Axe2 Preset building

It looks like IAs can do the same but not in Axe-Fx mode. Alternatively, you can change an IA to 'general use' and then yes, those IAs will work the same as your XS. (From my reading of the manual; I don't have an MFC). Checkout the table in section 5.2.5 for results of Send w/ Preset On/Off combined with Global On/Off.
 
so it looks like 'global on' / 'preset on' is the solution..

from the MFC manual:

The IA Switch will retain its current state when you change presets.
The MIDI message for the current state will be re-transmitted after every preset change.
Useful for controlling devices which do not persist states across preset change, or to over-ride certain per-preset functions of the Axe-Fx (e.g. setting up an overarching mega X-Y switch.)

back to Clarky....
given that the next major MFC firmware drop will 'possibly' [note: FAS has suggested but not promised or confirmed this] have the ability to configure IA's in the front row of switches [which for me is highly desirable] yet still have preset switches in the 2nd and 3rd rows....
this lil' topic we've been debating had me thinking that I may have to go back through all of my modifiers and make changes in readiness for this capability..

but this lil' gem that Sean has found may mean that I don't need to....

if I find a spare moment over the next few days I may test this...

Experiment note to Clarky:
un-jack FS-6 from MFC
Set up IA: 11 to CC 20 [ext ctrl 5] <-- solo mode
MFC manual: 12.5.9 and 12.5.10 set both to 'yes'
 
Last edited:
Set up IA: 11 to CC 20 [ext ctrl 5] <-- solo mode
MFC manual: 12.5.9 and 12.5.10 set both to 'yes'[/QUOTE]

This works fine. I have just checked it.


But..... I have to reverse the IA value for CC20: 127 for Off and 000 for ON to make the solo active when activating the solo IA switch.

This might be a result of your FS-6 switch. The FS-6 has a polarity switch that inverts the on/off state. I am not sure but that should be easy to check.
 
coosvandorsten said:
But..... I have to reverse the IA value for CC20: 127 for Off and 000 for ON to make the solo active when activating the solo IA switch.

This might be a result of your FS-6 switch. The FS-6 has a polarity switch that inverts the on/off state. I am not sure but that should be easy to check.
Click to expand...

just had a thought....
I have a feeling that I reversed this for cosmetic reasons...
sounds nuts I know...
but I didn't like the look of amp2 being greyed out when I was looking at the grid in Axe Edit...
so I reversed the logic to make it look pretty..
 
clarky said:
just had a thought....
I have a feeling that I reversed this for cosmetic reasons...
sounds nuts I know...
but I didn't like the look of amp2 being greyed out when I was looking at the grid in Axe Edit...
so I reversed the logic to make it look pretty..
Click to expand...

LOL

But it might also be Axe Edit reversing this. This happened to me this evening; I made a new preset from scratch (started with an empty grid). Similar to your template but with different amps. I not such a high gainer. I got everything working and saved on the Axe FX II. Then I decided to give the preset another name which is by far easier with Axe Edit. Saved the preset with the new name and then the solo function was reversed all of a sudden (non activated Solo, activated no Solo)....Brought everything back to normal again and saved it in the Axe FX and now I am saving it from the Axe FX II into Axe Edit. Now its stays how it is meant to be. I have read in other threads that sometimes Axe Edit is manipulating some of the parameters. (Yeks presets going through Axe Edit got changed as well). I will do the same again and see if I can find under which circumstances this happens. Maybe it was just a glitch.
 
I've never had Axe-Edit mess with stuff this way....

what I think I did though [so that my amps were not greyed out] was to exploit this general principle

max = on / min = off / start = 100 / end = 0

is exactly the same as

max = off / min = on / start = 0 / end = 100

because you've reversed the graph's gradient along with the min / max values

... or something like that... lol...
 
whilst I'm in this 'messing with 7.0' phase...
I'm going to take this opportunity to try some new things out...

I'm wondering if I should change the way I go about some things...

I've had some work come into the studio so I've not had the chance to finish my 'amp head to head' yet..

came up with an idea though [seems pretty obvious really]

I'm going to go through all of my amp choices one by one and make them work with all the modifier settings etc..
then save the blocks...
then I can recall these blocks and drop them into a fully config'd preset..
this will save a ton of time and messing around..
 
clarky said:
whilst I'm in this 'messing with 7.0' phase...
I'm going to take this opportunity to try some new things out...

I'm wondering if I should change the way I go about some things...

I've had some work come into the studio so I've not had the chance to finish my 'amp head to head' yet..

came up with an idea though [seems pretty obvious really]

I'm going to go through all of my amp choices one by one and make them work with all the modifier settings etc..
then save the blocks...
then I can recall these blocks and drop them into a fully config'd preset..
this will save a ton of time and messing around..
Click to expand...

Exactly what I have been doing the last days. I will share some in the near future. Right now in France heading for customers buying packaging machines....
 
Notes / Observations regarding from 7.0 [and 8.0 / 8.01]

the preamps are a little hotter..
you'll find that my ST2 series presets [created in 6.2] do not clean up so well and so the amp: drive modifier min settings need to be reduced

also.. [especially with 8.0's "juice"] you'll find that the corrective EQ provided by the PEQ to boost the lows and highs is now way way too much..
when hi-gain tones are morphed back to 'clean' they thin out... this is of course old news... and to be expected..
in 8.0 though they do not thin out nearly as much as before..
this means that the boost I set up in PEQ bands 1 and 5 are way way too big
ok.. so this means a little tweaking needs to be done...
but this is actually a good thing..
prior to 8.0, the PEQ needed to do some serious boosting to 'force the tone'
this is now required to a lesser degree which means less processing...
less processing means a more natural tone...

