Creating Basic Tones with Cab Rig and Dept. 10 Dual Drive
We all love the sound of guitar amps played loud. The feeling of cranking an amp and letting the speaker move some serious air is a feeling that is really hard to beat. But these days, musicians are working in many more venues which require lower stage volumes, or sometimes even no stage volume at all.
The Dept.10 Dual Drive, although it is a tube driven overdrive at heart, has the Cab Rig out which allows you to turn your overdrive pedal into a two channel, direct to PA amp.
In this lesson, and accompanying video, we’re going to talk about how to dial in come great amp like tones so you can get your sound, anywhere, without upsetting the soundman!
The attached video shows you how to dial in some basic reference tones using Cab Rig and all the included features. Here are some of the features and what they do:
Power Amp Type
Cab Rig allows you to choose a power amp emulation, this means that the front end of your pedal (the two channels, the EQ and ISF) will function as if it was the pre-amp section of a guitar amplifier.
In the power amp section you can choose between three different power amp tube emulations, 6L6, EL34 and EL84. These are three of the most commonly heard power amp styles.
6L6 delivers you high headroom, American voiced sounds. EL34 gives you a mid-focused British tone. EL84 gives you a cleaner, brighter British tone.
You can pair your tube type with the Resonance and Presence controls to fine tune the low and high frequency response of the power amp, allowing you to dial in pretty much any tone you can imagine.
Cab Type
Inside Cab Rig you have a large selection of cab simulations ranging from 1×10 to 4×12 cabinets. There is a range of vintage and modern cab choices, along with specifically British or American voiced cabs.
This means whatever power amp tone you choose to set up, you can find a cab that closely resembles the typical matched cab you might find that power amp style paired with, or, you can just choose the cab type that suits your playing style.
The Dual Drive allows you to store 3 Cab Rib settings which you can select with the toggle switch on the pedal.
Mic Type
Microphone choice can play a big part in how a guitar speaker sounds and choosing the right mic can make or break a guitar tone. Cab Rig features 6 mics from industry standard to studio grade condensers, all of which can be put on or off axis.
In the attached video you’ll see how I select a few different mic types for different sounds.
Room Ambience
The room you hear the speaker in can also change the sound and feel of an amp. Cab Rig offers three room sizes and the option to dampen the ambience. You can also choose from Mono, Stereo or Wide. In Wide mode, the room ambience takes on a 3d characteristic.
Master Output
The master output stage of Cab Rig allows you to add a post-EQ, similar to that of a recording studio. This features a 4 band graphic EQ along with a low and high cut for dialling in the perfect tone. The EQ at this stage takes place after everything else you’ve done, so think of this as the EQ you might apply at the mixing stage of recording.
————————————————————————-
About the Author
This article on building reference tones in Cab Rig and the Dept. 10 Dual Drive was written by Leigh Fuge. Leigh is a professional guitarist and content creator and also works alongside musicteacher.com to create guitar focused, educational and entertainment content.
If you’re looking for a guitar teacher in your local area, check out their music teacher database to find your local teacher today. Each teacher has their own local page such as Guitar Lessons Ipswich. Find your local teacher today!