Bundles are the new black!

Manny Fufish

Manny Fufish

Power User
I for one am loving the new Amp Factory bundled Presets and I'm stoked to hear more are on the way! I think the IR professionally matched to the amp in a versatile sample preset is the perfect jump off point.

I also love the new batch of drive presets that came from Freman recently. You just dump all the files in \drives directory under AxeEdit, and the next time you go into AxeEdit, all of these great drive presets are at your disposal.

If you haven't tried opening the Amp Factory presets and adding Freman's drives in front of these great amps and cabs you are really missing out! Today I ran the Big Bluesy preset under the Lil' Tex folder with Freman's BB Pre 2 in front of it, and holy smokes, it sounds amazing!!! It may be considered AxeFX for Dummies, but I'm getting incredible sounds in under a minute in any genre I could ever need!

What I'm hoping is that someone releases a set of effect presets in much the same way Freman did for drives. I donated to Freman for his presets and pedals and bought the Platinum pack from Andy at TAF and I would gladly pay for others at this level of quality. The more tightly coupled this gets with bundles the better.. What I'm really hoping is someone takes on the rest of the effects, matching the coveted pedals we are often looking for. Bring up a great Country preset from TAF and add a Keeley Compressor, an Aqua Puss Delay, and a Swamp-Thing Tremolo and off you go!

This is really what I have always hoped the AxeFX would become providing all the best it has to offer to the masses! Brrrring it!
 
In addition, Simeon also had a great collection of pitch blocks effects, and also a bunch of pretty impressive synth presets

So you've got a ton of great synth presets, pitch blocks, and then a ton of delay blocks/presets in addition to the cool drive blocks by Freman. Hopefully everyone can throw a few bucks of contribute to each of these fine gentleman for their efforts.
 
Soo..probably a dumb question Manny...but are these presets a huge night a day contrast from the factory presets? Just curious how much of a difference they really are before spending $50 US on them. I've been burned in the past I guess..so just curious if it's a drastic difference. Thanks!
 
codyraptor said:
Soo..probably a dumb question Manny...but are these presets a huge night a day contrast from the factory presets? Just curious how much of a difference they really are before spending $50 US on them. I've been burned in the past I guess..so just curious if it's a drastic difference. Thanks!
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Tone-wise, presets are incredibly dependent on who they were designed for and who is using them. That's why the AxeChange is free. If you're buying presets for a certain *effect*, routing *setup*, or the like, then I'd say full speed ahead. But IMO, spending money on presets thinking they'll get you an exact *tone* is more likely to leave you feeling burned again than anything.
 
ccroyalsenders said:
Tone-wise, presets are incredibly dependent on who they were designed for and who is using them. That's why the AxeChange is free. If you're buying presets for a certain *effect*, routing *setup*, or the like, then I'd say full speed ahead. But IMO, spending money on presets thinking they'll get you an exact *tone* is more likely to leave you feeling burned again than anything.
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Truth.
 
codyraptor said:
Soo..probably a dumb question Manny...but are these presets a huge night a day contrast from the factory presets? Just curious how much of a difference they really are before spending $50 US on them. I've been burned in the past I guess..so just curious if it's a drastic difference. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I bought the bronze pack and for me the answer is absolutely yes. Best tones I've ever gotten out of the Axe. IMO they're a lot like using great profiles from the KPA, but much more flexible.


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This is in no way a swipe at the KPA, but, in the 2 or 3 months I owned one, I found that I did not like probably a good 95% of the profiles I tried, 4% were decent, and 1% was amazing.

I had an external USB memory stick with probably 5,000 or so profiles (kind of cool being able to use USB to store profiles without the need for the PC) and for my taste, with my guitars, so many just missed the mark. Same thing goes for back when I had software like Amplitube, various L6 products etc. Tons of stuff out there but most of it was a miss.

I the Andy is representing a fantastic value with what, 450 patches for $50, BUT, I also think its not like I personally would end up using/liking 90% of them. Kind of comes down to how many dirty blues, as an example, tones do I need ? I kind of settle in on one or two that sounds "best" to my ears and I'm pretty well sorted.

For me, that usually is a Bassman model for some breakup, or the Concert or Bandmaster models when I want it to stay really clean. Those are pretty much my tones. Try a few different IR's til I again I found what I think sounds "right" and the tone search is pretty much over. At least as far as amp/cab goes.

I think to a degree all the options of the Axe kind of makes us overthink what used to be a pretty simple process.

Now then moving onto effects, that is a different issue, and can take a fair bit more trying stuff out, much like guys did/still do with pedal boards. Maybe you need to try 10 different drive models to find the one that sounds best with your amp, your guitar etc, but at least its quick and easy on the Axe and doesn't involve a lot of buying/selling.

I'm certainly not suggesting anyone not buy more presents, but, if they do so, keep in mind that your unlikely to end up with hundreds of "go to" tones that are all going to sound unique. This is true with IR packs as well. Sure you may get 25 different speakers and tons of mic combo's for thousands of options, but are you really going to use 50 different IR's during a set ? Probably not. Probably, if your like me, going to end up with a handful of them. I'm to the point where I've got easily 10,000 IR's on my PC and its rather diminishing returns to buy more.

Options are certainly a good thing, but I think its easy to fall into a trap of thinking if I just get just that one new present, or that new cab IR my tone is going to be amazing.
 
lqdsnddist said:
This is in no way a swipe at the KPA, but, in the 2 or 3 months I owned one, I found that I did not like probably a good 95% of the profiles I tried, 4% were decent, and 1% was amazing.

I had an external USB memory stick with probably 5,000 or so profiles (kind of cool being able to use USB to store profiles without the need for the PC) and for my taste, with my guitars, so many just missed the mark. Same thing goes for back when I had software like Amplitube, various L6 products etc. Tons of stuff out there but most of it was a miss.

I the Andy is representing a fantastic value with what, 450 patches for $50, BUT, I also think its not like I personally would end up using/liking 90% of them. Kind of comes down to how many dirty blues, as an example, tones do I need ? I kind of settle in on one or two that sounds "best" to my ears and I'm pretty well sorted.

For me, that usually is a Bassman model for some breakup, or the Concert or Bandmaster models when I want it to stay really clean. Those are pretty much my tones. Try a few different IR's til I again I found what I think sounds "right" and the tone search is pretty much over. At least as far as amp/cab goes.

I think to a degree all the options of the Axe kind of makes us overthink what used to be a pretty simple process.

Now then moving onto effects, that is a different issue, and can take a fair bit more trying stuff out, much like guys did/still do with pedal boards. Maybe you need to try 10 different drive models to find the one that sounds best with your amp, your guitar etc, but at least its quick and easy on the Axe and doesn't involve a lot of buying/selling.

I'm certainly not suggesting anyone not buy more presents, but, if they do so, keep in mind that your unlikely to end up with hundreds of "go to" tones that are all going to sound unique. This is true with IR packs as well. Sure you may get 25 different speakers and tons of mic combo's for thousands of options, but are you really going to use 50 different IR's during a set ? Probably not. Probably, if your like me, going to end up with a handful of them. I'm to the point where I've got easily 10,000 IR's on my PC and its rather diminishing returns to buy more.

Options are certainly a good thing, but I think its easy to fall into a trap of thinking if I just get just that one new present, or that new cab IR my tone is going to be amazing.
Click to expand...

I've talked with some seasoned veterans of KPA and they all kind of say the same thing: if they didn't have a good selection of amplifiers and a good space to shoot profiles, the Kemper would essentially be useless to them. They echoed the same sentiments as you. You can try thousands of profiles and only like 1 or 2 of them. They essentially use the KPA for creating profiles when they dial in a particularly awesome sound on their tube rigs - i.e. when the amps having a splendid day and they nail the tone they are after. They then profile it and save it for recording purposes.

