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Metalguy

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Hello All,

I am a new user and struggling to get up to speed on the FM3. I am working with another guitarist in our band and hoping that I can find answers to some of our questions. I have read most of the manuals and some details are a bit confusing to me, coming from a world of analog foot pedals.

My first issue is I modified a preset and wish I had copied it as it sounded pretty good, now that I have modified it it sounds bad, is there a way to restore it to its factory setting or download it?

Thanks so much for any advice or help in advance!!

Rob
 
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You can download the factory presets from Fractal’s website.

And when you make (and save!) your own presets, don’t forget to make a backup in case you stomp on those, too. :)
 
Rex,

Thank you. Met with the band today and have a bunch more questions. 3 of us read the manuals, and we have the unit connected to a dedicated pc running FM-3 Edit.

The instruction for the swicthes and nomenclature make little sense to us. We edited 3 sounds on the 3 foot switches for 2 rhythms and 1 lead sound, and were happy with them and wanted to access 3 more foot switches. Fractal calls these "scenes" which doesnt make much sense to us. (A scene seems like it would be a set of 3 switches). We saved these 3 scenes and when we went to edit scene 4 it erased scene 1!

Can anyone explain these to me so I can share with them. Our goal is to be able to assign sounds to 6 or 9 buttons if possible.

Another question was when we switched from button to button there was a sound lag there which seems like that might cause trouble on stage. We were running a noise gate at the front of the stream so maybe that need adjustment.

Thank you all for your help!

Rob
 
Rex,

Thank you. Met with the band today and have a bunch more questions. 3 of us read the manuals, and we have the unit connected to a dedicated pc running FM-3 Edit.

The instruction for the swicthes and nomenclature make little sense to us. We edited 3 sounds on the 3 foot switches for 2 rhythms and 1 lead sound, and were happy with them and wanted to access 3 more foot switches. Fractal calls these "scenes" which doesnt make much sense to us. (A scene seems like it would be a set of 3 switches). We saved these 3 scenes and when we went to edit scene 4 it erased scene 1!

Can anyone explain these to me so I can share with them. Our goal is to be able to assign sounds to 6 or 9 buttons if possible.

Another question was when we switched from button to button there was a sound lag there which seems like that might cause trouble on stage. We were running a noise gate at the front of the stream so maybe that need adjustment.

Thank you all for your help!

Rob
Scenes are not related to footswitches. Scenes are related to Presets.

Footswitches can select Scenes.

Footswitches are grouped in 9 Layouts, and witching each layout are 4 Views, groups of 3 switches.
 
Chris,

Thank you, but that is even more confusing, is there a flow chart or something easier to understand than the manual explaining this. I am guessing these are common Fractal terms that we are not used to. We are going to need allot more help. If we can figure out what these terms mean and how to access them, I think we will be on our way!

Thanks

Rob
 
The instruction for the swicthes and nomenclature make little sense to us. We edited 3 sounds on the 3 foot switches for 2 rhythms and 1 lead sound, and were happy with them and wanted to access 3 more foot switches. Fractal calls these "scenes" which doesnt make much sense to us. (A scene seems like it would be a set of 3 switches). We saved these 3 scenes and when we went to edit scene 4 it erased scene 1!

Can anyone explain these to me so I can share with them.
The first thing to wrap your head around is the fact that preset, scenes and footwitches aren't the same thing. The FM3 is really two different things: a guitar processor and a foot controller to, well, control it. :)

The guitar processor part has hundreds of presets in which you can build different virtual guitar rigs. Each preset has eight scenes which give you the ability to change things around within a single preset. The foot controller part has three footswitches . Internally, it has nine different layouts which each have twelve footswitches. The three physical footswitches represent any one of the four views that layout is made up of.

To get a quick idea of what this is all about, read page 15 (Intro to Scenes and Channels) and page 39 (Preset Overview).


Our goal is to be able to assign sounds to 6 or 9 buttons if possible.
Cool. But this assumes that you have six or nine buttons available. If you don't, you'll have to work around that.

See pages 69 and 70 (Layouts and Switches) for an overview of this.

To see what footswitches are capable of, you can try out the factory default layouts (pages 71 and 72). NOTE: if you've made changes to the footswitches that you want to keep, back them up using the Fractal-Bot tool in FMF3-Edit before you load the factory default footswitch layouts.
 
In the beginning, there were Presets. Presets ruled the land, each preset a rig unto itself, with its own amp and cab and effects. On the Great Stage, Presets were commanded by Foot Controllers speaking the ancient language of MIDI. The Foot Controllers spake unto the presets, commanding them to engage or bypass their effects, to Wah their wahwahs, or to change unto a new preset altogether. And it was good.

Then Fractal said, “Let there be scenes, that the amps and effects within a preset might be commanded on or off in groups, all at once.” And lo, there were scenes, each scene with certain effects engaged or bypassed, certain models of amp or effects chosen or unchosen, and certain other, more intricate options. Foot Controllers still spake the language of MIDI, though some spake the new language of FASLink. And they spake unto the Presets and Scenes, commanding them to change, from one to another, across the Great Stage. And that was pretty damn good, too.

Then Fractal said, “Let there be FM3s and FM9s, that Presets and Scenes and Foot Controllers might dwell together in the same tent.” And lo, FM3s and FM9s did proliferate and multiply across the land. And the Footswitches were organized into Layouts, that they might command the Presets and Scenes with greater authority. And tonez reigned upon the land and in the air.

The guitar-playing public looked upon it and saw that it was good. Although sometimes they had to learn some new shit in order to grok it all. And they did learn, and they did grok. And they did rock.
 
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Rex,

Thank you. Met with the band today and have a bunch more questions. 3 of us read the manuals, and we have the unit connected to a dedicated pc running FM-3 Edit.

The instruction for the swicthes and nomenclature make little sense to us. We edited 3 sounds on the 3 foot switches for 2 rhythms and 1 lead sound, and were happy with them and wanted to access 3 more foot switches. Fractal calls these "scenes" which doesnt make much sense to us. (A scene seems like it would be a set of 3 switches). We saved these 3 scenes and when we went to edit scene 4 it erased scene 1!

Can anyone explain these to me so I can share with them. Our goal is to be able to assign sounds to 6 or 9 buttons if possible.

Another question was when we switched from button to button there was a sound lag there which seems like that might cause trouble on stage. We were running a noise gate at the front of the stream so maybe that need adjustment.

Thank you all for your help!

Rob
The “sounds” don’t “belong” to the footswitches.

Footswitches and the sounds/presets are separate things.

Footswitches are there to access the Presets (and other things). Scenes exist within Presets if you want to use them.

I think you need to eat the horse one bite at a time. Please read the Presets section, and then read the Scenes section in the manual.

The FM3 is not difficult to use, but just like driving a car for the first time, you can’t just go in and press all the buttons and pedals without knowing what does what.
 
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Welcome! I too am a new user as well! I am reading the manual to try and wrap my head around everything. Seems like the learning curve is relatively steep.
 
In the beginning, there were Presets. Presets ruled the land, each preset a rig unto itself, with its own amp and cab and effects. On the Great Stage, Presets were commanded by Foot Controllers speaking the ancient language of MIDI. The Foot Controllers spake unto the presets, commanding them to engage or bypass their effects, to Wah their wahwahs, or to change unto a new preset altogether. And it was good.

Then Fractal said, “Let there be scenes, that the amps and effects within a preset might be commanded on or off in groups, all at once.” And lo, there were scenes, each scene with certain effects engaged or bypassed, certain models of amp or effects chosen or unchosen, and certain other, more intricate options. Foot Controllers still spake the language of MIDI, though some spake the new language of FASLink. And they spake unto the Presets and Scenes, commanding them to change, from one to another, across the Great Stage. And that was pretty damn good, too.

Then Fractal said, “Let there be FM3s and FM9s, that Presets and Scenes and Foot Controllers might dwell together in the same tent.” And lo, FM3s and FM9s did proliferate and multiply across the land. And the Footswitches were organized into Layouts, that they might command the Presets and Scenes with greater authority. And tonez reigned upon the land and in the air.

The guitar-playing public looked upon it and saw that it was good. Although sometimes they had to learn some new shit in order to grok it all. And they did learn, and they did grok. And they did rock.
Can't wait to see what happens on days 4, 5, and 6!
 
Also check out FM3 tutorials on YouTube. Many great resources for beginners. Particularly videos from Leon Todd and Rosh Roslin.
 
Friends!

I printed out the manual, read all the sections several times again, and I think I am understanding the workflow of this device. Obviously there are many thing we will want to do with this device, live shows, recording etc, but we are just trying to start simple. Let me explain what we are trying to do and then a few more targeted questions.

Please tell me if I am getting anything wrong.

First we are trying to set up the unit for live shows as if we are using the same amp and cabs with a variety of pedal effects. Right now our goal is simple, we want sounds for: distorted rhythm guitar, lead guitar with delay, lead guitar with flanger, clean guitar (mimicking acoustic). We want to use a noise gate, a distortion box, delay, flanger & reverb. So we created a preset called Live. With that preset we have to keep the same amp, cabs, and effects, but are able to turn off or on effects in that preset. I understand that a you can use different channels on the amp for the clean guitar sound. So we created several scenes under that preset called; rhythm, lead 1, lead 2, clean.

