Axe2 Preset building

antiprism said:
Hey clarky, I'm not quite sure how to get this working (complete noob here). I have successfully loaded the preset but there's no sound.

I don't have any external pedals/switches - is that the problem? Or is there also a way to get it working without that stuff?

Thanks in advance, I think the samples sound great!!
Click to expand...

hey... I just downloaded the preset from this thread and it opens fine and works fine..
my preset is completely built around the EXP1, EXS1 and EXS2 pedal and switches..
without these it just won't work right.. or deliver all the cool functionality...
 
This thread and your original preset are extremely interesting ! Thanks for sharing your work and your results with us. Is there a way to use your,preset only with the MFC and pedals and no external switch ? If not I will change my pedal board. Better to ask before ...:roll
 
haaa... thanks... very cool of you to say so...
I've not tried this using IA's...
at a guess though.. imagine you had an IA you'd never use..
for example cab1 bypass [ctrl = 39]
if you assigned cab1 bypass to an MFC IA switch, then in the Axe I/O: CTRL page changed cab1 bypass from 39 to 20 [which is my EXS1]
and cab2 bypass from 40 to 21 [my EXS2]
then this could work...
 
so far I've created the following presets:
Riff/Solo1 St1 <- this one does Riffs and Solos [as you'd expect] and both clean up and get soft.. [this is the main one I've been developing here]

Riff/Solo2 St1 <- this one does Riffs and Solos and both clean up and get soft.. [this one is for a specific song in the set so the solo tone is not as loud and has almost no delay - it was not worth posting up an audio clip cos there's little notable difference between this and Riff/Solo1 St1]

Riff/Solo3 St1 <- this one does Riffs and Solos and both crunch with a phased delay.. [this is the most recent preset clip I posted]

Riff/Solo4 St1 <- this one does Riffs and Solos and both morph to something a bit odd.. but hugely cool..
here's a clip



and here's what the preset looks like
RiffSolo4St1.jpg


to play, when the EXP is 'heel down' there's a pile of pitch sensitive, velocity sensitive and attack sensitive stuff going on..
as you can hear, in places I've not quite mastered the feeling of playing this one.. learning to make it more predictable is not difficult but will take a little getting to know because it's all about left and right hand technique combined...
in this clip I pick the heel down tone with fingers at first [bridge pup], then fingers on the neck pup.. then I switch to a pick for the delayed groove thing... then I switch from riff to solo whilst heel down [which is not quite invisible in this clip but can be done invisibly]..

erm.. noodling with a tone like this will make hours vanish... you monkey around.. lookup and it's the next day... lmao...

EDIT: and the CPU is sat at a nice toasty 93%..
 
Last edited:
clarky said:
haaa... thanks... very cool of you to say so...
I've not tried this using IA's...
at a guess though.. imagine you had an IA you'd never use..
for example cab1 bypass [ctrl = 39]
if you assigned cab1 bypass to an MFC IA switch, then in the Axe I/O: CTRL page changed cab1 bypass from 39 to 20 [which is my EXS1]
and cab2 bypass from 40 to 21 [my EXS2]
then this could work...
Click to expand...

That's more work than necessary and won't work (cab would be bypassed when the switch was used); you can just set the IA up for general use (Axe-FX function "none") and set it to the CC# of whichever EXT CTRL you want it to become.
 
just thought it through... of course you're right....
I just tried your suggestion

my MFC is set preset=10 so my IA switches start at switch 11
I set IA 11 function to none, CC 20
when I hit the switch my preset goes into solo mode.. which is cool...
when I hit the switch again it calls up another preset in bank C.... no idea why just yet..
I can only guess that it's not sending 'off' over that CC but is sending a pgm number instead..
I checked and IA 11 is set to 'toggle'

right now I can't see why the MFC is doing this...

but barring a few extra MFC config clicks.. your idea is looking good..
 
