ROCKSMiTH 2014 TONE DESiGNER -> Real World Equivalents

AN ONLINE CROSS-REFERENCE RESOURCE OF TONE DESIGNER AND REAL WORLD EQUIVALENT EFFECTS

It's easy overlook Rocksmith's Tone Designer module, however it's a great resource for learning about how to put together a guitar effects rig and all the components that are available

When I got a Zoom MS50g multi-effect pedal I soon realised the built in effect patches correspond really well with Rocksmith..
The Zoom multi-effects are essentially Tone Designer in a box!

I started wondering about which effects in Rocksmith overlapped with what on the Zoom and the real world pedals they correspond to and so I started keeping a table of my best guesses. This in turn led down the rabbit hole of sonic effect history and has now become something of an obsession. I love the potential of being able to translate the effects from the game into a corresponding patch in my Multistomp. The table of effects I've assembled on google.docs is still very much a work in progress but maybe folks here might find the info useful.

Rocksmith 2014 - Tone Designer -> Real World Equivalents

Here's the Google Spreadsheets LINK [docs.google.com]

Here's a Phone/Tablet friendlier version [docs.google.com]

Alternatively find it via Reddit here



A few caveats:
Many of the tones appear to be generic and so it would foolish to expect a perfect match for everything listed. Finding the 'right' pedal match has been like solving a cryptic crossword puzzle with various clues suggested in the title, graphic icon, description and control layout. Many or most of the virtual effects represent the iconic pioneering ancestors of the multitudes of effect pedals we have today. The process of researching these various devices and their history has been educational and hugely rewarding.

Some Zoom patches offer just a few limited features of a notable device, like the Eventide Space for instance. Others are complete red herrings. For instance Rocksmith's Super Drive icon closely resembles the BD-2 Blues driver in appearance but it is described as an "80's Style Overdrive". The BD-2 came out in '95 so it can't possibly be that! The clue's in the name - Super Drive = SD-1 Super Overdrive. The SD-1 came out in '81 as BOSS's answer to the Tube Screamer. It has a similar mids hump as the famous green pedal and is the only Rocksmith offering that covers the same sonic niche as the iconic Tube Screamer.
Rocksmith doesn't seem to offer a Blues Driver but the v.3 MS-50g does have a Dynamic Drive which is described as "...easily achieves the warm drive tone of a tube amp". Zoom is clearly paraphrasing Boss's own BD-2 blurb: "This popular pedal provides instant access to the kind of warm overdrive and emotive distortion usually reserved for 30-year-old tube amps" - Bingo!

Other effects have been harder to pin down and so the spreadsheet currently remains a work in progress. The Vocoder effects are clearly wrong (presently in Jun '22). I've begun greying out and/or using question marks beside 'iffy' effects that I'm less than certain about. Helpful comments and suggestions for these would be welcome.

I have TWO columns for real world equivalents. This reflects the fact that many Tone Designer/Multistomp are generic and/or overlap. sometimes I put in a modern, currently available, a budget option or a similarly iconic sonic equivalent as an alternative

I've included a 5 star Rating column. Grey stars reflect my impression of an effect from online comments and reviews. Green stars are my own personal view. 3 stars = Neutral, No stars = no opinion, obvs.

As I say, it's an ongoing labour of love obsession and still not complete by any means.I just hope others may find it useful.
Pól

[Alice Axe Shewolfen]

impressive!

[fergusdog]

It's been a while since I had a poke myself and the suggestions below were when I started out. Not sure they are still up to date. I do recall that I got the AT-20 wrong. It's an Ampeg alright, but not a bass one, I think it's supposed to model what was popular for guitars in the 70s. The SVT is one of the bass amps. I've got a list of a bunch more. When you get back into it, shoot me a pm and I'm happy to go through and send you my notes.

[𝙿𝚘́𝚕]

@fergusdog
Thanks for your thoughts on the Amp models.
My list is still incomplete so it's great to get further suggestions - I've been focussing more on the Zoom multistomp equivalents too so your message is a good prompt to revisit the RS2014 equivalents. I'll certainly add your Supersonic suggestion and shall hopefully get some time to follow up your other suggestions when I find some time for more sustained Rocksmith time - Most likely in the autumn...

[fergusdog]

Are you still updating the list?

I've just started to explore ToneDesigner a bit more, mainly because I've started to build CDLCs and I want to get the right tones and for that knowing the right gear is really helpful.

My mission is to edit the gear.psarc and update it with real world names and I made a good start.

If you're still interested (or any one else) I'm happy to exchange notes and discuss.

Here's what I've got after a couple of hours of research:

AMTW is definitely Fender, that's easy.
22 - I recon that's actually not the Tweed Twin but the Super-Sonic 22, mainly because that matches the amp head better I recon.
26 - not 100% sure, but probably a '57 Deluxe?
40 - definitely a Bassman, I'd go with Bassman 800

I think AT is Ampeg.
20 - SVT-CL - the SVT is a classic, and looks similar.
120 - VH-140C - couldn't find any other Ampeg that looks similar

[@]

Thaaaaaaanks!!!!1!!!11 :DD

[𝙿𝚘́𝚕]

If anyone strongly disagrees or knows of a better match, offer your thoughts in the comments

[SAARussian]

Thank ya ma boi Little Eye!

[WillePlay]

as a relative noob thanks was lost trying to find something close
Fund an old zoom 505 at guitar center at GC