Is tone junkie profiles trash or not?

Because EVH sounded the same no matter what amp he played on. Hendrix sounded the same too. Etc.

I sound the same no matter what profile I use even though I like to think I sound different.

They aren’t trash, but they aren’t for everyone.

I’m not a fan but know several people who are.

maybe you locked something?

Quote from Calmandweird

What would you suggest?!

MBritt, Top Jimi….Rig Exchange packs before spending.

Quote from Calmandweird

Like?

e.g. amp or cabinet

Quote from Calmandweird

Why do all the Tone Junkie rigs I recently bought sound the same to me?

What I am doing wrong?!

You're not wrong. There are a couple I like though.

Try the nobs in the bottom row

Quote from BayouTexan

Because EVH sounded the same no matter what amp he played on. Hendrix sounded the same too. Etc.

I sound the same no matter what profile I use even though I like to think I sound different.

This is a good point. The player tends to use the same settings, the same settings, and in a lot of cases the same guitar. If I want to sound different I pick up a different guitar. A PRS 513 sounds quite different to a LP Classic, and then there is a lace Strat or a vintage Kramer.

i bought Tone Junkie's "Everything Pack" last year when it was on sale because some of his clean profiles are pretty good. I use one of his 65 Deluxe Reverb profiles as a main clean profile, and have tinkered with a couple of his Twins. I don't care too much for his "rock" amp profiles (Plexi, JCM800, etc.). Many of his cleans are just overly dripping with reverb/delay/chorus, which can be dialed out but overall the profiles are designed with that in mind, and I just don't want to spend the time messing with them to get them back to baseline. I think, generally speaking, he's a heavy P&W player and much of his catalog reflects those tones IMO.

Generally I really like Michael Britt and Matt Figg for Marshall, Friedman, etc., and Britt has some excellent AC30 and tweed profiles.

I have found Tone Junkie profiles to be too bright and brittle in my specific setup. I'm guessing it's the rig he uses to capture and test the profiles compared to what I use.

In fairness, it is rare that I don't tweak a profile at all. Usually I put Definition between 4.5 and 5.0, Tube Shape between 5.0 and 7.0. But hey - that's just the way I prefer it.

My preferred sources are MBritt and Matt Fig.

Quote from Calmandweird

Why do all the Tone Junkie rigs I recently bought sound the same to me?

What I am doing wrong?!

Before spending any money I would suggest going through M Britt & Top Jimi's rig packs. If you can't get a great sound out of those something is definitely wrong. Not a fan of Tone Junkie rigs.

I think it's pretty key to tell us what kind of music you play? What kind of sound are you going for?

To my taste, Tone Junkie is the best. I found two different Matchless profiles that are all I play now. They even replaced my own profiles of my own trusty old amps. TJ FTW.

I personally love his stuff. But tone is subjective. A good starting point with TJ and other profiles makers: Do you like the demos of certain profile packs? If so, do they demo it with a guitar similar to yours, and do you like those tones? TJ usually has a video for each pack with a half dozen or so guitars used with a number of different profiles in the pack at differing gain stages. If you like that pack in general, especially with guitars similar to yours, that's a good indication of whether you'd like a particular pack. His everything pack is periodically $100. Which is insanely good value. He also has a free preview pack, which has dozens of profiles from various packs. If you like any of those, considering listening to the demos and buying the packs that they are from.

I have tone junkie everything packs and a few others. There is some good stuff within it but should you have any issues with them or packs not working correctly then Tone Junkie are pretty much impossible to contact or reach out to. They never respond to any emails or contact forms.
Dill Rigs are excellent.
Top Jiimi are good too and Michael Britt of course. I'd go that way before Tone Junkie.

Calmandweird, what type of tone are you going for? Crunchy Marshall tones, clean Fender tones, Heavy Mesa tones? Different profilers specialize in certain tones.

I use a lot of clean and edge of breakup profiles and tend to lock my own post amp block FX in place and never bother with vendors FX settings. Mbritt has a preferred cab for most profiles and TJ often uses a Scumback (vintage celestion copy) or a Matchless cab with two different speakers on his sets. He uses other cabs - esp Marshall Quad box on his gainier sets. The Everything set from TJ is often discounted down to very affordable levels eg 100 bucks.

I prefer to use a wider set of speaker cabs and both MBritt and Tonejunkie do capture some other speakers/cabs for some of their sets eg Vox Blue or Silver, vinage 10s or 15" speakers. So much of the interesting variation comes from varying the cab/mic setup with an amp so if you like one of the cabs you can lock it on and try other profiles from the set with alternate cabs. Save any combos that you like.