Love the latest soundclip u posted!!!!!! Fantastic what u are able to do in one preset, it boggles my mind being a newbie and all.
Cool stuff u were noodling there as well.... so many diff tones, reminded me of FLoyd and Rush with some heavy mixed in. I dont suppose u would mind posting this preset and let us experiment with it as well????? Thanks for the ingenuity!!
 
Hey Clarky,

just wanted to quickly say 'thanks' again for this thread. The way you have built your 'morphing' preset has made me totally rethink how I use the Axe FX and I've gotten some great ideas from your journey notes.

Inspired by this, I've started building my own (MUCH less elaborate! Lol!) morphing presets that will make live playing a hell of a lot easier and more fun for me. Got a gig in London next Wednesday and will get them ready and road-trial them then. I'll post what I come up with at some point too.

Cheers fella!
 
clarky said:
when I hit the switch again it calls up another preset in bank C.... no idea why just yet..
I can only guess that it's not sending 'off' over that CC but is sending a pgm number instead..
I checked and IA 11 is set to 'toggle'
Click to expand...

Check in Edit > MIDI > IA PC that there's no PC being sent.
 
thanks for the info guys... I'll take a look... see what's going on in there...
also.. this is really useful for me because if FAS manage to develop the MFC such that the front row can be IA and the remainded can be preset I'll be able to take the EXS [Boss FS-6] out of the config and just use the IA's
I could also config MFC switches 11 and 12 to do the same as EXS1 and 2.. so that if the FS-1 batter dies on stage I can still switch presets
ok so stepping over to the 3rd row will be a pain in the butt and not fun, but at least it won't be game over...
 
Toadfish said:
Hey Clarky,

just wanted to quickly say 'thanks' again for this thread. The way you have built your 'morphing' preset has made me totally rethink how I use the Axe FX and I've gotten some great ideas from your journey notes.

Inspired by this, I've started building my own (MUCH less elaborate! Lol!) morphing presets that will make live playing a hell of a lot easier and more fun for me. Got a gig in London next Wednesday and will get them ready and road-trial them then. I'll post what I come up with at some point too.

Cheers fella!
Click to expand...

very very cool....
irespective of how elaborate they end up, my presets always start simple...
1 - create your 'toe down' tone with no modifiers [and save it] cos this is your starting point
2 - make a copy of this preset and call it something usfull [I called mine AmpLab - it's where I mess with things]
3 - make changes to the AmpLab to create the 'heel down' tone [which is your 'heel down target tone']
4 - incorperate these changes into your main preset one by one
Note: if you find that you need EQ changes you'll need to come up with ways to 'fade' between EQ's using a mixer block

how about you build your preset in here same as I did...
we can all see where you head.. the choices you make and why..
and if you trip up there's plenty of smart folk that can chip in and suggest solutions..

Halenesque - dude.. you were talking about morphing Rush-like tones..
how about you jump in, join in.. and start building your preset..

everyone - this thread don't have to be all about me and my noodlings...
jeez.. it's called Axe2 Preset Building [as opposed to "Building Clarky's Presets"].. lol...
if anyone wants to build a preset that strays far away from the regular "amp and stomps" stuff.. then do it here for sure..
we'll all help.. we'll all enjoy your successes and collectively try to overcome your hurdles..
it's not a competition.. there are no judges.. no one cares if you play good or not..
this is all about being creative with the Axe... getting it to jump through new and interesting hoops..
we all contribute.. we all learn..
we all get to create our own custom feature rich presets..
 
Last edited:
clarky going all filmscore-ish...in the coolest of ways!

clarky said:
here's a clip



and here's what the preset looks like
RiffSolo4St1.jpg


to play, when the EXP is 'heel down' there's a pile of pitch sensitive, velocity sensitive and attack sensitive stuff going on..
as you can hear, in places I've not quite mastered the feeling of playing this one.. learning to make it more predictable is not difficult but will take a little getting to know because it's all about left and right hand technique combined...
in this clip I pick the heel down tone with fingers at first [bridge pup], then fingers on the neck pup.. then I switch to a pick for the delayed groove thing... then I switch from riff to solo whilst heel down [which is not quite invisible in this clip but can be done invisibly]..

erm.. noodling with a tone like this will make hours vanish... you monkey around.. lookup and it's the next day... lmao...

