Nickyll & Hydemond for Native Instruments: Guitar Rig

Title: The Strikes: Nickyll & Hydemond Guitar Rig 6 Preset

Author: Donald Duffy III

Files: Nickyll & Hydemond.ngrr; Read Me.txt

Description:
The Nickyll & Hydemond is a Guitar Rig 6 preset for those guitarists looking to emulate the early iconic live tones of a pioneering band of New York City's early-aughts garage rock revival scene.

The preset's design focuses on capturing the true tonal essence of a select iconic Overdrive/Distortion dual-pedal through a calibration of Guitar Rig's Skreamer and Distortion effects, which are then run through a configuration of the processor's Tweedman amplifier and cabinet models in order to simulate a certain devilish sports-car-like tube amplifier released in the mid-1990s by a particular American guitar and amp-making legend.

The software's Tweedman is inspired by what is described in the Guitar Rig 6 user manual as "an amplifier designed in the '50s" by the aforedescribed amp manufacturer, which would release in that same decade a certain Blues Youth progenitor to the mid-'90s amp of choice of the two guitarists in question. Both of these tweed-era points of inspiration share key tonal characteristics heard in the Tweedman model's tight and punchy tones, which closely align themselves with the tones of our target sports-vehicle-esque amp.

Points of comparison taken into account when configuring settings such as tone, gain, and other levels are the Tweedman's amp of inspiration and our guitar duo's amp of choice both boasting a tube-driven, Class AB design with three 12AX7 preamp tubes and two 6L6 power tubes, the former delivering a maximum output of 50 watts RMS as compared to the latter's 60. Both models share a total impedance of 2 ohms, though these are through four 10" 50s-era Chicago-made speakers with Alnico Magnet and two celestial British speakers, respectively. The '50s amp's 5AR4 rectifier would produce a softer and smoother response that would need to be taken into account as the rectifier of our guitarists' amp is solid state. Indeed, much of their tone is defined by their raunchiness, quick attack and clarity, all of which come with the decreased voltage sag of solid state rectifiers.

The Tweedman was also chosen for its dynamic response, which allows for an authentic emulation of the aforementioned amplifier when applied to gritty rock & roll playing styles. Though the rest of the settings are aimed at emulating the tones of live performances, including increased overdrive, the cabinet was set to match the space of a poorly-lit transport room in Manhattan where our duo would have recorded their debut album. Is this all it is? Tweak the Distortion to taste when you want to set your room ablaze.

2 Jan 2022