Guitar Setup and how setup affects Axe-Fx

Wow! Even I was shocked how stark the differences are, because those are more high output pickups where the difference is LESS apparent :eek:

It's even more apparent on low/medium ones

Great video! Also he has a lotta patience to do that!! o_O I would have gotten impatient after the 4th or so swap out :oops:
 
Honestly, even with the axefx being plug and play with ares, like it never has been before, I had issues with my main guitar (the mm jp12 with crunchlab/liquifire pickups) because it sounded very dark, I mean like astral opposite of twang !
I finally found one fix, I use a little treble booster block at the beginning of the chain, and it's more sparkly and I have a little more twang :)
 
It really depends from guitar to guitar with pickup configs, but I could basically get four different sounds (close to five *)) with my Luke II and the HSS config. It helps that the neck single-coil is a beefed up one. Doubt you could get similar tonic differences by just neck treatments. Also depends if you know to use the volume knob :).

*) Humbucker plus middle single coil versus Humbucker only has a slight tonality change but not easy to hear it outside recordings.
 
It would be cool to have a 'test' amp model in the axe, with none, or very few tweakable parameters, for which the sole purpose is to indicate if your guitar is not set up well. Like if pickups are too high, it buzzes and if guitar signal is weak, the amp block output cuts out like a gate.
 
It would be cool to have a 'test' amp model in the axe, with none, or very few tweakable parameters, for which the sole purpose is to indicate if your guitar is not set up well. Like if pickups are too high, it buzzes and if guitar signal is weak, the amp block output cuts out like a gate.
what? how would it know any of that?
 
It would be cool to have a 'test' amp model in the axe, with none, or very few tweakable parameters, for which the sole purpose is to indicate if your guitar is not set up well. Like if pickups are too high, it buzzes and if guitar signal is weak, the amp block output cuts out like a gate.
Or one can just learn how to properly set pickup height like the millions of guitarists before them.

Adjusting pickup height is not rocket science and doesn't require any more than a screwdriver and ears.
 
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I was kinda just joking, although it is true that humans aided by tech are losing the inclination to fix things themselves. Yeah you are right. The tech should not be used to aid/support this kind of laziness

Or one can just learn how to properly set pickup height like the millions of guitarists before them.

Adjusting pickup height is not rocket science and doesn't require any more than a screwdriver and ears.
 
I was kinda just joking, although it is true that humans aided by tech are losing the inclination to fix things themselves. Yeah you are right. The tech should not be used to aid/support this kind of laziness
Smiley faces.....how do they work? :)
 
@Admin M@ Would be cool if we could have a Thread Group dedicated to how Guitars (and Setup) affects the Axe-FX. I had an affinity after having issue with a guitar setup and how it affects the sound (w/Axe-FX III or real amps). It seems I had adjusted the pickups on a couple of my guitars too high (to close to the strings). Once I started experimenting, I got the guitars dialed in and it just opened up the Ax-FX... I cannot understate how much the guitar/pickups/action affects the sound. I really think this is an issue that others are having, that could be addressed in an Axe-FX Thread! Thanks.

I received good help here regarding pickup height. I was clipping the input even with the input gain settings (the hardware gain) set to the lowest level. Dropping the pickups helped with that.

Right now, I'm debugging a strange high-frequency clicking sound in all of my presets across 3 guitars. It is similar to the sound you hear when a string makes contact with the pickup pole, although that is for darn-certain not happening. I've tried rolling off high frequencies in the cab block to no avail (I'm usually at 6400Hz).

Most noticeable on all Class-As and JTM 45s
 
Interestingly, @ML SOUND LAB had a recent thread that basically said the opposite: basically that pickups don't matter.

ML SOUND LAB should visit the ear doctor :p

Back to topic: guitar setup will affect the Axe-FX as it would affect any amplifier, pedal, speaker, modeler or any other peace of equipment on the chain from the guitar to the listener. It is not relevant if you use an Axe-FX III or a DOD TEC4. For that matter, there are several forums specialized in guitar setup.
 
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I received good help here regarding pickup height. I was clipping the input even with the input gain settings (the hardware gain) set to the lowest level. Dropping the pickups helped with that.

Right now, I'm debugging a strange high-frequency clicking sound in all of my presets across 3 guitars. It is similar to the sound you hear when a string makes contact with the pickup pole, although that is for darn-certain not happening. I've tried rolling off high frequencies in the cab block to no avail (I'm usually at 6400Hz).

Most noticeable on all Class-As and JTM 45s

Silly question, but is it the way you pick? If you pick at too much of a slope or too hard you will get a high kinda 'chirp' that sounds similar to what you described

Also could happen if there are burrs on these if th pick and you have it at a steeper angle

Try finger style and see if it is still happening
 
With Axe pickups matter a little less since you can adjust the input level. Regular amps can’t do that, so whatever your pickup puts out, that’s what will be slamming the first grid, unless you run the signal through a pedal.
 
The input level just helps you to get an ideal signal to noise ratio, doesn't change the "character" or "drive" of a pickup.
 
Either the guitar is set up properly or it isn't. Doesn't matter what it's plugged into or if it's even plugged in or not.
 
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