EDIT: and the CPU is sat at a nice toasty 93%..
Click to expand...


clarky,

Great stuff bro! Very interesting textural stuff, and cool melodic "film-score-ish" noodling! Dug it a lot (I just finished listening to the whole thing twice in a row!) When it first started, I thought it was gonna be a heavy dropped-D "Godsmack-meets-Megadeth" riffage, but that soon changed into the atmospheric soundscape/film-score-vibe which (based on the very beginning) caught me off-guard - LOL! Before I knew it, I was hearing delayed & modulated volume-swells which reminded me a bit of Alex Lifeson/Rush's "Xanadu", David Gilmour/Pink Floyd (The Wall-era!) and even a bit of The Edge/U2 (with the interesting rhythmic use of delays!) I mention those specific players/bands/songs, but when all is said and done, it really only resembles the vibe of those artists, NOT at all a rip-off of any particular melody/song-ideas!

Anyways, I liked it a lot, and good on you for taking the time to share your journey with us!

EDIT: "Toasty 93% CPU-useage" - LMFAO!


Bill
 
Clarky thanks for the quick replies, and the ability to noodle around with your presets. Very cool!!!
Since I started following this thread (like a month or more ago) I have come to realize there is extreme potential
with the Axe. I had always just thought of basic effects setups and plug and play stompboxes etc. Been learning there is a lot more for me to learn and admit I am somewhat overwhelmed by it but getting there slowly. Probably many more like me. Anyway
I had talked to clarky about how to go about setting up a preset that would pretty much cover all of the guitar and synth like parts of Rush's Xanadu. (Not for recording purposes of course or u wouldnt need them in one preset, I am talking for live performance)
I figure most people are somewhat familiar with this song and clarky suggested I post the request here so everyone can chime in and provide his/her input on the best way to go about it. I have a feeling Clarky with his great feel and knowledge regarding this would be leading the way. I will state that although Ive been playing for 35 years I am relatively new to using racks and digital effects. I know my way around somewhat but when u go talking all of the fine adjustments and configuring externals I am new so I may not have too much input. I will say that as far as what I am using I have two Mission Sp1's the MFC 101, and the Axe FxII. My main guitars I play are a Custom Brian Moore, two Fender Floyd Rose Classics (diff tunings) with Dimarzio's and a Peavey Wolfgang. I imagine tone wise the Bryan Moore would be the best choice for this piece as far as the gear that I have. So, there
it is. Could use some serious help getting this going, could be a lot of fun and a much needed learning experience. Thanks all...
 
Very gracious of you Paul. Not going to hijack your thread at all, but here's my current thinking on a simple setup that would work really well for me. This is a basic 'Clean to Crunch' patch.

clean-crunch.png


The way this will be setup is as follows:

1. There is a clean and a dirty amp on the grid
2. The Wah and Phaser (set to classic Vibe) feed both amps
3. On the bottom row, a Tremolo feeds just the clean amp
4. On the top row, a phaser, octave distortion and parallel Pitch Shifter (to emulate a POG) feed the dirty amp.
5. The mixer just fades between the two amps
6. There's a null filter set to boost 2db at the end.

The way I'd use this is to set up the effects I want on the clean and dirty tones using IAs and then morph between the two setups with an expression pedal (which controls the mixer block). The Null Filter also comes on with the same expression pedal (if the block is on).

So in practice, say I'm playing 'Creep', ( I play in a covers band ), I'd turn on the tremolo (feeds the clean amp) and the Pitch block for the dirty amp, and also turn on the null filter, all via IAs.