I'm well used to making fx units jump through hoops to make stuff happen...
on occasion aggressively so...

try thinking of it like this...
prior to 8.0, the morphed tone was dragged through the hoops kicking and screaming and then beat with a stick to make it comply..
with 8.0, it now just needs a little encouraging, coaxing and maybe a little dusting down on the other side...

yes I need to 'make stuff happen'.. but it's a more gentle..
augmenting the natural tone rather than carving it..

I'm not done yet, but initial experiments are promising...
 
and now.... the bad news... well... not exactly bad.. more a big of a pain in the rear..

amp1 will riff and also provide the soloing tone
this means it'll be the higher gain of the amp pairs I choose..
choices:
- 5153Red
- Herbert ch3
- VH4 ch4

I have just created 3 killer tones with these.. with surprising results

- 5153Red: the one I fell in love with the day we met.. silky smooth.. sings like a soprano in an aria.. cleans up really well too
- Herbert ch3: bright, attacking, seriously aggressive.. cleans up quite well to. but not as well as the 5153Red
- VH4 ch4: this one sits somewhere between the Herbert and the Red.. contrary to my expectations.. I expected this one to be the more aggressive of the three.. but jeez.. it cleans up amazingly... this was the surprise of the bunch..

amp2 will provide the supporting riff tone
choices:
- 5153 Blue
- Herbert ch2+
- VH4 ch3

again the results were quite surprising
- 5153 Blue: big and fat, great definition.. cleans up good.. more aggressive than expected..
- Herbert ch2+: seriously powerful... and is better than expected on the clean side of things...
- VH4 ch3: the star of the show.. will start wars... and finish 'em... but jeez... just like ch4, it cleans amazingly...

so what do I choose???
I've not decided yet...
it's not about the tones in isolation, it's also about how the amp1 and amp2 tones combine both full-on dirty, and also when morphed to clean..

I need to set amp1 with the Red, and then try it with each of the amp2 choices... then switch amp1 to Herbert ch3 and do it again.. and so on...

gonna be interesting this is...

so.. back to my original statement:
"and now.... the bad news... well... not exactly bad.. more a big of a pain in the rear.."
why is this bad???

it's cos I'm so spoilt for choice I don't know what to do...
in every other unit I've had, I carve the tone.. aggressively if need be.. but either way, I make it happen...
with the Axe at 8.0, I keep having these alternate planes of utopia thrown my way...
and I'm not even trying hard or forcing anything...
how do I choose....
aaaahhhhh ! ! ! ! ! ! !
 
clarky said:
and now.... the bad news... well... not exactly bad.. more a big of a pain in the rear..
it's cos I'm so spoilt for choice I don't know what to do...
in every other unit I've had, I carve the tone.. aggressively if need be.. but either way, I make it happen...
with the Axe at 8.0, I keep having these alternate planes of utopia thrown my way...
and I'm not even trying hard or forcing anything...
how do I choose....
aaaahhhhh ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Click to expand...

Why bother to choose now? You've your grid templates already made ...... just make one of each and play them in a live mix and see what tickles your wotsit. You've plenty of patch slots to play with .....
 
I totally see where you're coming from.... makes good sense too...

however.. what I need is a consistent tone throughout due to the way my presets are structured..
as in.. they are functional variations of the same riffing / soloing tone..

so what I need is a solid and consistent foundation live...
studio though is a whole different thing....
 
so.... having riffed and shredded myself silly....
here's the results...

amp1: riff and also provide the soloing tone
this means it'll be the higher gain of the amp pairs I choose..
choices:
- 5153Red: just keeps ticking all the boxes...
- Herbert ch3: screams but gets just a little too lumpy when it cleans up
- VH4 ch4: just a little too shrill.. when you dial that out it loses it's definition.. but cleans up beautifully..

winner: 5153 Red

amp2: the supporting riff tone
choices:
- 5153 Blue: the softer of the three.. great power.. cleans beautifully..
- Herbert ch2+: very aggressive [maybe overly so for my current needs].. very powerful.. cleans very well..
- VH4 ch3: sounds killer in every area.. but still quite aggressive..

winner: VH4 ch3

funnily enough, these were the amps I'd have intuitively head for...

one final point to make..
the DC Band is a hard rock / prog band, although it can tend towards the heavier side of things and occasionally dip a toe into metal...
if the VH4 ch3 turns out to be a little too much, too fierce [although I'm personally very fond of it] when played in context..
I still have the less aggressive [but by no means feeble] option to call up the 5153 Blue for the job...

jeez... what a position to be in...
I can have something amazing...
or something just a little different that is amazing...
 
Note to Bill:
dude.... keep looking down on this one....
cos I just know you're gonna so dig the next series presets I'm about to dial in...

you're a great source of wisdom and encouragement...
you're gonna be so missed...

sleep well bro...
 
finally.....
I'm going to set aside a day [or two] to set up my presets in V8.01a

I really need to get this sorted before AxeFest UK
 
of course... lmao...

also... I need to hire a rehearsal studio and dial my live presets into my backline....

mustn't forget to do that...
 
this has just made me think...
when testing through my backline I'll have to ask the inevitable question of my setup...

do I leave the cabs on... or turn them off..???
 
as of now....
I have two days off to set my presets up in 9.0

no Axe-Edit..

finally decided that the two amps in the Riff/Solo presets will be:
- amp1 - 5153Red
- amp2 - VH4ch4

for all the combinations I tried, these two just seem to sit best with each other overall..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom