# Amp settings?



## Jarmuh (Nov 5, 2011)

I been playing guitar for little over a year and I have a ESP LTD SC-207 and Line 6 Spider IV for as an amp. My guitar sounds muddy as hell. But it's my amp cause I've tested my guitar out with other amps and it's fine. 
The settings list for my amp are:
Overdrive (1-10)
Bass (1-10)
Mid (1-10)
Treble (1-10)
Chan. Vol. (1-10)
Effects: (Chorus flange - Phaser - Tremolo)
Effects: (Sweep echo - Tape echo - Reverb)

BTW, my amp has 4 channels, (clean, crunch, metal, insane).
My clean and crunch settings are fine but I need good, crisp, settings for metal and insane channel. Please help out a fellow noob.


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## Rick (Nov 5, 2011)

Start with 6-6-6 on OD, Mids, Treble. I keep my bass at about 4 and I use Line 6 Insane a lot.


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## Jarmuh (Nov 5, 2011)

Rick said:


> Start with 6-6-6 on OD, Mids, Treble. I keep my bass at about 4 and I use Line 6 Insane a lot.



What about the effects?


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## GSingleton (Nov 6, 2011)

What watt do you have?

I actually tweaked the 311 Down preset and it sounds great, but my pickups cause it to be slightly muddy on my 7 string.


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## Lankles (Nov 6, 2011)

Jarmuh said:


> What about the effects?



Turn them off until you have a non-muddy sound.


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## Stealthdjentstic (Nov 6, 2011)

My favorite settings are probably:

Treble: 10
Mid: 0 (these just make guitars muddy and sound bad)
Bass: 8 (unless you play an 8 string then make it 10)
Gain: 10

All on insane channel 







Jokes aside the 666 setting is a pretty good place to start. I would avoid effects completely if you're shooting for a metal rhythm sound.

Cutting a bit of mids carefully can help clean up your sound a bit but be aware less mids = less you'll be hearing yourself in a mix. A trick to clean things up a bit is also to crank the EQ less so instead of 666 you might use 444 or some variation thereof. Definately depends on the amp as some sound better with the EQ cranked.


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## Beowulf Von Thrashmeister (Nov 6, 2011)

Stealthtastic said:


> My favorite settings are probably:
> 
> Treble: 10
> Mid: 0 (these just make guitars muddy and sound bad)
> ...


 

Cool, thats very close to my settings, except that my tone is at 6, and bass at 10 (the speakers in my 4x12 hate this if its my Jackson DKMG with its EMGs) and the insane channel rules. 

I also turn the reverb off too, to give it that nice crunchy Thrash tone !!!. 


Which Line 6 amp do you have ?


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## Jarmuh (Nov 6, 2011)

GSingleton said:


> What watt do you have?
> 
> I actually tweaked the 311 Down preset and it sounds great, but my pickups cause it to be slightly muddy on my 7 string.



I have 15 watts.


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## ibanezRG1527 (Nov 6, 2011)

Jarmuh said:


> I have 15 watts.



bit off topic but can anyone tell me why the 15 watt sounds so much better than the others of the same model (but with more watts)? because it REALLY does.

it sounds much more real and crisp and you cant always tell that its a line 6


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## groph (Nov 6, 2011)

The Insane model is your problem, I think, if that's what you're using. Maybe switch to the Metal mode?

It's probably entirely possible to get good tones out of the Insane model but it's super high gain and really compressed so it's easy to make it sound muddy. Just use as little gain as you can possibly get away with (people with high gain tube amps often run the gain under half anyway) and only use the bass to add a bit of body rather than to try to get low end. More mids will make your tone feel a bit stiffer, probably a bit more clear, and it'll cut better. Less mids will make it feel a little stretchier or elastic, sound a bit less clear but more "metal," but you won't cut through a mix as well. 

Also, work on your pick attack. I've found that if you pick a bit harder, you'll have less mud because the notes naturally "pop" more and you won't need as much gain on your amp. Try a heavier pick because that will help with your attack.


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