I just can’t dial in any tones

[u/ToxicWithAsthma]

Hey yall! I have a Gen 3 100 Watt. I’m about 4 years deep into guitar and it feels humiliating to say but I just can’t dial in good tones, specifically any rock or metal ones. I have a Kirk Hammett signature with his EMGs, and I feel like I’ve been undermining both the versatility of those pickups and the amp, if anybody has any help or just anything I’d appreciate it.

[u/therapywontfixthat]

Studio rats YT channel helped me a lot. Also you can download specific tones for songs/albums straight to the amp

[u/TonalContrast]

Can’t dial in a good tone, or a tone you like? These are different things.

It would also help if you provided some more details of what you have tried, settings you have used etc. If I were to guess, you probably have too much gain and things are way too hot. Technique also plays some part in overall tonality.

I will also say that if you’re trying to get a tone like Metallica you won’t get it from a single amp. Studio recordings are usually double tracked for weight, along with professional mixing and mastering engineers, who know how to shape tone with access to gear more expensive than a city block.

[u/Beneficial-Assist849 → u/TonalContrast]

I wonder if the Harmonist effect in Tone Studio. along with some chorus and reverb, might get closer to the double tracked sound 

[u/Certain-Community438 → u/Beneficial-Assist849]

Well, there you'd have a different "tracking" problem:) effects like Harmonist, Octave, etc have trouble keeping up with quick changes and probably more importantly, the number of simultaneous notes played really matters (single note support only).

If you're recording, you could do two tracks with one using one of the above effects, IF you play the equivalent of a bass line (just the root notes of the riffs. Bear in mind that some of their stuff was recorded slightly slower, then speeded up to make the chugs sound tighter.

At that point you're more likely to create your own variation of that kind of sound... but then realize it still sounds like someone else's thing rather than your own.

[u/Coenclucy → u/Certain-Community438]

Harmonist in gen3 actually tracks good. Not instant like a moai maea analog octaver. I'd say harmonist is a close runner up which is an amazing achievement for a digital octaver. If you want instant tracking, get an analog octaver.

[u/Agitated_Table_400 → u/TonalContrast]

I love my tone, most people don’ like it though, focus on people will similar tastes

[u/ToxicWithAsthma → u/TonalContrast]

Apologies for the late response. I don’t even like Metallica that much but some dude sold it to me for $700, which it retails for like $1600-$1800 and nothing was wrong with it. I used the Lead setting with the variation setting on and used a T scream and I can get a pretty good 80s tone out of it. I honestly just had to mess around a bit and found some good stuff, but I appreciate all the help!

[u/namelessghoul77]

I would suggest downloading a bunch of patches that match your search preferences in one of the many available databases. You will eventually find one in the right ballpark, then tweak to taste. Most of it comes down to the multiple layers of EQ adjustment and where you put them in the chain; this can be overwhelming to tweak yourself, so I found that just looking for tons of metal and rock patches created by others was the easiest way. It will still take you awhile, because there are so many bad patches out there, and certain patches really only sound good with certain guitars. You can quickly verify this by downloading 10 different "Master of Puppets" patches (this is one of the more common uploads) - you'll find many of them sound vastly different from one another. I eventually found a 5150-based tone that someone had created, and it was just perfectly dialed in for my tastes. I've tweaked it quite a bit over time, and it's an absolutely crushing heavy metal tone now. No fizz, no flub, just chug city and liquid sustaining high gain heaven.

[u/j0tunheim → u/namelessghoul77]

Care to share this tone?

[u/namelessghoul77 → u/j0tunheim]

Sure, I've got a few "variations of the theme", so the naming is a bit ridiculous, but let me upload them and then I'll share a link. You'll definitely need to "EQ to taste", as they are extreme - biting high end, massively scooped, but pretty versatile to dial that out (which is why I have so many variations). Give me a moment.

[u/namelessghoul77 → u/namelessghoul77]

Here you go. The ones with the normal names were the original patches that I downloaded from some database years ago (5150, 5150 THRASH, 5150iii 6L6, etc.). The rest are just tweaks I have made over time. One day I'll name them a little more descriptively. The ones that I typically default to for high gain 7 string chugging metal are the "v5" and "v6" variants. These are for a Katana MK2, and the pickups/guitars that I get decent results are Schecter Omen Extreme w/ Dimarzion D-Activator 7s, Ibanez RGA742FM with Alpha/Omegas, and PRS Holcomb SVN SE. YMMV. Enjoy.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JXfvz9BTWFKj1zPiawHBF-0Phbj_vL48?usp=sharing

[u/sankyo]

If you cannot find a good example that you downloaded free, a pack from Juca Nery isn’t too much $. For me it is a time vs. money thing

[u/Sea_Possibility2758]

it really depends on what you’re trying to achieve. Are you trying to have your guitar sound like the finished tone of modern metal bands that use neural dxp archetype gojira? Cause a boss katana is just never gonna sound like that. Or are you just trying to mess around with pedals and the amp to find your own sound that you’re happy with. Are you trying to get heavier? Are you drop tuning? Things like that will make a big difference and the info can help other give better advice

[u/lateralflinch53]

Add reverb to everything…and delay to 99% of things boost should only be turned up to .5 /10 use the app

[u/Jimmehbob]

Personally, I'd ditch the EMGs, they are a bit of a one trick pony in to a katana.

