Best Low watt amp model to build 'do it all' preset by altering guitar volume knob

Gene

Inspired
Hi everyone, Happy new Year to you all.

Before I bought my Axe FX 2 XL I got rid of all my high wattage guitar amps because they were just too loud for most gigs and I am micing them up through front of house PA anyway. So, I moved to low wattage amps from 5 to 13 watt instead. I normally set the amp volume high and just use my little finger on the guitar's volume pot to roll from cleanish to full on overdrive. I guess you could say it is the old fashioned way of doing things but since I adopted this way of working it is very easy to change your sound 'on the fly' at gigs as required and it puts all the control in the fingers.

Some amps (even small ones) however can get 'hissy' when you do this as the are running at full tilt or damn near it.

Before Christmas I was working on a preset based on the Supro model and it's 1 x 15 speaker cab sim to try and achieve this but again I got a bit of hiss going on. This is quite normal as it happens with actual amps too and the Axe fx is emulating their behaviour anyway. But I would love to get this without any hiss (I know I can use a gate).

But my question is, what in your opinion is the best low wattage amp model in the Quantum 6.02 to try and do this with that will stay reasonably 'quiet' with least amount of hiss?

I am trying to avoid using any pedals or drive blocks at all. My reason for this is simple. I do a lot of 'pick up playing' with bands at short notice when they are stuck (for example when the regular player is sick etc) and sometimes I get to a venue where there is simply no place at my feet to place the MFC or any pedals for that matter, I sing too and have a mic stand in front of me always. I am looking at the TRIAD orbit stands to help solve that one. Drummers sometimes take up a lot of room on stage and leave us with the "where am I supposed to go?" question !!!! LOL

Anyway in such an instance just running the axe fx into FOH via XLR and selecting a preset and using the guitar's volume and nothing else during the entire gig is just the ticket. I am used to doing entire gigs this way with small amps and intend building a preset in the AXE FX 2 XL for such too.

So, I am going to go at this again now and try create such a preset now that my busy time at Christmas is nearly done.

I decided to ask you all for your advice, opinions and any ideas will be appreciated.

I better tell you I play mostly Old school rock & roll such as Chuck Berry right up to a lot of classic Hendrix, Cream, Deep Purple and Zep etc but sometimes go heavier too but a good preset for these styles will do the job. That is why I went about making a preset based on the Supro.

Thanks all :)
 
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Try the Mesa sims, in my experience the Mark IV channel 3 covers a ton of ground. I can't offer any Axe Fx specific advice though, I use mine through studio monitors at lower volume.
 
Hi Scary, I will try their low watt fractal mesa sims and see. I never owned a Mesa but still have an old Fryette designed VHT GP3 preamp that was bloody brilliant. Made very near the boogie factory if memory serves me correctly. I used to run it into a TC Electronic G Major into a Marshall 9100 monobloc power amp and a 4x12 running V30's bloody great tone, still have that rig but too heavy and bulky but will take it out someday for the right gig.
I use a LEM T4MA coaxial 12 active monitor for axe fx live. A guy in Matrix amps told me it was very good (they must have checked them out at some stage). I also use a TC Helicon VoiceLive 150 for small gigs. Does the job so long as you running axe fx to PA. Very portable solution too. It mounts on a mic stand.
I will look at the wiki amp list for the wee Boogies and try the channel 3 on your Mk IV. Cheers :)
 
Why limit yourself to low watt models ? I understand how you couldn't crank a 50 or 100 watt head in the real world to get the tone you were after, but in the virtual world, you can have the tone of any amp cranked as loud as you like, yet still have total control over the actual output level.

I can play a jumped Plexi, everything on 10, at 1am with everyone in the house sleeping, and still get the same tone

Main reason I bought an axe
 
Why limit yourself to low watt models ? I understand how you couldn't crank a 50 or 100 watt head in the real world to get the tone you were after, but in the virtual world, you can have the tone of any amp cranked as loud as you like, yet still have total control over the actual output level.

I can play a jumped Plexi, everything on 10, at 1am with everyone in the house sleeping, and still get the same tone

Main reason I bought an axe
You know you have a very valid point there! You get much hiss on it?
 
