Austin Buddys Live Gold - Pack - Opinions, please ;-)

[CraigP]

Since these presets were made to be played loud live, would I be wasting my money if can only listen through headphones?

Not at all

 

[austinbuddy]

Since these presets were made to be played loud live, would I be wasting my money if can only listen through headphones?

Nope. They cut through no matter the format.

 

[austinbuddy]

Has anybody tried Austinbuddys pack through power amp and cab? That is my setup, and am keen on buying.

Hey @Griff_NZ:

There is not a universal answer for this question. Tell us what power amp and Cab you want to use with it the TonePack, what kind of music you want to play?

The presets all do have an "amp tap" shunt that can feed a power amp and cab from Output 2 for the FM3 (it's a little easier set up on the AxeFx III, Output 3 is already set up for this, than on the FM3).

The problem is, the selected Cab IR paired with an amp is literally HALF the sound, EQ-wise/tonally. It is 1000+ discrete EQ points.

A lot of the value of the TonePack is my carefully picking the Cab IR (and sometimes tweaking the Speaker resonance page) and using these on FRFR or flat EQ playback systems, like good studio mixing monitors or PAs are.

So, if your real cab is a 4x12 with V30s or Greenbacks, and you are using presets that use 4x12s, then it probably works fine. You may lose the effect of the power amp simulation which is pretty important to some amp types (Marshalls) if you switch off that feature and go into a real power amp the may not react the same way as the modeled power amp does.

But if you run a Marshall 4x12 preset into a little Fender Pro Junior speaker, it's not going to work wells - not so much.

Understand the concepts better now? Hope that helps!

 

[Jumpback]

I like to do both. It's fun to tweak an already great tone knowing that the fundamentals are there for you from people who do this for a living. Most often though, I hardly tweak them. They're just that good. It's kinda like mixing and producing your own material. It's a good skill to learn but people who do that for a living are the real pros.

yeah me too, and I'm getting better all the time but I really wish I could figure out how he makes some of those Marshall presets, they sound and feel like the actual amp, I just come home from work and play them for 30 min just to see if its still there haha then I play the other amps and all I can do is Smile.

 

[Jumpback]

Since these presets were made to be played loud live, would I be wasting my money if can only listen through headphones?

I have ATH50 and Senheiser HD650's and The Presets are Sickening its worth it for just that to me, let alone playing my speaker or DAW Monitors

 

[Griff_NZ]

Hey @Griff_NZ:

There is not a universal answer for this question. Tell us what power amp and Cab you want to use with it the TonePack, what kind of music you want to play?

The presets all do have an "amp tap" shunt that can feed a power amp and cab from Output 2 for the FM3 (it's a little easier set up on the AxeFx III, Output 3 is already set up for this, than on the FM3).

The problem is, the selected Cab IR paired with an amp is literally HALF the sound, EQ-wise/tonally. It is 1000+ discrete EQ points.

A lot of the value of the TonePack is my carefully picking the Cab IR (and sometimes tweaking the Speaker resonance page) and using these on FRFR or flat EQ playback systems, like good studio mixing monitors or PAs are.

So, if your real cab is a 4x12 with V30s or Greenbacks, and you are using presets that use 4x12s, then it probably works fine. You may lose the effect of the power amp simulation which is pretty important to some amp types (Marshalls) if you switch off that feature and go into a real power amp the may not react the same way as the modeled power amp does.

But if you run a Marshall 4x12 preset into a little Fender Pro Junior speaker, it's not going to work wells - not so much.

Understand the concepts better now? Hope that helps!

Thanks dude, appreciate your answer! I go through a powerstation into a greenback quad and favour Marshall type tones.
Generally mic up at gigs.. sounds awesome. I still think for the price its a bargain even if I only use some of them.
Cheers!

 

[austinbuddy]

Thanks dude, appreciate your answer! I go through a powerstation into a greenback quad and favour Marshall type tones.
Generally mic up at gigs.. sounds awesome. I still think for the price its a bargain even if I only use some of them.
Cheers!

If you pair those kinds of Marshall-style presets with your set up, it should work. There is a Global Output EQ where you can tweak the overall signal going to your power amp and cab to “tune” the presets to your system.

 

[austinbuddy]

Thanks dude, appreciate your answer! I go through a powerstation into a greenback quad and favour Marshall type tones.
Generally mic up at gigs.. sounds awesome. I still think for the price its a bargain even if I only use some of them.
Cheers!

By the way, there is a way in each preset you can send Out1 to Front of House PA that uses the Cab IR I made, and uses Out2 for your power amp and cab on stage. #bestofbothworlds.

 

[unix-guy]

The Presets are Sickening

That doesn't convey the compliment I think you were trying to give

 

[austinbuddy]

That doesn't convey the compliment I think you were trying to give

@unix-guy, Dude! In the mid 2000's I visited Bill Collings at his new factory here in Austin after they had just started making electrics. I had ordered two I-35s (custom colors...story for another day) and now wanted to order a City Limits, their version of a Les Paul.

Bill was brilliant, a character, and didn't tolerate fools easily. They called their consultant Ed Reynolds (who does amazing guitar repair work, but has retired) their "Insultant." A casual uninformed observer might think Bill and Ed were fighting when they were really just having fun poking at each other and "one-upping."...

Anyway, I arrived and Bill kindly came out and went to pick out the flame maple top in the wood room, and Bill personally went through a few possible tops, spraying them with a water mist so I could "see" the 3D flame, and then, he found one, sprayed it and stopped, and he looked at me and said:

"LOOK AT THAT! LOOK AT THAT! THAT'S JUST SICK"

I had to take a moment to process it, but then I got it. We had a great laugh.

 

[unix-guy]

"LOOK AT THAT! LOOK AT THAT! THAT'S JUST SICK"

I don't know the origin of the phrase but (at least here in California) it's very common vernacular.

But "sickening" paints a different picture to me.

The English language is so weird! It's like when "bad" became a synonym for "good"

Edit:

I love the internet!

https://english.stackexchange.com/q...nt-slang-usage-of-the-word-sick-to-mean-great

 

[MrCrossroads83]

Since these presets were made to be played loud live, would I be wasting my money if can only listen through headphones?

No, because they also do sound great in the mix and in a studio environment

 

[richpjr]

I ordered an FM3 that arrived this past Monday. I had spent a few weeks looking at lots of threads on this board about it and saw such glowing recommendations about the Live Gold Pack that I bought it the day the FM3 arrived. I have been swamped at work so have had very little time to do anything other than hook everything up and make sure it all works. Last night was the first dedicated time I have had and the universal praise is well warranted! I am playing through a pair of Sceptre S8 monitors and was a bit worried I'd have to tweak things a lot to get them to sound good at somewhat loud home, but definitely not gigging volume levels. I've had to barely tweak anything to be honest and now my big problem is going through the sheer volume of great presets.

Very impressed AB!

 

[Shai`tan]

Been slowly going through AustinBuddys Live Gold. Gotta give a shout out for the Live Gold Preset 141 OD1-Bass JMP-1 FM3 (ZZ Top Artist preset). I absolutely LOVE this 1! It`s pretty much become my Go To. My 59 Replica, and my Korina V and Korina Explorer are loaded with unpotted Custom Shop Pearly Gates. And they love the 141 Preset as much as I do. lol Great alround Classic Rock setting. Rolling back the volume cleans up nice..... too. ;p

I just cannot see how Cygnus is going to top Ares on the FM3. Hope they bring it soon, and make me a Believer. ;p

 

[Blueprint]

Ok, so I now have this pack installed since a week or so, and let me say it's solid gold value.
1: None of the amps sounds bad. Some are better than others, some are great with a certain type of guitar or pickups and so-so with another, but you can consider playing with 80 per cent of the amps within the pack.
2: You just have to plug your FM3, set the volume and go. Volume and balance between presets and scenes are setted, and this is an enormous and valuable work.
3: For those who love to modify tone, it's fully open as most of the time the cpu is not high.
4: For those who don't want to bother with knobs and just plug and play, it's very valuable too because they will find their tones among the choice here.
5: Frankly speaking, it's not expensive considering the comfort it gives.
6: The customer service is first class!

 

[Griff_NZ]

I've just ordered. The fact all the presets are leveled is a godsend! Will be giving this pack a good run through in the next few days.

 

[Jumpback]

Ok, so I now have this pack installed since a week or so, and let me say it's solid gold value.
1: None of the amps sounds bad. Some are better than others, some are great with a certain type of guitar or pickups and so-so with another, but you can consider playing with 80 per cent of the amps within the pack.
2: You just have to plug your FM3, set the volume and go. Volume and balance between presets and scenes are setted, and this is an enormous and valuable work.
3: For those who love to modify tone, it's fully open as most of the time the cpu is not high.
4: For those who don't want to bother with knobs and just plug and play, it's very valuable too because they will find their tones among the choice here.
5: Frankly speaking, it's not expensive considering the comfort it gives.
6: The customer service is first class!

Yes Customer service is Top Class and Personal, you have a dumb question? He will answer no matter what and won't ever make you feel small, plus the video's he has up are Thorough and educational..I should be on his marketing staff lol

 

[mosola2]

Since these presets were made to be played loud live, would I be wasting my money if can only listen through headphones?

Another praise for Austin Buddy:
Just finished a few presets made from tweaking existing AB-presets from the Live Gold pack. All adjustments were made through headphones. Yesterday I gave them a full blast and it's quite surprising how little I had to adjust to a live situation.

This pack together with the CooperCarter masterclass really has improved my learning curve.

 

[thatrandomguy1]

That would be me, mostly the low on time part! Between the job and family I do not get to play guitar nearly as much as I want and spending countless hours tweaking presets would wipe most of that out. Using the presets as a starting point with some minimal tweaking fits my current use case.

Absolutely. I mean no disrespect at all by not buying more preset packs. I’ve learned a ton from AustinBuddy’s packs and his knowledge. He’s good people. I’m just a nerd that likes tinkering more than playing half of the time

I will always give a +1 for his stuff, he’s damned good at what he does.

 

[olorin]

I just ordered this 2 days ago, immediately went to the Plexi 6CA7 preset as this is what I've been using for my dirt and lead sounds. This setting totally blew me away. So much better than what I had in my own preset. Gigged last night with it using the '59 Bassman model for clean and this for dirt/lead and great and cutting tone with my tele.

Now to explore the other sounds, though I don't know if I'll find better than these.