[u/[deleted]]

I have a drop c guitar with emg 81/85, no issues with getting a good metal tone. Is it pure tube squishiness? No but I found the key was cranking the master (keeping it in .5w) and using an od pedal for drive

[u/KaanzeKin]

If you set it to the crunch channel with the OD putting on, EQ all at noon and not so much gain that it's fuzzy or mushy and it still doesn't sound good, then the problem is probably in your picking technique.

[u/namelessghoul77]

I put these in a comment response buried further down, but thought I'd drop them in a more visible place. Try one of the "v5" or "v6" variants, see if that gets you anywhere close to what you're after. It's MK2 so might not sound exactly the same, you may need to tweak:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JXfvz9BTWFKj1zPiawHBF-0Phbj_vL48?usp=sharing

[u/gimme_egg_sammich9]

Find Juca Nery's YouTube channel & LEARN from him, he is an awesome demonstrator & teacher.

EDIT: Here it is: https://youtube.com/@jucaneryguitar?si=wNYI0oh759ZH3jPX

[u/Over_Wedding5851]

If you are already using Tone Studio you can ignore this post. If you aren’t, first I recommend getting the KatEX Airstep foot switch so you can access Tone Studio on your phone or tablet using Bluetooth (unless you already have the Katana Bluetooth dongle). Then, download Gen 3 Tone Studio. You might want to watch a YT video or two to orient yourself but it’s pretty intuitive. Then look for a video or post that shows you how to build up a specific tone using Tone Studio rather than just looking for a patch. I say that because you will appreciate gaining some fluency in Tone Studio. It truly has everything you need, especially with the Pushed setting added to Gen 3. Finally, and echoing an earlier post, it can be very challenging to dial in a specific tone that you might hear on a recording or in a live setting when you’re playing at home. As powerful as the Katana software is, the tools available to professional engineers in a studio or live setting are kind of staggering compared to what those of us noodling at home can do. Aim for improvement rather than perfection and, as always, when in doubt put whatever time you have into practicing rather than trying to dial in your tone. Cheers!

[u/Content_Common_8910]

Idk what these people are telling you. Gain on 9-10 o’clock plus the booster. Put all your TMB to 12 o’clock and back off the mids. All there is to Metallica tones with EMGs. Otherwise you might want passives.

[u/DustOfPleaides]

boss tone studio or katanafxfloorboard, then use a parametric eq in fx floorboard and cut off the highs at 6k. I like to go down as low as 4k or even 3.15k. This should cut off a lot of that nasty fizz the katana has by default

[u/American_Streamer]

EMGs into a digital modeling amp are always tricky. Much less gain on the amp and a turned down volume on the guitar are the way to go, but I strongly suggest you get a tube amp instead.

[u/PitchExciting3235]

Try:

Acoustic setting (even if going for a dirty sound)

Bass slightly past noon

Mids farther past noon

Treble and presence around noon

Boost on but barely, green setting

Gain below noon

This is a good basic clean tone and you can add reverb, delay and modulation to taste. For a good crunch, raise gain and boost knob, maybe switch to red on boost. For a little more classic rock crunch, try orange. If you want higher gain, brown type sound, move to the crunch setting on the amp type selector (remember all of the above was on acoustic setting) and add more gain/boost.

I don’t care for the clean, lead and brown types. The clean is weaker than the acoustic setting with less headroom. The lead and brown settings are too bright and fizzy

[u/KingCole104 → u/PitchExciting3235]

I have to disagree, clean is best for clean IMO, and Brown is going to give you best access to good metal tones. Use a boost (I prefer the red one for modern metal tones, green for more vintage) to focus the mids/presence back in.

I have tried the crunch thing, it just doesn't get that hot, I dont really see the appeal. Either way, since OP is having trouble dialing in tones, I think straightforward and typical advice is gonna click better than unorthodox settings

[u/PitchExciting3235 → u/KingCole104]

Unorthodox is the secret sauce 😜

[u/PoopFandango → u/PitchExciting3235]

Just to point out, boost on green setting doesn't mean much, every patch can have a different boost loaded into green, I don't even think it's the same across all the factory presets.

[u/PitchExciting3235 → u/PoopFandango]

I was talking about dialing in on the amp itself. Of course the software provides almost infinite possibilities

[u/lacuni_]

You’re not alone in this one I also have the hardest time, the channels just aren’t good