Midnight Rambler v1.2.1 - Tweed 5E3 Virtual Stompbox

Midnight Rambler 1.2.1

A tweed-flavoured stompbox built around a 1957 Fender Tweed Deluxe and a 1971 Twin Reverb cabinet. Free.

Three channels

CLEAN, EDGE and CRANKED are the same amplifier with the instrument volume progressively further up — not three different amps. CLEAN is the 5E3 with the unused channel wide open: tight and clear, breaking up only when you dig in. EDGE is the classic point where it starts to give. CRANKED is the volume all the way, with natural compression and thick harmonics.

All three are level-matched against each other, measured with real signal, so the switch changes character rather than loudness.

New captures throughout

The amplifier models are captures of a 1957 Tweed Deluxe hand-wired reissue by Daniel Nguyen.

The cabinet is a 1971 Fender Twin Reverb with its original Oxford 12T6-10 speakers, captured by Nathaniel Dahman from his own amp — a Royer R-121 and a Shure SM57, both at the centre of the cap.

The BLEND position is a 70/30 mix of the two, phase-aligned before summing. The two microphones sit a few samples apart, because a ribbon capsule is deeper in the body than a dynamic; summing them as they came would have dropped a comb notch right in the cabinet's bite. Aligned, BLEND lands exactly between WARM and SHARP, so the selector reads as one ladder from dark to bright.

Easier switching

The channel and mic selectors now work three ways: click the label of the position you want and it goes straight there, drag the lever, or use the mouse wheel. No more cycling through the middle position to get where you're going.

INFO panel

Version, session sample rate and buffer size, and the content credits.

Lighter, not heavier

The impulse responses were trimmed to where their energy actually ends — verified against the originals at 0.001 dB of deviation across the audible band. The cabinet section costs less CPU than it did in 1.1.0, despite the extra channel.

Credits

Amp models — Daniel Nguyen (TONE3000)
Cabinet IRs — Nathaniel Dahman (DahmanMusic.com)
Testing & tone — Claudio Crespino

Both authors gave permission for their captures to be included here. Model and IR authors provided the captures; all selection, voicing and level-matching decisions are Main St Audio Labs'.

Existing projects: 1.2.0 adds a channel, and sessions saved with 1.1.0 are migrated automatically — what you left on EDGE opens on EDGE.