Fractal should do their own artist Rig Rundowns!

Chiguete

Experienced
I was looking at a thread talking about Phil Collen and that all of them are using Axe-FX III and someone mentioned about looking at a Rig Rundown and that they where still using their old gear... well that was an old video that probably in a few months will get updated but I was thinking that for us as Fractal users we want to know more of how the artists are using their gear live and in studio and how they set up their amps/irs/effetcs/etc but that specific info won't be highlighted on a regular Rig Rundown. So how about it Fractal? @FractalAudio @Admin M@
 
I dunno, unless they are pretty complicated rigs with lots of other stuff I'd reckon they would be rather dull to watch.

'So here's my guitar, going into my Axe-FX, going into the FOH. And here's my board, with a controller and a couple of expression pedals. And let me step on a few presets, boom chakka wow wow. And that's it.' times infinity.

How often can you watch that? That's the fun of most artist rig rundowns, to see these diverse and sometimes incredibly complicated setups. To see weird s hit or really vintage stuff and you're going, how can they tour with stuff like that and not suffer catastrophic pedal board failures?
 
What I'm talking about is not exactly a simple rundown of the names of the gear they use, it's more to go a bit in depth in to:

- how Metallica is setting up their patches
- how Def Leppard simulates their modded Rockmans for their Hysteria tones
- how Alex Lifeson recreates sounds from Moving Pictures without having in the unit the amp the they used in studio
- what special and maybe not normal trick they did on the amp settings to get cloaser to their sound
- if they used something that generally goes before the amp they put it last in the chain, etc...

It would be more to give some clues on how can we get cloaser to that particular artist sound that sometimes there are threads in the forum that are pages long debating what eq to put in the chain or how long are the trails on a delay... I'm just saying that maybe since we spend so much time talking and showing the patches that we build in order to get close to an artist sound maybe it would be nice to get some clues directly from the artist without actually sharing the patch they use.
 
What I'm talking about is not exactly a simple rundown of the names of the gear they use, it's more to go a bit in depth in to:

- how Metallica is setting up their patches
- how Def Leppard simulates their modded Rockmans for their Hysteria tones
- how Alex Lifeson recreates sounds from Moving Pictures without having in the unit the amp the they used in studio
- what special and maybe not normal trick they did on the amp settings to get cloaser to their sound
- if they used something that generally goes before the amp they put it last in the chain, etc...
Sounds like you’re looking for artist’s presets, or clues on how to build them. :)

I’m not sure how many artists would be willing to divulge that.
 
This would be interesting if the artists are just willing to do that. Regular rig rundowns with Fractals included tend to go like:

- "I use the Fractal Axe FX, it sounds great!"
- "So your sound is 100% digital?"
- "Yes."
- "Okay that's awesome! Umm... let's continue. What pedals do you use?"


OR

- "Do you use your Fractals for amp simulation or just effects?"
- "Just effects."
- "Okay, let's go to the pedals."


And that's it.
 
I agree it would be pretty boring for a majority of folks. I mean look at a fantastic video like Tyler’s SRV patch making one of a few years ago. Cool stuff and it’s great he gives such an in-depth walk through but it’s not exactly edge of your seat viewing that he backs of the transformer match parameter slightly, or that he runs the drive block level setting at 9 instead of 10 etc.

I think most people would just say something to the extent that they don’t want to watch a half hour video of someone talking about knob settings and instead can they just have the preset file lol.

Likewise, I don’t know if most artist really know that much about tweaking the units, and really a guy like Matt or Leon etc, would actually be more of a master of the ins and outs.

I think a lot of artist just play the unit and want it to sound good but I don’t think they really know the advanced parameters any more than most of us. Can’t imagine James Hetfeld spending an afternoon with output compression parameters. Could be wrong though....

Again to each his own but I know for me, who does watch lots of them it’s usually something I just fast forward though. I just want to see what pedals they use, what fuzz etc.

I think there was one for a Fractal artist a few years ago and it was honestly really boring as the rig didn’t have anything unique.

To put the resources into flying to tour cites, filming and production etc, it needs to create views, and have wider appeal.

Maybe FAS could just feature an artist preset each week on the website, and Matt could talk a bit about how it’s set up etc, and people could download it etc.

Not exactly 30 minutes of video, but probably a bit more feasible and popular overall ?
 
I think a lot of artist just play the unit and want it to sound good but I don’t think they really know the advanced parameters any more than most of us. Can’t imagine James Hetfeld spending an afternoon with output compression parameters. Could be wrong though....
That's true... then the video should be with their tech! :)

Sounds like you’re looking for artist’s presets, or clues on how to build them. :)
Exactly! LOL. But seriusly, what do we do in this Forum every day? Talk about presets and how to build them, how to make them sound good live and in studio, weather to have a chorus before or after the amp, how to boost for a solo, what freqs to use in low/high cut,... doesn't need to be a 30min video if they don't want to, just some interesting stuff for us Fractal geeks that would enjoy and be helpfull not to just go straight and make a copy of that artist sound but to use that info for our own patches. Thanks why I didn't say to upload their presets.

Anyway it was just a late night idea before going to bed :)

PS:
Fractal and this forum ROCKS!
 
Most users would be shocked to know how much work and programming actually goes into making sounds for a tour.
For that reason most artists instinctively wouldn't want to share their work.
Due to the countless additional factors in each band's individual use of the Axefx, most tones would never sound like the sound on the artist's rig. If the artist is matching original stems and using the Fractal to mix the show, the presets are going to sound very uninspiring by themselves without the rest of the band.
However, sharing a preset or two and the creative process behind them would be very enlightening!
 
This would be interesting if the artists are just willing to do that. Regular rig rundowns with Fractals included tend to go like:

- "I use the Fractal Axe FX, it sounds great!"
- "So your sound is 100% digital?"
- "Yes."
- "Okay that's awesome! Umm... let's continue. What pedals do you use?"


OR

- "Do you use your Fractals for amp simulation or just effects?"
- "Just effects."
- "Okay, let's go to the pedals."


And that's it.

Well, ain't that logical? Most of the rig rundown vids are watched by guitarists with analog gear. To them talking about the fractal and even seeing how the presets are built up in like Axe Edit would be hocus pocus at best and boring at worst. And just plain talking about them would be as boring as watching paint dry even to most of us who have an Axe FX. Unless its J. Mascis, in which case watching paint dry becomes VERY exciting. God, what a droning boring voice that guy has.

A rig rundown where the user uses a Fractal, or a Line6, or a Kemper, or any other digital modeler for that matter, will always devolve into whatever other gear the user has. It just doesn't translate well to the format. I reckon preset rundown would be a far better format. With the artist, or tech, showing us the preset in Axe Edit and telling us how they created it. Unless its J. Mascis, in which case I must find that aforementioned drying paint instead.
 
Well, ain't that logical? Most of the rig rundown vids are watched by guitarists with analog gear. To them talking about the fractal and even seeing how the presets are built up in like Axe Edit would be hocus pocus at best and boring at worst. And just plain talking about them would be as boring as watching paint dry even to most of us who have an Axe FX. Unless its J. Mascis, in which case watching paint dry becomes VERY exciting. God, what a droning boring voice that guy has.

A rig rundown where the user uses a Fractal, or a Line6, or a Kemper, or any other digital modeler for that matter, will always devolve into whatever other gear the user has. It just doesn't translate well to the format. I reckon preset rundown would be a far better format. With the artist, or tech, showing us the preset in Axe Edit and telling us how they created it. Unless its J. Mascis, in which case I must find that aforementioned drying paint instead.
I thought this was about Fractal making their own rig rundowns because of this. Regular rig rundowns are good for the non-modeler people, but the people with modelers are the one's that are lacking the content :)
 
This topic is a sticky wicket on multiple levels. Many of the tips and secrets that we would most be interested in gleaning ,as
Exampled above, most likely reside in @Admin M@ ’s laptop, and there is no doubt that he is bound not only by NDA, but by personal morality to keep that Pandoras
Box locked ,with occasional treats leaked out, and that must be respected by us. HOWEVER, it would be fantastic if some of the higher profile Artists (or any of em, really) cooperated with FAS to share their preset /routing tricks....in the meantime, think i will pick up Cooper Carters’s new III seminar..........
 
I don’t think there are really any special secrets any famous artist have, nor do they have any special models we don’t have access to etc (that we know of at least lol)

That is what is kind of cool about the Axe, but also kind of boring.

If a dude had an old blackface and it had all these “secret” mods from over the years and stuff, then that is kind of fun to watch. It’s not an amp you can go buy somewhere and kind of gives a myth to the rock star in question and his special amp.

If a dude is just using the Lux fat model, and he tweaks the transformer drive setting a bit from default and is using a blend of two factory cabs.....well the tone is there, but where is the mystic around the rig ?

“Worse” could be if the artist just uses a stock setting. If a dude says he uses the Friedman, stock patch, and adjusts the volume knob a bit it’s like “okay, well yeah that is a great sound and I see why you like it, but what are we doing to talk about for the remaining 29 minutes?”

Basically anything “they”, being big name artists, can do, so can I. That is cool on one hand, but on the other it means they aren’t playing that old amp worth more than my car. While old amps worth $50k aren’t something I’d ever buy, they are fun to watch videos about. There is something tangible to the hardware, and the fact someone had to do those mods by hand, not just go into advanced settings and turn a knob, know what I mean ?

Don’t get me wrong, I think the III is the best “amp” ever made, and it 100% suits my needs, and I’ll never buy another hardware tube amp, BUT, it’s never going to have the story to it a 60 year old Bassman has. The Axe can show some rack scars, but no one is going to be playing it in 50 years, lovingly restore it etc.

As an analogy, I’d 100% be on board with electric cars once they have a little more range and come down in cost. Just makes sense for my basic transportation. BUT, I’m still going to enjoy going to a car show and seeing old 60’s muscle cars. Never buy one, but fun to look at just like old amps.

I think the best rig rundowns are when guys show off their dusty old pedals and amps, essentially the old hot rods of music gear.

Who’s got more interesting gear to watch ? Eric Johnson and his mess of wires on stage, or the Jimmy Eat World who episode where they use the II ?
 
I reckon preset rundown would be a far better format. With the artist, or tech, showing us the preset in Axe Edit and telling us how they created it. Unless its J. Mascis, in which case I must find that aforementioned drying paint instead.
I think that is deffinetly a better way to calling the videos. Yeha just showing their "rig" inside of a preset :)

Maybe they would be boring and no one would watch entire video or it would be AWESOME and everyone would copy it latter... in either way Fractal would be the first one to try it out!
 
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