Once upon a time when I was young I played my guitar through a distortion pedal direct into the mic input of a cassette tape.  It did not sound good.
 
Now, when I check out a lot of user presets for various amp sims, I am reminded of that sound.  And the really sad thing is, if there are comments in the user library, everyone is gushing over these tinny buzzy noisy sounds. 
 
I understand some allowances need to be made for different guitars and pickups, and not every tone will sound killer with every guitar.  On the other hand, if you get more noise than sound, or if the patch you are playing makes your humbuckers sound like an ungrounded no-name single coil pawnshop POS in an electrical storm, maybe that's just a bad patch.
 
 
 

Not everyone's going to have solid idea as to what a good tone is, and I'm guessing all these user presets will show that (the good, the bad, and the ugly ). After all, they/we are all using amp sims and most of us can only get so far/close to the real thing. Yeah, I also shake my head on some of these presets and just have to move along.
 
For me, if the general preset has something to offer/pleasing to my ears, that's a good starting point in tweaking to taste......if not....NEXT>>>>......and then Jim comes along to display what the Helix has to offer, and I find myself to be short of $1500.  
 

mumpcake
Once upon a time when I was young I played my guitar through a distortion pedal direct into the mic input of a cassette tape.  It did not sound good.
 
Now, when I check out a lot of user presets for various amp sims, I am reminded of that sound.  And the really sad thing is, if there are comments in the user library, everyone is gushing over these tinny buzzy noisy sounds. 
 
I understand some allowances need to be made for different guitars and pickups, and not every tone will sound killer with every guitar.  On the other hand, if you get more noise than sound, or if the patch you are playing makes your humbuckers sound like an ungrounded no-name single coil pawnshop POS in an electrical storm, maybe that's just a bad patch.
 
 
 

Try the S-Gear demo.

wow, just get a choice little tube amp (fender champ) and a couple pedals, and go to town!
 

 

Mesh
Not everyone's going to have solid idea as to what a good tone is, and I'm guessing all these user presets will show that (the good, the bad, and the ugly ). After all, they/we are all using amp sims and most of us can only get so far/close to the real thing. Yeah, I also shake my head on some of these presets and just have to move along.

The original post was inspired by a trip to the Bias FX user library.  Even though they market it to mega-gainheads, it does have a lot of sounds that are useful to those of us who are not.
 
I don't think all of their factory and artist presets are winners, but the ones I don't like sound like reasonable attempts to make useful sounds.  Some of them might have worked if my guitar sounded similar to the one they were using.  Some I might have liked if I cared for the genre.
 
The user library, however is hypersturgeonic.  I find it amazing that none of the contributors have any clue that what they are posting, has any resemblance to a tone that should be used on record.  No understanding of gain staging, level matching, use of noise reduction.  Just tinnyness and noise.
 
I think I was able to just shake my head and move along after the first few presets, but with the very low signal-to-noise ratio, it got to be disconcerting.  Surely that many people can't have so little of a clue?
 
 
 

You do have to wade through the chaff, but if you stick to Featured Artists or get to know the people who seem to know what they are doing you'll be on the right track, there are some gems there. I haven't bothered with the Tone Cloud for a long time, what is included in BIAS Pro and BIAS Fx Pro and the stuff from the link below does me fine. The Choptones stuff probably isn't 'presets' as such, but more amps featuring different cab and mic setups (I have them all). Just add whatever fx you want and be on your way.
 
BIAS is far more than just for Hi Gain, it can do whatever you like, and do it well, just that most people seem to be into Hi Gain type stuff. For me BIAS is far above anything else in the software realm (I own practically all there is) including the above mentioned S-Gear, which to me is very over rated, haven't even bothered to fire it up in a couple of years.
 
http://shop.choptones.net/positive-grid-bias-patches?limit=100

I agree ML on the Bias sounds.....Fx Pro is my go to guitar sim (I also have GR5, Amplitube 4, POD Farm Plat etc...). I don't have S-Gear yet, but that's on my to get list.
 
I've found some very good gems in Tone Cloud, but the majority are pretty much are like what Mumpcake says and you'll have to spend a little time sorting through them.
 
To use those Choptones products, do you need to have Bias Amp Pro (amp collection) or can they be used in Bias Fx Pro?
That's the only thing I don't like about Positive Grid.....having to buy everything ala carte without an upgrading path. Other than that, it's sounds great to me. 
 
 
I was just going through some of the guitarists that endorsed PG's Bias amps and I like his tone.....BTW, he's also a SPLAT user and posts his tones in Tone Cloud.
 

Make sure your input isn't too hot.  For me, all of my sims sound better when my input peaks around -10.  Also, a proper DI box makes a positive diff over relying on AI INST inputs.

Mesh
I was just going through some of the guitarists that endorsed PG's Bias amps and I like his tone.....BTW, he's also a SPLAT user and posts his tones in Tone Cloud.

I like his playing and his patches aren't bad either.
 
You are right that are some gems in the library, but it does take some effort to find them.  I still maintain the user library is hypersturgeonic.