WTH happened to AFS100 1??

CBoothe01

CBoothe01

Member
Holy cow! I was so excited when this amp came into Fractal world- then when I played it I thought it sucked. Not a ding at all on Fractal- it was just way to glassy and bright for me. I suspected the real amp would be too. So I went back to my old standbys- the Friedmans.

But I know other people were having great success with it and there were great recordings of it so that frustrated me more.

Well this weekend I was messing around and decided to give it a chance again after reading Yeks amp guides on the Brit 800.

Holy crap! I love this thing- even better than AFS100 2.

I don't know if it's the result of many firmware changes or just my crummy ears finally "getting it." But man I dig it now.

Anyway it's like a new amp for Christmas! Thanks Fractal- it gets said so much it probably loses its meaning, but this is without doubt the best gear purchase I have ever made.
 
It's a super bright amp, you need to crank the Master to get it in the sweet spot. Nothing has changed in the model but I suspect that you have the Master higher than the previous time you tried it. The improvements to the modeling engine are probably somewhat responsible as well but less so.
 
Ok - I feel really silly now but I realized I had the bright switch off. I forgot I did that. But that's another reason why this box is so freakin' good. You can tweak anything!
 
Location: STATE COLLEGE PA, USA
Click to expand...
WE ARE
101-500x340.
 
CBoothe01 said:
Ok - I feel really silly now but I realized I had the bright switch off. I forgot I did that. But that's another reason why this box is so freakin' good. You can tweak anything!
Click to expand...
What cab do you use for the Brit 800? I like it with 25 W Greenbacks or some G12H30 - but it´s terrible for my ears with V30 speakers in the Axe. I need to increase Mastervolume, around 6 - 7 to get the sound I like.

The AFS 1 and 2 sounds only good with Humbuckers to me.

The free new cab Brit LM (also Greenbacks) sounds also very good with the 800 without a lot of tweaking.
 
FractalAudio said:
It's a super bright amp, you need to crank the Master to get it in the sweet spot. Nothing has changed in the model but I suspect that you have the Master higher than the previous time you tried it. The improvements to the modeling engine are probably somewhat responsible as well but less so.
Click to expand...

Cliff, unless he's not tried it since before FW 2.0...remember you totally redid those amps at like 2.01 or so? That's the only major change that I remember because the 1 and 2 were my go to VH amp. They've not changed much to my ears since that particular update.

Hubi said:
What cab do you use for the Brit 800? I like it with 25 W Greenbacks or some G12H30 - but it´s terrible for my ears with V30 speakers in the Axe. I need to increase Mastervolume, around 6 - 7 to get the sound I like.

The AFS 1 and 2 sounds only good with Humbuckers to me.

The free new cab Brit LM (also Greenbacks) sounds also very good with the 800 without a lot of tweaking.
Click to expand...

Funny you say that Hubi....I use a modded Marshall once in a while in real life and it only sounds good with 25 watt Greenbacks or the regular 300 watt Celestion cabs (minus removing a little 4k due to them being somewhat nasal)....sounds like absolute garbage with V30's. I've never liked those speakers no matter who used them in the real world. They always sounded bad for me no matter what rig I used.

You know, I noticed that with the AFS 1&2 also with humbuckers. Single coils make them sound like a treble boost pedal is being used. It's such an un-natural sound...I can't even describe it other than "UGH?!" It's amazing how they come to life when using humbuckers. Even some of my active pups make them sound a little strange. But passive humbuckers....I get great results every time. You get in that weird place like....you cut the treble to remove that weird treble artifact, yet the sound suffers tremendously. You try to find that happy medium, but it just never comes while in single coil mode. I mean don't get me wrong, I can make it work and get some cool blues type tones....but it just sounds weird to me to where I just chalk it up as "this is the wrong amp for single coils."

That said, I think if we messed around with more cabs that suit using single coils, we'd probably find something super useful. I've not done much of that with those amps, I must confess. You know how you can just tell when an amp is going to be a winner when you do little to no tweaking? I never quite got that feeling with the AFS amps other than when I tone matched Van Halen while using them....and even there, if I switch to single coil, they don't sound very good while in that mode.
 
Yes, Danny - absolute my opinion to the AFS 1/2.
I´m sorry - but I haven´t played a 800 Marshall in real life - I only know the digital amps.

But that´s certainly the secret of Slash´s sound - a Humbuckersound which is not dark, always cutting in the Mix which those bright AFS Amps.

There are two V30 IR´s I like - the Justin York 4x12 Mesa and the Valhall Orange 4x12 - both with the Savage 1. You have to try it!
 
Hubi said:
Yes, Danny - absolute my opinion to the AFS 1/2.
I´m sorry - but I haven´t played a 800 Marshall in real life - I only know the digital amps.

But that´s certainly the secret of Slash´s sound - a Humbuckersound which is not dark, always cutting in the Mix which those bright AFS Amps.

There are two V30 IR´s I like - the Justin York 4x12 Mesa and the Valhall Orange 4x12 - both with the Savage 1. You have to try it!
Click to expand...

You're not missing anything by not having the actual amp, Hubi. If I can be honest? The amps Cliff modeled or created (I believe the 800 mod isn't even real...but it's still my go to amp in my Axe Fx) are better than some of the real things. I also believe this is one of the reasons for my success with the Axe Fx...especially the older firmware. The reason for me....the amps weren't quite exact like they are now. So I learned to deal with them being not quite accurate. Add in the REAL amps like we have now and it's like...whoa, wait a minute?! I'm lost like a kid in a mall looking for his mommy. LOL!

The only good things about playing through a real amp in my opinion (I wouldn't have said this before Fractal came along) is

1. you got a feel that you didn't get through modelers or VST plugs.

2. no one has EVER had that 12AX7 pre-amp tube down (until now)

3. the smell of the glass tube heating up/melting/frying. LOL! I'd be lost without my Fractal and don't care if I ever use or see another real amp again. I've sold all of mine but 3 I believe.

Anyway....I tried those cabs you mentioned. They are actually quite good. There's still something that doesn't sit well with me using V30's though. I can't put my finger on it other than maybe that sound is just not for me? I've always loved and still use real Greenback 25's. What I like about them is...you can use less gain in your Fractal because they break up a little. I get a more natural sound with them. Though I don't seem to get that same sound using the cab sims of them. I have to really tweak them to get them the way I like them.

Then again, I am a weirdo when it comes to tone. Most people would hate my real tone and wonder why I spend so much time sounding like poo. But, it just works for me. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom