Long-time Axe-Fx user, first time FRFR user, some thoughts

M

mikeyg

Experienced
Bought a Line6 Powercab .

Quickly dialed in a pretty awesome clean tone, Also dialed in a very nice Dumble tone with the Ojai model. The feel is much more fluid, and everything seems easier to play than through the loop of my Landry, out to a 2x12 cab.

But I've really been struggling with a good high gain tone - for reference I'm looking for a hotrodded 80s Marshall tone. I can't seem to find a balance between a good cab and the right EQ on the amp. What do you go for first? The 'right' cab, and then EQ the amp to taste? Many times what I find is the cab is far from what I'd use in reality. (I'd normally start with a 4x12 with Greenbacks or Creambacks or Scumbacks for a hotrod 80s tone). But I find the voicing of a Deluxe 1x12 works better. That's fine what ever works, but weird... but then I'm really having trouble dialing in a bright crunchy, but not harsh, top end. The top end is too brittle. (It was not that way through the Landry and cab, at all

And then there's mics to add to the equation. That made it even more difficult to dial things in.

I don't want to be in tweaking hell... what would you recommend as a sequence for getting the amp EQ, cab and mic correct? what cabs and mics do you use for 80s rock/metal? I'm only using factory cabs so far. Maybe I need third party?

Oh and also, I couldn't get the power amp modeling to work. As soon as I enable it, I get a massive volume drop. So I disabled it. What's up with that?

Any help would be appreciated. I've owned an Axe since the beginning, but I feel like a new user at this point...
 
I didn't get to mess with the hi-cut in the cab block, that might be helpful, also the proximity.

But I'm still curious about the sequencing question ...
 
mikeyg said:
Oh and also, I couldn't get the power amp modeling to work. As soon as I enable it, I get a massive volume drop. So I disabled it. What's up with that?
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Depending on what settings you have, I suppose that could lower the volume either via the MV setting or compression.

But, you absolutely want power amp modeling on. Otherwise, you're losing a LOT of what the modeling provides in terms of tone, response and character.

If the volumes are lower, turn up the Amp Level.
 
Agreed on using the poweramp models, Do you have any idea why when I activate them I lose all my volume or at least most of it?
 
I'm talking like 60-80% lower.

I'm getting really frustrated. Power amp and guitar cab takes a minute or 2 of eqing... this is taking alot of time with huge compromises in tone.

I'll stick with it for the return window,if I can't make it work in 30 days it won't happen...
 
mikeyg said:
I'm talking like 60-80% lower.

I'm getting really frustrated. Power amp and guitar cab takes a minute or 2 of eqing... this is taking alot of time with huge compromises in tone.

I'll stick with it for the return window,if I can't make it work in 30 days it won't happen...
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Is it hard to turn up the Level control?

I've never turned off the power amp modeling, so I have no idea how much quieter it would be. But most people use it and have no issues with the levels.
 
I think the correct IR makes all the difference in the world. You should go through them and save the ones you really like as can blocks. After that you can narrow them down to see which work best with you amp choice and tweak from there. Loads of great choices in the stock Fractal cabs so dont be discouraged.
 
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The Friedman HBE amps sound so good at default amp settings, so I use that amp to discover IRs. Something has to be “the same” when auditioning IRs so that’s my constant. With the distortion, rather than a clean tone, I feel I can hear the differences better among IRs.

Find an amp that you know and use it as the constant for IR searching.
 
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I’m making good progress... I’m now getting something pretty close to what I had with the Landry into my 2 V30 cab... the goal is that I can sell off my amp and cab.

I had to scrap existing presets and build from scratch, that worked best for me. I did some deep tweaking trying things I never tried before. The one that seemed to make the biggest different was the preamp quality. They were set to economy (I think) and I changed to high quality (again, I think). Doing it this way I got past the smooth compressed tones I was fighting and got some good, raw tones. Leon Todd’s video helped a lot in the deep tweaking.

I think I just need to find the right IRs... as was stated... I can get close but not quite there... so I add an EQ in there to revoice the frequencies that were off. A proper IR would be preferable...

I’m getting there....
 
unix-guy said:
I have seen @ML SOUND LAB say numerous times to choose the IR first, then tweak the amp EQ.
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Most definitely. IR's have thousands of surgical EQ spikes while amps have 4-5 wide EQ bands. Choose the one that makes a bigger difference first = IR. Then find an amp that emphasizes that IR in the best possible way. The people that "I can't help" are the ones who are using an amp sim "because someone they appreciate used in on this recording" and they just can't make it work for them but they're not willing to change the amp sim. :/
 
I only use post amp eq as a last resort, with the exception of the Mesa mark style amps where the tone controls are in the pre stages. I second what Chris said.. For hot rodded 80's Marshall the Friedman be, hbe, and 2018 c should be your first stops. These are among the easiest to dial in and sound good at stock settings. Then start your ir search. You can blend more than one if you find a great high end but the lows are lacking for example. Hint.. The be's sound really good with a mix of greenbacks and v30's.
 
So I'm changing things up constantly, so I'm not sure which change has made the difference ... but believe it or not, I installed Axe Edit for the first time in 5 years of ownership. I also downloaded some IRs and I'm somehow no longer having the issue of all the IRs sounding too dark and muffled. And I know I have the global settings correct and the PC settings correct.

I've gone back n forth with my tube amp and guitar speaker, and I think I can make the switch ... I'm actually gaining much more in terms of tailoring my sound.
 
So question. I'm just starting to experiment with micing. If I want to reduce harsh highs I presume I move to cone edge? And further back if needed?
 
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