Torpedo CAB and SRL not sounding as good as I'd hoped, help

Hi guys,

Is there a good way to set up your amp, Suhr Reactive Load and CAB to work together without giving you a harsh bristly tone?

Admittedly, I'm using the headphone out of the CAB at the moment; as I'm waiting for some active Matrix cabs to be made, and I've not spent a lot of time with it, nor my amps. It's all new gear and I'm just starting out.

So I tried the Mesa Dual first and although I got a decent enough tone out of it, the sound wasn't crystal clear, like I'd hoped. I'm pretty sure it's nothing to do with the SRL, that seems to be doing its job fine. I noticed on the clean channel that I really had to crank the channel volume to be able to hear it above my actual guitar playing.

Same with the Reeves Custom 50, had to be cranked, but it broke up way before I wanted it to and isn't as clean as I'd hoped it would be. I've never played the Reeves with a real cab and won't get the opportunity either. I preferred what I heard with the Reeves though, sounded more amp like than the Mesa in this setup.

I tried balancing the DI volume on the SRL with the DB output of the CAB, plus a bit of balancing on the master and channel volumes of the amps, but still wasn't entirely happy. Am I missing something?

I'm using the stock IR's on the CAB at the moment, is it really worth checking out other IR's before making any major hardware decisions or am I missing something vital to this kind of setup (except a good pair of active monitors/FRFRs - they're on their way - but as it stands, they won't sound great with the signal they're given).

I'm just wondering if I'm missing a vital ingredient?

Really appreciate your time and help. Thank you!

Hi Jon,

I'm pretty sure it's nothing to do with the SRL, that seems to be doing its job fine.

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I never had the chance to try it, but what let's you think that? I know John basically started from our Torpedo Reload to do his thing but I have no idea what exactly he modified.

Same with the Reeves Custom 50, had to be cranked, but it broke up way before I wanted it to and isn't as clean as I'd hoped it would be.

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Well that for sure has nothing to do with the torpedo CAB. ^^

is it really worth checking out other IR's

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That's always a good idea, you just have to install Torpedo Remote and try other cabinets in real time.

Here are a few basic advices, I don't know what is your experience with miking so please don't be offended if I say obvious things for you:

- Make sure the power amp on the Torpedo CAB is OFF
- Try different microphones, starting with a condenser (more highs), then dynamic, then ribbon (darker, warmer sound).
- The position of the microphone is vital, start from the center and go off center slowly

that would be my first advice, we'll take it from there.

Dont expect a pro level sound with out some effort and using some EQ, i use the RL and TCAB with a BadCat amp and a Bogner Shiva, one is 50 watts and the other 80 watts, both are EL 34 amps.

The Siva actually made the blue led og the RL go dead! but the sound was not affected, the RL works and sounds as it should.

depending on the mix i start with just the RL and a two notes cab, nothing more, no power amp, no eq, no reverb. i then try to find a cab and mic combination thats starts to blend and cut in the mix, i then try to use some EQ to further refine the sound, if i find that it still sounds some what weak or thin i try some power amp emulation, i find that with this two amps of mine the KT88 tube amulation sounds great.

guillaume_pille":xslvk6nl said:

Same with the Reeves Custom 50, had to be cranked, but it broke up way before I wanted it to and isn't as clean as I'd hoped it would be.

Click to expand...

Well that for sure has nothing to do with the torpedo CAB. ^^

is it really worth checking out other IR's

Click to expand...

That's always a good idea, you just have to install Torpedo Remote and try other cabinets in real time.

Here are a few basic advices, I don't know what is your experience with miking so please don't be offended if I say obvious things for you:

- Make sure the power amp on the Torpedo CAB is OFF
- Try different microphones, starting with a condenser (more highs), then dynamic, then ribbon (darker, warmer sound).
- The position of the microphone is vital, start from the center and go off center slowly

that would be my first advice, we'll take it from there.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the response! I've tried it this morning and I've heard an improvement by turning off the power amp sim. I'm not saying it's the CAB, I think it's a great little unit, to be honest, all of the gear is new to me and I'm just needing some help with everything really.

It looks like I'm getting more distortion from the Reeves when I plug in the PRS, the Strat sounds ok and stays cleaner for longer. But I'm really struggling with the volume on the clean, when I crank the amp, it breaks up too much (again, I know this is an amp issue, not a CAB issue...but the amp is said to be one of the cleanest out there so I'm not understanding why this is happening), when I don't crank it, it stays relatively clean, but can barely hear it above my playing.

I guess this isn't the plug and play setup I'd hoped for, but I'm ok with that, I know I need to work hard to get my sound. Just don't really know where to start. Seems odd as I see guys on Youtube getting amazing sounds out of these units. My other worry is that when I plug the sound into an FRFR speaker, things may not improve.

The PRS likely has hotter pups that the Strat, so, if you want clean turn the amp's gain down.

Next, use a cab that's designed for your amp to start, i.e try the closed-back Fanes with a Reeves ("Watt FanC"), then maybe set the Distance to 15% - 20%, and the Center to suit as a starting point. Try the different mics and fine tune the ones you like best. The Reeves can rock nicely with the various Marshall Greenback type cabs as well.

I'll sometimes add a couple of db at 120Hz and/or 6kHz as well when needed, but I try to not mess with the mid-range if possible (preferring to do that in post or let the FOH person dial that in etc).

Again, the main point is to use a cab/speaker that is known to work well with the amp as a starting point, assuming you want to sound like the real deal.

jonthomas83":u6t68zh1 said:

Thank you for the response! I've tried it this morning and I've heard an improvement by turning off the power amp sim. I'm not saying it's the CAB, I think it's a great little unit, to be honest, all of the gear is new to me and I'm just needing some help with everything really.

It looks like I'm getting more distortion from the Reeves when I plug in the PRS, the Strat sounds ok and stays cleaner for longer. But I'm really struggling with the volume on the clean, when I crank the amp, it breaks up too much (again, I know this is an amp issue, not a CAB issue...but the amp is said to be one of the cleanest out there so I'm not understanding why this is happening), when I don't crank it, it stays relatively clean, but can barely hear it above my playing.

I guess this isn't the plug and play setup I'd hoped for, but I'm ok with that, I know I need to work hard to get my sound. Just don't really know where to start. Seems odd as I see guys on Youtube getting amazing sounds out of these units. My other worry is that when I plug the sound into an FRFR speaker, things may not improve.

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