Similarly, I've not had any luck at all with other people's Axe-fx II tone matches, presets, etc. It's meant for the player that made it. Not me. So while some of the presets might get you in the ball park, I'm just not sure I wouldn't get better results picking an IR and quick-building my own presets. Now... when it comes to complex effects routings and the like, it becomes a bit more understandable. Those, for the most part, you can tailor to what you already have going.
 
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ccroyalsenders said:
Tone-wise, presets are incredibly dependent on who they were designed for and who is using them. That's why the AxeChange is free. If you're buying presets for a certain *effect*, routing *setup*, or the like, then I'd say full speed ahead. But IMO, spending money on presets thinking they'll get you an exact *tone* is more likely to leave you feeling burned again than anything.
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This.

Why I am a lukewarm fan of Axechange. While good in concept, there are too many interdependencies for it to be invaluable.

I find the baseline factory presets to be much more effective...and there is NO substitution for learning the box and tweaking for *your* sound.

IMO.

R
 
electronpirate said:
This.

I find the baseline factory presets to be much more effective...and there is NO substitution for learning the box and tweaking for *your* sound.

IMO.

R
Click to expand...

+1000

Tweaking a patch really isn't the rocket science some users seem scared it is. Granted the Axe does have a ton of parameters, and frankly unless your building/modding amps I doubt many of us really have a clue what they, you don't need to touch that stuff just to get a great tone.

I sometimes get the feeling people feel as if "unless I know exactly how to tweak the bias excursion and recovery time I can't get a great tone". Well that simply isn't true because you really don't need to mess with that stuff, and to my ears, it hardly ever makes an audible difference, nor do I really have a clue what it does

Now, if the Axe had just one amp model, and that model had a few hundred parameters you needed to know how to tweak in order to make it sound like a specific amp, then yes, you'd really have to know what your doing, BUT, the axe has over 200!

If a given amp model doesn't have the chime or grind or whatever adjective you want, use a different one that does.

I for example always thought of myself as a Marshall guy, but the Marshall, as great as they are, didn't give me quite the tone in my head. Well I could either maybe take some courses in electrical engineering and try to learn what all that advanced stuff does and try to make them do what I want, OR, I could just try some different models.

Friedman's and the Carol Ann stuff, the Tuscana in particular, simply nailed the tone in my head. No need to tweak anything, outside of stuff I understand like the input gain, tone stack and master.


Speaking as an aside for a moment too, most patches I check out from people actually don't really tweak all that many parameters, especially not the advanced ones.

I don't think Andy for example is spending 8 hours under the hood totally revamping every aspect of an amp model for every one of his 450 presets. Its more of just basic tone stack and picking a good IR.


Amazing tones can sometimes be stupid simple. Check out Tyler's Bassman patch for example. It sounds amazing (and is one of my favorite Axe models) but all he did was turn up the input gain (use your guitar volume pot), turn down the bass, and switch from a 4x10 IR to a Greenback. Amazing sound and provided the player has chops, anyone listening would surely comment on what a great tone it is.

Its sometimes seriously that simple folks

Turn down the bass (I find a lot of patches too bassy)

Adjust the MV (non-MV amps don't need to be dimed and more isn't always better)

Try a different IR, such as a 4x12 cab IR instead of a smaller combo amp IR

Use your guitar volume. Its there for a reason

Maybe try a drive block in front of an amp (they sound A LOT better with the latest FW)


Just that quick and easy stuff can get your 99% to a great tone
 
I'm very happy with the Bronze preset pack, today I was working on building patches for an upcoming gig (new artist album launch) and it saved me a load of time, I tend to get bogged down with tweaking different amp/cab combinations from scratch.
All the presets I tried sounded great. Well worth the money in my opinion.
 