*If you want more effect on one scene, (lets say more reverb) will that change all the reverb settings on the other scenes in that preset?
*To access the scenes we have the 3 foot switches, for the first 3 and if we need to go to 4-6 scenes we press and hold the right button?

Thanks everyone for the help

Rob
 
1.. You can use a different channel of the Reverb block with a higher mix. You can copy channel A into channel B. Go to the new scenes. change the effect to channel B. Change any parameter to get what you need.

2.. Yes, you can setup the 'Hold' function on any 'Switch', of any 'View', in any 'Layout', to do any of the available functions. I would recommend that you look at getting an FC6 or FC12 to increase your switching options.
 
Friends!

I printed out the manual, read all the sections several times again, and I think I am understanding the workflow of this device. Obviously there are many thing we will want to do with this device, live shows, recording etc, but we are just trying to start simple. Let me explain what we are trying to do and then a few more targeted questions.

Please tell me if I am getting anything wrong.

First we are trying to set up the unit for live shows as if we are using the same amp and cabs with a variety of pedal effects. Right now our goal is simple, we want sounds for: distorted rhythm guitar, lead guitar with delay, lead guitar with flanger, clean guitar (mimicking acoustic). We want to use a noise gate, a distortion box, delay, flanger & reverb. So we created a preset called Live. With that preset we have to keep the same amp, cabs, and effects, but are able to turn off or on effects in that preset. I understand that a you can use different channels on the amp for the clean guitar sound. So we created several scenes under that preset called; rhythm, lead 1, lead 2, clean.

*If you want more effect on one scene, (lets say more reverb) will that change all the reverb settings on the other scenes in that preset?
*To access the scenes we have the 3 foot switches, for the first 3 and if we need to go to 4-6 scenes we press and hold the right button?

Thanks everyone for the help

Rob
You could also just program Scenes 4-6 directly to the Hold functions of Scene 1-3 or use the Toggle options to access more Scene per switch.
 
Friends!

I printed out the manual, read all the sections several times again, and I think I am understanding the workflow of this device. Obviously there are many thing we will want to do with this device, live shows, recording etc, but we are just trying to start simple. Let me explain what we are trying to do and then a few more targeted questions.

Please tell me if I am getting anything wrong.

First we are trying to set up the unit for live shows as if we are using the same amp and cabs with a variety of pedal effects. Right now our goal is simple, we want sounds for: distorted rhythm guitar, lead guitar with delay, lead guitar with flanger, clean guitar (mimicking acoustic). We want to use a noise gate, a distortion box, delay, flanger & reverb. So we created a preset called Live. With that preset we have to keep the same amp, cabs, and effects, but are able to turn off or on effects in that preset. I understand that a you can use different channels on the amp for the clean guitar sound. So we created several scenes under that preset called; rhythm, lead 1, lead 2, clean.

*If you want more effect on one scene, (lets say more reverb) will that change all the reverb settings on the other scenes in that preset?
*To access the scenes we have the 3 foot switches, for the first 3 and if we need to go to 4-6 scenes we press and hold the right button?

Thanks everyone for the help

Rob
You can have different amps in one preset, if you like. The Amp block has four channels, and you can set up each channel to be a different amp type with different settings. Ditto for cabs and effects blocks.

Not only can scenes engage and bypass blocks, but they can also change channels on those blocks.
 
A preset sets up the input, pre amplifier effects, amp, cab, post amp effects and the output. Scenes are snapshots of your preset in whatever condition the preset is in when you save the scene. So you can turn on the effects you want and select the amp channel you want and save the scene. When you recall the scene it all switches automatically. As pointed out the effects and the amp have 4 channels. So you can use 4 different drives or 4 different amps in a preset. Or you can use the same drives or amps or effects with 4 different settings. It’s easier if you set up scenes in order. I use channel 1 for scene 1. Channel 2 for scene 2 etc. So for scene 1 my drive is my channel 1 drive and my amp is my channel 1 amp. Same for the cab, reverb, and delay. Less confusing that way. I setup 4 scenes from low to high gain seems to work for me. I feel for you having to go through the learning curve. Watch the videos mentioned in the other posts. Leon Todd was a huge help to me. Constantly screw with it and you’ll figure it out. Best luck man!
 
Hi Metalguy,
I was going to pitch in with my explanation of scenes and channels, but it appears you now have it in hand - cool!
In that case I’ll just say welcome. You will enjoy the fm3.
Thanks
Pauly


Hello All,

I am a new user and struggling to get up to speed on the FM3. I am working with another guitarist in our band and hoping that I can find answers to some of our questions. I have read most of the manuals and some details are a bit confusing to me, coming from a world of analog foot pedals.

My first issue is I modified a preset and wish I had copied it as it sounded pretty good, now that I have modified it it sounds bad, is there a way to restore it to its factory setting or download it?

Thanks so much for any advice or help in advance!!

Rob
 
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