FM9 into Fender FR-12 video clip and initial impression

Sounds great, Gary. Love your playing, as always. That Fender sounds like a great option at the price, or at whatever price! My old Super hasn’t seen a stage in years, but I still love hearing that tone!

Total side note, but I’m definitely going to get out to see you play. Ridiculous that I live in Southeast Texas and haven’t done it yet! Is there a link where I can keep up with your schedule, or a mailing list I can subscribe to?
 
Rick said:
Sounds great, Gary. Love your playing, as always. That Fender sounds like a great option at the price, or at whatever price! My old Super hasn’t seen a stage in years, but I still love hearing that tone!

Total side note, but I’m definitely going to get out to see you play. Ridiculous that I live in Southeast Texas and haven’t done it yet! Is there a link where I can keep up with your schedule, or a mailing list I can subscribe to?
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Cool, didn't realize you were in Texas! If you follow me on Bands In Town I post all my gigs there - and there should be a link to the mailing list on my website - garycainband.com. I've got a bunch in 2024 I have yet to post. Jan 5 I'm at the Lucky Rabbit in Jonestown if that's handy to ya - and Tom Brechtlein is on drums so that'll be pretty fun.:)
Make sure to say hi if/when you make it out to a gig!
 
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Cainer said:
Cool, didn't realize you were in Texas! If you follow me on Bandcamp I post all my gigs there - and there should be a link to the mailing list on my website - garycainband.com. I've got a bunch in 2024 I have yet to post. Jan 5 I'm at the Lucky Rabbit in Jonestown if that's handy to ya - and Tom Brechtlein is on drums so that'll be pretty fun.:)
Make sure to say hi if/when you make it out to a gig!
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Thanks, brother. I’m in Lake Jackson, south of Houston and west of Galveston. I missed your recent Houston show, but also have kids in Austin and Dallas so I’m sure I can line it up somewhere! Signed up.
 
Cainer said:
Cool, didn't realize you were in Texas! If you follow me on Bands In Town I post all my gigs there - and there should be a link to the mailing list on my website - garycainband.com. I've got a bunch in 2024 I have yet to post. Jan 5 I'm at the Lucky Rabbit in Jonestown if that's handy to ya - and Tom Brechtlein is on drums so that'll be pretty fun.:)
Make sure to say hi if/when you make it out to a gig!
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You ever come to Dallas?
 
Cainer said:
Just gigged with the FM9 into FR12 combo again last night - really happy with it - that fender is putting out plenty of volume, keeping up with my hard-hitting drummer no prob (FM9 was about 1 o'clock, FR 12 was maybe 2 o'clock).
Probably the most "amp-like" feel I've been able to get live - will be interesting to see how the FR-12 sounds as it breaks in a bit - that was just gig #2.
I'm also still tweaking the FM9 - can't wait until the blackface amp updates they rolled out on the Axe III make their way to the FM9! The Superverb and Plexi models are all I'm really getting into at this point for live use - they just do everything I need at this point!

I feel like the FR-12 pumps out more volume than my EV ELX112p but it's pretty long in the tooth so that might be a factor.

Last night I ran the FR-12 with everything at noon and the cut knob at about 8 o'clock. I don't mind a little bass bump lol
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I'm starting to think I need to run the cut up just a tiny bit onstage too. I've just been leaving it off, but I think a wee bit of cut might be just what the doctor ordered. It's seemed just slightly more sharp sounding than I'd like on the 4 or 5 shows I've used it at so far. I'm usually too preoccupied with other things to even think about my guitar sound most of the time so I usually wind up thinking about things like this a few days later, LOL.

-Aaron
 
I have only been in Fractal land for 8 days, 7 of it playing into the FR-12. I am having to get used to the whole FRFR sound thing. I am used to playing live amps into speakers, I mostly play a Tone King Imperial MKII and a Friedman Twin Sister into Scumback loaded 2x12's.

This sounds way different, not bad, but definitely not amp in the room sound. I guess I just have to get used to it. Hiss is not bothering me, mine is so low you have to be quiet and listen for it to notice.

I did try it with my PS-100m and a 1x12 cabinet loaded with a Fat Jimmy speaker. Turned cabs off, turned down speaker resonance on the models I tried. Also put in an EQ shelf starting about 6k. Man this sounds great! I would say at least 95% as good as the real thing, maybe better.

Playing into headphones sounds good, but always sounds like playing through headphones.