Speculum Speculorum said:
I've talked with some seasoned veterans of KPA and they all kind of say the same thing: if they didn't have a good selection of amplifiers and a good space to shoot profiles, the Kemper would essentially be useless to them. They echoed the same sentiments as you. You can try thousands of profiles and only like 1 or 2 of them. They essentially use the KPA for creating profiles when they dial in a particularly awesome sound on their tube rigs - i.e. when the amps having a splendid day and they nail the tone they are after. They then profile it and save it for recording purposes.

Similarly, I've not had any luck at all with other people's Axe-fx II tone matches, presets, etc. It's meant for the player that made it. Not me. So while some of the presets might get you in the ball park, I'm just not sure I wouldn't get better results picking an IR and quick-building my own presets. Now... when it comes to complex effects routings and the like, it becomes a bit more understandable. Those, for the most part, you can tailor to what you already have going.
Click to expand...

I guess it depends if you're talking about free profiles or commercial profiles. Good free profiles are like finding a needle in a haystack. Commercial profiles have a much higher hit rate my experience. The Cab Factory bundled amp/cab presets are nothing like the free ones on axe exchange in my experience. Hopefully you've actually tried TCF bundled presets before expressing an opinion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Tweaker - "You need to be on Linux! You can do anything with Linux!"
Non-Tweaker - "But I like (Insert favorite OS here) and it does exactly what I need it to do..."
Tweaker - "But you can do ANYTHING with Linux!"

That's kinda' what this conversation is reminding me of...

Totally cool whichever side of the fence you are on with this, I know some feel this is AxeFX for Dummies and that's cool with me.

I've never technically understood the idea that presets need to be built up specifically for each user however. I thought the idea of the Axe is that it matches the amp as close to perfectly as possible... I have never heard of anyone buying a Fender Deluxe and complaining that they received the Eric Johnson version when they ordered the Eric Clapton version... (Names are so close you know, it's easy to get those confused...) "It's got those special tweaks that allow it to work with MY guitar and MY style of playing, I can't use just any Fender Deluxe"...

I just want a preset that gives me the amp perfectly matched up to the associated cab in such a way that all I have to do is adjust the B,M,T, MV and Gain as needed 'just like an amp'. I feel the TAF Bundles do this better then the presets that ship with the Axe and most I have found on AxeChange, and I think 450 of them for 50 bucks, is a pretty good bargain. Have you heard Andy is putting out more free for Gold and Platinum users? I bet more IR producers are going to get on this band wagon in the future...

I can't speak for everyone and I'm sure a lot of you are VERY good at creating tones but a seasoned audio engineer whose focus is on Guitar Tones, can create better presets than I can, and I'm more then willing to pay for that.

Now who do I talk to about getting some great Compressor blocks??? Frickin' Woot!!!
 
Manny Fufish said:
I just want a preset that gives me the amp perfectly matched up to the associated cab in such a way that all I have to do is adjust the B,M,T, MV and Gain as needed 'just like an amp'.
Click to expand...


Question though as I see it, both with the the factory presets, user stuff, commercial 3rd party stuff et al., is what is a perfectly matched amp/cab ?

I think a Bassman 4x10 is probably the "right" cab for a Bassman head, but I've never liked that sound. I always paired my real Bassman amps with Greenback loaded 4x12's.

Likewise, a V30 loaded Marshall cab is consider ideal by a lot of folks to go with an Marshall style amp, but again, I simply never liked V30's and as such never used them in anything. I ran G12H Creambacks in mine.

In my Deluxe Reverb I never used the Jensen speaker, preferring Alnico Blues or Eminence speakers.

Its not to say my pairings were more right, nor more wrong, than what some others liked, but simply were my taste.

Heck, now with the Axe, I'm actually using some of the Cab Pack 7 V30 loaded cabs with my Tuscana patches, and even on some cleaner stuff. Is that correctly paired ? Who knows, but it sounds good
 
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