanted clipping in the troubleshooting clipping section. Slightly modified the clipping section on the setup page.

4-5-12

Added a power amp DEP's section outside of the cheat sheet.

Overhaul to EQ page, especially the effects section. This is due to some research on EQ's I never bothered to figure out how to use by Matt Mayfield.

4-4-12

Pod HD 2.0 firmware is here! Updated the amps page to include the Plexi. Added a cab DEP's section.

Updated Input Settings section to get rid of "Input 2: None" references, which is a little confusing. I was referring to using Variax, Mic, or Aux input when nothing is connected to it.

4-2-12

Updated .doc and .pdf versions, accessible from the home page. Fixed an error regarding how the Bias DEP works in the Cheat Sheet section.

3-30-12

Major overhaul to dual cab section, describing how to setup, achieve phase correction, EQ, and manage DSP for dual cab patches.

CSS background changes.

3-26-12

Major overhauls to the cab/mic section. I am now mainly using the Hiway 4x12 as my main cab sim. I also moved information about using cabs for live purposes to its own section, and modified the dual cab section to be a little more informative about IR's and reflect the new cab/mic selections I'm using.

3-13-2012

Added section on wet/dry output to odds and ends page.

3-5-2012

Changed CSS. Should be easier to read and look better on mobile devices.

Added section on dual outputs to odds and ends page and linked to it on hookup page.

Added some footswitch mode and bank change switch options to the wishlist.

02-29-2012

Moved output mode section to Hookup page and revised it.

02-25-2012

Created Wishlist page with my favorite recommended feature requests for the Pod HD firmware updates.

02-20-2012

Change Log added. I've made a bunch of updates this month, so I'll try to recap my changes.

Guide converted from .doc/.pdf to web version. .doc/.pdf versions are updated and accessible via Contents page; however, they are not completely update (currently missing input/output routing section). Also, 3 sets of contents for easier navigation.

String gauge section now has links to Petrucci's website for string gauge recommendations and a link to the string tension applet with text input used for my guitars. Added fret buzz and intonation sections to guitar setup. Added link to Ola Englund's video comparing various Seymour Duncan pickups to illustrate the differences pickup frequency response have on distortion tone in the pickups frequency response section. Also added pickups suggestions section.

Added I tried this and it doesn't sound good section to Pod hookup page.

Added Clarifying Confusing Volume Controls, Myths Regarding Input/Output Settings, gain staging, How do I set up my Tech 21 power engine, and Input/Output Routing sections to Pod setup page. Also added impedance input options to input settings section.

On the Dialing in a Patch page, added subsections to the getting the right distortion section. Combined cab and mic selection sections and created various sub-sections for easier flow and navigation. Added dual cab section, demonstrating my technique of using dual cabs to get the highest quality direct tone from the Pod. Added The Illusive Pure Clean Tone, Clean Boost, and Noise Gates sections. (Clean boost was formerly on the setup page)

On the amps page, updated all of the info to try to organize each amp for the following: general tone and feel (naming artists that it could emulate well), general tips on how to dial in the amp, quirks for certain controls, and how the DEP's affect the tone. I also disavowed use of the Elekrik completely.

Added a Cheat Sheet page useful for quick hints without having to read through the whole guide. Note: I have been updating the fake Mesa/Boogie Mark section pretty much all month. The current text reflects my latest success.

Appendix A – Line 6 Effect Processing Diagrams

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 778