Guitar sound always distorted.

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elsmandino
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Guitar sound always distorted.

Post by elsmandino »

Hi there.

I would be really grateful for some advice.

I have just installed Ubuntu Studio and have connected my guitar (Ibanez RG505) to it via a Steinberg UR22 MKII.

I have been messing around with Rakarrack and Guitarix and am finding that even though I can hear the change in sound, everything seems to sound at least slightly distorted.

Even the presets, that are meant to sound like acoustic guitars, end up with a slightly overdriven sound to them.

Any pointers on what to do would be much appreciated.
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milo
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Re: Guitar sound always distorted.

Post by milo »

What are your input levels? Are you clipping the inputs?
Aleks
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Re: Guitar sound always distorted.

Post by Aleks »

I had the same problem. Same soundcard, same computer, but I had to turn the volume knob on my guitar quite far back to get a clean sound, and then it would sound thin. I found this solution:

https://oldschoolmetalhead.com/2019/02/ ... ent-tamer/

I also hooked up a resistor before the diodes, right after my guitar signal. I don't know the value of it though. It would be better to replace that with a potentiometer wired in series. What is interesting is, that this setup not just made the unwanted harsh clipping go away, but also the annoying crackling. Though, I get no distortion in rakarrack or any of the gx plugins, so I must have used a resistor with too large value. So, next would be to build some kind of a variable load box, like I described above. Another solution would be to use an audio transformer.
elsmandino
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Re: Guitar sound always distorted.

Post by elsmandino »

Thanks for your replies.

At the moment, I have gain at at 50% on the interface.

I tried the preset on Guitarix called Sonnie_Tele / clean_clean and it just sounded like a semi-rock track.

I checked on youtube and someone else, using the same preset, got a perfectly clear and bright sound.

I tried turning down the volume but by the time it gets to the point that the distortion goes, you cannot hear anything anymore.

I have used this very guitar, with Cubase, before and it was absolutely fine.

Do you thin that it is this particular interface, with Linux, that is causing the problem?
WforWoollyMammoth
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Re: Guitar sound always distorted.

Post by WforWoollyMammoth »

What kind of an effect does toggling the hi-z button on the interface have?
Basslint
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Re: Guitar sound always distorted.

Post by Basslint »

elsmandino wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2020 10:42 pm I tried turning down the volume but by the time it gets to the point that the distortion goes, you cannot hear anything anymore.
What volume did you turn down? The volume knob on your guitar?
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