Axe_FX II Rigs, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Digital Modelling.

octatonic

I've updated to it earlier today.

I've been out of the update cycle for quite a while- I went from V13 to V19.

Clearly a big, big change for me.

5153 Red sounds unbelievably good and will be replacing FAS Modern as my main hi gain rhythm tone.

guitarfishbay

5153 red has been mega since G3. If you are recording what I've tried of the ML 5153 cab pack from the FAS store is cool too. Only tried a few IRs so far. Cab Lab 3 is handy, worth a look if you haven't got it already.

octatonic

The DC30 model is pretty damn good too. Very impressed.

Clarky

MatthewShreddery said:

Does anybody here get feedback problems when running high gain sounds?

It seems if I go anywhere near high gain (and I'm not talking silly amounts either) the axe starts whistling and squealing!

I'm running Axe FX2XL into GFX1000 into Matrix FRFR 212 cab.

there can be several causes of this that can accumulate rather than a single thing... things to look for:

check the input gate.. it'll need to be a touch stronger with hi-gain

there's a limit to the amount of gain you can run whilst being able to retain some sort of control [just like with real amps].. so you can't run hard compression / strong overdrive pedal into a screaming hi-gain amp.. and to make things worse, throw the volume right up... so... low volume / practice presets can be quite a bit gainier than hi-volume / gig volume presets..

huge / strong reverbs / delays will make things worse.. as will extreme EQ settings...

rule of thumb...

Low volume presets can be quite extreme

High volume presets need to be calmed down.. but don't try to calm it all in one place / via a single parameter or you'll screw your tone / the feel.. so make smaller 'calming' cuts in lots of places..

a little less gain / compression, a little less reverb / delay, a little less strongly eq'd, a slightly stronger gate threshold

Q - what is active in the FX chain when the squealing happens? and does it only happen at high volume or does it happen regardless of the volume..?

MatthewShreddery

@Clarky - thanks for that mate.

I'll try your suggestions.

There are so many variables on the Axe!

So many different ways of changing levels - it's quite confusing

Clarky

no worries matey

let us know how you get on and what your fix was

MatthewShreddery

I suspect some of the problem might be that I need to sort out my microphonic pickups in my Strat, but I haven't tried another guitar to verify that.

Clarky

I know that it is possible to pile in so much gain that it'll squeal even with headphones on..

note though, that I can do this with the 2112 too.. so it's not just the Axe, but most rack units..

because they can allow you to go right over the top with stuff

cbellanga

MatthewShreddery;677673" said:

@Clarky - thanks for that mate.I'll try your suggestions.There are so many variables on the Axe!So many different ways of changing levels - it's quite confusing

That's pretty much why I've sold the fx8. Spent the whole rehearsal tweaking the levels / drives instead of playing. It was quite frustrating, considering my setup is pretty straight forward and my "old" pedalboard was just working fine.

octatonic

cbellanga said:

MatthewShreddery;677673" said:

@Clarky - thanks for that mate.I'll try your suggestions.There are so many variables on the Axe!So many different ways of changing levels - it's quite confusing

That's pretty much why I've sold the fx8. Spent the whole rehearsal tweaking the levels / drives instead of playing. It was quite frustrating, considering my setup is pretty straight forward and my "old" pedalboard was just working fine.

It takes a couple of weeks of use to get your head around it.

It all depends on what the musical needs are- a lot of guys who bought AFX's massively underused the feature set.

If you just need a single amp with a bit of delay and reverb then there are solutions that do that with less hassle than the AFX.

The other side of the fence is the guys who have WAY too many presets and variations going on.

It becomes impossible to manage, levels are off all over the place and it sounds shittier than a regular amp with a couple of pedals used well.

MatthewShreddery

@Octatonic

Thanks for your input

I totally get your point.

I intend to use the Axe for: 

Rock/function band type stuff with an electric solid body guitar

Classical guitar stuff (nylon obviously)

Jazz gigs (archtop)

Recording sessions.

