Do you guys really care about specific patches?

[JeffBeck]

I've been noticing on the Katana FB group that I keep up with, that there are always, always, always, requests for patches for "X" song by "X" band. Now that doesn't seem to weird on the surface, I know. I've downloaded specific patches before.

But now I'm just sort of feeling like nobody but the guy that owns the amp gives a shit about them. What I mean is, somebody listening to you play a specific song doesn't care if you have that exact song's guitar sound coming out of your amp. I think it's (for the most part) enough to say that if it's an overdriven sound you need, then use an overdrive pedal or setting, same with chorus, distortion, flanger, etc, etc. As long as you're in the ball park I don't think anyone gives a hoot if you've got your delay set to the exact micro second that the Edge has his set to, for instance.

Are there certain songs that you might need to be more exact on? Probably. I'm not saying these patches are a bad thing or that they aren't fun at all, just that I feel like it's unnecessary in large part. Maybe the music I like to play is just simpler and AC/DC doesn't require exact parameters that say Dream Theater songs might need.

Or am I full of shit? That's entirely possible, too.

Hopefully, I don't sound like an old man yelling at kids on his lawn. I'm honestly curious if you guys chase specific song sounds or if you just find that a general "tone" for a band or artist is enough.

[MattFireblade]

It really depends on the gig, to me. If you're playing in a band that's schtick is record-perfect reproduction, then sure, getting as close to song-perfect as possible is ideal. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of playing covers that are recognizable but not necessarily the same 'sound' as the original. I also tend to make any song I play a grade or two heavier than intended.

[golem]

That seems to specific. I'd want something like a Hendric, Mayer, etc. patch. I wouldn't want something for each and every song. Just give me something that approximates the gear.

[JeffBeck]

That seems to specific. I'd want something like a Hendric, Mayer, etc. patch. I wouldn't want something for each and every song. Just give me something that approximates the gear.

That's kind of where I'm at, too. And maybe not even that in-depth. I bet if you just had an overdriven preset, a clean preset and a distorted preset sprinkled with some chorus/delay/reverb you could get away with 95% of what you might play.

Maybe I'm just way too simple.

[mickey]

The audience doesn't care as long as the bass & drums keep the beat going & they think they are going to get laid tonight, your sound matters not!

[PsychoCid]

First and foremost, tone is for the player. The more I enjoy the sound, the better I play

Second, I don't mind a different sound if you're playing the whole song differently.

But third, if you're playing a dedicated and true original version of the song, then I lose complete respect for you as a performer for not bothering to take a a few minutes to get the sound right.

Or guys who play the song as original, and then muck up the solo. I will walk out on them, it's just so disrespectful to the audience and the artist.

--

It's simply a question of bait and switch. If you promised me a new flavor, I expect a new flavor. If you promised me the old standby burger, I expect the old standby burger.

Although that's just me. For the most part, a general non-guitar playing audience usually can't or won't tell the difference.

[uwmcscott]

I'm honestly curious if you guys chase specific song sounds or if you just find that a general "tone" for a band or artist is enough.

My persononal $02 is that the player's skill and experience makes far more difference in the "tone" than any other factor in the equation. AKA - Jimi Hendrix playing my rig is going to sound a lot more like Jimi Hendrix than I would playing his rig.

I have a gen1 Katana 50 and i've honestly never done anyting other than update the firmware to it. I rarely use the pre-loaded models either, I almost exclusively use the voice selector and the tactile controls. I'll occasionally add reverb or delay or maybe trem, but other than that i just use the knobz.

[glasshand]

Only tangentially related, but back when I had, very briefly, both my Jet City JCA22H and my Orange CR120H, I spent some time out of curiosity seeing if I could get the Orange to sound just like the Jet City with its Soldano-designed preamp. The CR120 is a pretty flexible amp, but there was alway just a little something that I couldn't get quite the same. Now, I didn't care that much, but I suppose if you were really into that Soldano-ish sound, you might want something more precise, so I guess I could see it...

[BatUtilityBelt]

The only time I'm impressed that a live song sounds like the recording is when it's the original band and I can see they're really performing it live. For most recording artists, pulling that off is a next-level accomplishment.

Having said so, I think anyone else covering someone else's tune really only gets credit from me for how they've made it something different in a good way. I don't look for a cover band to sound like the original - I listen for additional creative juice. So I guess I'm saying no, I never care about getting a patch that sounds exactly like recording X, and in fact, I may prefer to use other patches on that song.

[sabasgr68]

I also tend to make any song I play a grade or two heavier than intended.

Same here!

[sabasgr68]

I bet if you just had an overdriven preset, a clean preset and a distorted preset sprinkled with some chorus/delay/reverb you could get away with 95% of what you might play.

Maybe I'm just way too simple.

