Micro BR as an "amp on the verge of breakup" with a Tubescreamer

[Ted]

This is more of an Micro BR question than a Tubescreamer question. How can I use the Micro BR as an amp emulator – "clean but on the verge of breakup."

Background:

• I'm dumb and don't know anything about guitar, amps, or effects
• Where I live there is not a good selection of pedals, and ordering pedals or anything else online is very expensive and difficult

I'm trying to get more out of my pedalboard because I find it more inspiring and satisfying to twiddle knobs than to go into the Micro BR effects to tweak parameters. So now I have a compressor > octave-fuzz > Tubescreamer clone > chorus > echo-reverb > high-pass filter > Micro BR.

I thought I would record my guitar "wet" – but without any of the Micro BR guitar effects. I bought a well-reviewed Tubescreamer clone (this one) thinking, "I've heard of that. This'll be my distortion pedal."

But I'm realizing now the people tend to use Tubescreamers to add some some mid-boost overdrive sauce to the tone they get from their amp. But I don't have an amp, or a sans-amp, or any kind of amp thing – except for the Micro BR.

So, damn it, I need to create very subtle amp model on the Micro BR that provides the "clean but on the verge of breakup" sound that all of the Tubescreamer YouTubers keep talking about.

So this is what I've done, based on the preset BigClean:

PREAMP
Type: JC-120
Volume: 32
Bass: 96
Middle: 97
Treble: 98
Presence: 14
Master: 81
Bright: OFF

SPEAKER SIM
Type: twin
Mic Set: 2cm
Mic Level: 100
Dir Level: 49

Noise Suppression: OFF
FX: OFF

In my opinion, it still sounds a little too distorted – beyond the verge of breakup. But I don't know what to tweak to make it less overdriven. There's no "drive" or "gain" parameter. Would that be "Volume?"

Can I tweak this to get what I'm after? Or is there another custom amp model I can create to achieve it?

[Zoltan]

I'll preface this by saying that i can't be of any help... But that hasn't stopped me before so here's some food for thought.

Micro BR might not be the best amp sim in the world. That's what you're after hear. The last thing in the chain.

I used Humboldt Simplifier for some time and it worked perfectly. Then i went into another direction and started using UAD Dream '65. Anyway i'm getting of the rails...

So you CAN use the Micro BR as an "amp at the verge of the breakdown", but it doesn't handle those pedals that well. As i remember reading that Greeny liked to run his Big Muff pedal directly into Micro BR. He probably has the settings dialed down?

If you're looking for a more "robust" solution (where the Micro BR would be the last in line and meant only as a recording unit) you might want to look into something like Simplifier etc. BUT as i understood that choices are few and you might not want to spend cash in excess...

Coud you find a used Sansamp unit, or Joyo/Harley Benton/ American Sound pedal? That could be used as your amp. That could handle those pedals better and you could run the out into Micro BR (for recording) or DI for live playing. Those American Sound (there are others too, but i'm only familiar with this one) cost around 30 usd new. It's not perfect, but way better than pedals into Micro BR.

ALSO if you're dead set into trying to make Micro Br work in this situtation. The JC-120 amp is one of the cleanest amps ever. Maybe try something Fender(y) with gain super low and you're probably going to have to keep the Tubescreamer volume very low too...


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


Also now i'm going to fly totally blind as i haven't tried any of these settings. I'm just improvising

PREAMP
Type: JC-120 / MAYBE TRY SOMETHING ELSE FOR THIS?
Volume: 32 / KEEP THIS LOW. EXPERIMENT
Bass: 96 / HOW WOULD THESE WORK with setting like 50
Middle: 97 / -"-
Treble: 98 / -"-
Presence: 14
Master: 81 / THIS IS PROBABLY JUST THE OVERALL VOLUME, BUT WORTH PLAYING AROUND ANYWAY
Bright: OFF

SPEAKER SIM
Type: twin
Mic Set: 2cm
Mic Level: 100 / HOW WOULD THIS WORK IF SET TO 50
Dir Level: 49

Noise Suppression: OFF
FX: OFF

WHY did i have to use CAPS?

Edit: Also play with the guitar volume...