Then it's heel down on the expression pedal for the clean sound with Tremolo, and toe-down for the dirty sound, with pitch and null filter engaged.

Saves me tap dancing and al I have to do is keep my foot on the expression pedal for a smooth transition between the two. Bloody marvellous!

I'll also set up similar patches for my other presets - all based around two amps and a transition between them that'll cover pretty much anything I need for our gigs. I'll finish setting this up over the weekend ready for the gig next week and will report back after. Once I'm happy with this, I'll get a little nutso like Clarky and see what else I can do with it. I'll post some sounds when I get the time after the gig.

Thanks again for the inspiration Paul!
 
Halenesque - before you start on your preset you need to create individual presets of the tones you are wanting to combine into a single preset..

in Xanadu I hear the following guitar tones:
- bowed intro with distortion and a big reverb [Alex is either bowing with the guitar's vol knob or a vol pedal - you can do it the same way or use a gate to do it for you]
- a slightly dirty but heavily compressed rhythm tone
- solo tone is similar to the rhythm tone
- there's another tone like the solo tone which what sounds to me like a phaser
- a clean, strongly compressed, strongly reverbed tone

there are real synths in there..
sounds like Taurus bass pedals at the start
and later there's a part with bells playing in unison with an analogue lead synth

you'll certainly be able to squeeze all the guitar tones into a single preset..
funnily enough, the old stomps and amp setup will most likely handle all of that..
and you can add the gate to do the bowing for you [the intro part] which can be switched on/off via an IA, EXS or EXP..
don't know about the real synths though..
you may find you can do some stuff with the synth block to get the analogue lead tone.. but I don't know about the bells..
thing with the synth block is that it chews up cpu... so we may struggle to do all this in a single preset if we include the synth block..

you have research to do... find out as much as you can about Alex's setup, use this info and try to recreate something similar to his main guitar tones..
create them in individual presets first but try to keep the amp / cab choices the same in all presets..
once we've nailed the basics we can look at combining them and see if we can get more out of them..
 
Last edited:
Bill - in a post I wrote not so long ago I commented about variety.. keeping the listener guessing..
make them think they know what's coming next and then do something different....
just when folk think they have you figured out there's a new angle to throw in..
people love surprises... lol...
the Axe is packed full of 'em.. just waiting to be exploited..
 
Toadfish...
very cool stuff... fun all this ain't it..

6. There's a null filter set to boost 2db at the end.
when you move from heel down to toe down, does the filter un-bypass??

you know you didn't need to do that.. there's another more efficient way..
the cab block 'level' is assignable..
you can assign that to the expression pedal that does your clean to dirty fade
the cab's current level is the min value... the toe down value is 2dB higher..
means you don't need the null filter...

also, you can play with the modifier graph to make the 2dB growth happen uniformly or 'later' in the throw of the pedal..
making the level growth occur later in the pedal's throw will make the dirty tone have more impact as it rushes in over the last quarter of the pedal throw...
 
clarky said:
Toadfish...
very cool stuff... fun all this ain't it..

6. There's a null filter set to boost 2db at the end.
when you move from heel down to toe down, does the filter un-bypass??

you know you didn't need to do that.. there's another more efficient way..
the cab block 'level' is assignable..
you can assign that to the expression pedal that does your clean to dirty fade
the cab's current level is the min value... the toe down value is 2dB higher..
means you don't need the null filter...

also, you can play with the modifier graph to make the 2dB growth happen uniformly or 'later' in the throw of the pedal..
making the level growth occur later in the pedal's throw will make the dirty tone have more impact as it rushes in over the last quarter of the pedal throw...
Click to expand...

Nice ideas - thanks! I only want the filter to engage if I activate it via the IA though as I won't always want to boost the dirty amp - depends on the song - which is why I did it this way. The filter doesn't auto engage - it's either on or off as I need it - and the expression pedal just takes it from 0db to 2db.

Will play to see how I can get it to come in at the end of the throw and still be switchable.

cheers!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom