Your go-to "Dialing in" tips

1. get a few mic's and shoot your own IR of your favorite real cab (not just the speaker). IME this solved all my issues and I use my own IR's pretty much all the time now.
2. use the looper block and dial in hands free from across the room so you hear it as the audience would.
3. If at all possible, dial in on the system and at the volume you will be performing at.
4. Dial in to fit your band, not the guitarless backing track you downloaded.
 
Note to the OP: I'd be wary of some of the recommendations here for Advanced parameter tweaks. I do not doubt that they are useful for the people that post them and valuable tips. BUT if you are not used to REAL amps; I would say get used to dialing in like a real amp. The AFX is first and foremost an accurate amp simulation. I only go to advanced params when fine tuning and I have tons of experience and electronics knowledge. I love having these available but trying to jump on them early in dialing and/or before you have "learned" the amp strikes me as putting the cart before the horse. If an amp requires lots of advanced param tweaks or gobs of EQ it might not be the best suited amp for the task. I do use EQ and input trim but my EQ use is surgical in nature.

So, I guess I would say my general tip is:
1. Find out what gear your fave artists use.
- DO NOT neglect cabs/IRs if you are using cab emulation. A change in IR will affect your tone MORE than almost any individual amp tweak.
- Determine amps/IRs most similar to the stuff people you admire use.
2. Go to the Wiki and read the section on that amp. The Wiki has INVALUABLE info.
- Pointers regarding the real amps
- Renamed/equivalent controls
- Links to their manuals, etc. I read the real gear manuals and try settings tips on the AFX sometimes.
3. Treat the amp block like you just bought that amp.
- Try to get some of the tones that amp is known for.
- Try to get a really cutting sound.
- Try to get a clean/metal/crunch sound
- Search internet threads for people who use that amp and their tricks. (Example: Mesa Mark II distorts more as treble increases).
etc

I know you are asking for/collecting quick tips which are fun and cool. And I will be following this thread and checking them out too, so I don't want to derail that. But, given where it sounds like you are, I'm just saying all these tips can turn your head to mush so be careful trying to drink from the firehose of knowledge here.
 
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yek said:
Playing through FR amplification and you want some extra punch?
Use Tyler Grund's "mid boost trick". Add a PEQ at the end of the grid, set a band to 770Hz (Peaking), Q at 0.35, Gain at +4db.
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This is great tip and I use it on all my patches running direct to FOH. Really gives the tone that mid-range push to punch through the mix.

The only thing is I've dropped the gain down a bit. I found with the more recent FW releases that the mids on the amp models are a bit more present and the +4db seemed to be too much, for my tones anyway. I use mainly Vox based amps that are already mid heavy, so the +4db started to sound too 'grating'.
 
On Mesa Mark amps (specifically the IV, but these tips apply across the Mark series):

mnemonic said:
The way Mark EQ's were explained to me (which makes the most sense to me) is that the EQ on the amp (bass / middle / treble) is not like a normal EQ. It's a pre-EQ, meaning its before the gain stages of the amp. So it works sort of like an EQ or boost pedal in front of the amp. That means, if you turn things up, you get more gain. The treble knob is almost like a 3rd gain knob (in addition to the 'Input Drive' and 'Overdrive' knobs, can't remember what they're called on the real deal). Use this EQ not for the sound of the amp, but for the feel of the amp. Low bass (0 to 2) is pretty much required in my book.

The Graphic EQ is then more like the EQ on a normal amp, as it is after the gain stages. The Marks are very, very middy amps, so the 'V shape', pulling down the center slider, is pretty much required (in my opinion). Then push up the lower sliders to taste, adding back in the bottom end you took out earlier, and adding in any brightness/treble you need.
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And:
mr_fender said:
Mark IIc+ and IV amps have a lot of bass and midrange response. You have to run the bass control very low, like 2 or so depending on how much bass your guitar and pickups have. It's a Fender style pre-gain tone stack, so it will get really farty with high gain if the bass knob is too high. The Boogie 5 band EQ makes all the difference with these amps too. Cut the bass with the knobs and add it back using the graphic EQ if it's too thin.

Try Gain on 6, Overdrive on 7, Bass on 2, Mids on 4, Treble on 6, Presence on 3 and Master on 4. Set the EQ to the mark style 5 band and use a scooped V shape to even out the mids.
Without the EQ, Boogies can sound a bit honky because they have a lot of mids. As stated above, don't go too high on the master either.
Boogie amps generally get their tone from the preamp section and the power section runs fairly clean. Gets a bit wooly with the master up too high. Master set on 4 on a real Mark IV is LOUD!

Pull Bright can get a bit ice picky on the lead channel too, so I'd avoid it unless your guitar is really dark sounding.
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For the amp block: low bass settings (sometimes zero, sometimes even bass cut switch), then lots of post-amp low mid boost in the GEQ (around 250 Hz, spilling over a bit to adjacent sliders) to give overall less drive and more punch on the low strings with more saturation on the higher strings.
 
Probably subjective, but here are some tweaking rules I've learned relatively recently, for metal:

♦ Avoid touching the more advanced controls. Make that the last resort.

♦ All this applies:

The main mistake I was making is dialing the master volume way too high. It should be, Like, 2-3. Start from 0, and add it till it starts saturating. (EDIT: Wrong. The Master volume in the Axe is different to real amps, so in the axe, it should be like 4-5)

♦ Low and high pass filters are a must to get the guitar work in the mix. So, 80-100, and 8000-10000. Makes the bass and the cymbals cut through.

♦ I found that it's best not to use any mic in the cab block. IR's are already recorded with mics, so adding an extra mic makes it "Buttery butter".

♦ Start with cabs that are recommended for the amp on the wiki. The "Speaker" page is setup for these, as i understood.
 
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