Where to begin... let's start with having some of the most interesting and kind conversations with Kevin and Martin (guitar/bass techs for bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot, Stone Sour, Coheed And Cambria etc.) about them being inbetween tours right now and really interested in going full Fractal.
(Picture of Brian's (Synyster Gates) guitar tech Kevin, me and Brian's main guitar)
They told me they had tried it before in the GEN1 days with Jim Root from Slipknot but they weren't able to get the sound of the Orange rig straight out of the box so they left it. So I started explaining them all the science behind IR technology and tone matching and whatnot. The next thing I'm doing is shooting IR's and tone matching Brian's Avenged Sevenfold guitar rig...
(Picture of me matching the Hellwin head and shooting IR's of the A7X iso boxes with separate mics)
And here are the raw amp sounds A7X are using live played through my Axe-Fx and a PRS guitar:
First challenge: The Hellwin high gain channel is Marshall-based but it has more gain than any amp I know. More than an EVH 5150 to give you guys an idea. The closest thing I found was the EVH so that's what I used as a basis for that sound. It's way more gain than I'm used to using but it had this nice sludgy palm mute sound to it that was super unique. The drive channel was pretty close to a Friedman HBE and that's what I used as the basis for matching that channel. The Hellwin head has sort of an American and British clean sound and the closest thing to that was actually the Mesa Lonestar amp sim believe it or not. It required almost no tweaking.
(Picture of M. Shadows, Synyster Gates and the main axe I was holding in the first picture but this time on stage in action)
A7X is almost at the end of their tour and after that they'll be building new guitar rigs. I will be doing my share of assisting them with their Fractal gear as much as possible. They're not in a position where downsizing would benefit them. It's all about trying to get consistency and the best guitar tone possible. They're in the process of going from Axe-Fx II's to XL+'s so the timing couldn't be better.
It sure was fun for me and I loved helping to spread the Fractal word once again. In addition I got to see three bands that are all frickin' awesome: Chevelle, Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold.
(Picture of Brian's (Synyster Gates) guitar tech Kevin, me and Brian's main guitar)
They told me they had tried it before in the GEN1 days with Jim Root from Slipknot but they weren't able to get the sound of the Orange rig straight out of the box so they left it. So I started explaining them all the science behind IR technology and tone matching and whatnot. The next thing I'm doing is shooting IR's and tone matching Brian's Avenged Sevenfold guitar rig...
(Picture of me matching the Hellwin head and shooting IR's of the A7X iso boxes with separate mics)
And here are the raw amp sounds A7X are using live played through my Axe-Fx and a PRS guitar:
First challenge: The Hellwin high gain channel is Marshall-based but it has more gain than any amp I know. More than an EVH 5150 to give you guys an idea. The closest thing I found was the EVH so that's what I used as a basis for that sound. It's way more gain than I'm used to using but it had this nice sludgy palm mute sound to it that was super unique. The drive channel was pretty close to a Friedman HBE and that's what I used as the basis for matching that channel. The Hellwin head has sort of an American and British clean sound and the closest thing to that was actually the Mesa Lonestar amp sim believe it or not. It required almost no tweaking.
(Picture of M. Shadows, Synyster Gates and the main axe I was holding in the first picture but this time on stage in action)
A7X is almost at the end of their tour and after that they'll be building new guitar rigs. I will be doing my share of assisting them with their Fractal gear as much as possible. They're not in a position where downsizing would benefit them. It's all about trying to get consistency and the best guitar tone possible. They're in the process of going from Axe-Fx II's to XL+'s so the timing couldn't be better.
It sure was fun for me and I loved helping to spread the Fractal word once again. In addition I got to see three bands that are all frickin' awesome: Chevelle, Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold.