Having Trouble Setting Up FX Chains In Reaper

[JakAngelescu]

Hey everyone! I'm getting a lot better with using Reaper but the biggest problem I'm having is setting up FX chains with amp simulators and stuff. A few of the problems I'm having are....

1. The sound randomly cuts out. If I do a vibrato or a bend, randomly it's like the signal cuts out and it cuts the sound. So it sounds like I'm doing a sustained vibrato and it just stops. It's not my cable because it works just fine through my amp.
2. I hear two different tones in my headphones. I literally hear a clean guitar tone (like the sound you have when the record button isn't armed and it just sounds like a bad clean tone) along with the amp simulator tone. I hear them both at the same time.

I have searched all over the internet to no avail.

Setting up FX chains has been the bane of my guitar recording because nothing sounds good. Like, at all. I get a great tone straight into my amp, which is why I'm buying an amp mic on my next paycheck.
It seems like every Youtube video/Guitar Reaper tutorial tells me to set up the chain differently. But here is where I'm standing at currently...

Reatune
Reagate
VST3 Ignite Emissary
VST3 Ignite Nadir
JS Distortion
JS Reaverbate

Any help would be much appreciated. I have spent at least 200 hours trying to figure out how to dial in a decent tone and everything sounds like shit. Thanks guys and gals!

 

[Ed Seith]

#1 sounds like you have too much noise gate.
#2 sounds like you have local monitoring on in your Focusrite, and so you’re hearing clean signal going through the interface (before FX) and then the processed sound right after it.

 

[Ed Seith]

Also, could be Reatune is set up for something wonky with pitch correction? I'd pull that out for guitar tracks. I think it's like auto-tune and a tuner, and you're better off with a Snark than running that plugin all the time. Better use of that on vocals maybe.

 

[JakAngelescu]

@Ed Seith thank you so much for your help! I'm gonna be sitting down soon to try all of these suggestions. I really appreciate it!

I thought Reatune was just to be left on for when you needed to tune your guitar. But you're right maybe it is doing something wonky. I'll let you know!