I think I will have to use a small boss latch pedal connected to the pedal jack to engage a drive block for the more overdriven sounds. It is the hiss with the amps master turned up loud that bugs me I suppose. Even when I roll off the guitar's volume to clean up the sound the hiss from the model is still there but a 'real' amp does the exact same thing and the AXE FX is just doing it's job replicating what an actual amp does. I am using various guitars including some with noiseless pickups.
If I reduce the amp master the hiss will go and I can kick in the drive for the more driven sounds.
I was just hoping to be able to do it without the drive block and get rid of the hiss perhaps some way. But as I stated earlier this is the way 'real' amps behave and the Axe FX is replicating this too as I suppose it should.
Can't have it every way!! Not the end of the world the unit still sounds great.
Thanks for the replies..........Gene
 
I think I will have to use a small boss latch pedal connected to the pedal jack to engage a drive block for the more overdriven sounds. It is the hiss with the amps master turned up loud that bugs me I suppose. Even when I roll off the guitar's volume to clean up the sound the hiss from the model is still there but a 'real' amp does the exact same thing and the AXE FX is just doing it's job replicating what an actual amp does. I am using various guitars including some with noiseless pickups.
If I reduce the amp master the hiss will go and I can kick in the drive for the more driven sounds.
I was just hoping to be able to do it without the drive block and get rid of the hiss perhaps some way. But as I stated earlier this is the way 'real' amps behave and the Axe FX is replicating this too as I suppose it should.
Can't have it every way!! Not the end of the world the unit still sounds great.
Thanks for the replies..........Gene

Be sure to set your Input Trim properly. If you are using single-coil pickups then you want to increase the Input Trim. This will optimize the S/N Ratio. With a properly optimized SNR the Axe-Fx has less self-noise than your guitar.
 
Be sure to set your Input Trim properly. If you are using single-coil pickups then you want to increase the Input Trim. This will optimize the S/N Ratio. With a properly optimized SNR the Axe-Fx has less self-noise than your guitar.
Hi, do you mean the amp INPUT TRIM in the amp block or the INSTRUMENT IN in the I/O ? I have the overall I/O input level set correctly. Ah, when gigging any noise will be masked when the band are playing anyway. I agree the unit is very quiet on the bassman patches etc. it is really super quiet.
 
Hi, do you mean the amp INPUT TRIM in the amp block or the INSTRUMENT IN in the I/O ? I have the overall I/O input level set correctly. Ah, when gigging any noise will be masked when the band are playing anyway. I agree the unit is very quiet on the bassman patches etc. it is really super quiet.

The "INSTR IN" knob in the I/O->INPUT menu.
 
Hi Gene.
I use the Badger model for this very purpose. (18W). I set the amp so that I have the overdriven sound I want and just clean up with volume and/or tone depending on the feel I'm after. Works great.
Hi PatZag,

I will read up on that model and try it. Any chance you could stick your preset up on AxeXchange or send a link to it?

The 5F1 Tweed: based on Fender Tweed Champ , I'm gonna make a preset with it coupled to a 12 or 15" cab sim to see how it behaves. It is supposed to go 'FARTY' when it maxed out which could be fun, though the 'Fartiness' is probably due to it's 8" speaker in the actual amp.

Good to see another user using the Axe FX like this too. I will work on a few of these presets and if I get some good results I will let you know.

I have a ROCKTRON Midi Xchange midi controller which is small and has some nifty features if space is an issue too here is a link:
http://www.rocktron.com/midi-xchange.html

it has a handy feature that allows you to switch over and back between two presets which could be say 5 and 125 at the press of a button, handy for lead and rhythm. It can take two expression pedals too but their cc's are fixed but you can map them in the Axe FX.
 
Tweed Deluxe. Princeton Reverb.

As Cliff said, the "wattage" of the virtual amp doesn't matter; try the Twin Reverb, too. IIUC, this is modeled on a blackface amp that is way less clean than the later silverface versions.
 
Try the wreckers, comets, and rockets for this, I think this is exactly what designers had in mind.
Just reading YEK's writeup on these wreckers and the builders notes. These may be just the right choice as they were designed to be controlled from the hands and the volume knob on guitar!
 
The CA OD2 can go from Clean to Scream & everything in between with just guitar Vol.
Very dynamic amp.
Others to try:
Fuchs (Fox)
Comet 60
Bludo
Two Rock
 
The CA OD2 can go from Clean to Scream & everything in between with just guitar Vol.
Very dynamic amp.
Others to try:
Fuchs (Fox)
Comet 60
Bludo
Two Rock
Thanks I will try them too. Geting on well with a new Supro preset I'm tweaking now. Very responsive on feel and volume pot changes
 
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