[Ted]

Coud you find a used Sansamp unit, or Joyo/Harley Benton/ American Sound pedal? That could be used as your amp. That could handle those pedals better and you could run the out into Micro BR (for recording) or DI for live playing.

I can probably find an amp simulator pedal – probably a Joyo or something from the same factory. I'm hoping not to have to do that. But I'll probably take a look in the only store I've found that has a selection of pedals.

With the preamp models in the Micro BR, I just auditioned all of them with their default settings, and only tweaked the JC-120 emulation because it was the cleanest one (cleaner than "CLEAN"). It's possible I can get something even cleaner if I do more testing and tweaking. And maybe someone here with a Micro BR will just wave a wand and tell me what to do.

[Ted]

Here's an experiment. I made up a dumb riff that alternated between high stuff and low stuff, and then looped it while tweaking the effects. I have two candidates for my "Clean Amp on the Verge of Breakup." One is based on JC-120, and the other is based on CLEAN.

00:00 - 00:13 - No EFX
00:13 - 00:24 - Tweak based on JC-120
00:24 - 00:34 - No Efx
00:34 - 00:45 - Tweak based on JC-120
00:45 - 00:56 - No Efx
00:56 - End - Tweak based on CLEAN

[Ted]

My conclusion is that I am probably going to have to use my Micro BR as my "Clean Amp on the Verge of Breakup" – and (finally) get comfortable tweaking the Micro BR preset preamp sounds. But if I see one of those Joyo American Sound pedals for sale in Antananarivo, I'll grab it.

[Bluesberry]

Speaking of the Joyo American sound pedal........Keith just picked up two of these pedals used off a guy for $50 for the pair, the American Sound and the AC tone pedals....they are fantastic pedals...they sound incredible in front of our little 5w tube amp (epi valve jr)...and I mean killer...makes that little amp come to life....

More interesting to your thread, I used these 2 pedals as amp simulator direct in to my iPad Garageband...and let me tell you, I am impressed....sounds fantastic.....I am using these on my latest song which is finishing up in a few days...all guitars recorded with these pedals direct in..........stay tuned for a listen when I get it posted up later this week........if you can get one of these pedals Ted, I would say go for it....a real lot of bang for the buck...I like them both and can't say which I prefer......maybe the AC tone slightly better...they are both superb for recording

[Bluesberry]

Hey Ted, I got my song posted....if you want to hear these Joyo pedals in action, have a listen....all electric guitars are through the American Sound or the AC tone pedal......the solo bits are the American sound pedal....I think it sounds pretty good, I am satisfied with the tones I was getting....especially considering the inexpensive price of these.....


https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php?topic=33760.0

[Ted]

all electric guitars are through the American Sound or the AC tone

People really seem to love those pedals! I've watched several videos of people comparing them. The American seems to be the favorite. But if any one of the five were to show up in a store in Antananarivo, I'll probably grab it.

Meanwhile 1: I've added the American to my Amazon cart for the next time I want to go through the hassle shipping something here.

Meanwhile 2: I continue to play with the preamp simulators in the Micro BR, and am feeling like I can get really close to what I'm after. I've never paid that much attention to EQ-ing guitars. I just try all of the presets until I find something I like, and the use the pickup selector and tone knob on the guitar to do the rest. Now I have an EQ pedal and a couple of distortion pedals in front of the Micro BR. After watching a lot of those reviews of the Joyo pedals as well as how-to videos on Tubescreamers, I'm starting to realize that a lot of people like the mid-boost tone that I'm trying to dial down.

Back to the laboratory.

[Geir]

I'd go with the VO DRV or CRUNCH. Set the vol quite low and just dial back the volume on your guitar until you get the desired sound

[Farrell Jackson]

Speaking of the Joyo American sound pedal........Keith just picked up two of these pedals used off a guy for $50 for the pair, the American Sound and the AC tone pedals....they are fantastic pedals...they sound incredible in front of our little 5w tube amp (epi valve jr)...and I mean killer...makes that little amp come to life....

I second your comment on the Joyo pedals, Bluesberry. A big bang for the buck. I have the exact set up as you've mentioned (American Sound in front of an Epi Valve Jr) and it's an incredible sound. I've used it direct in and it works beautifully. I also have the AC Tone which is just as good.

Farrell