devices · Quad Cortex · reference · tone recipes

tone recipes

which amp to load and the three or four moves that matter. Every amp is named as it appears on the modeler, so you can type it straight into the device list.
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Tone target

7 recipes

Big sparkly clean

CleanOur starting point

A chimey clean. Keep every control modest: too much of anything spoils it.

Start from
Cab

Whatever cab is paired with the amp by default—change it last, not first.

Steps
  1. 01 · Amp

    Gain low, around 2–3.

    Quad Cortex

    A clean amp model still breaks up if you push it. Start below where you think.

  2. 02 · Tone

    Treble up, mids down a touch.

    General

    Scooped mids make a clean sound 'sparkle' instead of 'honk'.

  3. 03 · Compressor

    Add one before the amp, gentle.

    Quad Cortex

    Evens out the picking so the sparkle doesn't disappear on quiet notes.

  4. 04 · Reverb

    Put it on the second row, mixed low.

    Quad Cortex

    Parallel keeps the note definition that a clean tone lives on.

What gets in the way
  • Clean tones peak much higher than they feel. Leave 12 dB of headroom or they clip at the desk.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0 · Quad Cortex Wiki: Gain Staging

Edge of breakup

Edge of breakupOur starting point

Clean when you play softly, growling when you dig in. The most useful sound on the modeler.

Start from
Steps
  1. 01 · Amp

    Gain around 4–5, master up.

    Quad Cortex

    The breakup should come from the amp working, not from a pedal in front.

  2. 02 · Playing

    Set it with your hardest strum, then play normally.

    General

    If it's clean at full attack, it will never break up.

  3. 03 · Drive

    Add a light overdrive as a boost, gain near zero, level up.

    Quad Cortex

    Pushes the amp harder without adding its own distortion.

Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0

Classic rock crunch

CrunchOur starting point

Plexi-style rhythm parts that cut without turning to mush.

Start from
Steps
  1. 01 · Amp

    Gain 5–6, presence up.

    Quad Cortex

    Plexi-style amps get their bite from presence more than treble.

  2. 02 · Low end

    Roll bass off slightly.

    General

    A crunch sound with too much bass disappears in a band.

  3. 03 · Drive

    A Screamer-style pedal in front, gain low, level high.

    Quad Cortex

    It tightens the low end as much as it adds gain.

Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0

Modern high gain

High gainOur starting point

Tight and palm-mute friendly, with less gain than you expect.

Start from
Steps
  1. 01 · Amp

    Gain around 6, not 9.

    Quad Cortex

    Past a point more gain means less clarity. Modern amp models already have plenty.

  2. 02 · Drive

    Screamer in front, gain at zero, tone up, level up.

    Quad Cortex

    This tightening move is behind almost every modern metal tone.

  3. 03 · Gate

    Add an Input Gate, only enough to stop the hiss.

    Quad Cortex

    High gain plus a gate is a package deal. Too much and your notes get chopped.

  4. 04 · Mids

    Do not scoop them all the way.

    General

    A scooped tone sounds huge alone and vanishes the moment a band starts.

What gets in the way
  • The Input Gate is one of the first blocks the modeler switches off when a preset runs out of processing.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0

Lead that cuts through

LeadOur starting point

A solo sound built as a scene on top of your rhythm, so it switches instantly.

Start from
Steps
  1. 01 · Scenes

    Build it as a scene inside your rhythm preset, not a separate preset.

    Quad Cortex

    Scenes switch with no gap. A separate preset drops out mid-solo.

  2. 02 · Level

    Add 2–3 dB, not 10.

    Quad Cortex

    Cutting through is about midrange, not volume. Too much level makes you louder, not clearer.

  3. 03 · Mids

    Push the mids up for the lead scene.

    General

    The frequency range where a guitar competes with vocals.

  4. 04 · Delay

    Short delay, low mix.

    Quad Cortex

    Adds sustain without smearing fast passages.

Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0

Ambient wash

AmbientOur starting point

Big space that doesn't turn your playing to soup. This is what the Grid is for.

Start from
Steps
  1. 01 · Grid

    Split to row 2 after the cab, put reverb and delay there, mix back.

    Quad Cortex

    Parallel means the wet sound sits beside your dry note instead of on top of it.

  2. 02 · Mixer

    Set the wet row well below the dry row.

    Quad Cortex

    A wet path 3 dB hot sounds great alone and like mud in a band.

  3. 03 · Delay

    Long, low mix, feedback moderate.

    Quad Cortex

    The wash comes from repeats, not from a single loud echo.

What gets in the way
  • One reverb per row pair. If a second will not load, put it on rows 3 and 4.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0 · Forum: the limit of gears

Bass, straight to the desk

BassOur starting point

A clean, solid DI sound that an engineer will be happy with.

Start from
Steps
  1. 01 · Amp

    Gain low, and let the amp model do the coloring.

    Quad Cortex

    Bass distortion is much less forgiving than guitar distortion.

  2. 02 · Compressor

    Gentle, before the amp.

    Quad Cortex

    Evens out string-to-string level, which matters far more on bass.

  3. 03 · Output

    XLR to the desk, cab block on.

    Quad Cortex

    The engineer wants a finished sound, not a raw DI they have to fix.

Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0
Where to go next

real amps, each read from its schematic, ready for your Quad Cortex.

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