The HeadRush Prime can Clone amps, pre-amps, distortion pedals, overdrive pedals, and most fuzz pedals. It's an amazing tool that is able to capture unique tones with incredible speed and accuracy. For those having trouble, here are a few tips and tricks to get started.
Contents
- Limitations of the Amp Cloner
- What to do if you're not getting signal
- What Amp Output should I use if I'm not using a Mic?
- I don't see the Amp Clone in my IR folder. Where do I find them?
Limitations of the Amp Cloner
Certain gated fuzz pedals are not able to be cloned at this time. A “gated fuzz” doesn’t mean that there is an actual noise gate in the fuzz pedal, but that the bias is shifted so hard, that the signal is cutting out on low input volumes (which is a Noise Gate-like behavior).
Some older fuzz pedals that were designed to be connected to a high-Z (high impedance) guitar output (7k to 15kohms) are not able to be cloned directly into the HeadRush Prime without the use of a ReAmp box.
Time-based effects like flanger, chorus, and delay effects are unable to be cloned at this time.
What to do if you're not getting signal
The first thing you're going to want to check is your cables- make sure you're still getting signal from your guitar via the IN block on your rig, and make sure that the output block is showing signal.
If the signal is coming in weak, make sure to turn up the microphone gain knob until the signal in reaches -6 dB comfortably. If it is not, you may need to turn up your pedal, or replace a cable in your setup.
In addition, when using the AMP+CAB option, please make sure to test your microphone with the DRY MIC toggle on your rig, this will allow you to make sure you're getting a signal through the microphone for recording.
When using a pedal, please make sure you are going into the Microphone input port with your pedal, as it will not record via your FX Loop receive. If you are not getting a signal through, your FX Loop is a good way to test the pedal to make sure the cables and pedal itself are working properly. In addition, if you have a "To Amp" and a "To Mixer" option on your pedal, use the "To Mixer", as this output has a fuller range of tone available for recording.
What Amp Output should I use if I'm not using a Mic?
When using AMP/PRE-AMP options, please do not connect the amplifier's powered speaker outputs directly to your Headrush Prime's microphone input.
When using a direct output with your amp head, please use the FX Loop Send instead, or if using an amp without an FX Loop, please reach out to the manufacturer to see which outputs are unpowered direct outputs the unit.
I don't see the Amp Clone in my IR folder. Where do I find them?
The Headrush Prime's Amp Cloner does not create IRs of the hardware you have cloned, instead creating a more advanced block of the Amp's capabilities and giving them more advanced parameters for editing inside the Headrush Prime unit. When recalling them for use inside your rigs, they can be found in Amp Clones.
The amp cloning process is coming in a lot louder than my setup levels
While the amp cloning process is relatively self contained from your other functionalities like Rigs, there are a few settings that can affect the cloning process from the outside. Beyond the mic volume knob on the outside of your unit, inside your global settings on the Audio Tab is a setting to adjust the level of your 1/4 output; which is set by some users to Line. For the amp cloning process the setting will need to be set to Amp, or else it will be amplifying the signals the cloner sends to a Line level signal and adding +12 dB, which would bring your cloner signal from -6 to +6 and potentially damage your amp.
If you are still having trouble with your Prime's Dry Mic function, please use the New Support Ticket button at the top to contact our support team for further assistance.