II. Getting the Patch Ready

You will need to use dual amps plus a possible additional effect, maybe two. So if you won't have the DSP or effects blocks for this, you'll need to adjust your patch accordingly. I find it's best to start with a blank patch and add the effects in after dialing the amp tone in. Also, your EQ settings may end up far from whatever works with a single cab, so don't worry about preserving your "magic" settings.

Setting up the technique is quite simple: you just create a dual amp patch, choose the same amp model for both amps, and dial in basically the same settings. You only change the cab/mic's being used between them. I recommend you start with the exact same gain, EQ, and DEP settings. Make sure you pan each Channel to center in the Mixer. You want one great mono tone, not a kind of stereo mix.

Next we get to cab selection. I like to start by picking my cabs based on their general tone and feel, ignoring the mics for the time being. The mics chosen will likely depend on the characteristics detailed in Appendix C and also this spreadsheet/alternate Google Cloud version/pdf version, BROKEN LINK which we will get into in the next section. But the basic idea is to choose "compatible" but complementary cabs. For example, the Tread V-30 and XXL V-30 work nicely together because they are both tight, modern-sounding cabs using the same speakers, yet one is rather thin and the other has lots of punch. On the other hand, the Tread V-30 and Hiway might work less well together because they are both a bit bright but have two different sounds to them. You have to be familiar with the qualities of the cabs individually before choosing which to mix. Use the descriptions above and demo their tones to figure this out. Or check out my favorites combinations below.

I tend to use the Hiway, Tread V-30, Uber, or Greenbacks with a 57 on axis mic as the cab in Channel A - this will be my "bright cab". For Channel B I like to use the Uber, Greenbacks, or XXL V-30 with the 121 Ribbon, 67 Cond, 409 Dyn, or 57 off axis mic. However, I use this as a loose starting position. They might not work well together, even if they are compatible and complementary from their individual characteristics, as we'll see below. Be ready to abandon your initial choice for something similar. For instance, if you wanted to use the 409 mic, you may have to use the 421 mic, or a 67 cond - something somewhat similar. In some cases you may want to use an entirely different cab.

Just keep in mind you don't want to have to EQ the crap out of either of the cabs. You want them to simply blend together into one full-sounding cab. You also want to adjust the volume of each amp to balance them. Neither should overpower the other. I generally find I like them with the same volume, but sometimes I use the darker cab a little louder. Start with your bright cab's volume at 0% and slowly turn up the volume until the sound gets nice and full but it doesn't start to overtake the darker cab. You'll need the bright cab's high-end to make the guitar tone cut through, but you don't want to sacrifice midrange or "body" in the process.

When you first setup your patch, the results might not be as pretty as you'd like. I've actually found that many combinations sound bad at first but can be fixed. This leads me to the next section on phase correction, but first I'd like to say that I prefer to use cab/mic combinations that do not require phase correction, or only require using a single EQ effect to do so. If you find the section below too confusing or know in advance that you won't have an extra EQ or 2 to spare on phase correction, just use the combinations below as a cheat sheet - it lists combinations that don't require any phase correction, or it lists which cab needs to be delayed and by how much. Or demo examples in This setlist. BROKEN LINK CANNOT DL???

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