If I can get it to do all that I'll be very pleased.

I knew it was going to be a massive learning curve before buying the complete rig. I use axe edit which helps a lot.

I'm so not a techy kind of person though, so I wonder if I'll have the patience to do the 'studying' required to understand the features of the axe.

I gigged the other day with my laney VH100r and some pedals - sounded great.

I shall persevere.

Clarky

the biggest thing with the Axe is learning how things sound... because there are soooo many combinations available..

the biggest deal is matching the cab to the amp.. it's the difference between 'meh..' 'ok'... 'pretty good' and 'rocking you tits totally off'...

also... it makes a difference if you are FRFR live, or real cab/s..

MatthewShreddery

When you say matching the cab to the amp, do you mean inside the axe? As in, matching the cab block to the amp block?

I'm gonna run frfr live as I've bought the NL212 cab so I want to use it !

Clarky

ahhh.... a thing to add cabs wise.... the obvious things to do are... putting a JCM800 with a 1960A, or a Fender Twin with a Fender 2x12 cab... in order to reproduce the real world.... however.. the Axe is like having a huge warehouse full of amps and cabs... so.... don't be afraid to try everything through everything else....

my personal fave cabs are the 4x12 TV mix and the 4x12 AX mix... I put every amp I use through those and know they'll work great... they're my default 'goto' cabs

MatthewShreddery

Cheers Clarky.

One thing I wanted to ask was:

For simplicity, I've been running the output level at maximum when designing my patches.

Will this be affecting the tone?

I do it so that rather than guesstimating where I had it set last I just whack it up full and I know that's where it was!

ElectroDan

One contributor over on the Fractal forum commented that there seemed to be a lot of senior members/Beta testers selling their AFX2's. He inferred that this may be a sign of how good the AX8 (that they are secretly beta testing) is.

AndyJP

Anyone tried the new FW yet?

guitarfishbay

MatthewShreddery;678599" said:

Cheers Clarky.

One thing I wanted to ask was:

For simplicity, I've been running the output level at maximum when designing my patches.Will this be affecting the tone?I do it so that rather than guesstimating where I had it set last I just whack it up full and I know that's where it was!

I'm out right now but 100% certain you can view output values as a percentage on one screen, I think it is in IO where you see the sideways level meter underneath you see output 1 and 2 as percentage values. I write percentages down for studio stuff as I record using XLR and need to be able to punch in again later at the same level if necessary.

Clarky

MatthewShreddery said:

Cheers Clarky.

One thing I wanted to ask was:

For simplicity, I've been running the output level at maximum when designing my patches.

Will this be affecting the tone?

I do it so that rather than guesstimating where I had it set last I just whack it up full and I know that's where it was!

I make certain that the presets themselves do make the 'clip' LED light at all..

then:

- Studio: I run the output 1 control on the front panel of the Axe at about 3 o'clock [near flat out]

- Live: I set my power amp to roughly 60% - 70% of max, and then set the level I actually want from the Axe output 1 control

with any rack unit, so long as the presets are not too hot and clipping it internally, the output level don't really effect the tone… BUT… you do have to consider the effects of that output signal with respect to what comes next in the signal chain… like a mixing desk's channel strip input, or power amp input… cos you can overdrive those if you're too hot..

generally you can hear that sort of thing… cos it can be pretty nasty sounding..

I generally do not set up my presets particularly hot for this very reason.. certainly nothing like as hot as the factory ones..

my ethos is basically.. keep the levels well below what they can possibly peak at.. and use a huge power amp that's far bigger than what I actually need.. so all the "pre power amp" levels have plenty of headroom.. and the power amp itself is easily able to get up to gig volumes…

Clarky's rule of thumb: if you actually need 50W, get 1000W… lmao

Handsome_Chris

Blimey!!! Used the 5153 Red in anger tonight.  I cut through the other guitarist like mad. Does that make me a bad person?