I´m 80% like you here. Just for some specific songs I´d like to get the most close possible sound - I´m actually struggling to get Santana´s Europa sound, but I know there are a lot of factors in it, including the fingers. I may never get it -.

[PsychoCid]

I bet if you just had an overdriven preset, a clean preset and a distorted preset sprinkled with some chorus/delay/reverb you could get away with 95% of what you might play.

Maybe I'm just way too simple.

I´m 80% like you here. Just for some specific songs I´d like to get the most close possible sound - I´m actually struggling to get Santana´s Europa sound, but I know there are a lot of factors in it, including the fingers. I may never get it -.

People say it's in the fingers but my experience is that's entirely untrue. It's in your wrists and arms, of which your fingers are merely an extension.

I can sound like Eddie if I use Eddie's posture and grip. If I use Slash's posture and grip, but play an Eddie song, I promise you it will sound like it's missing something.

Counts for both hands, too. Eddie holds the pick a very different way from most players, which took me some time to get used to. I got really good at it, except for some old songs I've played forever that I haven't bothered to switch.

[bleys21]

I've got a Kemper now, but have had other modelers as well, and I used to worry about trying to find the perfect match, and now I just don't care that much, as long as its close and fits the song, it will likely sound just fine.

[doc-knapp]

Patches make a great quick starting point, and then I tweak it to get the sound I want. It's just a time-saver. And in response to your avatar, "Ack!"

[PsychoCid]

I bet if you just had an overdriven preset, a clean preset and a distorted preset sprinkled with some chorus/delay/reverb you could get away with 95% of what you might play.

Maybe I'm just way too simple.

I´m 80% like you here. Just for some specific songs I´d like to get the most close possible sound - I´m actually struggling to get Santana´s Europa sound, but I know there are a lot of factors in it, including the fingers. I may never get it -.

People say it's in the fingers but my experience is that's entirely untrue. It's in your wrists and arms, of which your fingers are merely an extension.

I can sound like Eddie if I use Eddie's posture and grip. If I use Slash's posture and grip, but play an Eddie song, I promise you it will sound like it's missing something.

Counts for both hands, too. Eddie holds the pick a very different way from most players, which took me some time to get used to. I got really good at it, except for some old songs I've played forever that I haven't bothered to switch.

One more reason tone isn't in the fingers - it's in the pick. Use a 1mm pick and you'll sound like heavy, use 0.60 and you'll sound like Eddie.

[rrobbone]

I will only ever sound like me, so I work with the patches I have.

I typically will have a direction I want to be headed in for a song, so I'll dial up a patch that gets me close and tweak from there. I don't spend hours on it - just long enough to find something really nice to work with. I'm trying to be productive in songwriting, so I try to avoid getting bogged down in finding the "perfect" tone.

Sounds good = is good.

[t100d]

My feeling is that no matter what super duper equipment you use to ensure a consistent tone, it's still a crap shoot—different size venues, small or large crowd, air temperature, what strings and/or pick you use, whether you're tired or energized, etc.
Then if you're like me and switch between one or two or even three guitars in the course of a gig, or even in the middle of a tune sometimes … how can you hope for a consistent tone?

I set up my Mustang III with a bank of clean tones, a bank of overdriven, bank of delays, and a bank of just plain weird sh**!
Plus I don't always use the same tone for a particular tune, depends on what the other instruments are …

(Nice thing about the Mustang is that you can tweak a patch as much as you like, and as long as you don't save your changes the patch will revert to default next time you choose it—a real life saver if somebody's sitting in and using your amp!!

All that said, I do love that rush you get when everything gets dialed in right and your guitar (or bass) and amp start to sing

[snarph]

the only thing i look for in a patch is a good solid tonality some thing i can use for sitting in the bedroom or actually playing with others I always tweak any parameters that dont meet my needs

[tlarson58]

I read that, something to keep in mind when listening to a submitter's patch is that its their guitar, in their environment, with their headphones, speakers, DAWs, their playing style and, most importantly, their interpretation of the tone.

As an example, one fella on YouTube played an awesome AC/DC piece using very little gain while many others piled on the overdrive.

[mention]BatUtilityBelt[/mention] we do a lot of this type of stuff (but we couldn't pull this one off)...

[BatUtilityBelt]

@BatUtilityBelt we do a lot of this type of stuff (but we couldn't pull this one off)...

LOL, fun. That is a real journey from the original, and they did make that version their own for sure. A couple examples I like:

All Along The Watchtower, originally Bob Dylan, but everyone loves Jimmy Hendrix' version.
When The Levee Breaks, originally Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie, but Led Zeppelin's version is iconic to me.
Twist And Shout, originally Isley Brothers, but rocked when the Beatles did it.

and this one I didn't know, but surprised me:

Girls Just Want To Have Fun, originally by Robert Hazard, but transformed by Cyndi Lauper.