I guess I just need to give it more time with this speaker. Just a different experience.
 
itguy61 said:
I have only been in Fractal land for 8 days, 7 of it playing into the FR-12. I am having to get used to the whole FRFR sound thing. I am used to playing live amps into speakers, I mostly play a Tone King Imperial MKII and a Friedman Twin Sister into Scumback loaded 2x12's.

This sounds way different, not bad, but definitely not amp in the room sound. I guess I just have to get used to it. Hiss is not bothering me, mine is so low you have to be quiet and listen for it to notice.

I did try it with my PS-100m and a 1x12 cabinet loaded with a Fat Jimmy speaker. Turned cabs off, turned down speaker resonance on the models I tried. Also put in an EQ shelf starting about 6k. Man this sounds great! I would say at least 95% as good as the real thing, maybe better.

Playing into headphones sounds good, but always sounds like playing through headphones.

I guess I just need to give it more time with this speaker. Just a different experience.
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Try some different IRs. That can make a huge difference.
 
You also need a mixture of different mic positions in front of the speaker (IRs) to get a cab in the room sound. Just one mic position is just a part of the sound you normally hear in front of your cab. I normally use 3-4 IRs together. Try to find IRs you like and mix it together and try to increase/decrease the IR number in AXE FX and see if it gets better (different positons and mics)
 
Deadpool_25 said:
Try some different IRs. That can make a huge difference.
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I agree. I also should not play and try to make patches at the end of a hard day when I am super tired. I played around with it last night and it sounded way better, key thing was that I was not tired and in a good mood. Amazing how things like that can affect what you hear when you play.

I will say though, this thing sounds so good with a real cabinet and the PS-100. I turn the cab sim off and lower the high and low speaker resonance in the amp and it sounds amazing. Working on clean patches and man the Mesa Lone Star amp model sounds killer, big and punchy.

The FM9 is an amazing piece of equipment for sure. FR 12 is a great value as well.
 
itguy61 said:
I agree. I also should not play and try to make patches at the end of a hard day when I am super tired. I played around with it last night and it sounded way better, key thing was that I was not tired and in a good mood. Amazing how things like that can affect what you hear when you play.

I will say though, this thing sounds so good with a real cabinet and the PS-100. I turn the cab sim off and lower the high and low speaker resonance in the amp and it sounds amazing. Working on clean patches and man the Mesa Lone Star amp model sounds killer, big and punchy.

The FM9 is an amazing piece of equipment for sure. FR 12 is a great value as well.
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I agree about fatigue/mood etc.

And it's definitely awesome with a power amp and real cab(s).
 
What is the best practice for the output volume on the FAS device ( FM9 ) when using something like this?
 
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Another gig last night and the FR-12 did great - in fact I had a guy come up to me and ask if all that sound was coming out of the FR-12 (he called it by name too, so I knew instantly he was a guitarist lol). He was blown away by how good it sounded. We were playing an outdoor gig at a city square - I used the FR-12 for pretty much all my volume, with just some fill in the mains - it really pumps out some volume! At one point while sound-checking i turned it up and it was just TOO loud so had to bump it back down. It can really put out the sound, honestly seems louder than my EV wedges, but again, they are road-tired lol so not sure if that has anything to do with it.
So that's been three gigs since I got it and I've been very happy with it each time. I'm still curious to try a Laney but don't have the dough to start throwing around on more gear at this point. I'd like to try a second FR-12 but not sure I need it volume-wise - might be cool to just spread the sound a bit.
I ran the FR-12 EQ flat this time but with the cut up about 2 or 3 notches.

So from my personal experience, the FR-12 and Redsound MF10 stereo pair are probably neck and neck as the best FRFRs. From memory I'd say the FR-12 has more horsepower, but I've not had the chance to A/B them so take that with a grain of salt. I've never had a chance to try a CLR, Laney, or EV PXM-12MP, which I know also get raves.
 
sick pickle said:
What is the best practice for the output volume on the FAS device ( FM9 ) when using something like this?
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As long as you're not clipping the output of the FM9 or the input of the FR-12 you should be fine.

With that said I think the input might clip pretty quickly on the FR-12? The FR-12 is analog though so maybe clipping it isn't as bad as it might be if it was digital. Perhaps @WKSmith can speak to that.
 
WKSmith said:
I have had good luck running the Fractal volume up to 12:00 (centered) set to +4dB and adjust the FR to taste.
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Well I'm pushing the envelope then lol - I've been up about 1-2 o'clock at +4 - maybe I should start lowering that and running the FR-12 a little hotter. Didn't hear any clipping though.
 
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